Buddies "new" Charger...

[Birddog]

Nothing went as planned today. Tow truck #1 blew us off.. AAA wouldn't come tow it since it didn't have plates/insurance yet... Tow truck #2 showed up 2hours late.... BUT we got her home!

1973 Charger SE, 400 4bbl/727/8.75, 86,660 miles, Imperial fabric bench seats and crazy grained vinyl top.. The only major issue is the guy rebuilt the thermoquad himself.... It likes to bubble fuel up through the float tubes..

[cordes]

Wow, that car looks sweet. If you don't mind my asking what would one of those run these days? I am sure there is a reason why my driveway is full of 80's FWD cars rather than those. Not that I am complaining mind you.

[Clay]

thats a good lookin 'burrito'!

a good friend of mine has a 73 SE 400 auto like that, only black. His dad bought the car new in 72, and now he has it. Last year we built a 400 stroker for the car for a much needed HP improvement! We have always called his car a burrito because of how wide/long/short it is.

[Birddog]

Wow, that car looks sweet. If you don't mind my asking what would one of those run these days? I am sure there is a reason why my driveway is full of 80's FWD cars rather than those. Not that I am complaining mind you.

11,000... Yes there is a reason for those 80s FWD cars in the drive!(same reason as me I'd venture to guess)

thats a good lookin 'burrito'!

a good friend of mine has a 73 SE 400 auto like that, only black. His dad bought the car new in 72, and now he has it. Last year we built a 400 stroker for the car for a much needed HP improvement! We have always called his car a burrito because of how wide/long/short it is.

I know what you're saying. This sucker is almost 5' wide at the C pillar! I love the Coke bottle body though. Sitting behind the wheel it seems like you could land a Piper on it!

[denviola]

Very nice, and the TQ shouldn't be too hard to straighten out. There were a couple of center O-rings that must be seated properly and could cause the bubbling. One thing from my dealer days - get the manual and set linkage tolerance exactly. TQ has more external linkage than most other carbs (instead of internal parts) especially the later composite bowl models. Use a straight edge on the underside of the top to check for flatness. Many times people tighten air cleaners so much that it pulls the top into an arch.

If you already knew these, you have worked on TQs before.

Denny

[BadAssPerformance]

Nice car!

[Scottmon]

Yikes! I hope if you had it towed any distance you had the driveshaft disconnected! No rear pump in the tranny + towing with driveshaft connected and turning internals could = tranny damage. I'd at least change the fluid and check the bands right off the bat.

Very nice Charger, I'm working on an original In-Violet '71 Road Runner right now.

[supercrackerbox]

Any tow truck driver that knows what he's doing would lift the car by the drive wheels anyway.

[Scottmon]

Any tow truck driver that knows what he's doing would lift the car by the drive wheels anyway.

Who's to say he knew what he was doing?!?!!!

[Birddog]

Very nice, and the TQ shouldn't be too hard to straighten out. There were a couple of center O-rings that must be seated properly and could cause the bubbling. One thing from my dealer days - get the manual and set linkage tolerance exactly. TQ has more external linkage than most other carbs (instead of internal parts) especially the later composite bowl models. Use a straight edge on the underside of the top to check for flatness. Many times people tighten air cleaners so much that it pulls the top into an arch.

If you already knew these, you have worked on TQs before.

Denny

I'm rebuilding the carb soon, We were lucky enough to get a spare with the car and I have a NOS replacement out at the farm. I was always a fan of those and Q-jets and have boxes of parts for 'em.

Who's to say he knew what he was doing?!?!!!

It was on a rollback. No way it'd go on a hook!
The driver was really cool, he swapped the standard chains with straps and a couple of 4x4s so the rear bumper didn't dig into the asphalt on the way up.
If everything goes right it should be road worthy in two weeks.

[jay]

very nice lookin'

[GLHS592]

Never was a fan of the 3rd gen. Chargers, but that one is pretty sweet.

[Birddog]

I gotta admit that the 71-74 B bodies were the kind of cars that you either love or hate. I think the Plymouth line got the better styling as the Sat/RR got an Ominous grille. (Should have seen the Road Runner at our SDAC meeting )

Boyo was looking for a B or E body seven years ago. He went to look at a 63 Rivera with a couple of "car buddies" and actually talked him into it, I was supposed to go as the voice of reason. Voice of reason as in if you're looking at Mopar performance cars why and how do you think a 63 nailhead Buick will satisfy your requirements...


Anyhoo... The PO was an anal sumbiatch! He did everything he could to not molest the car's originality. He bought a bolt of the original seat fabric so when he got around to the interior he could do it right, he bought 25 taillight assemblies so he could find ones that weren't too weathered, and the list goes on and on and on... We even got 4 "original" Ralley wheels, caps and rings to boot!

[WickedShelby88]

I happen to like the coke bottle chargers. I came across an RT that was just sitting at this guys business in dire need of attention when I was 15. He wouldn't sell it for anything. At least its got the 400 4bbl. The 2 barrel models have the undesireable heads for sure. Thats the main reason I didn't really do much with the old 72 monaco my dad let me drive for a year after I got my license. He's still got the old car, but it loses OP when it warms up and knocks like a son of a gun.