DodgeCoronet.com

I have an extremely good friend here in Phoenix who has recently purchased his first Mopar project car, a non running 1973 Dodge Charger SE that is shown below. The car currently has a non original 360 small block backed by the original column shifted 904 automatic transmission and as far as I know, an 8.25 rear differential without a Sure-Grip. The car also has factory a/c, power steering and power brakes.

He is going to be doing a complete restoration on the car and will be adding the power bulge hood that he recently purchased and is planning on painting the car Sub-Lime Green with a full Black vinyl top if he can locate the correct factory full vinyl top trim mouldings that were removed from the car in the past. He is also planning to add one of the reproduction deck lid spoilers and will add one of the factory style Black body stripes and two tone performance hood treatments similar to what was used on the 1971 Charger R/T models. The interior will be upgraded with a complete Rallye dashboard assembly he just purchased and the shifter will be moved from the column to the floor along with a factory console he found. Obviously he won't be taking this car back to factory stock, but rather building it exactly the way he wants it, just like I did with my 66 Coronet 500.

As far as drivetrain upgrades go, I just helped him purchase a 1969 440 hp short block assembly and a set of 906 cylinder heads along with a 727 big block automatic transmission that can be rebuilt from another long time friend of mine here in Phoenix. He's thinking of running a Six Pack induction system and maybe one of the .474 Mopar Performance camshafts and a reproduction set of the 1969 383/440 hp exhaust manifolds, as like me, he's not a fan of headers. The 727 will most likely be rebuilt with a full manual shift valve body and a streetable 2500-2800 stall torque converter also like I run in my Coronet.

I do need some help from you folks who own, or have owned in the past one of the 1971-1974 Dodge or Plymouth B-Body cars. I haven't been able to verify if his car does have a 8.25 rear axle assembly or not yet, but he does believe that's what he has, so with his planned powertrain upgrades, he wants to find a complete 8.75 rear differential assembly for this car and since I have almost no experience with the 1971-1974 B-Body cars, will he need to find an 8.75 from a donor 1971-1974 B-Body car, or will a 8.75 from the 1966-1970 B-Body cars work as well? New wheels and tires are also in his plans, so if the 1966-1970 rear axle assemblies are a bit narrower than the 1971-1974 units are, could he address that difference with carefully chosen offset on the rear wheels?

Thanks very much in advance for your help!

Richard

As it looks now with it's original flat hood.





and somewhat like he'd like it to look after it's restoration only with aftermarket wheels rather than the factory Rallye wheels.

Rich.... 73 and up used the iso suspension setup. my 73 is still setup with this type- but I picked up nos rubber pads for the rear axle pads-8 3/4 3.55 sure grip under a 340. so they are out there. most change it out to the pre 72 without the rubber- but there is things you have to do to use a older axle under the 73 suspension. not sure of offset- someone else will chime in!!!
hey- heading down your way on Friday for 2 weeks!!! :-)

Very cool, where will you be visiting?

As far as the 73 Charger rear suspension and also the 73 style body mounts, it looks as if they are being offered by aftermarket companies such as Energy Suspensions as shown below.

Rear leaf spring pads

http://www.carid.com/1973-dodge-charger-...85047.html

Body mounts

http://www.carid.com/1973-dodge-charger-...92538.html

If he wanted to swap over to a pre 1973 rear suspension set up, what would be required to do so? Is there also a large difference in length between the 1971-74 B-Body rear axle assemblies and the 1966-1970 cars?

And one other question that I'm worried about concerning this 73 Charger, is if it's going to be difficult or impossible to find speciality aftermarket motor mounts to run the 69 440 with the cars original small block k-member? I know that these aftermarket motor mounts are available for most all of the 1966-1970 B-Body cars, but I've never looked to see if they are available for the 1971-74 B-Body cars.

Thanks very much for your help and I may have more questions in the future my friend!

Richard

Been doing some research on the 73 and up B-Body cars today while waiting on rain delays with the Daytona N.A.S.C.A.R. race and have answered my own question regarding the aftermarket small block to big block conversion motor mounts that my friend and me will be looking for on his 73 Charger, as well as which specific center sump Chrysler big block oil pan that will be needed.

