1973 Dodge Charger "Momma's Mopar" gets some upgrades! : Part 5 from Lucore Automotive

[@LucoreAuto]

Man what a process this thing has been! We know this has been a long time coming, but now that this phase has been wrapped up there's going to be more coming quickly! Thanks to all of you who waited for this to come out, hopefully you are as excited as we are to see what this thing does on the dyno with the upgrades!

[@PaulRhodes420]

Looks good under the hood, then she got out! ✌😁

[@Sabe53]

Oh yea but then redheads are my cup of tea.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

WELL - the VISUAL is more HIGHLY Entertaining than watching the LUCORE "guys" wrestling around 🙂 COOP ...

[@davidledford1456]

when shes under the hood lifting the intake up,i mean, o yeah she knows what shes doing an nearly showing everything good, i love it...

[@garylucier6817]

That Jimmie up vac port was why that new Trans was not shifting full throttle in part 4 no doubt, love the lady learning how to wrenching, as she gets right in the engine bay, gotta love it! You are a great teacher, we mentor robotics, and when the young ladies get fully into it, sometimes they pull like she did on the intake bolts during removal...time to break out the little bit bigger leverage breaker bar equalizer. And say, This will help you....do it. "It was fine, maybe not", as Derrick of "Vice Grip Garage would say...Her eyes said... help! But only twice.

[@LucoreAuto]

That old motor was driving us nuts for a number of reasons, shifting issues, shutting down issues, even randomly just refusing the start. Lots of little gremlins and issues. She's very much an "I can do it" kind of lady and that's been awesome to see her taking on these challenges herself. I point and instruct and she does essentially all the work herself. Gives her a greater appreciation and understanding of the car and what it takes to build/race it.

[@HyndzyteEngineering]

Well done!!! I am really enjoying the Mama's Mopar series. I like that Katrina is getting in there and isn't afraid to get dirty. She is the real deal!!! I also like that you show it like it is. Multiple trips to the store, reinstalling things to make it right, and changing the plan as challenges arise... 👍👍

[@Stevesbe]

But Austin is afraid to get dirty

[@vdrivevideo]

That's a "real woman" there! Bravo!!!!!

[@LucoreAuto]

Yes Sir indeed!

[@eric63377]

Ikr I need to find me one of them😑

[@garylucier6817]

