hello, Im new to the forum.

Postby spoolinhard » 09 Aug 2008 16:41

Hello. My name is Kaleb, I am 24 years old. I have a 1970 challenger T/A that I bought as a roller right before the prices started going crazy. It is a burnt orange 4spd car with a black vinyl top and black interior with little options. It used to be a drag only car run a 1/4 mile at a time. Best I can tell was that it was parked in the early 80's in a boat yard by the ocean where the salt pretty well took care of the car. Shame becuase it has a mere 10k on the odom. I got it as a stripped out shell no drivetrain. the only thing T/A left was the vin and the suspension. After doing extensive sheetmetal restoration and getting the car rust free, I then put the car into storage due to lack of funds. I am once again excited about working on the car. I am building an edelbrock aluminum headed 340 stroker six pack for it. The only other radical plans I have for the car are sub frames and roll cage. I am going to make the car look externally stock/origional appearing while having a monster under the hood! :thumbsup: when its done it will be my own personal interpretation of the "ultimate T/A" I have owned the car for about 9 years and have never driven it under its own power, so I look forward to the day when I can return the car to the dragstrip once again! This is the only pic I have on the computerImage
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Postby Eddie » 09 Aug 2008 17:03

Welcome, sweet project! That colour combo is tough!I like the fact that you are going with the stroker 340 combo. Will it have 6 pak induction? Narrow the rear? Sounds like you are persuing a pretty serious drag car. Do you have a 340 or 360 block? Is that a 1977 Dodge Warlock in Plum Crazy Purple? :lol: Nice car&truck!
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Postby spoolinhard » 10 Aug 2008 22:47

airfuelEddie wrote:Welcome, sweet project! That colour combo is tough!I like the fact that you are going with the stroker 340 combo. Will it have 6 pak induction? Narrow the rear? Sounds like you are persuing a pretty serious drag car. Do you have a 340 or 360 block? Is that a 1977 Dodge Warlock in Plum Crazy Purple? :lol: Nice car&truck!


Block is a '70 340. Will be keeping the six pack setup. I dont think that I will go so far as to narrow the rear end. I want to find a happy medium as far as a car that can be driven on the street on pump gas and can be taken to the track for some respectable times as well. I think that I will do as little hacking as possible to the body. I am going to do bolt in sub frames a rollcage. I would like to keep everything else looking as close as origional as possible. People will be wandering why it is going so fast. :mrgreen: Just got finished painting the rear end housing and front k-member a few hours ago!
That is my parents 79 power wagon in the background. It is a long box step side. Other than that there is nothing too crazy about it other than the color.
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Postby jh27n0b » 10 Aug 2008 23:57

Welcome spoolinhard. Sounds like a neat project. Keep us posted with pics. :thumbsup: The guys on here will be a big help in any aspect of your build.
Bob
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Postby Eddie » 11 Aug 2008 13:10

spoolinhard wrote:
airfuelEddie wrote:Welcome, sweet project! That colour combo is tough!I like the fact that you are going with the stroker 340 combo. Will it have 6 pak induction? Narrow the rear? Sounds like you are persuing a pretty serious drag car. Do you have a 340 or 360 block? Is that a 1977 Dodge Warlock in Plum Crazy Purple? :lol: Nice car&truck!


Block is a '70 340. Will be keeping the six pack setup. I dont think that I will go so far as to narrow the rear end. I want to find a happy medium as far as a car that can be driven on the street on pump gas and can be taken to the track for some respectable times as well. I think that I will do as little hacking as possible to the body. I am going to do bolt in sub frames a rollcage. I would like to keep everything else looking as close as origional as possible. People will be wandering why it is going so fast. :mrgreen: Just got finished painting the rear end housing and front k-member a few hours ago!
That is my parents 79 power wagon in the background. It is a long box step side. Other than that there is nothing too crazy about it other than the color.
Sounds like you have a good plan. Nice 79 PowerWagon! I have 2 Dodge Trucks both 4x4 and my Challenger R/T. Post more pics if you can! I dont know what you mean by 'bolt in' subframe? :lol: Of course I've never did that before either. Do you mean frame stub connectors? I have heard the 'bolt in' kind were not very effective. Welded was the only way to go there. They make contoured ones that hug the floor pans.(From what I understand those make a huge difference on the track and street).
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Postby spoolinhard » 11 Aug 2008 15:41

airfuelEddie wrote:
spoolinhard wrote:
airfuelEddie wrote:Welcome, sweet project! That colour combo is tough!I like the fact that you are going with the stroker 340 combo. Will it have 6 pak induction? Narrow the rear? Sounds like you are persuing a pretty serious drag car. Do you have a 340 or 360 block? Is that a 1977 Dodge Warlock in Plum Crazy Purple? :lol: Nice car&truck!


