From 318/904 w/ 7 1/4 to 340 Stroker/727 w/ 8 3/4

[Tonefiend]

I bought an aftermarket RT hood off a local guy after he tried it and it had too much crown. Then he dented it up trying to straighten it out. He eventually went with an original hood. 

[Glennster]

 The old car is about road ready, the problem is that the road is not ready for me. We continue to have temperatures in the 20's and we get a few inches of snow every few days..............
 I been chasing leaks, exhaust leak, brake line leak, rear end front seal leak, oil filter adapter plate leak. It's just little stuff, but I want everything right.
  Here's the ''Speedy Shim'' installed on the yoke as recommended by Dr. Diff. This should cure the rear end leak, too bad it will be quite a while before I can test drive it again!
Here's the shim and the cup they give you to drive it on the yoke....



Here it is on the yoke......


The seal looks OK, I think the shim should get us leak free!!!

[Glennster]

Well, I guess she's finished. It's been an absolute blast working on this car. I appreciate the many people that gave me great advice as the build progressed. THANK YOU to the Cuda-Challenger.com people. You guys are GREAT!!!
 
   I will never be able to thank Jim Stewart enough for everything he's done for me. He gave me parts and would not let me pay him for them. He let me use his great garage for months, he let me use his tools and he gave me many hours of his time. His participation made this build much easier and more fun than I ever imagined.
THANK God for GOOD FRIENDS!!!!

Here's what we started with.......


Here's the finished product ! ! !

[bb71challenger]

Sounds like you had a blast, I am glad you had fun making your car faster and more fun!   

[troutstreamnm]

Beautiful car and nice job    The side molding does look great with the white paint.  That is a sweet ride. 

[Road_Runner]

This thread has been great reading and more than a little motivational!!  Awesome results, I know you're happy and thanks for sharing with the rest of us.  Now I just have to get rolling on my own projects....

Thanks, Jim

[femtnmax]

Very nice progress report.  Good pics and description.  Wish I was that far along on mine.  Did you add a locking rear differential?   

[Road_Runner]

Did you post your engine build?  I just picked up a 340 to rebuild and I have to decide whether I'm going to leave it the stock stroke or consider stroking it.  Did you have to modify / grind on your block to clear the crank?  I'd be much more inclined to stroke mine if I didn't have to mess with a relatively rare block....

Thanks, Jim

[Glennster]

How soon till Spring?

[422STROKER]

Not soon enough.

Tom

[usraptr]

Just found your post and read all five pages.  Great Job!!    That's a beautiful Challenger.  It looks like you resolved your hood issue.  Mind telling us how you did it?   

[Glennster]

 We never got the hood any better, the body guy that helped me get on told me to leave well enough alone. He said you could try to tweak (which is a cute way to say bend the hood) the hood, but you run the risk of really screwing it up. Shoot, it doesn't look too bad.
 An old Mopar guy told that a lot of them are like this, he thinks it's from all the time leaning on the fender. He says the hood is true with the little upward bow, it's the fenders that get flatter over time.....
BTW - THANKS for the compliments!!!

[buddydog]

As far as the hood issue goes, granted it is two layers of 20 gauge thick, it could be stretched along the side seam and that would bring the outer/upper portion down in line with the fender. Normally a shrinker/stretcher would do the job but in this case, without separating the whole shebang it could be stretched using several alternating passes of a 1/4 blunted chisel type hammer and a flat dolly.... Just a though if it ever begins to bug you again!

G