My perfect car dream build needs some expert assistance

[KramerSwinger]

After saying goodbye to my protouring daily driver dreams I had for my 70 Dart, I have recently turned my attention to the fanily heirloom now in my possession. My uncle decided it was time to hand over the keys to his, now my, 73 Charger.

The car is essentially all original, it was his daily from 74 till about 95, then garages without movement till the late 2000s. Now that I own it, I try to drive it as often as I can. The more I drive it, the more I want it to be my every day ride!

What I now have in mind is an evolved form of my Dart plans. I want to basically create an incognito Pro Tourer of sorts. I want to keep the old school look with 15" cragars and fat tires and the late 70s rake, but I also want the car to handle and brake and get good gas mileage (good being a relative term with a 400ci big block!).

I already know I'd like to throw a GearVendor into the factory 727, perhaps with a shift kit as well. Maybe add 3.55 gears to the rear end when I add a SureGrip. I know I want to keep the original engine, but I have no idea what I should do about getting more ummph out of it while improving the mileage as well.

Is aftermarket EFI worth the investment? Should I consider aluminum heads and a cam shaft? These all seem like obvious considerations but money is of course not in a potted plant in my backyard either

What say you fellow Moparians? This old girl is certainly ready for a bit of modernization. Maybe she won't look the part, but she'll certainly need to perform!

 

[KramerSwinger]

Since I know everyone loves pictures!

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Nice looking '73! When you get a chance, could you post up a few pics of your car's interior? I owned a '74 Charger back in the day that's similar to yours and I'm curious to see if our interiors match. Thanks!

 

[mr. b]

nice looking charger keep us posted

 

[PurpleBeeper]

First, that's a beautiful Charger. A '73 Charger was one of my fist cars and I loved it. Anyway, I have a little bit different opinion than Sweet on some items & identical opinion on others things.

What I'm reading in your post is that you want "retro" look, faster, better mileage, stay with the 400 engine, & don't spend a lot of money. These goals are impossible together, so I suggest you reconsider. You already have the "retro look", so I will focus on your other goals.

1. You can get faster & better mileage with a new hemi conversion, but you have to change the engine, probably the transmission & add a bunch of other stuff....which is expensive & you lose the 400 engine.

2. You can get faster, stay with the 400 & don't spend a lot of money, but it will get WORSE mileage. If you've got $5000+ to spend, I'd suggest you rebuild the 400 with a good street-cam, good heads, 4 bbl. carb, headers and 3.23-3.55 gears. If you've got $10,000 to spend, try turning that 400 into a stroker.

3. You can go cheap & just freshen up the motor you have...."maybe" some rear end gears and be done with it.

Bottom line is you can't get more "umph" + better mileage + keep the 400. If it were me (which it isn't), I would pick the $5000 path in option #2 or go the $2000 path in option #3, but I have a very limited budget.

And to throw out one thing I wish I'd done on my '73 Charger..... add a Ramcharger hood (or at least a bubble hood or R/T louvered hood) from a '71 Charger.

 

[furyus]

Just wondering what your uncle would think about you modifying that car too much. Don't want to start any family problems. Imo, i wouldn't do anything that can't be put right back. Gear vendors might require you to hammer some clearance in the tunnel. Do you have power brakes? If so, consider a cam that works with them. Eddy Heads with the small combustion chambers are a good choice. What carb is on there now? How about upgrading the sway bars and shocks? Maybe headers, and better exhaust? It's never going to be a road racer with all that bulk. It's a beautiful car. You're lucky to have someone give you that.

 

[KramerSwinger]

Anther question popped in my head. What is the likelyhood I'll find repops of all the 73+ rubber bushings and what not. A cheaper way to improve handling is to just replace 43 year old parts with new stock stuff after all! Also, is it really just a matter of swapping to 71-72 bumper brackets to bring the bumpers in and eliminate the rubber between the bumpers and the body? Is it a direct bolt on deal or are the pieces different?

 

[khryslerkid]

That's a sweet looking ride! I wouldn't touch a thing. Find another one to redo...

I owned a '74 with the 400. Gold with gold interior. It had that paisley print bench seat. Reminded me of your Grandmother's sofa. That car had no top end...

 

[YY1]

All the front end bushings are easy to get.

I'd consider poly-graphite (not polyurethane) where it's available.

I'd also consider solid K frame ISO mounts.

Maybe not popular, but swapping in an almost unmodified 5.9 magnum small block will get you more HP plus more durability and a better weight bias.

Increasing the compression of the 400 would be the ultimate improvement for power and efficiency there, but will likely cost as much as a Magnum swap without the roller cam, moly rings and coated skirt pistons or the weight distribution advantage. There are also several threads on making the factory magnum MPI work.

I'm collecting creature comfort options for my RL Satellite which looks to be ending up like a Sebring Plus clone!

I have OEM power windows, cruise control, puffy interior panels, cassette recorder pod, and a host of other things that could have been ordered as options in 1973. Reclining seats were available, but I've only seen one car with them. Finding those is probably not going to happen.

I find the brakes work just fine on these cars as is, but an easy upgrade is slider calipers from a 5th Ave and ceramic pads. Might be one of those "best kept secrets" that no one talks about in the brake department.

Curious if it has an 8 3/4. I've seen 400 cars with both those and 8 1/4.

Another "secret" is that an E body 8 3/4 is an easy swap and MUCH easier to find than a factory 71-74 B body 8 3/4.