12/7/06

I looked up some information on the Shelby Charger yesterday. John found it hard to believe that the early cars were not turbos. I knew they weren’t but wasn’t sure how far beyond an “appearance package they were. Well, here’s the poop. In 1983, Lee Iacocca, or however it is spelled, had just saved Chrysler Corporation from bankruptcy. He knew his Dodge brand needed something sporty so he called his buddy from his days at Ford, Carroll Shelby, and asked him to make something. Shelby took the 2.2-liter Omni 024 Charger and tweaked it. He milled the blocks 0.030” to bump the compression to 9.6:1, retarded the cam four degrees to help top-end power, and swapped on a bigger carburetor. This made for about 130 horsepower and 110 ft-lbs of torque. He mated it to a five-speed transaxle and added stiffer springs, which lowered the car by about an inch. In 1985, which is what I had, they added a turbo to get 145 horsepower. I've forgotten the torque number though. So, as a “spotter’s guide” of sorts, you can tell an ‘83.5 car from the flat hood and solid red taillights that “flow” into the rear bumper. An ’84 car still has the flat hood but has different taillights with sort of a black pinstripe effect and are flat-faced. ’85 cars have the new taillights but the hood has a “power bulge” on the driver’s side and a cooling vent on the passenger side. In ’86 they added the third brake light to the top of the wing/spoiler. I believe I remember reading that ’86 was the last of the Chrysler built Shelby cars and that the ’87 cars were cars Shelby bought and modified at his facility. They were only available in solid black or red, though I've never seen a red one. These were the best of the breed, of course, since they didn’t have to deal with corporate bean counters. So, having said all of that, John had some pictures of the car he found. It is definitely an ’83.5 car. Someone has started to do some bodywork to it so it will need a re-spray. I'm not sure about how bad I want it since it is a carburetor car. But then again, it is a carburetor car so it might be more hot-roddable. I need to do some research and see what cams and other hot-rod parts are available. It could, conceivably, be a really fun car with a pair of side draft carburetors, a hot cam, and a header. Of course it would still be a torque steering, wrong wheel drive, somewhat heavy sled. I say heavy because it just looks heavy, I don’t remember what it actually weighs. I'll tell you what; it is so “eighties” it is almost painful to look at! I really don’t even need to be thinking about it right now with all the other projects I have on my plate. I'd hate to see it go to the crusher though. Well, I think I'm going to shut down for a bit. I'm baby-sitting the Board again and the laptop sitting on my knees is getting uncomfortable. I just got off the phone with John. He called to say that he stopped off at a Chevrolet dealer and asked how much an oil pan for a 1988 Chevy 350 would be. Would you believe $168.00! What the hell? Is the thing made out of gold or something? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a while. For crying out loud, the chrome ones are $24.00! How can a stock one be $144.00 more? I think I'll be doing some e-Bay shopping when I get to my desk. That has got to be a mistake. Aluminum pans are in the $200.00 range. I'm aghast. So, the plan again is to buy a cheap pan and use it for mockup and fabrication then look at modifying the pan that is on the engine now if need be. And if John is right, which I have no doubt he is, the engine might be short enough that all of this “tuck the pan in as low as I can” BS will be for naught. It might be moo, as it were. I would like it to sit as low as possible so I can run a sufficiently tall air filter and keep the center of gravity nice and low. Well, I just got the “Low Battery” warning so I'd better shut it down until I get to my desk. Ok, so the Bored Meeting has ended, I've had lunch, and I'm back at my desk. I see I have filled the page and moved on to page two so I'm satisfied that I can call this rant complete for the day. I'll be back in touch tomorrow. Have a day.