66-67 Dodge Charger Source Guide


Topher's 383

My engine has the right dates and #s for my serial # on the car. On the side of the block there is what looks like a sun dial with a pointer in the middle of it. Beside this is another pointer that points to either a D or an N, what this tells you is the hour the block was cast in at the foundry and whether it was cast on the Day shift or the Night shift. There is also a date cast in the same area. If memory serves my block was cast during the 1 o'clock hour on the night shift, and the date is in March. Trivial, but neat info.

I've got a 383 with 906 heads, and what I did was replaced the crank with a kit crank that was .010/.010(the rod and main journals were turned down .010 of an inch) bored the block .030 oversize and had a 3 angle valve job done on the heads. The block was tanked, cleaned and all of the freeze plugs were replaced. That covers the machine shop part of it.

Next comes the internals-I bought a set of cast flat top pistons, a Crower cam with .484 int. & .508 exh lift and 282-292 degrees duration, Rhoads lifters, new valve springs, new timing chain, and a new oil pump. I assembled the engine using a stock 4bbl intake and cast iron manifolds then installed it back in the car and made noise. I ran a 600 cfm Edlebrock carburetor and stock ignition, I now have a 750 cfm Carter on and am waiting ever so patiently to see how it drives.

This is not a racing build by no means. From the very beginning I decided I did not want to race the car, just sound good and spin the tires a little. Since the car is a 4 speed with manual brakes I can use a big cam like this and not compromise vacuum and have to run a higher stall converter. Some of the other guys that race more regularly probably have more techie stuff than I do, like port and polishing, light weight parts, better ignition, headers(yuk!), and exhaust. But if you want to just cruise and make noise this combo works good for me.