Lookie what $5000 buys you....

[Kern Dog]

Has the guy you got the car from been keeping track of your progress? After him letting it sit for years it's good you have it terrorizing the streets again..

This guy.....

....Is amazed at the progress. He has another '70 that has had no progress in at least 10 years. You can see it in the above picture with the red roof. Here is another shot of it...

 

[Kern Dog]

The gear swap went well.
This 3.91 was actually a little noisy when I had it in the red car. (Ginger) Somehow, it is silent in this car. Maybe the other noises in Jigsaw drown out the gears? There is no sound deadener or carpet in this car yet and the rear window is out. I have the same 727, converter and drive shaft from Ginger so why would the gears be quiet now? Well....This car has a proper transmission crossmember and mount so the driveline angle is stock. Ginger had a modified crossmember and the tail of the transmission sat lower....messing with the driveline angle.
Okay, so it is quieter....is it faster?

It is faster. More peppy. The transmission barks 2nd gear again! It is no rocket but it does get up and boogie. It will peel out in a straight line just fine. I had it out on the road for about 10 minutes. The temperature started rising. It was a hot day here.... 104 when I was driving around and I have yet to fit a fan shroud or a coolant overflow jug. Ginger ran fine with this radiator and 100 cubic inches more. The radiator was warm but certainly not hot or looking like it was ready to boil over.
Still, good sense suggested that I should scurry home as the gauge was ready to peg the needle. Oddly, there was none of the usual burned coolant smell, the engine wasn't knocking, no steam or water puking out either. I still got it home and sprayed water through the radiator for a few minutes, then pulled the cap and cycled water through the system. I don't know why the gauge would read hot when the engine was fine...maybe the temp sensor is bad? It was an old one that I just cleaned up and reused. I need a new radiator cap, that is for sure. I'll figure out something for a shroud. I have several overflow jugs in the attic that I can use too.
This differential is MUCH tighter than the 3.23. This 3rd member was a Win-Win.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Night & Day.. Gears are fun!!

 

[Kern Dog]

The overheating from last week was a surprise. I thought the cooling system was full, Maybe it wasn't.
I did add an overflow jug and topped off the radiator once the car sat a couple of days. It took 2 1/2 gallons of water. I have yet to add anti-freeze. I let it idle for 20 minutes or so on a 100 degree day in the shop with no airflow around it. It stayed toward the middle of the temp gauge. I didn't drive it.
I have an A/C spec water pump, a 7 blade clutch fan, 26" 2 row aluminum Griffin radiator and the standard NON A/C pulley arrangement. I had the same setup in the red car and never fully overheated it. It got warm a few times but never boiled over. This radiator cap is "seasoned" and could be a weak point.

There are a few body plugs missing in the floor pan. The firewall too. I need to bolt in the heater/defroster unit and get it working. I am SO tempted to pull this ugly bench seat! Every time I drive it, the cotton from the seat floats around and sometimes gets in my face.

I do have the old carpet from Ginger....It was new in 2003. I might consider putting the carpet and bucket seats in just to make the car a bit more livable. I have no immediate plans to drive this car anywhere far away. I need to register and insure it. I am anxious to drive it and gauge the reactions from people.

 

[Photon440]

Your A/C spec water pump has smaller blades and fewer of them than the regular pump, but is designed to use pulleys to rotate it nearly 50% faster ( .95 engine speed for regular, 1.4 times for A/C).....just in case it matters.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

If you decide to use buckets.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3133264179...cVuG|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2047675&epid=1024819064

 

[Kern Dog]

If you decide to use buckets.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313326417

Where do those go....? On the inside or the underside? My other car doesn't have them on the underside and with all the sound deadener, I don't recall seeing them on the interior side.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Inside just the holes near the driveshaft tunnel

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm guessing that the " J " shaped ones on the sides are on all models, not just the bucket seat ones?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Yes, but you might need to use the other set of holes...

 

[hunt2elk]

Where do those go....? On the inside or the underside? My other car doesn't have them on the underside and with all the sound deadener, I don't recall seeing them on the interior side.

When I ripped apart my Road Runner the first time 15 years ago, I realized the previous owner swapped out the bench for buckets. He didn't put those 4 brackets in and did some 1/4 mile racing. Car is a 4-speed. The drivers side inner holes actually were tearing from takeoff. I put in a set of those repops. They will work fine, but an original set is far superior. If you dig through my current RR build, I show some pics old vs new side by side.

 

[CoronetDarter]

I'm guessing that the " J " shaped ones on the sides are on all models, not just the bucket seat ones?


