mopar-project

1973 Dodge Charger M&E Check

1973 Dodge Charger M&E Check
Workshop commonplace
late Mopar B-body

Here we want to show you a typical workshop project. So no conversion or new construction, here's also not about more power or great accessories that we may install. It's just a used car that has got some defects over the years. Mostly the customer already has some concrete ideas what he wants to have done. Since he himself does not say exactly what technical condition his vehicle has, we always carry out a complete mechanical & electrical inspection (M&E check) first. Here we check 3 Din A4 pages with almost 150 possible defect points. In addition, Oliver Zinn (boss) drives the car and also gets an overview of the car.  At the end all collected information (plus some pictures) are sent to the customer. On the phone we then discuss whether or what we should work off of it.

Things to do

This 1973 Dodge Charger showed many defective parts made of rubber. First, this is not unusual for the age, but is found more often and more intensively in vehicles that have good sheet metal. The sun and dry weather is good for the sheet metal, but it removes the plasticizers from the rubber even faster. Nevertheless, the rubber parts are usually faster and cheaper to replace than the sheet metal.
Thank God, actually all wear items are available for our Mopars. We even have everything in the chassis area in stock. Sometimes you can even choose between original rubber or the tighter and longer lasting parts made of polyurethane.
Our Charger here needed among other things new leaf springs. These we can have made in the USA according to our wishes. Instead of the original soft suspension, we usually order 6-layer springs that give a more stable ride. If desired, we can order these but then also with 1″ or 2″ higher or lowering.

Among other things, however, the following work was also done:
-new poly bushings for the upper control arms
-new poly bushings for the lower control arms
-changed bell crank of the front axle
-adjusted front axle including test drives
-new brake discs and wheel bearings (one side had 1cm play!)
-overhaul of the front brake calipers
-rear axle seal changed and oil changed
-removed grinding noises on the rear axle
-all 4 sidemarkers put back into function
-replaced various vacuum plugs engine compartment
-heating control system restored to working order
-V-belt changed
-pre-return hose replaced
-spiral installed in the lower water cooler hose
-Poly leaf spring bushings installed
-Changed the rubber bushings of the engine mounts for new ones made of polyurethane
-changed rubber bushings of the gearbox holder for new ones made of polyurethane
-Changed all oils and filters
-gear selector lever adjusted
-change shock absorbers of front and rear axles
-seal the gearbox in various places
-plus various other things

Please keep in mind that the task here was a repair and not the restoration. We can also more beautiful, but of course that costs more money. Here, of course, the customer decides.