Well, good people of internet-town, after a year or so of searching, I have finally procured a new ‘hicle. This one is a pretty decent example of a 1966 Dodge Charger. Here it is in the dark, parked. Isn’t that a THRILL?
A Dodge with a goofy hood scoop.
Emerging from… Well, a trailer.
Well, now that you’ve seen some fantastic pictures, I’ll tell you a little about this SBD. It’s a 1966 Charger, obviously. It’s been painted once (a slightly incorrect color) and it’s nearly without rust. I’ve found a few little pips on the right rear quarter, behind the wheels, but those should be easy to deal with. Other than that, it’s clean, dry and unmolested. The previous owner had the car in the Kansas City metroplex for about 9 years, having bought it from Colorado. It’s originally a California car, and it shows.
Originally, this was a 361 car, but that motor apparently went kerflooey in a walnut grove some years ago, and was subsequently replaced with a 440. Since I wanted a 440 anyhow, this is good. The transmission was recently rebuilt, and I can tell that it at least has been spritzed with spray paint, so it’s probably just swell inside that 727, right?! Oh, he also put a hood scoop on it. It’s pretty well installed, and I suppose it lets cool air in (or hot air out,) but I don’t like it. I’ll be putting on a stock hood as soon as I can find one, and have it painted to match.
As far as projects go, this car actually starts, runs and drives. It’s more than presentable, inside and out. The paint is good up to about 10 feet, which is good enough for now. I found the car on Craigslist; I’ve been searching CL for a year or so, nationwide, trying to find a car. Many phone calls, emails and random perusings later, I found this car, called the owner, chatted to him for a while and then was lucky enough to have my old buddy Bill go by and check it out in person, as it was relatively local to him. Bill saw the car, looked it over, took a few pictures, and gave it a thumbs up. A few more phone calls, and I wired some money to Bill, he took cash to the dude, and drove it back to his house.
After getting it there, he informs me that the brakes are “terrifying,” and that he’s “no where near man enough” to drive the car very far. Terrific.
About a day later, he mans up enough to open the master cylinder, and finds it essentially dry. Poured some brake fluid in there, adjusted the brake lamp switch, and Bob’s yer uncle, off he went to drive around some. His subsequent updated report was much more encouraging. He was able to somehow discover (entirely by accident, I’m certain) that A) the car lacked Sure-Grip, and B) the car would “smoke the willies” out of the rear tire taking the power. Whee!
So, I checked around, got a few quotes, selected a transport company, and had the car brought to Atlanta, where it was delivered to the house. I was pleased when the car started without hesitation from its nest in the trailer, and emerged without fuss. I wheeled it down into the driveway, and there it is.
Old master cylinder
It turns out that master cylinder was leaking out of the back, into the passenger compartment side of the firewall. Sweeeeeet. I did a little poking around, and I was able to procure a new master cylinder from a local parts place. The old one was the stock ’66 unit, a single pot death jar. I picked one up for a ’67 car, and doubled my thrills by having 2 circuits now. Bent up a couple new lines, moved the rear line from the old distribution block and plugged that hole, and there we have it. I’ll finish bleeding tomorrow, and of we go!
One thing about that little project – I used my new brake bleeding tool for the first time on that little task. It’s a reverse flow bleeding system called the “Phoenix Injector,” and it works… Pretty well. It’s still a messy, ugly job. And if you don’t constantly remember to put the lid onto the master cylinder, you’ll be shooting fluid up and out, and all over the damned place. Argh. You’ll also need some way to remove excess fluid from the master cylinder as you’re working- I used my mityvac hand held vacuum pump, and a motive bleeder jar. Worked ok.
New master cylinder! Whee!
There’s a lot to do, on this car. It really “needs” very little, but I’m going to do a lot. It needs:
- The EL dash lights aren’t working. The 66 and 67 cars have electro-luminescent lighting for the gauges, powered by a special 250v ac supply under the dash. I’m using the working assumption that it’s bad (they are notorious for going out) and I’ve ordered a replacement.
- Some work on the headlights. They work fine. but the grille and lights are slightly out of alignment.
- The heater core leaks! Hooray! Needs a new one. I may replace it, or I might just bypass it for now
The “I want” list is far longer. And more expensive.
- Air conditioning
- All new (large) disc brakes, and hydraboost assist.
- New wheels and tires to fit the new brakes
- All new suspension, sway bars and springs.
- Some work to the engine – heads, cam, intake to start. The headers will probably be replaced.
- Steering box
- Exhaust system (probably TTI, with spintech mufflers and cutouts. I want the option for loud, but not the requirement!)
- Hidden audio system
- New carpets, headliner and a bit of trim cleanup on the interior
Well, that’s about it for today, invisible readers. I’ll be back again some day!
