I purchased this '70 Challenger in October 1985. It was originally from Arizona, so it was completely rust free. Along with the shell came three van loads of parts. The car was a basket case. All the loose sheetmetal that came with it (doors, fenders, decklid) were rusty Michigan parts and couldn't be used, so I acquired better sheetmetal from parts cars and swap meets, and then I proceeded to work on the car. This was my first restoration, and I learned how to do bodywork and paint as I went. After the body was done, I installed a 340 with a 727 transmission and an 831/44 rear. I finished the car-for the first time-in spring 1989. Between 1989 and 1994, I drove, showed, and raced the car regularly. Then, in the summer of 1994, I bought my first house and decided it was time to redo the car again.
The car was completely disassembled down to the bare shell and stripped clean. I then tied the frame with 2x3-inch square tubing and relocated the rear leaf springs inboard using the Mopar Performance spring relocation kit. I then focused on the bodywork, just as I did in the late-'80s. Once the bodywork was done, I painted the car Berry Red Metallic, chosen from the Dupont Custom Color book and matched with the color of my wife's nail polish. I used the Dupont Chromabase System (urethane basecoat/clearcoat), added a white "butt" stripe, and painted the rear bumper white as well. I painted the front bumper the same color as the body.
Once the paintwork was done, I started to assemble the front suspension. Everything was stripped to bare metal, epoxy-primed and repainted. Polyurethane bushings were used throughout, using a PST frontend kit. The front brakes are stock disc brakes, and the steering box is a manual unit. I reinstalled the previously used 340 and a newly acquired four-speed transmission.
Once the mechanicals were done, I restored all the trim and reinstalled it on the car. The seat covers-made by Motor City originals in 1987-and the rest of the interior was freshened up. I re-dyed the door panels white, cleaned up the seats, and laid new black carpeting from ACC. After the interior was installed, the car went to Automotive Interiors in Mount Clemens, Michigan, for a headliner and vinyl top. I chose Weld Prostar wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson tires. I detailed it and finished it at midnight on the Thursday before the Mopar Nats in 1999. I left for Columbus on Friday morning, and the car took First Place in the E-Body Modified class.
For the next few years, the car was driven, shown, and raced. The best quarter-mile time with the 340 was a 12.24 at 112 mph. In August 2001, while racing at Lapeer Dragway in Michigan, I missed a shift and took the engine to 8,200 rpm. Needless to say, I wiped out the No. 1 and No. 2 rod bearings. After hurting my 340, a new stroker small-block was on the list.
One morning, I was surfing the Internet and found an ad for an NHRA legal B/SA Hemi engine for sale. In order to get the seller's e-mail address, I had to pay $20 to join the Web site. After I registered, the seller replied and told me the engine was located 20 minutes from where I live. I arranged a meeting with the seller for later that evening, and when I arrived, there it sat-complete, carbs to oil pan. The owner said the Hemi originally came out of a '66 Charger, and he had the engine built to NHRA Stock Eliminator rules for '70 specs, by Greg Luneak of Tri-City Competition. He raced it in a B/SA '70 Challenger at numerous divisional and national events, including the U.S. Nationals twice. At a divisional race, he ran the engine low on oil and spun a couple of rod bearings. After that happened, he pulled the Hemi and sent it back to Tri-City Competition for a rebuild and put a 440 Six Pack engine in the car and continued racing. When he got the Hemi back, he had every intention of putting it back into his car but never got around to it.
Fast forward nine years. The owner has run into money trouble, and here I am looking at it. I bought the Hemi, an extra set of carbs, pistons and rods, a Rat Roaster intake, Hooker Super Comp headers for an E-Body, the round Hemi air cleaner, and an extra set of valve covers for $6,000. Once I got the engine home, I placed all the items I knew I wasn't going to use on eBay and got $2,500 of my money back.
The next step was to tear the Hemi down and inspect it since it sat for so long. Friend and fellow Moparts.com member Todd Fisher and I disassembled the Hemi. I was happy to see that everything looked fine inside, that the previous owner hadn't lied to me. Todd started to reassemble the engine with standard tension plasma moly rings to replace the low-tension race rings. He also put a fresh hone to the cylinder bores. The main bearings were replaced due to flaking on a few bearings, but the rod bearings were perfect and reused. A solid lifter Mopar Performance cam with .312 degrees duration and .614/.598-inch lift was then installed.
The ports in the heads were cleaned up, removing any casting flash and irregularities, and the NHRA-legal valve job was left alone. Some hand lapping was all that was needed. New Diamond Racing valvesprings and Comp Cams 10-degree locks and retainers were also installed. The stock rocker assemblies looked perfect and were reinstalled. Instead of going with the factory dual-quad induction system, I decided to go with the Indy cylinder heads 426-4, single Dominator intake and a Holley HP 1050 Dominator carb. The ignition system is all MSD-a Digital 7 controller, a Pro Billet distributor, and an HVC Pro Power coil.
The exhaust system consists of the 211/48-inch Hooker Headers that came with the engine. I had them coated by QC Coatings in Shelby Township, Michigan. A Dr. Gas 311/42-3-inch X-pipe and a pair of Straight Line Performance 3-inch race mufflers were supplied by Scott Brown of Straight Line Performance.
The rest of the drivetrain consists of an 883 four-speed-rebuilt by me-a McLeod Street Twin dual-disc clutch assembly, a safety bellhousing, and the original Hurst Competition plus shifter with a pistol grip. The rear axle is a B-Body Dana 60 with 5.13:1 gears and Moser axles. The combination was installed in spring 2002. On a chassis dyno, the Hemi made 442 rear-wheel horsepower. So far, I have managed an 11.37 e.t. at 121.7 mph.
I've owned this car for 17 years, and although I've done almost all the work myself, there are a few people who have helped me through the years. I would like to thank my mom and dad, friends Jerry Newood and Tim Niekamp, my wife, Kim, and my brother Scott. He's helped me do so much on the car. I couldn't have done it without him.