I Broke My 1968 Dodge Charger 383 Big Block Doing Dumb Stuff (Or Did I?)
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- I swear this isn't click bait. Well, alright, you caught me... it's not nearly as broken as I thought. But I was absolutely convinced I had done mechanical damage to the top end of the original 383 B engine under the hood of my 1968 Dodge Charger. I thought I was being challenged to a stoplight-to-stoplight competition by a modern Dart, and I wanted to show him who's boss. Yeah, I know a stock 383 and 3.23 gears isn't exactly a recipe for a streetlight drag machine, but it was worth a shot, right? There's a lesson in here somewhere. Anyway, after doing a big smokey sideways burnout (next to a Dart that accelerated like someone's grandma out for a Sunday drive,) the car wouldn't idle anymore and sounded terrible. So today I'd like to try and figure out what happened.
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
Remember, it's a lot easier to win a race when your opponent doesn't know he's in one.
Damn right!
68 Charger and the 70 Roadrunner, the two best looking B bodies ever made.
68 Coronet. Hello!
Halle Barry is best looking B body ever made?
Ceskoslovenska.
‘69 GTX
@@j1974f Times two. I was just thinking that. And GTXs don't command crazy prices.
исключая додж 😂 Roadrunner действительно лучший
While in the air force, I befriended a fellow airman who had a gorgeous 69 road runner, 383 727. He loved to race any sucker. Couple local guys dropped a boss 302 in a falcon and thought they were kings until the Plymouth beat up on them a few times. After a few days a couple guys found us riding around and wanted to race. Hell yeah so we went to his house where sat a 76 dodge truck with a 340 from a duster. Untouched they said. That truck smoked the road runner and threw away the butt. Still love the 383, such a sweet engine. Damn this comment is almost as long as your video
I saw a stock 1970 duster with a stock 340 smoke a modified 396 66 chevelle. It was close the duster got him off the line and the chevelle could not close the gap. It was only half a car length.
Sure you did
So much torque, the chassis twisted coming off the line.
That’s right 🤣
The brotherhood of muscle.
Nah that's a supercharged 440 💪
@@DeadDodgeGarageyou need to get a meter!!....
It's best to stop.....dwelling on the old ones!!! (drum shot)...... I'M HERE ALL WEEK...
and remember....to hug your C body
Where you ranking up in the pro circuit?
The (modern) Dart guy probably just wanted to see your Charger do exactly what your Charger did.
Was lucky enough to pull up to a Viper at a red light in the ‘90s. Knew my little (awd turbo) Plymouth Laser was going to get spanked, but made it known I wanted that smoke. He toyed with me for a second and then just disappeared effortlessly. It was amazing. Got the show I wanted.
B- bodies are very cool, the 4 door sedans are even fun and practical to drive. All these cars should be on the road more often.
Jamie that is a super nice 68 Charger.
I had a B-3 blue 68, it was a 440 automatic with a (4.10 geared) Dana 60.
My car started out as a 383 2 barrel ,with a 2.76 geared ,8 3/4.
That’s the drive train mine was ordered with! 383 2 barrel and 2.76 gears. I’ve got 3.23s in it now and it’s just perfect.
ah, the ol' big-block hot start.
I rebuilt my 440-6 completely about 8 months ago. It goes in my 70 GTX that is being restored. I had a few relatives over and decided to take it to the long driveway and do a nice smokey burn out. Man I laid some real nice rubber. And when I drove it around to put it up. You guessed it. Valve cover leaking oil on the exhaust manifold. So I instantly ordered the really good ones. Like you. I need to install them. So glad I’m not the only procrastinator around. With six cars and my wife’s 2 Cadillacs I stay busy. Well I have been sitting around and making a list of to do things. My hand got tired and I ran out of paper. But I do have a list. Good luck Jamie on your future endeavors of the car kind. Thanks for the video.
Lists are good, organized procrastination is a step above procrastination itself.
