I bought this '71 Challenger in July '13. The E-body is my favorite car and I wanted one to cruise around town, go to some shows, and have some seat in pants punch when I hit the throttle. I also have 3 boys who love this car, so driving around with them is the real thrill because hopefully someday it will be theirs to drive. This car was a 318 straight up Challenger and is far from numbers matching so my plans are to make it safe, handle well and upgrade the performance with a lean towards a restomod but nothing over the top. Eventually the color will J6 Green Go, but I have not decided on stripes/hood black out. This will be at least a 3 stage project: bottom end and engine first, then the body and paint, and finally the interior and any extras.
Over this winter I been working on the bottom end by dropping the entire suspension, exhaust, fuel system and pulling the engine. I was originally going to rebuild the existing 360 and stroke it to a 408ci. However, once the engine was apart many issues were discovered and the price to rebuild, fix, and stroke the engine was close to a new build. So I sold the engine and set off to do A LOT of research and talking to machine shops locally and across the US in search of a new engine. I ended up ordering a new stroked 360 from Carolina Engine Machines who were extremely helpful and offer great customer service. I could order the engine exactly the way I wanted it and it includes a written warranty. It has a cast crank, hydraulic roller cam with .530" lift and 288/238 duration, forged rods and pistons, CNC ported aluminum heads, roller rockers, Edelbrock Victor aluminum single plane intake, and a QFT SS series 780 cfm vacuum secondary carb. They do a sim test, brake it in, and dyno it (including sending the actual dyno video and sheet). I also will install a March serpentine pulley system and a new engine harness. The engine should arrive mid to late April. I am also relocating the battery to the trunk, and the fuel pump to the rear where it is supposed to be (it was mounted on the passenger inner fender next to the headers). While the engine is out, I have decided to have a great body shop near by clean the up the engine bay and firewall and paint it, which should be in a few weeks.
For the suspension, all bushings were replaced with new Moog, I upgraded the torsion bars to 1", ordered new Billstein shocks all the way around, am converting to 4 wheel power disc brakes from 4 drums, installing front and rear sway bars, and will install new XHD springs. I went to Quanta for a new fuel tank, upgrading the main fuel line to 3/8" with a 1/4" return. I decided on a new TTI exhaust system with polished ceramic coated with thermal barrier 1 3/4" step headers and a 3" H-pipe exhaust. I also added the Challenger tips so I had to replace the rear valance.
It had 3.91 gears so I am switching them out to 3.55 (so I can go more than 45 MPH without rapping up the RPM's) and am having new bearings put in while at it. The 727 is also being rebuilt with a shift kit and new torque converter since the engine will be around 450 HP and 500 lbs of torque.
I knew the trunk floor was bad but once I dropped the fuel tank it seemed even worse. So I ordered an AMD trunk floor. I just finished undercoating the bottom Thursday and am ready to start putting everything back on.
Over this winter I been working on the bottom end by dropping the entire suspension, exhaust, fuel system and pulling the engine. I was originally going to rebuild the existing 360 and stroke it to a 408ci. However, once the engine was apart many issues were discovered and the price to rebuild, fix, and stroke the engine was close to a new build. So I sold the engine and set off to do A LOT of research and talking to machine shops locally and across the US in search of a new engine. I ended up ordering a new stroked 360 from Carolina Engine Machines who were extremely helpful and offer great customer service. I could order the engine exactly the way I wanted it and it includes a written warranty. It has a cast crank, hydraulic roller cam with .530" lift and 288/238 duration, forged rods and pistons, CNC ported aluminum heads, roller rockers, Edelbrock Victor aluminum single plane intake, and a QFT SS series 780 cfm vacuum secondary carb. They do a sim test, brake it in, and dyno it (including sending the actual dyno video and sheet). I also will install a March serpentine pulley system and a new engine harness. The engine should arrive mid to late April. I am also relocating the battery to the trunk, and the fuel pump to the rear where it is supposed to be (it was mounted on the passenger inner fender next to the headers). While the engine is out, I have decided to have a great body shop near by clean the up the engine bay and firewall and paint it, which should be in a few weeks.
For the suspension, all bushings were replaced with new Moog, I upgraded the torsion bars to 1", ordered new Billstein shocks all the way around, am converting to 4 wheel power disc brakes from 4 drums, installing front and rear sway bars, and will install new XHD springs. I went to Quanta for a new fuel tank, upgrading the main fuel line to 3/8" with a 1/4" return. I decided on a new TTI exhaust system with polished ceramic coated with thermal barrier 1 3/4" step headers and a 3" H-pipe exhaust. I also added the Challenger tips so I had to replace the rear valance.
It had 3.91 gears so I am switching them out to 3.55 (so I can go more than 45 MPH without rapping up the RPM's) and am having new bearings put in while at it. The 727 is also being rebuilt with a shift kit and new torque converter since the engine will be around 450 HP and 500 lbs of torque.
I knew the trunk floor was bad but once I dropped the fuel tank it seemed even worse. So I ordered an AMD trunk floor. I just finished undercoating the bottom Thursday and am ready to start putting everything back on.
