Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2023 in Mopar Action

BLOWING SMOKE DEPT PURE BED-LAM YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO SMELL Syl Brander before you see him. No, it's not the rank odor of poor personal hygiene, but the pleasant aroma of Mixture 79 pipe tobacco that he buys 5 lbs., at a time. Even more than the love of the pipe that's irrevocably clenched between Syl's teeth is his passion for Mopars and his need for speed (catchy phrase, no? We just made that up). It all started for Syl back in 1958 as he was thumbing through his copy of Hot Rod and saw that Chrysler had just released a new V8 wedge motor (350 / 361). That piqued his interest. As a racer fan, all he saw at the drags were Chevys and Fords, no Plymouths. Well, he wanted…

426 HEMI IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, It was the worst of times. Howie Pellegrino was a 19-year-old kid pumping gas and working in an auto parts store in Quincy, Mass., back in 1979. He wasn't getting rich but he was having fun fueling the musclecars that pulled in for a fill-up. “The Corvette guys had their tank in the middle of the trunk, so I would hand them the nozzle and a rag to pump themselves.” The night racing scene was jumping in nearby Brockton, but Howie and his buds were content to stay close to home. Most of the locals drove stock iron, there weren't many modifieds around. Little did he realize that a phone call would change Howie's life for the better and for the worse.…

DOUBLE A'S DEPT INSTALLMENT 3: INSERT TAB ‘A’ INTO SLOT ‘B WHEN WE LAST LAST YOU dangling, we had our junkyard 5.7L engine partially dressed and sitting on a stand. The process continues, as we install the Hooker shorty headers, swap the K-member to a ‘73-up (mostly for the spool type mount ears) required for the Holley kit, and get the improved late swaybar setup with that as a secondary plus. The stock 3G oil filter will not clear the A-body front right longitudinal (frame) rail, so many guys have taken to notching the frame rail as a workaround. We are opposed to that. Remote oil filters are another fix, but until recently, the only available blockoff plate for the stock cast-in-the-block filter boss was also kinda cheezy. Now Holley's Earls…

PATINA-FREE SEE PG. 1 NHOU® UNDERCOATING PREVENTS RUST—AND LOOKS GREAT NHOU® OIL UNDERCOATING is quickly becoming the #1 choice as the fastest, least expensive way to add safety and value to your vehicle—sealing out corrosives and eliminating rust. Available in black and clear, the self-healing barrier creeps deep into crevices where it displaces moisture and removes oxygen. Order yours from NHOU by contacting www.nhoilun-dercoating.com, or phone (603) 491 -9012. TOP SEALS SEE PG.13 STEELE RUBBER PRODUCTS NEW E-BODY CONVERTIBLE ROOF RAIL SET STEELE RUBBER PRODUCTS has announced the release of their new Convertible Roof Rail Weatherstrip Set for 1970-1971 Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda convertibles. The eight (8) piece seal set is designed from original parts and includes the Primary Header Bow, Secondary Header Bow, and Front, Center, and Rear Roof…

MY WIFE AND I HAVE BEEN WATCHING a recent Old West drama called 1883. No cars are in it, just desperate people and the wilderness as a wagon train battles the challenges of the unsettled West. I have not seen the end yet, so don't spoil it, but can say that it is rife with realistic scenes of life, outlaws, and Indians. And very adult language and situations. Drama in the 21st century. As this has unfolded, I began thinking about the movies I had watched as I was growing up. Before being introduced to the great “car culture classics” —American Graffiti, Cannonball with David Carradine, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, even Ron Howard's original Gone in 60 Seconds—my Sunday afternoons as a kid were spent watching old dramas on WGN's…

WIRING QUANDARY Mr. Ehrenberg I am reassembling a 273 for my ‘67 Barracuda. I have a question on the sparkplug wires. Some photos I see have the wires basically lying in some kind of clips on the valve covers, some show what looks like some kind of grommet. Which is correct? Heywood Japhittetin Santa Fe, NM Hey The individual grommets are correct for build dates up to mid-1967. After that, there were snap-in dual separators. The valve covers did not change. See photos above for more info. MASTER DISASTER? Richard I have a ‘66 Fury III that I bought from the original owner. It is a 318 wide block with automatic, power steering, and brakes. Recently the brakes have been acting weird, sometimes the pedal goes nearly to the floor,…