I love that car. My stepdad has one just like that only his didnt have the stripe and had black interior. I remember scrubbing that white top all the time. It was that car that got me into mopars. A week before home coming i blew up my nova and he handed me the keys to the charger. Told me not to wreck it or get a ticket. Almost got caught for drag racing
Very happy you've got your dream car running again. I'm years away from that here but I'll enjoy your achievement vicariously ;)
That car sounds so nice. Anyway Glad she's back to the land of the living. Pulled the old Cordoba out of the barn after a 4 month hiatus. She has to serve daily driver duty for a month or so while the Fusion gets a new generator/electric motor drive unit. Thank the Lord Ford is stepping up and warranting it. Anyway hooked the battery up and dusted her off. Fixed the air shox valve and away I go. But no gauges. I think the instrument vr is loose again. Anyway fun with old cars.
There basically always has to be something broken. All we can do is hope it’s something small. Haha.
You're a blessed man!
Watching you drive those roads brings back memories. I used to live in University Place, and was a service tech that made frequent trips to Olympia, Shelton, pretty much all over that area.
All that time, and I didn't know ya'll had all those cool old cars there. *sigh* Oh well
Thanks for sharing your time and very cool car with us, and remember keep making these great videos we need them.
Really enjoyed the video, as usual. I've got a 383 with an Edelbrock carb too. Had the warm starting issues that you have. I put a carb spacer on and now the car starts very well when warm, don't even have to touch the accelerator.
Just keep pushing forward my man...even when the door says pull. Another AWESOME video with my 2nd favorite car in the fleet (I really like old rusty sitting above it) lol.
Love the hot start!!! Seems perfect to me.
Great, great video as always!! I’m in Venice Italy right now watching it.
*Jamie*
My wife, always without filter when it comes to opinions, just uttered this when I started watching
this video:
"Of all those crappy videos on YT that you (me) watch, I like this guy the most. He's funny."
Keep in mind, she next to never actually looks over to see what I'm watching - but she doesn't get
much choice on having to *hear* what I'm watching.
So....ringing endorsement, I guess? 🙂
(Doesn't matter - I enjoy the episodes regardless).
(As an aside, when I first heard the Charger trying to idle, I said to her "distributor").
Not kidding.
One of very few benefits of surviving this long on the planet AND multiple old raggy Mopars over
the decades is a shadetree reference library inside my graying temples - well, that and my dad
taught me centuries ago that the problem is electrical 90% chance - which is true 11% of the time.
I'll take that cracked up woodgrain wheel iffin you don't want it BTW.
Also BTW - what brand of brake shoes do you guys use on the 4-wheel drum critters?
- Ed on the Ridge
^^^ Ditto... on all of it. Especially the wife part.
Haaahaha. I’ll take what I can get, Ed. She has my thanks. Right, and that’s what I’m doing here - building up a repository of different failures, tuning issues, and how they sound. We’ll get there. As far as shoes, we just buy whatever the parts store has. If there is any difference between the different brands… I wouldn’t know how to tell. They probably all come from the same factory.
@@DeadDodgeGarage I'd about kill for a full set of old (yes, asbestos) 11" shoes front
and rear - they don't even have to be NOS - any brand from back then will do.
I still remember when they stopped using that stuff - we all resorted to using what
was termed "semi-metallics" just to get any semblance of the same bite....
Does Tom have a secret stash perchance? 🙂 - Ed
Great looking Charger Jamie ! Very nice/comfortable classics ('69 X9 R/T SE here)
Yup can't beat summer cruising in a Charger... great content and thanks....🔧🔧🐐👍
Thanks for your great show! Cheers from…2hours straight north of Buffalo in the lower central grey area of your cananada map.
Good pop quiz , professor Jamie
You had me stumped
Ive got one of those bad boys in a '71 Road Runner. Gotta love it. Can you believe they delivered this car with no power steering. Its so bad its actually unsafe to drive. Ive got all the parts to convert --- just gotta have my mechanic button it up. Car has 35K original miles. It was parked in a barn in NC after somebody ran it off the edge of the road. broke all the mounts and tore up the radiator and its carriage. Its no wonder . .. you have to be AAArnold to steer the thing.
