--- title: "1969 Dodge Charger Project Update: Understanding That Better Is a Relative Term" description: "I wish I'd listened to my elders. At least I'm learning the hard way with a 1969 Dodge Charger project car." date: "2022-06-16" modified: "2022-06-16" authors: - name: "Hank O'Hop" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/hank-ohop" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-gear/1969-dodge-charger-project-update" categories: - "Culture" - "Features" - "Maintenance & Repair" - "News" - "Project Car Diaries" - "The Garage" tags: - "dodge" - "Dodge Charger" --- # 1969 Dodge Charger Project Update: Understanding That Better Is a Relative Term ![1969 Dodge Charger]() *\Hank O'Hop\* Lately, I’ve found myself in something of a loop. I’ve spent the majority of my free time over the past two years fixing what seemed to be the same issues over and over again on my [1969 Dodge Charger project car](). And although the fixes involved improvements, it didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere. That’s the danger of driving a project car regularly: If you’re not careful with your mileage, you find yourself making more repairs than progress. Thankfully, I'm learning to give myself the breathing room I need by using other vehicles while I give the Charger the time and attention it deserves. I've also been able to take inventory of the improvements I've made since the previous project car update, and I actually have accomplished quite a bit. It’s also helped me better understand what I’m working toward, and it’s beginning to feel like this project is really starting to take shape. ![1969 Charger project car]() *My Charger as seen in our team's [project car fleet debut]().* ## Notable Progress I ended [the last project car update]() by saying that the Charger needed some basic maintenance all around and a new set of tires. I'm happy to report that all of that has been sorted out. The steering pump is no longer screaming bloody murder, I got the tires I wanted, and I even tossed in some new ball joints and brakes. Speaking of brakes, the car now has power brakes. It might not be a mod that screams race car, but it does make the thing a lot more enjoyable to drive. I installed a set of 275/60R-15s on the rear and reassigned the 245s to steering duty. The [28-inch tall Mickey Thompson Sportsman STs]() with 3.55 gears put my desire for overdrive to rest. Cruising speeds of 65 mph at 2,800 rpm is fine, and there's still just enough low-end response to get around town. I do need to do something about that 8.25 between the rear tires before I can really start having fun with it. It's held up so far, but I've been careful not to disturb the peace. I also made some changes to get a little better performance. I had an old single-plane feeding the 440, and although it worked, more bottom end is best for street use. Since a Torker II intake manifold I had sitting on the shelf would offer some low-end performance gains over the top-heavy [TM7 intake](), that's what I decided to move to for the time being. ![Mopar 440]() *Edelbrock Torker II and Holley 800 CFM sitting atop the filthy 440.* The results are about what you’d expect from one single plane to another. Low rpm can still be a little choppy, but the Torker II did clean up the behavior some. Shortly after that, I swapped to an 800-cfm Holley over the 850 that came with the car when [I plucked it from the field](). The 850 needs some serious work, and I want to improve efficiency. The 850 is not officially retired just yet, though. Thanks to a company I recently stumbled upon, [BLP Racing Products](), I've been able to find some repair kits that I probably would have lost my mind without. If you're working on a Holley carb, I recommend giving BLP’s inventory a look. I even managed to get in some exhaust work. Although I plan to eventually get a proper exhaust system, I did go ahead and add an X-pipe and [Dynomax Super Turbo]() mufflers to my homemade setup. It’s got enough bark to let you know you’re driving when you get on it, but drone is virtually nonexistent at cruising speeds, and I can dig that. ![1969 Charger on flatbed]() *Not the first time. Not the last time.* ## Upgrades Aren’t Always Better The two most significant changes I made to the car don't exactly qualify as upgrades. If anything, they’re downgrades. The first downgrade I made was ditching the electronic ignition system in favor of a dual-points distributor. One of the first mods I made to this car was converting it to a stock-type electronic ignition system. I messed with an MSD system for a bit but wound up working with the stock stuff up until last summer. By the time I'd burned through the third or fourth ignition module, I knew something had to change. So, when the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals came to town, that’s where I landed a Mallory dual-point distributor. ![Mallory dual-point distributor on 440]() *One of two Mallory dual-point distributors I now own. This was installed after writing this, but I have yet to test to see what kind of improvements the vacuum advance brings to this combination.* My father has been barking at me to put a dual-point distributor back in the car since the first time a busted ignition system landed me on the tow truck. I should have listened. The points distributor has seen the car through all four seasons now and has never been the reason I called for roadside assistance. What did give my AAA membership a workout was something else entirely. I should have listened to another elder who told me not to buy the tubular K-member the car's been riding on since I first started driving the Charger. It finally snapped on me not too long ago. Thankfully, nothing bad happened when it failed as I was driving on a quiet stretch of road with more than enough room to safely limp off to the side. ![]() Now, before I make a blanket statement about tubular K-members and street use, it's only fair to say that some are built with that setting in mind while others aren't. In my case, I should have done more research before buying into marketing keywords and driving carelessly. I'm no engineer and can't really weigh in on the details. All I can say is that I won't be taking chances again on one in a street-driven car anytime soon. The stock unit might be slightly heavier and offer less room for headers and working on things, but I know for sure that Dodge built it for street use, and it's proven to be a perfectly viable design for nearly 60 years now. I wish I had thought about that before spending money on flashy aftermarket parts. At least nobody got hurt. On the bright side, I think the car looks a whole lot better with the factory K-member tucked neatly into the belly. The tubular K-member, believe it or not, was hanging very low. In old pictures, you can see that there was a minimal amount of ground clearance under the front of the car with it installed. It’s something I really never noticed until swapping back. As soon as I did, the Charger looked like a Charger again. Even with the sway bar, everything looks nice and tidy. ![1969 Dodge Charger project car]() *Made it to New Jersey. Where to next?* ## What’s the Plan From Here? So, the car turns, it looks good, and it’s running pretty smoothly. Yes, I am eventually going to make it pretty, but I need to get some highway miles on it first. I recently took the car for an emergency trip to New Jersey. According to my math, I got about 7 miles to the gallon. I know many of you will say that sounds about right but not me. I know I can get close to double that if I make a few changes. I have another distributor with a vacuum advance I need to install, and I’m confident I can get more miles per gallon out of it with a little more tinkering with the tune. Also, the sending unit has a nasty leak that’s not helping the situation. Addressing that alone should make a massive difference. The single-plane intake and cam combination I have aren't doing me any favors in terms of efficiency in this operating range. A good dual plane such as [Edelbrock's Performer RPM]() should be sitting on top. And although I have an unopened Comp Cams cam and lifter set that’d be perfect here, I have yet to decide whether it belongs in this engine or another I'm working on. Once I have that sorted, I intend to get out and explore a little. I have an idea of where I’d like to go, but I’m not saying anything until I build a little more confidence in this sucker. Speaking of which, I’m still undecided on whether I want to keep my tubular control arms. They have yet to let me down, but the entire way to Jersey I kept thinking about the possibility of something failing because of my experience with the K-member. So, I’ve been playing around and tightening things up. I plan to finally start finishing up the cosmetics, but I intend to do something pretty major between then and now to make it possible—something that requires a considerable amount of money. I’ll keep you posted. ## Author Hank is a former Commerce Editor at The Drive. ### Author social links [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]()