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itsworn · 7 years

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A Woman Shows Men How A Charger Ought To Be Built & Driven!

Back in 1982, this guy named Bruce Feirstein wrote a book called “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche.” Meant satirically, most diehard Mopar guys still fondly remember the part about what sort of cars real men drove. Yep, good ’ol real Pentastar muscle iron, even if only a few of us ever got the chance to swap pistons out in our blown Hemi Road Runner as a regular, fun afternoon activity. Despite its politically incorrect undertones, it is not yet banned in the 21 century, and it might be worthwhile finding a copy of this former New York Times best-seller, just for old times’ sake. But, hey, we digress…

Meet “real woman” Jennifer Galambos. She and her husband John live in Anaheim, California, and they have spent the past few years upgrading one of the most iconic muscle car packages to ever come from Detroit: the 1968 Charger. While values have pushed a lot of these examples into the realm of “restore for the trailer” crowd, the Galambos crew decided it would be better to live up to the reputation these machines created, building the Dodge into a street-track cruiser that trips the timers down in the ten-second zone.

“My first muscle car was a ’69 Chevelle that I purchased from my uncle and drove as a daily driver in the late ’90s,” she told us. “I didn’t know too much about cars back then but had the desire to learn more and do my own tinkering. I always loved the bad guy’s car from the movie Bullitt. After my husband John told me that the hit man car was a ’68 Charger, I decided to focus on finding one that I could make my own.”

That effort led to a real R/T that was located in Las Vegas, which is where we also shot this story over a decade later. Jennifer and John made the purchase and she soon began to get busy with learning some of the ins and out of getting the Dodge back in shape. Though the car was already a driver when bought, it needed some work fairly early on. A real woman, she jumped right in.

“That was the beginning of a long road of work to get her to the shape and condition she is today,” admits the 37-year-old company comptroller. “We started with the dreaded wiring; I became very familiar with a soldering gun. Then the 440 engine that was in the car when we bought her had issues and I ended up throwing a rod out of the bottom of the block on the freeway heading back from a drag race at Barona.”

We have shown a lot of Chargers on these pages in the last three decades, but what made this one special is how it is used. Since the couple works in the real world like most of us, there was a limited budgeted, and many of the cosmetic things they wanted were put on the back burner for things the car needed for driving and racing. That’s ok, because it’s more fun embarrassing that loudmouth with the bright shiny Corvette by beating him in front of his girlfriend, especially when he sees afterward that Jennifer did the deed.

“The car was off the road for a while as we saved funds to build a stroker motor,” says Jennifer. “So while the engine was out of the car, I sanded and painted my engine bay. We also prepped a fiberglass hood as the engine would no longer fit under the factory one and I didn’t want to cut a hole in the original. The rest of the body we haven’t done a lot with. That Viper Red paint is probably around 17-plus years old.”

The body is still all steel save for the hood, which now has an opening made for the scoop to protrude through. By carefully considering other parts, the car hits the scales at 3,660 pounds even with a full interior. One change that helps in this was going to the Caltracs mono-leaf rear spring and bar layout, pulling off the heavy OE multi-leaf pack. The suspension is tunable by using Calvert’s adjustable shocks on all four corners as well. Welded-in subframe connectors tied it all together, and then adding fresh PST polygraphite bushings freed up the front end, an important consideration since the Charger has manual steering. Braking was also upgraded, with 11.75-inch sliding caliper 1978 Cordoba front discs and rear Wilwood discs now mounted on the Dana 60 housing. A dual master cylinder from Wilwood balances it all out.

Since we are still talking about a streetable package, the rolling package doesn’t feature skinny dragster wheels. Rather, under the nose are vintage 15×7 Indy Slots rims with 235/60R15 BFGoodrich rubber. Wider 15×10 ET III slot-type rims hosting Hoosier 325/50R15 drag radials are out back. What is coolest is that custom backspacing on these rims meant they snugly fit into the OEM wheelhouses. No minitubs on this one! The car still retains the OEM torsion bars and front sway bar. These are all very reasonable adaptations, and looking like the sort of mods that keep ’em guessing just what is possible once the red Charger pulls up next to you at the traffic signal.