Huh. I actually prefer the manual steering. Maybe there’s something wrong with it. Admittedly, it’s better in an A-body. It’s tough to deal with in tight parking lots, but otherwise it gives a much better road feel compared to the vague factory power steering setups.
I'm fairly new to your channel. Uncle Tony and your broken axle shaft got me here. I'm sooo glad there was no gas in the carb after sitting 6 weeks! Why? To listen to the lilt of a Mopar starter. Very nice Charger! You remind me of me, which may or may not be a good thing. I certainly enjoyed the video.
What a drop dead gorgeous car!
Thank you! I think it’s a good looking unit. Haha.
I had one in the Maroon color with Black hard top..got it in a trade..it had a small block in it.. love your car here.
Yeah, I used to have trouble hot starting my ol 383 every once in a while too. I had the "larger" big block starter, but every once in a while I'd come out of the grocery store and it just would not crank over. I finally put on one of those light weight mini starters and never had the problem again.
It cranks just fine, the boiling fuel floods it. That is my issue.
@@DeadDodgeGarage oh okay. I seen the gas in a sacks dolmar chainsaw boil right in it's tank one time.
Beautiful color combo. Install the Charger exhaust tips for that factory cool look.
I enjoy your channel. 😊
Beautiful car! Glad it was an easy fix!
68 Charger is my FAVORITE year Charger....
Amazing car you've got there 👍🎸
Looks so so much better with the correct era cragers on it! 👍
I couldn’t agree more!
Such a lovely car, really is one of the most beautiful vehicles ever to grace the roads
That charger of yours makes my face get all smiley. My car has been cruel to me today. It's probably going to get a 6 week time out too. That'll teach it.
Thanks for posting another entertaining video with your Charger. At 9:40 you mentioned the points gap was open too far. This will result in not enough dwell (duration of points being closed) and not giving the coil sufficient time to charge, especially at higher rpms. I try to shoot for about 30°
Yep, that’s what was causing that stutter at mid range to high RPM. I knew it was off but I left it that way for quite a while. Because I’m so good at things.
Such a beautiful car , love it
Man i love that cat. And you're channel.
Awesome. Thanks for the video.
All those little tuning things can add up to make it all interesting. Nice ride for sure.
Sounds good on video, i like that its not heavily modified in any way like many of them have been ! Big block and an Edelbrock , you could make a song out of that ! lol
I probably should 😅
I just picked up a Chrysler 440 points distributor and a bunch of NOS Mopar points at a garage sale. Amazing what you sometimes come across only a few miles from your home.
Beautiful car!
Dang, I really really love your 68! Given todays available (ahem) gasoline, ignition timing is a fun topic on our factory higher compression Mopars.
Thankfully this was actually a standard cruising model 2 barrel 383 originally. It doesn’t mean the cheap garbage gas at all! I love it too. Haha.
Sure glad it was a simple fix! Beautiful car! It gives C4 a run for her money in the beauty department. lol! You’d smoke me in a race so we won’t even go there… 😅
My first Mopar was a 68 charger. Great video.
And it was red with a black vinyl top and a 383 lol damn do I miss that car?
I always loved my 383's . Have you ever considered getting a couple of cargo containers. It would help you organize your parts and free up space in your shop . Then you could bring in even stuff! Lol. Thanks for the video I enjoyed it . Stay safe.
Oh, I’ve thought about it a lot. Haha. I have some plans. Thanks!
What a sweet ride!
Beautiful car, enjoy.
How could anyone not love this car?
I love that car. Well, and the 70 challenger! And well, the 65 belvedere. Ugh! So many.
Resist the stoplight temptation, street requires hook up. Once rolling the big block torque should match most situations,
You only need traction if you want to actually win a race 😁
That reminds me, I`ve got some corn dogs in the freezer. I`m hungry now.
Glad it only took a few tweaks to get it running right again, Jamie. What a sweet car, but if you're gonna keep parking it under that experiment in slow oxidation could you please throw a car cover or at least a couple of old blankets over it? Cheers & Gears! 😁
It’s in my plan. Haha. Thanks!
Yeah these things are very sensitive when it comes to setting point gap.
