Rumors re MoPig progress may be true

Yes, it feels like the annual "I gotta get this POS running!' is in session. No guaranties as to project completion date, but it's looking more like a "real car" so far.

I'm not gonna bother with a "done" and "to do" list, but installing the rest of the exhaust system (headers already in) and reinstalling the front fenders & front grill are the next tasks to work on in the next day or two.

I did think it might be interesting to list all of the changes that have been done to the car since it got pulled apart "many moons ago", so here's what I can list off the top of my head:

1. Updated engine makes about 10% more HP and 5% more torque
2. Strange S-60 replaced 8.75 w/ brace; same 4.10 gear ratio
3. Strange 3" chro-moly 1350 drive shaft w/ forged ends and billet slip yoke
4. Changed to 22" front CalTracs segments from 20"; still have old Rancho 5-way shocks... for now
5. Rear wheel width now 10"; used 8" before; same size 275/60R15 drag radial
6. Front tires changed to M&H 185/75R15 from no-name 215/75R15
7. Tubular upper control arms, Delrin lower control arm bushings, adjustable struts, new ball joints & tie rod ends; still have previous QA1 R single-adjustable drag shocks up front
8. Front frame rail repaired and some chassis reinforcements added
9. Original replica T/A hood's scoop modified to increase height 1.5"
10. "Real gauges", as in new AutoMeter oil pressure, oil temp and water temp
11. New fuel tank out of concern old tank had corrosion... which turned out not to be the case once I removed it
12. New 8K playback tach to replace old budget VDO tach... still in box; I pulled it out to look at today
13. 5-gallon pail of Sunoco 260 GT 100 UL E10 fuel for first fire up. 8^)

$trange Engineering lives here...

Nice work

Looks great!

Looks good, I think you will really enjoy it once you get it out.

That beautiful wiper motor is worth at least a tenth!

Looking good Brad

Very nice Brad! Looking forward to hearing how it runs when you get it back together.

Perhaps... or not

I think that wiper restoration was one of the last jobs Jules D'addio completed before he died. It's almost too pretty for a 20-footer like my '73.

Nice car. Looks tastefully done. Looks kind of familiar also. Similar to mine.

A car can represent more than one thing, and a small amount of resto bling adds enough distraction to make a statement.

Personally I am all about it.

I live in a world torn between resto and race, street and strip, the late '80s and today, so I really appreciate a little contradiction here and there.

Well, the car is definitely a product of me, for better or worse.

I get ideas about "stuff" and like to see them play out in the real world, unless I change my mind... again.

It's got an exhaust system on it for the first time in however long it's been. We started to clean up and test fit the front sheet metal before calling it a day. Won't be back into it until the following weekend, but it's all going in a positive direction.

Not just mechanical updates, the car's received some cosmetic mods. Going heavy on B5 blue and black w/ minimal bright trim. And the big-a$$ scoop...

Nice!

Thanks!

Seems like even the simplest tasks take forever, but each one done is an accomplishment all by itself.

Also, Mike Hynes (also a Moparts member) has been helping me for years w/ my cars. He's done his own resto / resto-mod work for decades and has experience w/ stuff I've never messed with. Here are some pics of his legit '71 R/T 440 Six Pack Challenger, which looks like a museum piece. Only the bugs in the radiator show any indication it's ever driven. He must feel like he's slumming when he works on mine.

I almost went with the same hood until I decided to custom make my Super Shaker scoop and hood.

my one buddy used to say : "there is no such thing as a 15 minute job...."
now, he says : "there is no such thing as an hour's job...."

I ain't getting any faster with age, either...

something about being "closer to 80 than 70 means you are closer to the end."..........

There is no escaping the natural end of life here on earth, everybody dies in the end
I'm hoping I die quickly and painlessly in my sleep and not be a pain to my survivors before then

so very true Cab, no one gets out alive !
my wife has said for years and years, she hopes she goes first so she doesn't haft'a deal with my "stuff".

