Losing the green

[rock.star90]

Hey all,
     I am A young gun, and still wet behind the ears when it comes to mopar. I have grown up around a decent amount of restoration (30's, 50's, 60's, and 70's hot rods) but I would be a fool to think that I know as much as you do. I am 21 years old and three years ago I bought a 71' Chalenger RT clone. The car is a good driver, but (as we all know) a 40 year old car always needs work. Currently I am working on the breaks, cleaning up the engine bay, and working out some of the smaller kinks hidden in the car. These projects are all going well (save for the constant issue of money). My biggest mission is a little ways into the future; I have a spare 383 sitting in good shelter, and I wish to make a meaty motor out of it. My main goal for that motor is based on aesthetics, to be honest. I hope to place an old-fashioned roots style blower onto it. Research is being done, in great detail, but the biggest headache is how I am going to fit it under the hood. Any qestions, comments, or suggestions are gladly accepted. Thanks for your time, everyone.
     Rocky

[the_engineers]

Welcome aboard!

If I'm thinking of the correct one (aka 6-71, etc), you won't get a Roots blower under the hood without some extremely custom fabrication (spacers for the K-member, moving the UCA mounts, etc). Better chances with a centrifugal such as a Paxton.

Sounds like an interesting build, though. Definitely keep us posted.

[acudanut]

383's are great engines.  I have two of them that run like a bad ass.  Show us some pic's of the 71...Blowers mean alot more money...I would make the car look great first, then add on extra's.  Welcome.

[72cudamaan]

Brooks is right. A paxton or B&M blower are the only things that might fit under the hood.
Or were you thinking of a 6-71 blower.

[rock.star90]

     Hey all,
     Much work has been done in replacing parts through the engine bay since the pictures were taken, but the exterior of the car is pretty well the same as the pictures show. As far as the forced induction goes, I have a few hang-ups in preference. Living in a more secluded location (Alaska) I need to drive a little ways to hit the stoplights and such. Otherwise the car is on roadtrips with some of the town's other gear-heads. With this in mind, a high-rpm powerband is not as reasonable. To top off such problems, my car is an automatic. the low 2,000 rpm range is a nice place to be, given the situation. It seems (from the research I have done) that most forced induction is better at high rpm's; roots style blowers give off a more consistant rate of power through the different rpms. Before I go too far into a repost, however, I need to look up some of the terminology found in your comments. Thanks again, and I will continue to research in the mean time.
     Rocky

        P.S.
     I was considering taking a look at the dimensions of a shaker hood, which may work out for the roots blower. This idea has not been researched, but is a better consideration than ripping into a good hood. Thanks again.

[hpe600rt]

welcome to the site

[the_engineers]

If you run a port fuel injection system, you "might" stay low enough to throw a shaker bubble over a slide-gate style throttle body on a Roots blower, but I'm skeptical.

Curious on your research that shows one type of blower (Roots) being better across the RPM range than others (Centrifugal). I would think that drive pulley selection would even that out, if there is a difference.  What about a screw-type, like a Whipple?

[jimynick]

Rocky, unless your ego absolutely demands one, perhaps a little out of the blower box thinking could be done. How about taking the large amount of dough you're about to spend on a non-fitting 6-71 and simply going the large displacement route? A 500 inch big block will slide right in AND, you can get the hood to go down AND the gear heads will never be sure what the hell is happening when you let 'er loose. The other possibility is nitrous. Carefully done, 300 additional HP is a fairly straight forward affair, with again, the ability to close the hood. That's a NICE car you've got there, please don't jump before you give it more thought. 

[rock.star90]

Jimmynick, I feel quite humbled at the moment; You have compelling advice and good footing behind your arguement. I am giving it thought at the time, and have not yet made up my mind. Anyhow, when I do make a decision or need more advice, I will be back. In the mean time, take care.

     Thanks for the comments everyone,
      Rocky

[acudanut]

Yea, nice car. Don't mess it up.

[rock.star90]

I have given a break to the forced-induction, and have turned my focus to a more prominent problem; I believe the starter is being heat-soaked by the headers, which makes a warm start difficult. An easy fix for this should be a heat shield to cover the starter, but putting insulation over the starter wouldn't exactly look as clean as the rest of the motor is becoming. I am looking for suggestions that may look better in the engine bay. Alternatively, does any body know of an aftermarket starter that may nullify the heat soaking?

[GranCuda1970]

You have a beautiful challenger!!

[the_engineers]

Factory installed a heat shield over the starter for that very reason. I take it yours is missing?

Hit the junkyards or post in the parts wanted section. I'm sure someone has one.

[GranCuda1970]

Or you can wrap your starter in a thermal wrap, not sure how well it works though. I went through a million starters with mine because I did not have the shroud when I ran the automtic. Found out later after I pulled to convert to 4-speed.

[acudanut]

Headers have always been a pain in as-....Go with Mopar HP exhaust manifolds.  I stopped using them 20 years ago because of this and others reasons.