The cam on the dizzy has 8 lobes so not a whole lot of time for the coil to charge, set the gap too big and there is even less time to charge, resulting in weak spark.
Had the same thing happen with my old 318 on propane yesterday which is even more sensitive to this stuff.
I also use the standard brand points, they are good quality but there was a bad batch which had moisture in the package, causing corrosion between the spring and the points, left me stranded once.
Good to see it running strong again, first thing that crosses your mind when stuff like this happens is I've hurt the engine.
On a sidenote, if your engine is using oil, it could have been fouling the plugs when you floored it and together with the points gap being too large, resulting in weak or no spark at the plug, I've had that happen.
A fair point. I haven’t looked at the plugs in like two years. Lol.
I broke our 68'Charger fresh 440 after a short 5 miles drive. The choke bolt got loose and the car ran funny but was still running. It stalled twice and when i turned around, it started squeeking on the crank. The gas washed the main bearings. We had a high volume oil pump and a regular oil pan so you can figure out there was not enough oil left down there. I was 16 and didn't know better. Shit happens i guess. 30 years after I still think about it.
Soemtimes we look for the more complicated solution when the simplest is what is needed....
You got lucky. When I did that exact same thing with my '69 Charger R/T with the 440 only tried beating out a Honda Civic. The nylon cam gear decided to come apart and jump a couple teeth, bending a couple valves, and ruined some valve guides as well. Yeah, I always had the Hot restart issue too except when I would run a spacer between the Carbrurator and intake manifold. But then the engine ran like crap after awhile.
Big ouchie there… I should put a spacer on it but it’s already somewhat hood clearance challenged, so I can’t fit much.
Nothing better then the red 68 Charger Videos.
OK , i see my radiator boo boo. Ali rads look wrong under such circumstances
I still own my 1968 Charger and first car I purchased in 1980, Lynnwood WA. car when new from Walsh Platt dealer in Everett WA , when it stared its life and it also was a 2bbl 383 with 727 and 2.74 or so one leg 8-3/4 . I see your experiencing many of the common issues , iIve been there too and always worked through it on a limited budget in the past and kept it running . now with a modified and 440 and old school 284 484 purple shaft cam 24 years ago , it still retains some interchangeable original parts from the original 383 , to keep as much originality as possible, however however improved with upgrades like the Mopar Performance Electronic ignition orange box , and required solid state regulator , the distributor required a recurve I did my self that improved performance .. It had Points then a Mallory dual points distrubutor , however the constant tuning and changing points , and becoming skilled with the dwell meter , vacume guage and timing light , I decided to upgrade to the mopar electronic ignition , maybe not the best ignition, but faily strait forward upgrade. I did have an older Barrowed unit that exploded internally , with a high rpm Blast ... I enjoy your show keep up the great work , amazing how much you already know, Hope you keep your 68 for many years of fun and enjoyment ...
Phenolic carb spacer might help your hot start a little if you have room for it.
The room is the problem. I am considering a thin one.
1968 best Charger ever. The 383 magnum was awesome.
I totally agree! Mine is actually a low compression 2 barrel engine wearing a four barrel and Magnum air cleaner, but hey. It’s enough of a performer for me.
it's the sticky pollen time of year. Most dust has the good sense of just blowing off the car, pollen is different
FYI your little choke trick worked awesome on my vintage weed wacker cleared it right out runs perfectly thanks
It works! I’ve proven it many, many times!
Thats a sweet car!!
With points distributors on these, the cam lobes wear and the points never stay consistent, meaning the timing is erratic and the engine erratic.
The points not being within the screwdriver slot adjustment range is a bit of a giveaway to me.
Also just use feeler gauges to adjust the points. There is a range so they don't have to be perfect.
I had one on a 383 where when you were cruising it would intermittently cut out or misfire. It was getting frustrating trying to diagnose it. It's just a simple engine right - why can't I solve this??
As soon as I floored it, it was fine, drive around town, yep fine. It would only do it on a drive down the freeway or a country trip.