View attachment 1131193 View attachment 1131194

Correct. I'm dealing with this very issue on the Dart. It was a former bench seat car that the PO converted to some non-Mopar buckets and just drilled holes in the floor pan for the inside mounts. Now there are stress cracks.
Looking at the 'J' brackets; the outer holes are for bench, the inner holes for buckets. Line up the bucket seat bracket, mark the inside holes by the trans tunnel and that's where the reinforcement plates go. You can make your own from scrap steel. For the Dart, I'm also adding reinforcement plates underneath for additional strength.

 

[CoronetDarter]

BTW, very nice fit on the subframe connectors. I spent the better part of last Sunday cutting, grinding, shaping the USCT connectors to put on the Dart. And there's still gaps in some areas.

 

[NoCar2023]

Installed these in my 72.

 

[747mopar]

I didn't know if I'd like a patina Charger but I have to admit, it's pretty damn cool looking.

 

[Kern Dog]

It won't stay like this forever:

I did thrash around the backyard last week. The car does quite well when being whipped around on packed dirt. The Dart feels a bit easier to control and is a bit faster.

The Dart has a 360 and a 904 but has 4.10 gears and a SG diff. Jigsaw has a 383 & 727, 3.91 gears and SG.
The lighter weight, longer stroke and deeper gears make the Dart feel like it has more grunt out of the hole. Maybe with a little room, the 383 would catch up and pass it.
The Dart does have 1.03 torsion bars....Jigsaw has .88 stock 383 2 barrel bars.

It is such redneck fun to slide around in the dirt!

 

[Kern Dog]

My goal with this car was to get it running and driving. It starts, runs and drives reliably. I wanted to have the car mobile so if/when I decide to move, transporting the car would be easier and cheaper. I need to get the rear window put back in so I can park it outside. I have a 72 Duster project that needs to be finished and sold.
This Duster was a project started in 2007. My brother-in-law wanted a Mopar project so I helped him find this one. He was living in Arizona but would come to town twice a year.

It was a 225 slanty with a 3 speed manual, manual drum brakes and a 7 1/4" axle meaning that to get any decent performance out of it, everything underneath needed to be upgraded. I had all sorts of stuff saved up and donated an 8 3/4" axle, V8 K member, front disc brakes, HD torsion bars and shocks. It needed lower quarters and a taillight panel too.

Over the years, I did the majority of the work. He moved to CA in Summer 2010 and moved back to AZ in 2013. After moving away, he rarely ever spoke of the car, Finally during a visit for Christmas 2020, he admitted that he had lost interest and wanted to give it to me. I told him I'd pay him what he had in the car, $4000.

Now I'm going to finish it and sell it. It has a 1979 360 from a van, a 904, 3.23 geared SG diff and 340 exhaust manifolds. It runs real strong and is a nice handling car.
I'll need to finish the interior, find a decent wheel and tire combination and address several small areas.

 

[Purepony]

My goal with this car was to get it running and driving. It starts, runs and drives reliably. I wanted to have the car mobile so if/when I decide to move, transporting the car would be easier and cheaper. I need to get the rear window put back in so I can park it outside. I have a 72 Duster project that needs to be finished and sold.
This Duster was a project started in 2007. My brother-in-law wanted a Mopar project so I helped him find this one. He was living in Arizona but would come to town twice a year.

View attachment 1154359

It was a 225 slanty with a 3 speed manual, manual drum brakes and a 7 1/4" axle meaning that to get any decent performance out of it, everything underneath needed to be upgraded. I had all sorts of stuff saved up and donated an 8 3/4" axle, V8 K member, front disc brakes, HD torsion bars and shocks. It needed lower quarters and a taillight panel too.
View attachment 1154361

View attachment 1154363

Over the years, I did the majority of the work. He moved to CA in Summer 2010 and moved back to AZ in 2013. After moving away, he rarely ever spoke of the car, Finally during a visit for Christmas 2020, he admitted that he had lost interest and wanted to give it to me. I told him I'd pay him what he had in the car, $4000.

View attachment 1154364

Now I'm going to finish it and sell it. It has a 1979 360 from a van, a 904, 3.23 geared SG diff and 340 exhaust manifolds. It runs real strong and is a nice handling car.
I'll need to finish the interior, find a decent wheel and tire combination and address several small areas.

Oh man typical car guy luck! We always stumble on to another car someway somehow.


Very cool !!

 

[coronet68mx]

I really like the way you fix this car, your way and how you like it, planning some color in the Future? the way I see it and according to the prices of 2 gen chargers now you have a 50 k car.

 

[blue69runner]

Yep a Duster. Like them with the 440 and the manual shift on the floor. With a Dani rear end for make a run. Sound like a good story and like what you have done so far. Blue.