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1973 Dodge Charger
Photos & Text by the author: Mike Salemme 12/16/2020
This 1973 Dodge Charger 500 2 door hardtop came from the factory with a small block 318 LA engine and a 904 Torque-flite automatic transmission. It was originally shifted by a steering column mounted shifter.
Through the years it has been owned by several different Mopar care takers. As recently as 2004 the car was repainted in its original bronze hue. The chassis was refreshed with a complete front and rear suspension that was rebuilt with new shocks and torsion bars, upper & lower ball joints and sub frame bushings.
The complete braking system was replaced including front pads, rotors, seals and bearings, the rear received the same treatment with new drums, shoes, and return springs as well as wheel cylinders.
The rear end now features new heavy-duty leaf springs, a Richmond rear gear set with a 4:10 ratio and a sure grip with new bearings and axle seals gets the power to the ground.
In 2005 I purchased the Charger as a roller with no engine or transmission. It was quickly brought back from North West Ohio to North Jersey, where on a week off from work as a technician at a local Chevrolet dealer, I transformed this once boring and slow Charger into a ground pounding Street Machine.
The car now features a classic day 2 look, with speed equipment that was available at the time .
Gone are the boring stock Rally wheels and now feature classic Ansen Sprint aluminum mags.
The fronts are 15x7 with 235/60 r15 tires, the rears are 15x8.5 with 275/60 r15 tires, I'm now looking for a set of 15x10 to 15x 14 Ansen's for the rear to give it a more over the top stance. The rear suspension was up-fitted with classic Gabriel Air shocks and a Mopar Performance adjustable pinon snubber to keep the rear end in perfect alignment.
The Power Plant
The boat anchor 318 is gone and now features an eye popping big-block Chrysler 400 H.P. Wedge headed monster.
The 400 was bored 30' and stroked with a crank from a 440 giving it a total of 452 cubes, for cam choice I went with a Mopar Performance purple hyd .cam with 280' duration and .474 lift. It gives the car a nice choppy idle but it's still street friendly.
Moving up we find high flowing factory fresh 452 heads with 2.14 intake valves and 1.81 exhaust valves. Fired by an MSD spark box. It's Cooled by an aluminum M.P.water pump and aluminum 2 row radiator from Summit Racing with two electric fans.
In the near future the heads are giving way for an upgrade to aluminum Trick Flow's or Edelbrock's with stainless steel 1.6 roller rockers by PRW.
Rounding out this engine is the very rare Mopar M1 Tunnel Ram intake manifold equipped with two Edelbrock 600 cfm. carbs topped off with Call Custom veloctiy stacks and features A/N -8 lines to the rear mounded 10 gallon RCI aluminum fuel cell & Holley blue pump, with a Moroso Cool Can giving it a vintage vibe.
The transmission is a heavy-duty Chrysler 727 automatic unit . It features a Hemi 5.0 lever and a Coan torque converter featuring a a 3000 RPM stall speed and a Turbo Action Pro-Street valve body. It is controlled by a B&M Mega Shifter on the floor where it belongs. The tires bark on the 1-2 shift and chirps on the 2-3 shift.
The interior features RCI racing bucket seats and five point safety belts.
The vital signs are monitored by classic Sun-pro gauges on the hood for the 1970's look and on the inside you can find a big 5 inch Auto Meter Monster-Tach.
Some photos were taken before some parts were installed.
Huge 2 row aluminum radiator with 2- 12 inch fans keep things cool and an aluminum water pump and housing from Mopar Performance keep the coolant flowing.
In this view we can see the Earls A/N fittings and chrome fuel log with built in pressure gauge, from Summit Racing .
Future plans are installing a FAST fuel injection system with a coil pack ignition system.
Here is a view of the Moroso Super cool-can and the fuel pressure regulator with Aeroquip hi-pressure hose.
Some decals give it that day 2 look !
Update 9/21
Here is a view of the new stainless steel PRW 1.6 Ratio roller rocker arms .
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