Anyway what happened was the cam lobes were worn down - not enough that you couldn't adjust the points correctly, but as the vac advance kicked in the breaker plate naturally swings in an arc pulling the points away from the cam lobes, closing them causing a misfire or the engine to shut down.
If the lobes are in good condition this doesn't matter but if they're worn down erratic dwell is the result.
How I found it was sucking on the vac advance and I saw the points close. It didn't help that there was a bit of slop in the distributor shaft either. Not much but enough when the lobes are worn for it to all be effectively a life expired distributor.
Drive the wheels off of it, that's what it is for! Awesome looking car!
Don’t try to race kids that aren’t trying to race you 🤣
Or do, you will always win.
ah yes, bringing back 70s memories... the points with the felt lube pad, the mark of quality
Yeah Jamie it seems like there's always something to do on them,, there's no such thing as done!!! and yes that 68 the 70 chargers are the best and the second best are 70 --71 challengers all by my standards of which I own !!!why own something you don't enjoy to look at, drive, abuse slightly, and take the car shows. and Roll ins. and local city celebrations car displays and for you rural people like me tractors also we are in a farming community flatland Minnesota good farming land no trees in nice rolling streams like you got up there you have some beautiful scenery 25 miles from here we have a lot of River Valley which gets really kinda nice and then north of here about 25-30 miles it starts to roll the hills roll a little bit keep the videos coming there Jamie
Very cool charger, I can't say I like the white interior or top though I would definitely of ordered it black top and interior, I'd get that white dirty every time I look at it lol
I always wanted black… until I saw this one. I love it! But yeah, it’s always grubby.
Edelbrock wood spacer fixed my hot start issue...
400 engine 750 Edelbrock carb and Edelbrock RPM intake...Although, carb needed tweaking after installing it..
Win! Have you learned anything about being a miscreant at stop lights? No? Good!
Absolutely not 🤣
Hey man the way you described it it could have been fuel boil in that moment. Had a 70 f100 fuel boil with an edelbrock wouldn't idle ran like crap on a hot day after a pull. All we changed was putting a piece of rubber to space the fuel line off the valve cover it was just barely touching. Never happened again.
Someone else said the same, but I’m not sold on that. I kinda know what that should be like.
@@DeadDodgeGarage yea i figured you did just a thought hope you get it fixed.
Hi Jamie. I really enjoy your videos and I learn lots of stuff. Just a quick question for you. What type of blasting medium do you use in your blasting cabinette? I use medium grit crushed glass and it seems to be a little bit aggressive on steel parts as there is some minor pitting and roughness. Any suggestions would be a great help. Thanks.
I think we’re using crushed garnet in the one at Rocket. It seems to work pretty well.
The exhaust sounds great. What kind of mufflers are those?
Ahhh the joys of owning an old mopar. I know them very well.
Acid core solder, propane torch, drain radiator a tad, fixed. Done many of them.
Do you see the repair it’s leaking around? Haha. An actual radiator shop did that one for me over a decade ago. Back when we had an actual radiator shop… anyway, it’s also the wrong radiator.
Glad your Charger was just in a bad mood & not really broken.
Random question of the day: Is having a pcv valve + a valve cover breather redundant?
No, you need both for the PCV to do its thing. Think of the breather as fresh ventilation air in, and the PCV as dirty ventilation air out.
I can't recall the exact model of valve cover gasket from Felpro, but they don't seal for squat on the B/RB blocks.
The garbage ones are the rubber coated fiber. They are absolute garbage, and should be avoided like the plague.
Back when I was a teenager, my brother in-law had a factory 383 in a Roadrunner, I didn't have a license yet, but he would let me drive it, I think it was a 73,it was the coke bottle body style, anyway, on a short straight away going to town one day, I had a friend with me, and he about sh#t his pants, because I pegged out the speedometer on that short straight away, it was the fastest either one of us had ever gone, and damn was it fast. Oh yeah, it pegged out past the top speed on the speedometer, which was 160 mph.
My dad had a dodge diplomat in the early 2000s and built a 360 with some pretty radical mopar proformance parts and a tci torque flight. He got a 125 cop car speedo and rolled it back to the starting peg, which should be about 160ish. No stopping or evasive maneuvers if someone pulls out at that speed, very dangerous but fun.😅
A cheap indoor cover might be a good investment.
