Photo Dump: TKX Swapping My '76 Charger

So this is happening. Got questions, comments, etc. leave them and I'll check in periodically and provide answers.

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So far:

* 1971-74 B-body and 1970-74 E-body pedals both will work.
* Transmission is a Tremec TKX five-speed, from American Powertrain
* Bellhousing fits beautifully...if it wasn't for my exhaust in the way.
* Trans crossmember and torsion bar crossmember has a minor fitment issue. Probably will be solving that with a grinder.

Very cool! What motor?

Neat!

What a cool project!

Stock 360 at the moment. Still not decided on the future engine upgrade - either built small-block or 3G Hemi, but either way I should be good to go with minimal effort.

Cool project! Love the license plate!

I'd go with the 3G. Even just a stone stock 3G would put you so far ahead of the original 360....

Will be curious to know how you like it. I'm planning on installing a TKX in my 69. A friend installed one in his 69 Mach One, and loves it.

I remember my 76, rotted out before the 80s were done. Was my 1st car.
Now I have a 78 fury 2 door hardtop

Has to beat the last m/t car I had (a miserable pile of a 2012 Chevy Cruze) by a mile.

LOL, That is what I drive daily. Definitely NOT a performance car, but it was cheap, gets good mileage, easy to get parts to fix it, easy to work on etc. I refuse to have an expensive daily driver, when I drive 90 miles to work round trip.

LOL, That is what I drive daily. Definitely NOT a performance car, but it was cheap, gets good mileage, easy to get parts to fix it, easy to work on etc. I refuse to have an expensive daily driver, when I drive 90 miles to work round trip. [/quote]

Mine was a 2012 Eco model. Bought it when I was driving 17-18,000 miles/year covering events for BangShift. When it worked, it was great...nimble, kind of sporty, great fuel economy, and didn't look like I had completely given up on life. But the repairs...it had a new transaxle put in as soon as I bought it, then the 1.4 ate it's PCV valve, so I did a CruzeKits fix on it and replaced the valve cover, then learned that the hydraulic throwout bearing failed which nuked the clutch. And a clutch job on a Cruze is a bigger PITA than sitting on a cactus. Everything but the engine comes out of the front of the car. Sold the car for a minor loss and wound up with a Chevy Volt instead for the eco-trip vehicle in the fleet.

[/rant]

Warhammer Version 2.0

Glad I ran across this post. Watching.

Very cool project. My 1st and only new car. $6300. Had Bucket seats with out console.

While waiting on some information from the engineers who are working with me, decided to clean up and paint the floor shift column I have for the car. Originally from a '79 300. In the comparison shot, you'll notice that the paint color I used is very close to the leather color that Craft Customs picked for the Tuff wheel. The darker adapter is the Mirada adapter they painted. In no way am I knocking them at all...I just didn't expect that an FMJ adapter wouldn't work on a B-body.

Floor shift column swap.

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Looks Awesome.

Good work.

Seems like you figured out your adapter problem. Both those columns are Mopar non tilt columns, did you figure out why the adapter didn't work?

x2.

The diameter of the steering shaft of FJMs is smaller. The can physically will not fit over a B-body steering shaft. I took another look at it when I swapped the collapsable section of the steering shaft between the two B-body columns (different bearing systems at the firewall end) and short of a 10-pound sledge and the work ethic of John Henry, the Mirada adapter won't fit.

Bellhousing has been dialed in, mercifully it was within spec from the start. Whoever designed that magnetic-base contraption for the dial indicator has their own room reserved in a special warm place.

Next up: Clutch installation and floor opening.

First fitment. More trimming than I expected, but all the same, not bad either.

You can slice the seam where the floor pan meets the firewall at the 9, 10.5, 12, 1.5 and 3 o' clock positions, and fold it forward until it's flush with the firewall for more clearance. Helps a lot for being able to reach the topmost bellhousing bolts.

I'm actually surprised at how much room I have for the bell bolts! Doesn't look like I'll need to fold/roll anything. Even with my gigantic paw, the bellhousing bolts weren't an issue.

Car looks awesome.

Do you have a plan to reinforce where the center of the crossmember is removed?

The transmission crossmember will supply the reinforcement, the open ends of the crossmember will be boxed in and additional metal will be added where the hole got trimmed too far forward on the floorpan. Since the torsion bar crossmember is less than an inch forward of this position, I don't expect any issues.

Disassembled the whole kit to clean up the hole in the floor and where I cut the brace. Painted bare metal in primer and Garnet Red. Installed the secondary fitment ring into the bellhousing, then took the measurements before installing the throwout bearing. Finally, topped the trans off with fluid, installed the new driveline and fired the Charger off for the first time since late December.

Still need to actually run the hydraulics, from the reservoir to the bearing before the car can move. Also need to rework some wiring so that the key works again, make cover plates for the open portions of the floor, and replace some gaskets (valve cover and axle cover) while the car is in the air. But progress is moving along...something that historically hasn't been my forte.

Awesome work.

Great Pics

Made a big push forwards last night on the Charger. The cruise control module was removed. Not sure if this is a temporary thing or if this will be permanent...the servo never worked and not sure how it is supposed to function without the speedometer cables (I'm running an electronic speedometer). Then decided to tackle the leaking rear diff cover. Good thing I did, there was barely anything functioning as a gasket. Good, clear fluid did come out, so I'm hoping I dodged a bullet here. Next up was routing lines for the throwout bearing. A plastic plug next to the steering column was perfect for the pedal-to-bearing line, while a hole in the firewall next to the HVAC vacuum line was great for the reservoir-to-pedal hose. Finally, took the cruise control cable bracket off of the brake booster, beat the poor thing flat, flipped it and drilled it to mount the reservoir.

progress is always a good thing.
however, in my old age, i have come to the conclusion there are no such things as : "5 minute, 5 hour, or 5 day" jobs..............

No doubt. This conversion is pushing into Month 4. But the light at the end of the tunnel has been getting brighter. Backed it off of the ramps and putted it around the yard yesterday. It's back on the ramps...need to check bearing clearance and clutch engagement, when pedal is in there's noise. But with pedal out, she moves. A few days of final tweaking and it should be running up and down the road.

Then comes the list of things I have to put back together before Power Tour/Carlisle.

First drive has been completed! One 23-mile trip so far, shifts nice, cruises great. Little noisy, but it's a fresh trans and there's still a pretty open hole in the floor I need to patch up. Only found one problem: Does not like starting off at all. First or reverse.

2.41 open 8.25. Can't imagine why...

That's all for now. Off to make a post in the Moparts classifieds...

Awesome it is up and running.

Plans for a rear end yet?

Already hunting. At a minimum, I need to step up to a 3.23. This poor boat is hurting starting out in first or reverse. Once moving, it's fantastic, but 5th is only useful well after 70 MPH. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the window to get anything built before either Power Tour or Carlisle is just about shut. If I'm lucky and find something, it'll have to be drop-in ready. I've got other, even more pressing issues to contend with at the moment, too...rear suspension is too soft and currently too low, need to replace rear tires (see above), need to get the interior back together, need to figure out why my brand-freaking-new gauge cluster's fuel gauge is as useless as a submarine's screen door. Right now, the car moves. As long as I avoid hill starts, I'll be okay.

(if anyone has a rear axle ready to go near Kentucky, let me know ASAP! )

Quick update: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/swapping-a-tremec-tkx-into-a-76-dodge-charger/