ENTER NOW AND AVOID THE RUSH DEPT “SO HOW DO WE TOP THIS?” That was one of the questions the giveaway folks at Dream Giveaway were asking themselves after awarding a double-dip one-year-only Durango Hellcat plus a Charger Redeye to a lucky winner on their last go-round. Their premise, “it's better to give than receive” has seen scores of exceptional rides given to fortunate Mo'fans who espouse “it's better to receive than give,” keeping them coming back for more, more, and more. The DG folks reported that feedback they'd received after the last giveaway was that Mo'fans wanted to win a Challenger. Chargers are cool — but it's no Challenger. And make that a Challenger Hellcat Redeye while you're at it. ‘Course, with the storied Challenger coming to the end…

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS DEPT BACK IN THE 1920S AND ‘30S, luxury carmakers such as Duesenberg would build a drivable chassis and either they or the customer would then contract a coachbuilder such as LeBaron, Derham, Murphy, or Rollston to create a custom body for it. There's a similar scenario emerging today. The trend now is to start with a late-model Challenger Hellcat and wrap it in vintage Mopar trappings. Sure, Mo'fans are still going the traditional hot rod route with their rides—upgrading powertrains, brake and suspension systems, and swapping modern 3G Hemis into their earlier Mopes. However, starting with complete late model underpinnings and adding a classic wrapper (exo-skeleton) gives you all the latest and greatest engineering, comfort, and performance that PaMopar already designed into their screamers, rather…

YESTERDAY'S GONE DEPT THE DEEP SOUTH was where doorslammer racing became the big show. With NASCAR as a prototype, drag racing's early promoters were quick to grasp the interest spectators had in cars that looked like what they drove to the racetrack with. More so than “rail jobs” on fuel or prewar gassers, it was here you could make money in stock-style racing. The late “Dyno Don” Nicholson, a Brand X wonder boy, eventually left the “hotbed of racing” SoCal for Atlanta permanently as a direct result. On October 22, 2022, this epoch of clutch-dumping RPM continued if only in exhibition form, with people gathering at the soon-to-be-shuttered Mooresville, NC Dragway, in the heartland of today's NASCAR development businesses. Rumor has it an offer has been tendered to replace the…

STIFFEN UP DEPT BACK IN OUR OCTOBER 2021 ISSUE, yours truly penned a tech article that, to put it mildly, struck a responsive chord: An easy conversion to ball jointtype swaybar links. The feedback from this work of prose has been virtually 100% positive. Virtually all were blown away by the reduced body roll and especially the firmed-up, right-now steering response. The few negative comments were basically jealously-based: owners of cars with no factory swaybar, and, therefore, no welded-on lower control arm swaybar link tabs, were left to suck their thumbs. Sorry. These complaints, however, did get me thinking. While the weld-on tabs can be had as restoration parts, we had also seen some ball joint-type links with the upper joint rotated 90°, which got our grey matter amped up…

OL’ KENTUCKY HOME DEPT THERE IS A LOT TO BE SAID for Holley's direct understanding of the car enthusiast hobby. Working with a seasoned crew of employees, many who are long-time, hands-on car people, the several weekends following Labor Day each year play host to a trio of events at their hometown track, Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, KY. These events are each marque-focused, with Moparty being the newest, now in its 3rd running. With so many years under their belts with their large LS and Ford gatherings, the Holley Moparty event program continues to evolve each year but with minimal hassles whenever new things are tried. The over-too-quick 3-day program this year consisted of a combination of drag racing, autocross handling, show cars, exhibitors and a new…

HAUL'N THE FAMILY DEPT BIG TIME MARK FORDELEY is big into the concept of big. First off, he's a big guy. Second, he's into big business, owning BuffN-Stuff, which is an auto detailing and custom shop, in Warren, Ohio. Third, he's into having a big car collection. And it goes without saying that he's into big cars. Like this 1960 Chrysler New Yorker Town and Country wagon. Back when he was only 15 years old, Mark got his first car, a ‘71 Barracuda. He spent a couple of years restoring it himself. He came by his interest in Mopars honestly: his dad worked three jobs, including that of car salesman at the local Chrysler dealer. Anyway, Mark then went through a series of other cars, eventually ending up with his current…

FURY-OUS 360 Richard I just bought a really clean 1972 Fury II. It has the 360 V8. Is this a rare car? Samuel Peterson Tallahassee, FL Sam- I could have given you detailed production numbers had you given me a bit more info, such as, for starters, body style. Anyway, the 360 was extremely popular across the full range of 1972 Furys—58.9% left the assembly plants so equipped, more than twice as many as had the 318! MIRROR FINISH Hi Rick I'm trying to find the OEM part number for the right chrome manual mirror for my 1973 Challenger. I bought an aftermarket one and it fits like junk, so I want to try and find an OEM one. Any help would be appreciated, Chris Brenton Calgary, AB Chris- 3536644.…