No choice but to throw the right parts at that temporary situation, until the new rebuild is finished. Luckily it will all bolt on to that new build, and all the bugs will be worked out, before the engine swap. Now that, would have been a true nightmare. And she went a couple of rounds with what she was running, that was a miracle! True story, her experience was better than my first actual bracket racing experience. Went to the track alone, as not a spectator, but first time competitor (grew up going to a lot of the original greats as a spectator watching from the stands, mainly the TF funny car and TF dragster wars and shootouts at Lions, OCIR, and Irwindale...In H.S. early 70's, first real hot rodded Street car, 1968 Plymouth Satellite (wanted a 69 Roadrunner), but settled for the $250.00 cash, mint bargain a friend's acquaintance sold me cheap, if I towed it out of his Dad's garage, and it was swimming (more like floating), in a pool of nice red Dexron II fluid all over the floor! (There had to be 8 quarts of Dexron on that floor I swear!) Paid him, he signed over the title, (as fast as I could pay him mind you, he wasn't my friend, and I was young, his dad was really angry and wanted it gone within 2 hrs. PERIOD, and I really wanted that R.R. lookalike even though it was a 383 and not a 440 Six Pack like my uncles I so idolized!) Today, grown old now, I would have just fixed it for him for the $35.00 in Trans cooler lines and Trans fluid it cost me and the 1 hr. In actual Labor it took to replace the cracked steel lines and walked away, hurting but smiling...(Simple fix, the clip hanging those lines from lower starter bolt was crimped into both steel pressure cooling and return lines and pumped fluid by the gallons...onto Daddys concrete garage floor. And he just kept filling it up!) Dad gave me 1 hr after I was back from a quick parts store trip, in exchange for me also cleaning up his very nasty wet gooey and stinky floor! 1 hr. The car was on the street driving perfect like it was showroom fresh, though it was 5 yrs old, and only had 15k miles on it! Cars in the 60's and early 70's were a lot cheaper. New or used with trouble. I drove that sweet new ride home. Karma gonna get me though next Saturday night...as...I saved a ton on the car, plenty of go fast cash burning a hole in my pocket, let's go drag racing! 3 hrs later his floor was clean, ok, except that big dark but dry stain. It took a whole case of carb cleaner and kitty litter. But, a deal is a deal, and everybody seemed happy...I know his dad and I both were, and he was outta hot water, he told me years later he hid in his room and cried for 2 days, but we became friends anyway. Long story longer, a new Tach, Guage kit, 4 new tires, gotta get that rear leaf spring shackle kit to raise the rear of the leaf springs, as it really helps plant those new fat wide rear tires (all the TF Funny cars had that high rear, low front rake ya know), and new gold alum. wheels, new Edelbrock High-rise, and a brand new Holley 750 double pumper 4 bbl, with vacuum secondaries, all installed, tuned up in 4 days time, newbie headed 80 miles from home, just drive there alone, race and drive home a winner was the dream! Reality and Karma paid me a (looking back now), biiig visit. Teched in, ok, 2 easily fixed items with cool help from new friends I did not yet know, a borrowed bolt for the coolant catch can, and a rear taili light issue we fixed (or so we thought). I was such a noob at the tree, mid 14's running in Street bracket at OCIR in Orange County, living the dream, time trials, really late first pass. 5 amber tree a .670 light, I sucked bad. But that car was soo freaking consistent, 5 time trials, ran within 3 hundredths, dialing this baby in will be easy! 1 of my new friends said go dead red second pass, okayyyyy .492 light, same ET. My first Red light, so he said watcha leaving at for RPM, I said 2,800. He came over and adjusted my tach, stage it there at 2,750, and said run the same exact pass, do everything exactly the same. Easy for him to say. I was so thrilled to red light, remembering the rest was not easy. 3rd time trial, 100th slower and a .510 light, I come back to the lanes and people started a bull session with me. Where did I used to race, no seriously I'm new.....He took me off to the snack bar, he said eat a hamburger, we are going to get q more pass then into eliminations after sundown. Move the tach back up to 2,800 RPM, do the same the rest of the night. He was racing in Bracket 3 Heavy, so had no problem sharing secrets and helping me succeed. His name was and still is McClanahan. I said as I ate the hamburger he bought me, won't I red-light? He said Nope, not right away, maybe later tonight, but after that hamburger, your body and reactions as you digest that small amount of food, will just take a slight edge off, and slow your reactions down a tiny bit, as the excitement of actually competing will Rev you up...you are going to cut .50 lights all night long. Yeah right, but I listened to my new mentor, who kept calling me Lucky...I thought he just forgot my name, I was and it stuck. 5th time trial as the sun set. .502 and a hundredth quicker. Now what...Do I drop the leave RPM again? He laughed...Nope, leave that alone...You are buying us both another hamburger! You Lucky arse! He was right, cut .50 lights all night long, and ate a stinking snack bar hamburger after every single pass...all the way to the finals. Then all heck broke loose going through the lights final pass, .504, broke out lifting by 5 thousandths, against thier .503 right on. But my fuse block under passenger side of the dash is on 🔥, burning up through the defroster vent, hitting the windshield, pull off at first turnout, jump out, lift hood and ripped off the battery cable, just as the safety safari arrives to spray all that nasty white powder inside my car the windshield shatters. Oh crap, my new ride is a disaster, I have no way to get the car home, gotta call my step dad to come get me, and track says I can leave it there till Wednesday...at my risk. Oh well it is insured for theft, but not damages suffered during a racing contest....My Mom insured through, but also worked for the AAA...no telling untruths about any damages, that was her career! She worked at corporate in LA in upper management (And she broke through that glass ceiling, no way I was gonna risk anything), The fire damages were mine to repair and pay for Period! Ok, Wednesday we show up with the truck and rented trailer. As we come down the track entry road, from far off I can see the car, whew it is still there, but it sure is sitting low...It is still there alright, every wire from headlights to tail lights, every harness is fried. Headliner, windshield, most of the dash is fried, a small section of carpet has melted dash plastic on passenger side. White powder and glass fragments is everywhere! And it is also missing a few pcs too, the New wheels and tires, the intake and the holley, are gone! They left my new Tach and guages alone, would not wanna risk a breaking and entering I guess, but isn't lifting the hood also...?(Insurance covered the stolen items, and after 8 months of Pick,-a-part trips, tearing out and installing dash pcs, and every wiring harness in the car, new carpet and a crapload of cleaning, I was back to race again. Yup, drove the cars to and from for years before I got a trailer and a tow rig. I was low budget, but I raced for checks. And ate dinner just before first round always! And always went red early. Almost every race my first full year, they all called me Lucky, and almost always was runner up! (Some snickered and said bridesmaid, never the bride), I was more than happy to cash checks without fail. Winner bought dinner after racing anyway...Until I finally Won! For years worked 7 days a week to race 5...Those were the days. Any bad day racin' is better than any good day working. Even when you burn it up! So, you did good your first 2 times racing Mopar Momma, and you and the car looked good doing it, and you had a great mentor too. Karma just got me because I drove it, almost like I actuall stole it! (At $250.00 base price I did steal it). The gas crunch did me in with that car, worked at a chemical plant in LA, Cyclo Chemical...12 hr shifts / 7 days a week. Our chemical engineers at the plant to keep us out of gas lines, worked up a special blend and made up pallets of drums for us in the materials yard free for the taking, pump your own....Toluene and Methanol with additives of zinc and a few other secret ingredients during the Carter years (the Saudi's screwed us years. See, we have all been down this road before, most just too dang young to remember, The President does not set gas prices, Big Oil and The Saudi's do, so get over it....Same Crap, Different Decade. The (Kingdom), and tar sands of Arabia sets the prices worldwide, big oil takes advantage. And I would fill up before leaving to race of course. There was not an "O" ring or rubber seal left not massively leaking in that engine after that year or so. But for a while it ran better on that blend than pump gas. The engineers had switched everything in their cars to Teflon, nylon, etc....But, they never shared those details until our cars no longer ran. Cars were cheaper than Engine Rebuilds during the gas crunch.