Brad... were you planning to run an air pan with that hood?

Yep

Keep this updated if possible been trying to figure out a design for mine, but my intake sits to high

Gonna make a new one the same way I did one before:
- find a drop-style air cleaner base that lowers the filter surface below the surface of the hood
- cut out a cardboard template that matches the underside of the hood that you want to seal off
- cut out an opening in the template where the air cleaner base will mount
- get a sheet of thin luan (?) wood and cut to match cardboard template
- pop-rivet or screw air cleaner base to wood sealing plate
- get some fire-resistant foam (I use what Moroso sells)
- it requires trial & error test fittings to determine how much foam to glue on perimeter of sealing plate

If you have room for an air filter, installing the complete filter housing holds the sealing plate in place

Otherwise, the hood itself when closed may hold it in position; that's how my last one worked

Here's the one for this hood...

I'm expecting the Braswell base on the right will lower the plate enough to use w/ this head & intake combo that pushes the carb mounting surface up even more than before. Since I have only 4150 carbs, I've probably got more options for air cleaner configurations.

What intake you use? That wood looks kind of thick.

The wood is only ~ .200" thick, yet still does a good job of isolating heat from the carb. You can put your hand on the hood when the engine's been running and feel a noticeable temp diff between the hood exposed to under-hood heat and the hood isolated by the sealing pan.

I have a Trick Flow intake on top of Victor heads, so a tall intake w/ raised intake ports shifts the carb up quite a bit.

Roger that ....Thx you

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with knowing what happens when your hood scoop is too big? Does it jack with your tune, or...? Thx

After further digging into the subject... I guess this will be "interesting" to figure out on my own

Long story short is that scoop opening is waaaaaayyyyy too freakin' big IMO, but it is what it is

It is big, but it isn't THAT tall. Not way up in the "good" air so to speak. Although the 6 pack hood I used to have on my car was worth a tenth to a tenth and a half when it was sealed to the carb. So they do work even when they're kinda short.

I saw the same amount of improvement from sealing the stock T/A scoop setup vs running the scoop w/o a fresh-air plate

As far as the scoop being "too big", I'm not the first -- or only -- person to run a Big-N-Ugly one. VFN doesn't offer this style any longer (not on their web site now), but "340Rick" had theirs on his Chally. Not identical, but still pretty close.

While you are fabbing up your air pan. Is it possible to maybe leave enough area to build some sort of dam to slow the air down

I have a couple of ideas on things I may need to try out, including plugging off one half of the scoop, air "baffles" (like you mentioned), spring-loaded trap doors to allow some amount of excess airflow to vent...

If the scoop is sealed to the hood then I would imagine it would build pressure and maybe not be as turbulent as it would be if there was no pan or sealing to the hood. I know some EFI guys I follow have noted positive manifold pressure with those lexan scoops.

I remember years ago Thumper had mention something about adding release holes in the back of his hood scoop to release turbulence to his carbs. It made sense. I put hole in the rear of my hood to release under hood pressure because I had pressure building on the top end where the hood would stress crack.

That’s what I did.

Lexan scoops are an issue, they simply don't have enough volume in that small space, so yes they need to be vented. A properly sized scoop for the engines needs does NOT need to be vented in any way. There are anumber of sources out there to help determine what sixe your engine actually NEEDS.

Here is just one article on the subject but its not difficult to calculate the volume needed

https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-t...p-speed-with-a-forward-facing-air-inlet/

I have some reading to do...

"This is not a mockup. Repeat - This is not a mockup."

Looking Good

.

This one's for ZIPPY

Glad you're enjoying that enough to put it on a plate, and the new 'built not bought' tag is cool too.

It's one of those things that only people with knowledge of the modern challengers would understand.

Personally, I'm in the market for an OE appearing fender tag that reads the same as Samuel L. Jackson's wallet.....