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Parts Used In This Episode

ProCharger SuperCharger
2015-2023 Charger R/T Supercharger

Video Transcript

[ Tommy ] You're watching Powernation!

[ Tommy ] Today on Detroit Muscle we've got a new project that's charged up and ready to go with a list of adjustments to make it that much better. [ Music ] [ engines revving ] [ Music ] [ Tommy ] Hey guys, welcome to Detroit Muscle. Today we have a fine specimen of some modern muscle in the shop. And you guys know how we are. We can't leave anything alone, and boy do we have some plans for this thing. [ Peyton ] If you're into new age performance there's not a lot to choose from anymore. You've got your Camaro, your Mustang, your Charger, or a Challenger. With these Mopars if there's one thing we like it's the Hemi. [ Tommy ] The popularity of the Chargers and Challengers is quite significant, and a lot of it goes back to the retro styling that these cars have. Kinda like this big body line here in the middle of the two doors that looks a lot like the '68-'69 Chargers from back in the day. One thing I really enjoy about this modern muscle is the nose treatment that all of them have if they're a hypo car. [ Peyton ] When it comes to interior there's not a lot of modifications we can do to this Charger. It comes pretty set up. Alcantara seats wrapped in leather, a nice set of paddle shifters on the steering wheel, large touch screen, and all the other bells and whistles you could ask for like heated seats, heated steering wheel, plus a sunroof. [ Tommy ] Up under here's where all the magic happens. This car has the 5.7-liter V-8 Hemi, and it is the smaller one of the bunch because Dodge does make a 6-2 and a 6-4. However this one is respectable. It makes 370 horse, and the aftermarket support for these things is quite substantial. Meaning that in a matter of a day or so you can bolt on about 150 horse. Sounds pretty nice don't it? [ Petyon ] Well guys we got the 5.7-Hemi down here in Engine Power and the guys are gonna show me how to run a chassis dyno cause I've never done it before. So here's the crash course for me guys. [ Pat ] You forgot to mention that part. [ Frankie ] We can teach you. It's really easy to do. There's only one rule, don't touch the brakes. Hop in there and we'll make your first rip. [ Pat ] The biggest deal on this don't touch the brakes. The dyno has the brakes. It's that blinking red button right there. All we're gonna do is get it in manual and take the traction control off. Otherwise the car's gonna freak out. Then you're gonna run it up to 2,000, 2,500 r-p-m. Then before you stuff the gas pedal hit the green button, run her right up straight through. About 5,500, 5,600 hit the green button again and then let it run out to the rev limiter. On these is really soft. [ Frankie ] Do it in fourth gear on this one. [ Peyton ] Y'all ready? I'm gonna release the brake. [ engine revving ] [ Peyton ] Second gear, third gear, fourth gear. [ engine revving ] [ Frankie ] First time, we've got to stand a little bit farther back. [ engine revving ] [ engine winding down ] [ Music ] [ Frankie ] Pretty good. Let's see what it made. [ Pat ] Everything stayed on. [ Frankie ] I don't know what these are supposed to make. We probably should have looked that up, but it's making 345.26 horsepower and 369 pound feet at the wheel. Do you know what these are rated for at the factory? [ Peyton ] I believe it's 385 at the crank. [ Pat ] This car's obviously got exhaust on it. [ Peyton ] It's straight piped. It's got an aftermarket intake in it. Could have a tune in it. [ Frankie ] That would explain it cause that's a little bit high but that's not a bad thing. [ Pat ] That's really good! [ Peyton ] We're never gonna complain about too much power. Guys that sure was a blast and I appreciate you showing me the ropes. [ Pat ] You did a great job. The thing is still strapped down. Nothing fell off, nothing blew up, and it made good numbers. [ Peyton ] Everything's still in one piece. So we don't have to put a motor in it, that's great. We've just got to get it unstrapped so I can go pick up Tommy and we can hit the road. [ Frankie ] Cool, no problem. [ Tommy ] Before Peyton and I set out on this maiden voyage there's one thing that we're gonna install, our Pedal Commander. It's a throttle control system that regulates the sensitivity of your accelerator pedal, and it allows you to adjust your vehicle's response to your preference. Our Pedal Commander is super easy to install. More or less you unplug one connector. Then plug in two connectors and you're ready to rock. Notice the rate at which the throttle blade opens in stock form. After installing the Pedal Commander the speed is significantly faster. That means better throttle response. I guess whenever we get up here to this intersection if you want lets dial up the settings up on that Pedal Commander. [ Peyton ] Go to sport plus? [ Tommy ] 11 I think they call that. [ Music ] [ engine revving ] [ Peyton ] Oh yeah, that'll make you grin ear to ear. That is night and day difference. [ Tommy ] They made that loud pedal more fun is what they did. [ Peyton ] Before you're over a quarter of the way in the throttle before you really start to get into any kind of power. Now you lay it on there and your foot touches and the weight of your foot makes just. [ Tommy ] Thinking about it is if it gives you the fuel economy mode plus play mode you can have your cake and eat it too, meaning it will save you money and then let you burn off some of that money you just saved. [ engine rumbling ] [ Tommy ] These cars have a whole lot of play and pretties on them if you will. There's a lot of modes you can play around with. It's an automatic car but it'll almost hold it in gear when you're decelerating. It's got paddle shifts on it, traction control, launch control. You can drive this dude to the moon if you wanted to. [ Peyton ] You can't put a price on happiness. I feel like I've bought a lot of happiness. Most of them have four wheels and are loud. [ engine rumbling ] [ Music ] [ Tommy ] Supercharger plus Hemi, that's a match made in heaven. We've got that coming up.