“Everything needed to be beefed up so we wouldn’t have to worry about parts failure on the track or in traffic,” Jennifer notes. “I also can drive my car pretty much anywhere except when it’s raining, so I enjoy taking family and friends for rides down to the beach for a cruise or to pick up some yummy sushi or tacos locally. In fact, there are even a few valets who know me well and let me park my own car! I’ve also taken her on several car cruises, one of them being an annual Anza Borrego cruise which puts the car through corners and mountain terrain.”

Power for the program came from a noteworthy source, the legendary Joe Jill at Superior Automotive in Placentia. Again, nothing exotic was used here, but the circa-1968 440ci RB wedge pegged the dyno needle at 651 ponies once it was back together. Following machine work, pieces from Eagle and Ross pushed the displacement to 511 inches. That mill now sports 10.43:1 compression pistons, one of Jill’s well-selected cam grinds, and a timing and valve gear combo from Manley, Cloyes, Manton, and Harland-Sharp. Eye candy that also puts power down on pavement came from Edelbrock in the form of weight-saving aluminum RPM Performer cylinder heads and a matched low-profile dual-quad intake hosting a pair of ex-Carter Edelbrock 750 AFBs. These are topped by the injector-shaped air box that now comes up menacingly right through the hood.

Other upgrades helped as well. Spark comes from aftermarket parts including a Mopar distributor, MSD Blaster coil, and MSD 8.5mm wires. TTi long-tube headers and Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers rattle the windows next door. Keeping it all cool meant taking that power-robbing factory fan off the pulley and replacing it with twin electric units mounted behind a big Mark 7 radiator.

Making the driveline work in a street/strip car is never as easy as it seems. Spending money here is smart and it went into an A727. Protrans took the Torqueflite apart, added upgraded planetaries and lightweight internals, then capped it off with a reverse valve body and a 3,400-rpm stall converter. Though it retains the OEM ratios, the benefit is less horsepower-robbing weight in the driveline itself. Behind this is a Dana 60 with an Auburn SureGrip set-up and a 3.54 final gear ratio. Coupled to the larger rear tire, the car can hook and go but remains reasonably sane on the boulevard.

“Typically, I’ll fill the tank in Anaheim and drive to Famoso or Vegas, drag race all weekend, then drive her home. That’s what our goal was, to make a true street/strip car.”

Jennifer noted that the interior is just as God and Chrysler intended, and again, there is nothing here done for sheer appearance value. The factory steering wheel and dash are still in place, and a locking-design B&M Pro Ratchet shifter is in the console. Aftermarket gauges note what is going on under the hood. Legendary supplied reproduction seat upholstery and the fun began. “Yes, I learned the frustrating art of using hog ring pliers,” she joked.

“I started out not knowing a whole lot about drag racing, but after my very first trip down the quarter mile at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2003, I was hooked,” she says. “The Inaugural Mopars At The Strip, my husband and I both had our Chargers in the Mopar Muscle True Street Challenge. Her best time so far was at March Meet 2017 at Famoso, where she ran 10.94 at 121 mph running the Hoosier DOT drag radials and leaving the line at idle. We didn’t want to chop up the pretty body, so she’s running cage-less for now,” then added, “but the car sometimes runs a little quicker than the 11.49 cage requirement.”

As a life-long fan of real horses, Jennifer even uses distaff terms like “her” and “she” when referring to the car. All in all, here is a classic Charger that handles, runs hard, stays off the trailer, and gets driven like it should. As a result, we think Jennifer could probably even teach some of the hobby’s real men how to enjoy that classic iron. And if they don’t like it? Let ‘em eat quiche…

Fast Facts

1968 Dodge Charger R/T Jennifer Galambos Anaheim, CA

ENGINE Type: 511ci wedge design based on factory RB block Bore x stroke: 4.375 (.055-inch over) x 4.25 Block: OEM cast; cleaned and machined at Superior Automotive, clearanced for Eagle reciprocating upgrades Rotating assembly: Eagle crank, Eagle rods, Ross pistons, Total Seal rings ARP fasteners Compression: 10.43:0 Cylinder heads: aluminum Edelbrock RPM Performer Camshaft: Comp custom-grind solid roller, Intake 230/236 degrees duration at. 050-inch lift, .603-/.608-inch lift Valvetrain: Harland Sharpe 1.6 rockers, Manley valves, Manley springs, Manton pushrods Induction: Edelbrock low-profile dual-quad Fuel system: 2x4BBL Edelbrock Competition Series AFBs Exhaust: TTi headers, Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers Ignition: MSD and Mopar Cooling: Mark 7 aluminum radiator with twin electric fans Fuel: 91-octane pump gas Other: injector replica scoop from Summit, Braille light weight battery, high-output Mopar alternator Output: 651 hp and 720 lb-ft torque Engine built by: Superior Automotive, Jennifer and John Galambos Best quarter-mile e.t.: 10.94/120 mph

