"Dukeboy's" VP tribute resto.

[DukeBoy]

Well, I always said I'd have to get a deal on an E-Body IF I ever even owned one at all....Never say never, cause you just never know....
A friend passed away a while back, and his wife called me to see if I'd be interested in some "Old cars" he had on the property as she was cleaning up...
Dan the friend, loved his beloved Dodge Challenger and I just couldn't stand to see it flipped and resold, stripped, crushed, etc...So, I made an offer for ALL THREE 1972-73 Challengers and Well, I got 'em...Dan, Buddy, wherever you are, your 'ol Dodge you bought after getting out of the service way back in 1974 and bought in 1976, will see the light of day again buddy...May you finally rest in peace my friend...

This one of the "parts" cars and the engine was out (318)


This Was Dan's beloved Challenger...

 

[DukeBoy]

Away we go....

Of course, being the cheap bastid that I am, I bought the Cheap, "china" floor pan and had to weld the reinforcements for the seat bolts to the underside..Of course, it wasn't stamped deep enough and the pieces had to be bent down on the ends and welded length wise...

 

[DukeBoy]

Here is the finished Floor pan...

Here is the restored Dash Cluster..(Dash pad doing soon, as these things are over $900.00 redone. i will prolly be doing a dash cap)

And here's the LED dash lights. E-bodies use what's called a "Light bar" mounted up top..

 

[DukeBoy]

A few updated pics of the progress, as the Cousin lost his contract (Military) and I caught a bit of a break with the Camaro, so back on the Dodge.

 

[DukeBoy]

This is my converted small block to Big Block PS mount...

Now all I have left is to custom mount a Ford A/C compressor to the 440 and new lines to evaporator and I'm cruisin' in style.

 

[DetMatt1]

Looks like a nice car, you are doing your buddy proud, with the exception of the phord a.c. compressor!

 

[74 challenger]

why did you go with the ford compressor? cheaper???

 

[DukeBoy]

why did you go with the ford compressor? cheaper???

Cheaper than any of those "Sanden" units, and it's what I could get laying around the shop. These compressors (Asian), almost never have problems like the Sanden units do with leaking.

 

[DukeBoy]

I've NEVER swapped the T-bars in ANY of the cars i've built. Ever. For one reason or another, I decided to try out MP Biggest bars "RB and Hemi. Improved handling"...Lemme just say even without the engine in the car, I can tell they are stiifer. I measured my old bars(318) and these are only about .090 bigger, but .090 must be one hgelluva lot when talking T-bars. Car is stiff now. Before i could at least halfway bounce the front end with them all the way off and no engine. Now, It won't budge with them all the way backed off. Improvement I guess. Won;t know till I throw some pavement at this thing when I finally get the engine together.
Also, Got a set of Laser cut Subframe conn. From a good friend "Brads70". Met him at Carlisle two years ago and was one helluva nice guy. I finally got 'em in Brad if you's seein' this. (Thanks Buddy!)...Welding upside down SUCKS!
Also, I usually just weld up my own homemade exhaust. This time I saw what the Magnaflow system looked like on my cousin's Camaro I'm doing and decided to try out one for the E-body...Well, One side fit great, the driver's side not so well. Ray Charles musta been bending the tailpipes. Got a little "Happy" with the bender and there's too much angle heading out to the tip, but you can't really tell with the car on the ground. Also, got my PYPES tips. VERY nice and fit SNUG!
Had to actually beat them onto the 2 1/2" Stainless pipes. All in all, been a fun few weeks.

 

[DukeBoy]

UPDATE: I finally got this thing running and drove it. However, I think I have a little too much compresssion with iron heads.
It REALLY likes 116 Octane. 93 just ain't gettin' it.
Other than that, I still need to paint it.

 

[burntorange70]

Congrats on getting her going. We going to see a burnout vid soon?

 

[DukeBoy]

Well, with the pinging going on, maybe, maybe not.

 

[AZkcar135]

You could go with a methanol injection kit to help with the pinging. Turbo guys been using it for years!

 

[DukeBoy]

Nah, just need to keep timing in check. Too much hassle with all that Methanol/water injection. A buddy has it on his Blown 360 Magnum in his truck and it didn't save his head gaskets, or stop the knock sensor from cutting back his timing.

 

[backintime]

this is backintime calling. i'm looking for 72-74 front bumper with all the hardwares. if you have one not bent out of shape plz give me the price. thanks, bob