Block is a '70 340. Will be keeping the six pack setup. I dont think that I will go so far as to narrow the rear end. I want to find a happy medium as far as a car that can be driven on the street on pump gas and can be taken to the track for some respectable times as well. I think that I will do as little hacking as possible to the body. I am going to do bolt in sub frames a rollcage. I would like to keep everything else looking as close as origional as possible. People will be wandering why it is going so fast. :mrgreen: Just got finished painting the rear end housing and front k-member a few hours ago!
That is my parents 79 power wagon in the background. It is a long box step side. Other than that there is nothing too crazy about it other than the color.
Sounds like you have a good plan. Nice 79 PowerWagon! I have 2 Dodge Trucks both 4x4 and my Challenger R/T. Post more pics if you can! I dont know what you mean by 'bolt in' subframe? :lol: Of course I've never did that before either. Do you mean frame stub connectors? I have heard the 'bolt in' kind were not very effective. Welded was the only way to go there. They make contoured ones that hug the floor pans.(From what I understand those make a huge difference on the track and street).

Yes, boltin sub frame connectors. Weld ins wouldnt be that reversible if I ever decided to take them out. I am still a little bit timid about my plans for this car. Origional drivetrain is gone, alot of the body was replaced. The way I see it I have a liscense to kill. Little by little I am getting it done. The fine details have yet to be worked out.
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Postby Eddie » 11 Aug 2008 16:56

:thumbsup: Keep us posted! We love pics! :lol:
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Postby rtse4406pack » 11 Aug 2008 18:04

hey spoolinhard,i would keep the car as stock as possible on the exterior as it is a T/A car :s017: just go with mods on the motor since the original is gone. i would not put the roll cage in though as it may not be appealing to the next buyer of your car,plus you can drag race without it. if i landed your car i would make the interior bone stock looking,put the side pipes back.paint the car its original colour and just have a great running 340 6 pack all tricked out with headers. plenty of fun this way!

just my 2 cents. :s012:
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Postby spoolinhard » 11 Aug 2008 23:38

rtse4406pack wrote:hey spoolinhard,i would keep the car as stock as possible on the exterior as it is a T/A car :s017: just go with mods on the motor since the original is gone. i would not put the roll cage in though as it may not be appealing to the next buyer of your car,plus you can drag race without it. if i landed your car i would make the interior bone stock looking,put the side pipes back.paint the car its original colour and just have a great running 340 6 pack all tricked out with headers. plenty of fun this way!

just my 2 cents. :s012:


And thanks for your input! Its comments like yours that make me think twice. Although Im sure that I will never sell it. If I hadnt bought it when I did(about 9 years ago) I would never own my dream car. This car is being put together from 3 other 70's. I am pretty shure that the value will never reach that of a "matching" car with origional sheetmetal. It will never be a high end car. I am just thrilled to own it.
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Postby fbernard » 13 Aug 2008 7:38

spoolinhard wrote:Although Im sure that I will never sell it.


Women, kids, houses, employment, taxes....
the only sentence in which the word 'never' has a real sense is 'You never know what will happen'.
For the sake of this discussion, let's just say 'never' means 'in the next 10 years, or unless I buy a better-looking Challenger'...

I'm like you : I'll never sell my Challengers. Unless my priorities shift and I have to sell, or I can no longer maintain them properly.


Now, it makes sense to minimize modifications to a car that could possibly bring you good money if the need arises. It's a tough call in some cases, but, with the extensive work that needs to be done on your car, at least you don't have to aim for a concours restoration.
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Postby spoolinhard » 17 Aug 2008 0:07

fbernard wrote:
spoolinhard wrote:Although Im sure that I will never sell it.


Women, kids, houses, employment, taxes....
the only sentence in which the word 'never' has a real sense is 'You never know what will happen'.
For the sake of this discussion, let's just say 'never' means 'in the next 10 years, or unless I buy a better-looking Challenger'...

I'm like you : I'll never sell my Challengers. Unless my priorities shift and I have to sell, or I can no longer maintain them properly.


Now, it makes sense to minimize modifications to a car that could possibly bring you good money if the need arises. It's a tough call in some cases, but, with the extensive work that needs to be done on your car, at least you don't have to aim for a concours restoration.


I have been convinced that the stroker is a bad idea. No go. I am going to build my 340 pretty healthy. I already have everything for it, Need some machine work then I can assemble it. As far as selling it, never means never. Once it is finshished I have nothing else to work on. Since I am doing a rotisserie resto, I will not find another chally to be envious of. I am good at what I do and I take great pride in my work. Plus I am not made of money. I cant think about another e body on a whims notice. I have sacrificed many of my other project cars to keep going on this one. That is why i would never want a "nicer" one. Never means never in my case. If anything I might pass it on to my kids.....which I dont have any of......and only on my deathbead :lol: However I do have a good plan to cmplete this car. Lots of time and work, bu it will be done
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Postby patrick » 17 Aug 2008 7:32

Sound's like you have some good, straight forward goal's. :thumbsup: A T/A, is anybody's dream to start with. When I got into these car's, we could get them for $50.00, to a $1,000 buck's. All day long! :roll: Now, they are collecter's item's. Even if they were'nt, they would still be my favorite's. :nod: Good luck with your project! :thumbsup: It look's very nice to me! :biggrin:
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