A Charger Reborn

[Coelacanth]

I got a nice box full of bling today. I'm still being held up by some things that haven't arrived yet--plug wires and a hard-to-find carb fuel inlet fitting, mainly--then the engine bay will be looking a whole lot better.

[cunawarit]

Coelacanth, nice I hope you get her running soon. I know how it feels to have a car you cherish that doesn't run anymore... Doesn't feel good, reminds me of ballad of ole betsy

I have an IROC-Z which was my daily driver when I was a postgrad student, and for commuting for my first couple of jobs. I then got married and had kids and had to start driving a wagon... It hasn't run for 3 years and needs a bit of work

Here's it is when it worked:



Yeah, that's a Euro plate. I was a University student in the UK driving an American ponycar Now I drive a Mondeo

[slapshot1979]

and had to start driving a wagon... (

Hey I resemble that remark whats wrong with a wagon






I think the license plate reads TPI.eater J/K

[cunawarit]

That's a dream wagon I'd love a HEMI wagon any day!!!

Sadly I am driving a 2.5 litre V6 Ford wagon... not that

PS: I have absolutely no doubt that on a straight line the Magnum would beat the TPI IROC... I still reckon the IROC corners incredibly well though, so I'd fancy my chances in the twisties

[Coelacanth]

I seriously considered buying a Magnum in their second year, but I just couldn't afford the Hemi version...and I didn't want to buy a vehicle that looked that badass but didn't have the balls to back it up, so the V6 wasn't an option. Therefore I didn't buy a Magnum.

[slapshot1979]

well I was in love from the first moment but took me a few years to finally buy one. and yes based on fuel economy I bought the 260hp V6. I have never like a vehicle so much.
Sorry for the hijack...back to the show

[Coelacanth]

Well, it's been months but after all the work cleaning, detailing & removing/replacing & refinishing parts, my engine compartment is about 90% done! It's come a long way since how it looked early this spring.

I'm not concerned about the old paint in the compartment or engine block, because when the time comes to repaint the body, I'll pull the motor and everything out of the compartment anyway. I just wanted any areas showing surface rust to be treated with something to protect from any further oxidation, and everywhere I could get at with wire brushes & cleaner, to be cleaned up as good as possible.

Now that we got the engine turning over after 12 years of silence a few weeks ago (and siphoned out all the 12-year-old gas), I'm ready to connect the electronic ignition module, plug wires, etc. and fire up the ol' beast.

I still have the wires marked on the cap with masking tape for the firing order, and I haven't installed plug #1 (left it off so we could determine when cylinder 1 is in compression phase) and I couldn't get #7 popped on from above...I have to slide underneath to get that wire on.

I'm getting close to reaching my goal for this summer!

Before:

After Pics:

[scr8p]

hopefully it fires right up for ya.

[slapshot1979]

Looks great. not everyone can see the amount of time that goes into something like this but I can and appreciate that. Love the mopar valve covers, and is that the mopar performance coil? I remember years ago in the cuda a slight miss at high RPM that was cured by mopars upgraded coil

[Coelacanth]

Looks great. not everyone can see the amount of time that goes into something like this but I can and appreciate that. Love the mopar valve covers, and is that the mopar performance coil? I remember years ago in the cuda a slight miss at high RPM that was cured by mopars upgraded coil

Thanks slapshot, the coil is actually an Accel Super-stock coil that I removed the yellow sticker from. One of my pet peeves is stickers, I hate 'em!

The valve covers I plan to refinish in Duplicolor Engine Enamel, Grabber Green. I'll be painting the block & manifold that color too, when it comes time to pull the motor. Blasphemy to some, but one of my least favorite colors is orange. My Charger will one day be painted a green so dark it's almost black, with an emerald pearl in it, so it'll glint in the sun but look black in the shade. It'll have a Sublime green bumblebee stripe and I figure painting the engine block to match will make a nice contrast.

I'm hoping for a fire-up this weekend! Crossing my fingers...

[Mad Racer]

Marc that has come a long way indeed.

Some serious time in detailing a engine. My show car that I built up took close to a yr of cleaning,painting,chroming,powder coating, Hiding wiring looms, Tidying up wiring & etc. So I know the time it eats up.

Love your work & car.

More pic's.

[Coelacanth]

I just purchased one of those new all-aluminum radiators from eBay, that'll cool a lot more effectively than my leaky old brass & copper unit, and should look great, too. I'll need to use a different upper rad hose, though...

[HotRodJosh]

Right on....
My first car was a '68 Charger R/T....still have it too....
Currently partially apart awaiting funds for a few things....
Good luck on the resto.....

[Coelacanth]

Right on....
My first car was a '68 Charger R/T....still have it too....
Currently partially apart awaiting funds for a few things....
Good luck on the resto.....

Thanks, Josh...people like you and I must be few and far between--people whose first car was a muscle car or some other classic car, and they hung onto it for years & years until the cars could be properly restored. Most people who've come up to me tell tales of owning these cars and hating the fact they sold them!

[Coelacanth]

I installed a new aluminum 3-row radiator along with a transmission cooler that a coworker gave me for free. I did a lot of customizing and some fabrication to mount the cooler in a way to maximize cooling efficiency. I didn't want it pancaked right against the rad as suggested by the instructions. I wanted it to obstruct the rad as little as possible and used some home-made standoffs from some aluminum U-bar (or whatever you call it) to separate the cooler from the rad fins. That should improve airflow to that area of the rad as well as limit the amount of heat transferred from the rad to the cooler.

I was quite pleased with how I was able to route the tranny cooler hoses through existing holes in the rad support, it almost looks like it was meant for it.

I've had the car running for 5 minutes at a time about five times the last month, so although it took me nearly the entire spring & summer, I at least accomplished my goal of getting it fired up again after 12 years without starting it.

Now I'm dealing with some leak issues, I got P/S fluid leaking out of the Pitman shaft seal, I hope to resolve that this week...and tranny fluid leaking from the pan, rear end oil leaking too. After taking care of those issues & bleeding the brakes, maybe it'll be driveable. That won't be until next year.