KozmicKuda
Member
I was lucky enough to buy a 69 Charger about 6 weeks ago. Owner died of a heart attack in April. It's pretty much been in storage since 1997 when he bought it. It came with a stack of papers and receipts from 1988 to 1997. One of them is an undated receipt from a local well known HD trans shop where it lists a "prostreet" trans rebuild, prostreet converter, trans cooler, Direct Connection reverse pattern valve body 3.23 SG install.
Engine is a "rebuilt" 383 and it obviously has a lumpy cam, headers, Weiand single plane and 650 Holley DP. I have no idea of cam specs, CR or engine internals. The widow told me the previous owner was turning it into a race car so some of the interior is gone like the console and floor shift, along with the heater/A/C box.
I drove it 6-7 miles from the storage garage to here using the Roadkill red plastic gas can behind the grille. Since then I installed a new stock gas tank, sending unit and replaced all the rubber lines with new. So now I can actually drive it more than 5 miles at a time.
I took it out one time after maybe 1.5 miles in total. When cold it takes a LOT of throttle just to get it to move. It slips so much I was worried about burning up the trans. As it warms up the behavior improves and is actual drivable. Just making laps around the neighborhood I didn't get on it much because the car is L-O-U-D and I don't want to piss off the neighbors. It sounds like open headers but there is an H pipe with small bullets with turndowns. People hear it coming and stop what they're doing to stare, it's that loud.
All of this is not my style as I actually like to drive my cars. I go out of state to big shows all the time so eventually the 383 will be tamed down. Milder cam, dual plane, vacuum carb and a tighter converter. I can live with the manual valve body.
Questions:
1. What was the stall speed of the converters used in late 60s HP 383s and 440s? A little higher stall speed would be ok with me.
2. I've been looking for tighter converters on Marketplace, an old stock one for instance. I did find a deal on a new Hughes 24Fuel. Website says 1200 stall and it sounds like it's optimized for towing and gas mileage. Is that workable for the short term?
I want something tighter than what I have so the car is more streetable. Cam and induction changes are definitely going to happen but I'll most likely drive it as is in the spring to local shows.
It's winter here and it's not getting out of the 20s today.
One more thing, I don't want to spend a lot of money for a custom converter as I have a new Tremec 5 speed laying around the may eventually find its way into the car.
Engine is a "rebuilt" 383 and it obviously has a lumpy cam, headers, Weiand single plane and 650 Holley DP. I have no idea of cam specs, CR or engine internals. The widow told me the previous owner was turning it into a race car so some of the interior is gone like the console and floor shift, along with the heater/A/C box.
I drove it 6-7 miles from the storage garage to here using the Roadkill red plastic gas can behind the grille. Since then I installed a new stock gas tank, sending unit and replaced all the rubber lines with new. So now I can actually drive it more than 5 miles at a time.
I took it out one time after maybe 1.5 miles in total. When cold it takes a LOT of throttle just to get it to move. It slips so much I was worried about burning up the trans. As it warms up the behavior improves and is actual drivable. Just making laps around the neighborhood I didn't get on it much because the car is L-O-U-D and I don't want to piss off the neighbors. It sounds like open headers but there is an H pipe with small bullets with turndowns. People hear it coming and stop what they're doing to stare, it's that loud.
All of this is not my style as I actually like to drive my cars. I go out of state to big shows all the time so eventually the 383 will be tamed down. Milder cam, dual plane, vacuum carb and a tighter converter. I can live with the manual valve body.
Questions:
1. What was the stall speed of the converters used in late 60s HP 383s and 440s? A little higher stall speed would be ok with me.
2. I've been looking for tighter converters on Marketplace, an old stock one for instance. I did find a deal on a new Hughes 24Fuel. Website says 1200 stall and it sounds like it's optimized for towing and gas mileage. Is that workable for the short term?
I want something tighter than what I have so the car is more streetable. Cam and induction changes are definitely going to happen but I'll most likely drive it as is in the spring to local shows.
It's winter here and it's not getting out of the 20s today.
One more thing, I don't want to spend a lot of money for a custom converter as I have a new Tremec 5 speed laying around the may eventually find its way into the car.
