The Dodge Challenger Message Board

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! 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 computer

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? Nice car&truck!

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? 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. 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.

Welcome spoolinhard. Sounds like a neat project. Keep us posted with pics. The guys on here will be a big help in any aspect of your build.
Bob

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? 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. 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? 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).

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? 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. 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? 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.

Keep us posted! We love pics!

hey spoolinhard,i would keep the car as stock as possible on the exterior as it is a T/A car 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.

rtse4406pack wrote:hey spoolinhard,i would keep the car as stock as possible on the exterior as it is a T/A car 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.

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.

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.

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 However I do have a good plan to cmplete this car. Lots of time and work, bu it will be done

Sound's like you have some good, straight forward goal's. 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! Now, they are collecter's item's. Even if they were'nt, they would still be my favorite's. Good luck with your project! It look's very nice to me!
Patrick