DRIVETRAIN Transmission: 1968 A727 by Dave and Darren Smith of Pro Trans (manual reverse pattern valve body, Pro Ratchet shifter, custom Continental torque converter (3,400 rpm stall) Driveshaft: American Drive Lines shaft with 1350 U-Joints, Mark Williams yokes front and rear Rearend: Chrysler Dana 60 with Dutchman axles, 3.54 ratio, Auburn SureGrip, factory width

CHASSIS Construction: Factory with Mopar welded-in subframe connectors Front suspension: factory torsion bars, PST bushings, Calvert adjustable shocks Rear suspension: Caltracs mono-leaf springs with adjustable bars, Calvert adjustable shocks Steering: OEM manual Front brakes: conversion to big-bearing—spindle 11.75-inch rotor with sliding caliper (circa 1978 Cordoba) Rear brakes: Wilwood disc layout, associated dual master cylinder

WHEELS & TIRES Wheels: 15 x 7 Indy Slot Mags (front), 15 x 10 ET Fueler with custom backspace (rear, no mini tubs) Tires: BFG 235/60R15 (front), 325/50R15 Hoosier DOT drag radial (rear)

INTERIOR Seats: Legendary replacement, black Instruments: OEM cluster, Stewart-Warner aftermarket gauge set, large-face tachometer Stereo: dual exhausts! (factory thumb-wheel AM Music Master) Shifter: B&M Pro Ratchet with T-handle top, console-mounted

The engine bay is clean and functional, while 511 inches of dual-quad RB wedge allow for serious performance. Due to the tall scoop design, a fiberglass hood was used, the only body-lightening component in this build-up. Note the small Braille battery, selection of black and bare metal cues on components, and nicely-smoothed firewall.

Upgrading suspension and braking pieces makes a difference, especially when you intend to drive the car. This master cylinder made the use of front and rear disc brakes of differing design possible, while PST’s polygraphite bushings throughout the front suspension helped the machine handle better. Jennifer gets to use it all, as the car has manual steering, eliminating yet another horsepower-robbing accessory.

Running 10s in any street car is a challenge, so two things are paramount: saving weight and taking drag off the drivetrain. This Mark 7 aluminum radiator and twin electric fans do both; the only pulley still working off the front of the motor drives the alternator. Selecting aluminum heads and intake, a smaller battery, and fiberglass hood helped get the car to scale at 3,660 lbs. event with Jennifer in the driver’s seat.

The factory interior remains intact, indeed, some small details have been left unattended to so that the money goes into making the rear tires work better. Jennifer used Legendary covers on the seats and handled some of that fun electrical harness wiring. The car uses S-W gauges and a B&M Pro Ratchet shifter with a Hurst T-handle over the reverse valvebody ‘flite by ProTrans.

Want to see what a functional 21st century rear set-up looks like? This is John Calvert’s race-designed-but-street-capable Caltracs mono-leaf spring and associated pre-load bar. The layout is behind an ET Fueler custom back spaced 15×10 rim, which allowed a 325/50R15 tire from Hoosier to fit under here without using minitubs. Finally, note the Wilwood disc outfit through the wheel openings.

Seen from behind is the business end of the driveline. The Dana 60 is bulletproof, with a nice 3.54 gear set. The short tailpipes exit just ahead of the wheel wells. Meanwhile, that relocated fuel line and filter on the big OE 22-gallon tank help make sure the 500 inches up ahead never gets too thirsty.

Jennifer Galambos has spent many years and hours building this Charger into a true street-strip beast. She admits that she takes it anywhere, and often refers to the car as “her.” A cruiser capable of 10-second times, few ’68s are still set up for this much fun.

The post A Woman Shows Men How A Charger Ought To Be Built & Driven! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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