We believe in the magic of the automobile
Get up to date news & articles directly in your inbox from Street Legal TV!
Completing the interior of our ’69 Dodge Charger R/T – Killer Kong – was only half of the job; we still had the dashboard to complete. With some finesse, some skillful craftsmanship and a lot of help from some industry friends, our Mopar’s dash is looking top notch!
Our perennial project Mopar, “Killer Kong” is coming together pretty nicely now that we’ve gathered some of the coolest stuff the aftermarket offers to put together a stock-but-not interior package that is as clean and simple as it is beautiful to look at.
They might date back to the automobile’s frontier-crossing wagon forefathers, but leaf springs are still a viable suspension system for all sorts of traction conditions. We’ll show you some quick and cheap tricks to maximizing your classic muscle car’s suspension.
Thanks to Speedway Motors, who offers a complete disc brake kit for 1962-1972 B-Body Mopars, we swap out Kong’s old junkyard front setup for a clean disc brake combo that is as comprehensive as it is easy to install.
We went about restoring Killer Kong’s grille the “old fashioned way,” which in the long run, actually saved us a whole lot of money (we broke even!) and came away with a really nice piece that we could be proud of.
We’re not going to lie, we were pretty up-in-the-air when it came to running windshield wipers on Killer Kong up until we got the email back from Jules D’Addio, “The Wiper Motor Man.” Jules walked us through how he restored our 3-speed wiper motor.
Aluminum rims are quickly becoming the standard for muscle cars both new and old, the weight alone are worth the investment. We outfit Killer Kong with some Weld Draglite wheels and use Meguiar’s to give ‘em a good spit n’ shine.
High performance shocks notably improve the overall responsiveness of the chassis. Just like tires and springs, shocks can make an incredible difference in a car’s ability to hook up and launch. That’s why Killer Kong – our ’69 Dodge Charger R/T project – scored a set of QA1 double-adjustable shocks.
Today’s plastics and rubber is embedded with new age polymers that resist aging, cracking and discoloring far longer than those from over 40 years ago. These polymers also improve elasticity in softer contact points – like body bumpers and weatherstripping – and will maintain that pliability over the years.
Proper brightwork should be like good movie special effects, if done right, nobody should notice. For our second generation ’69 Dodge Charger “Killer Kong,” there was far more chrome, stainless, aluminum and pot metal brightwork than we had realized, leaving us to decide what to replace, repolish, or rechrome.
We dial back the clock to take a look at how our Killer Kong ’69 Dodge Charger’s iconic tail stripe was installed. Body decals can either make or break the muscle car, so it’s worth learning how to put them on right (that means no bubbles, wrinkles or just plain straight).
Building a hard-hitting engine is always the flashy, fun thing to talk about, but without the proper gearbox to back up all that power, you’re big and brash big block won’t have anywhere to go. We’re working on Killer Kong’s powertrain a little backwards to emphasize how crucial the rest of the package is.
The original grainy image above is of Landy’s ’68 featured on the cover of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated long before many reading this were born. Jason took some creative liberties and inked this cool rendering of our T7 Bronze R/T Charger yanking the front skinnies just like Mr. Landy did so long ago.
As we’ve mentioned before, Killer Kong, our ‘69 Dodge Charger was everything but an R/T, meaning it came equipped with Chrysler’s smallest big block, the 290hp 383 B-Block, a floor-shifted Torqueflite 727 automatic and a 3.23-cogged 8 3/4 rear. In the cabin, the T7 Copper B-Body was optioned with the additional interior light package, center [...]
Today’s a good day. Heck, any day new parts come in off the big brown truck is a good day. It wasn’t a week or two ago that we got our junkyard 727 Torqueflite back home and ready to heave up into the belly of our project ’69 Dodge Charger lovingly christened Killer Kong.
Finally having a Saturday free of “honey-dos” and family obligations, we were open to pushing the bronze B-Body out into the daylight and lift it up on jack stands in the driveway. Chocking up the front wheels, we got the Dodge up on four 3-ton stands, letting the rear suspension hang on its own.
Think building a hard-hitting Mopar is just too expensive? Watch as we take a 9 3/4 rear from junkyard scrap to a bad ass in just a day! Thanks to Currie Enterprises, Killer Kong’s budget Dana 60 is transformed into a tire-burning rear worthy of 1,000-horsepower!
When purchased, the Charger was a complete roller that we even drove around the neighborhood for a month or two. But knowing where we wanted to go and what we needed to get there, we could build a solid road map to lead us to our final destination. We want to welcome you along for the ride.
We’re swapping out Killer Kong’s old factory 8.75 rear and cracking into a junkyard Dana 60 for our HEMI Charger. Check out this sneak peek until we can finish it off with a bulletproof Detroit Locker, a ring and pinion set from Motive Gear, and a bunch of needful internals from Currie.
Get up to date news & articles directly in your inbox from Street Legal TV!
We will never share your email address
Introducing Street Legal TV’s 2011 project car, this 1969 Dodge Charger. Titled Killer Kong, will run all the stuff that made Mopars legendary; namely a fire-breathing 650-plus-horsepower dual-quad HEMI, a 727 TorqueFlite transmission, and a stout Dana 60 and run it all on the street and 91-octane pump gas.
Copyright ©2013 Power Automedia, LLC. All rights reserved. Policy and Terms