[@eds1990sporty]

They did have the 400 for the chargers in 73.

[@LucoreAuto]

Indeed they did, the evolution of the 383 big block Mopar. This was originally a 318 car however one of the previous owners did the swap to the 400.

[@davidledford1456]

i love her laughter an those short shorts,i bet i know whose hittin that, lol...

[@Moparmaga-1]

Cool you're back at it. I loved that space between turbulent core support.

[@LucoreAuto]

Lots more coming soon, finally got this project over a major hump knocking out all these issues!

[@Loki13M]

Things going south is to be expected working on older cars... but damn I think ya took a polar orbit on this one. Got it done in the end, all that counts. =)

[@LucoreAuto]

This car has been a CONSTANT battle of highs and lows but that's honestly like most every project car. But it's worth fighting through... hopefully!

[@Loki13M]

@@LucoreAuto When it breaks the 8's and you see Miss Katrina doing her happy dance all doubts will be erased. =)

[@79tazman]

I just found the channel thanks to Bill and loving the Mopar Momma series since I'm a big Mopar guy myself I like it a lot more

[@Moparmaga-1]

My experience with that engine in stock stroke form absolutely loved 1.5 inches of spacer on a dual plane intake .

[@LucoreAuto]

Once we get a few more things buttoned up she'll be back over to the dyno to see what the upgrades/repairs gained us. Wilk Make sure to take an extra 1 inch spacer and really long carb studs!

[@youtruckrek5121]

get her a fulcrum pipe man

[@LucoreAuto]

Why? :)

[@youtruckrek5121]

@@LucoreAuto so you do not have to break the bolts loose for her

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy LUCORE & Momma's MOPAR , HOLLEY CARB off WEIAND Intake Manifold "on" Thanks COOP the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...