I’ve got one for the demon, I definitely should get one for the Charger. And then, you know, actually use them
Ain’t got no gas in it!😂😂
Time to make improvements just be glad the car wasn’t involved in a crash that would have been a damn shame
There was never any risk of that, but hey… insurance.
I really miss my 68 Charger, Wish I knew then what it would be worth nowadays, I could have retired earlier...
Damn I just thru out a SEARS RPM and dwell meter, figured I'd never use it again. could have sent it to you. Always do that dump something and need it a few weeks later LOL
I have one! Aaaaand it’s broken
If only everything else got better so easy!
Well...... Sh*t! Whoopsie doodles 🤣🤣
On my way home from a road trip last week. I ran into a mid 2010's V6 Mustang on the highway. He hit the gas I hit the gas, and as I passed him I saw him turn on his hazards and pull to the shoulder. Poor guy.
Oof. Better him than you though.
I know you say this Charger isn't perfect, but it is as far as a semi daily driver goes, it's pretty sweet. Plus, you don't see this color combination very much. Most I have seen always have a black vinyl top, at least in my neck of the woods.
I know it! It seems to be a pretty rare combination. Funny enough, a car exactly like this (but an actual R/T) is featured in the 1968 Charger brochure. I always wanted mine to be this color, but black roof, stripe and interior. As soon as I saw the white in person though, I was hooked on that.
"Don't do what Donny Don't does." Words of wisdom.
Yeah, that!
I’m not mad, just disappointed.
😞
Just about my favourite American car. Right year, right drivetrain,...
I feel the same!
@@DeadDodgeGarage I prefer a 727, with a high stall, though.
The. Spring. Is. Still. Orange. And no, I have no idea why it bugs me so much. Had me stumped at the beginning NGL.
Haha. It’s *supposed* to be partly orange. Just not *that* much orange.
Hi Jamie! Hi 68 Charger!
Hi! (The car does not say hi, it is a car)
Coming in new to your channel do you ever have any gas in your cars 😊😏 every time I’m watching the fuel gauge is very much reading E 👍
In this car, a full tank reads half. Half tank is below empty. In the Demon, the gauge only kinda works sometimes. In my ramp truck, the gauge reads a quarter from full tank all the way down to very close to empty, at which point it goes straight to empty. Just about every other older rig around here has a broken fuel gauge. And in most of the cars I work on at the resto shop, they don’t have much fuel. Why fill your tank if it’s just going to sit there and evaporate and rot? Anyway, working fuel gauges are a luxury most Mopar owners don’t get to enjoy. Haha.
Love 68 chargers , Yeee Yeee!
Sounds munch nicer than my 'Cripple Whip'. Doncha have a V nice al-you-mini-um Radiator somewhere?
Yeah, but I’m not willing to put it in there. Haha.
Jamie, When I was in my 20s in the early 90s I had to make sure I ran 94 octane in my Corvair or it would ping when hot. That was unleaded gas by then, obviously. Gas is even worse, now. You were enjoying life and running errands on the fateful day when your car acted up. I am wondering if you did not get a little bit of vapor lock? I know that you have forgotten more than I will ever know, but is it possible that was what happened? In this video it looks like a mild cloudy day and you wouldn't get the right conditions for vapor lock so whatever you do to the Charger will feel like it helped. I just automatically assume vapor lock on carb engines in the summer nowadays.
Nah, this definitely wasn’t that. In fact as much as I’ve heard people talk about vapor lock, I’ve never experienced it myself. I do have the boiling fuel after shutoff issue. Oh, I did boil fuel in the rear bowl of my Demon at the track once I guess, after idling in the lanes for half an hour… but that’s a different deal.
How I would love to own that car , looks great , but, have you considered how awesome it would be in " Bullitt" black ? , or would that hurt the value?👍
I don’t care about the value, and I would love to have a black Charger… but the dark red is exactly the ‘68 I wanted for years and years. I would never change that.