Richard

Schumacher 1973 and up A, B, C, F, M and J-Body V-8 to B/RB motor mounts:
Part #A73B8



Chrysler "971" oil pan, part #3614970, which also looks to be available at Schumacher.

I think the 68-70 8.75 rears are a couple of inches narrower than 71 and up. There's a website out there all about 8.75s... I can't remember it now, but a Google search should find it... I do know in 71 they advertised a wider rear track than the 70s...

This should help...
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2004...ure21.html

Always liked these Chargers, I remember when they were brand new, like some of us here too. I also saw many in the auto wreckers. I do know that a Dana60 meant for this car with a 4 speed and 440 were the same rear end as an E-body. I actually sold a Dana60 from one of these cars back in the day and the guy who bought it from me had a 1972 'Cuda with a transplanted 440/4-speed. He was happy and so was I, I made a bundle on it! I got the Dana60 for $50 because the yard rat didn't know what it was from.

Phantom440 Wrote:This should help...
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2004...ure21.html

Thank you very much, as the web site link you provided me is exactly what I was looking for! Do you happen to own one of the 1971-74 Dodge, or Plymouth B-Body cars?

Looks like for an exact width match for a 8.75 rear differential, we will be looking for an assembly from either a 1971 through 1974 B-Body car, or from a 1970-1971 C-Body car.

1966-1972 A-bodies - 57 1/8th inches
1962-1963 B-bodies - 58 1/2 inches
1964-1967 B-bodies - 59 1/2 inches
1970-1971 Imperial - 59 3/4 inches
1968-1970 B-bodies - 60 1/8 inches
1970-1974 E-bodies - 61 5/8 inches
1965-1969 C-bodies and 1965-1970 A100 vans 61 3/4 inches
1965-1966 Imperial - 62 inches
1967-1969 Imperial - 62 5/16 inches
1970-1971 C-bodies and 1971-1974 B-bodies - 63 inches
1965-1971 D100 pickups - 64 inches
1969 C-body wagons and 1971-1973 B-body wagons - 64 3/8 inches
1970-1973 C-bodies and 1972-1974 D100 pickups - 64 3/8 inches

Richard

glad others piped in.... has been done before- ya might have to go to http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/ and ask more there. where are you!!


going to Mesa, In laws are there from here for 5 months of the year. spending 2 weeks there ( ah- sun and no snow!!!!!!!!!) been ruff up here for the last month- too much snow-went snowmobiling -lost my work phone, then Dad passed away, dealt with that, then my sister had two neck vertebrae's twist in her neck- big surgery there, and SNOWING like hell again- let me outta here!! lol.

71_deputy Wrote:glad others piped in.... has been done before- ya might have to go to http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/ and ask more there. where are you!!


going to Mesa, In laws are there from here for 5 months of the year. spending 2 weeks there ( ah- sun and no snow!!!!!!!!!) been ruff up here for the last month- too much snow-went snowmobiling -lost my work phone, then Dad passed away, dealt with that, then my sister had two neck vertebrae's twist in her neck- big surgery there, and SNOWING like hell again- let me outta here!! lol.

I'm extremely sorry to hear of your fathers passing and your sisters medical issues my friend. With all of that plus all of the challenging weather you've been having, it does sound like a nice relaxing vacation is in order. I'm roughly 20 to 30 miles from Mesa in North Phoenix and by the way, it's been in the low 80's here the past few weeks, but since N.A.S.C.A.R. is coming to town this coming weekend (Feb 28th-March 2nd), it's supposed to rain on Sat and Sun! It's been almost 70 days since we've last had rain, so I guess that it took N.A.S.C.A.R. coming here to make it happen!

As far as the forbbodiesonly web site goes, I'm technically still a member there and was very active for awhile, but I haven't been around there for several years now. I'll just say that there are some issues over there that I don't enjoy and will leave it at that.

Richard