[@brandonfults7078]

I just bent my line upwards on my carb line to clear the distributor,and ran the rubber line over the distributor cap. Works well and don't even notice. I'm always on extreme budget. Gotta work around buying parts lol

[@LucoreAuto]

Were you using a similar duel feed hardline? We MAYBE could have bent something around it but the end of our fuel line was literally ON the distributor. Besides in this case adding the spacer actually adds a couple more HPs as well, not a lot, but every little bit helps :)

[@brandonfults7078]

@@LucoreAuto yes,same fuel line. A lot of my friends were turning the line around and running the rubber line around the engine to it,but that just seemed dangerous to me,to have that much rubber hose running across like that. Wish I could send a picture of it. What you did is still a great way and a spacer will ad a little performance.

[@reallivehumandrummer4438]

Wow, Katrina works like a, a... hurricane

[@LucoreAuto]

She does indeed! Not afraid to get in there and get dirty at ALL! Also does it, with full manicured nails!

[@steveroach4282]

What about the transmission kick down assembly????

[@jimbo3214]

Watch the hood latch. I have scars on my head from the one on my 72 Charger.

[@dynodon100]

I hope in the spring that you can come up to Quaker City raceway in Salem Ohio so we can see you race it!

[@LucoreAuto]

Oh we get the feeling she'll be out having fun at tracks and events all over the region next year. Can't WAIT to see the difference in this thing!

[@ahmadaldahoud1719]

Nice color, do you have 71 front grill?

[@orlandonostagiafever1964]

I like that shes so into tworking on the car ,now a cam and a 3500 torque converter lol

[@LucoreAuto]

It's definitely made the project a lot more fun that she's been so involved and willing to "get in there" from the start. A new cam would make a HUGE difference in this poor ole tired 400! However, not likely since it's winter here now and the new motor will be going in for spring!

[@metalmopars]

& it's nice to watch her work'n on her car. Tee hee Tee hee

[@LucoreAuto]

@@metalmopars she's definitely not afraid to get in there and get dirty!

[@chadvetter8190]

Something is pokin my eyes out!

[@LucoreAuto]

Whenever working on cars always use protection... eye protection! ;)

[@afastcuda1970]

Why didn't you flip the dual feed fuel line 180°? Point it towards the rear and no need to relocate coil or throttle linkage.

[@LucoreAuto]

Flipping the hard line of the fuel COULD be an option but then we're running a soft fuel line the length of the motor and turning 180 back into the line. Wouldn't be as pretty, also gives much higher likelihood of the fuel heating up running over the head. The coil mounting, had to be done. This brand of intake manifold has no holes drilled in it for mounting the coil. The throttle linkage from factory is all hard metal linkage not cabling. Unfortunately as with the coil, there's no way to mount the old stuff on the new manifold so had to do a cable throttle setup.

[@davidfranklin2062]

Too much time leaping being done

[@davidledford1456]

o lordy what a view, mmmm yes, but i dont think we will ever see this car go drag racing running any 7,s or so,as it should be..too wishy washy an, too much switching around,an costing someone a fortune, i like the car, but i like other things better that i allmost see...red hair an nice legs an not afraid to get dirty or sweaty, i will take all that...

[@Steve-np3up]

All the bb intakes i changed in my life i only used the valley pan as a gasget. Never had a problem. Why are you using both. And you helped her take the old intake off.

[@davidledford1456]

I COULD USE HER HELP ON MY DAKOTA R/T ESPECIALLY WITH THOSE TOO SHORT SHORTS ON AN NICE LEGS, YES IN DEED,I LOVE THAT...

[@unclesquirrel6951]

Personally I blame squirrels

[@orlandonostagiafever1964]

Im surprised it dosent have a carter 850 CFM thats what my 400 had.

[@LucoreAuto]

At some point it may have, the zip tied Holley that was on there originally was certainly not original equipment. The 670 that's on there now is actually excellently suited for now, and the throttle response is excellent!

[@davidfranklin2062]

Need different music .....

[@davidledford1456]

no clue what ,..pinned means, but ok..who is the short adviser dude,o well, nevermind that , dont dry to drag the glhs,you will get nothing but one wheel tire smoke unless you change it to rear wheel with sticky tires etc, im here plenty, talk if you like....