[ Tommy ] Well welcome back to the shop. While we were out on that joyride we devised a plan to start throwing some pretty serious parts at our Charger, and one of those components that we picked is a supercharger, a ProCharger that is. What's really great about this type of setup is it really doesn't take all that much time to install one, and you're just simply bolting on some pretty significant power. Now I've already disassembled this thing. It doesn't look like by the looks of my hands but we're pretty much ready to start throwing the parts at it now. The first step that we're gonna get into with modifying our Charger over there is drilling and pinning the crankshaft and balancer. Now that may sound a little bit scary to a few of you but it's really not all that complicated. The reason that you want to do this is these cars from the factory have no keyway that locates the harmonic balancer on it. So whenever you start putting something like that supercharger that's driven off of that pulley it could slip, and they want you to install this dowel to keep everything located. They also give you this cool little fixture if you will that you bolt to the front of the crankshaft and through that little hole is where you run this drill bit to the proper depth. Then you clean everything out, put in your dowel, reinstall your bolt, and everything's happy. Our workspace is a little tight but we'll manage. This process will take a few minutes. Remember, you're drilling a hole pretty deep. [ Music ] Now it's time to install our main bracket here onto the head and onto the timing cover. I mentioned to you earlier about how simple this kit is. This is what I'm talking about. It's just a couple of bolts and we're really on the downhill slide. [ Music ]

[ Music ] So what'd you do today Tom? Nothing much, just worked on a Hemi. Put a supercharger on. There are several parts and pieces to this kit and a lot of times people become overwhelmed looking at all of it, but in all reality this setup is simple. Just follow the instructions and install this over there, mount this to that, and connect this to this. Lookey there, you're making some good progress and well on your way to making a lot more power. You also don't need a lot of specialty tools to get the job done. The lift isn't required. It just helps speed up the process. One thing is for sure. You're gonna get to do some plumbing. This is gonna force feed that Hemi. I've got a car on the lift but I've just decided to squat down here and work on it like normal people do. [ Music ]

[ Music ] The next thing that we're gonna have to do is swap out our injectors for the new ones that came in the kit. The reason for it is these stock ones won't support the power that we're gonna be making once that supercharger goes to spinning. To swap out the injectors it's really not all that hard. You usually have a couple of bolts or fasteners that holds the rail down. You take those loose and then you kinda have to wiggle everything up and out of the way. One of the biggest things with swapping out injectors is the connector. This one's got a little lock that you have to lift up. And then there's a little finger that you have to depress to make sure that it slides out. Sometimes on these things I've had them darn right fight me and it seems like they were almost glued into place. I'm gonna suggest to you to not pull on the wires because that can damage the connection or you can even pull the wires out of the connector. One practice that I like to do before I pull any of the injectors out is to use some compressed air and blow across everything because there can be dirt and debris hiding out on top of this intake or around the gaskets. To do this it really isn't hard. You see what I mean. There's a bunch of funk moving out, and you don't want that stuff falling off into your engine. [ compressed air hissing ] [ Music ]

[ Tommy ] Now with your clip on the tip of your injector there's a groove cut on both sides and that's where this clip needs to slide in there. This thing runs under pressure and you don't want an injector or the rail to separate. [ Music ] [ ratchet clicking ] [ Music ] [ Tommy ] Dodge has been swinging for a long time. Up next we take a look at one of their earliest attempts at affordable speed.

[ Tommy ] It's easy to say that Mopars are known for some pep under the hood, and you combine that with a small lightweight body you know what that equals, a darn good time just like this little Swinger. [ Music ] What a better way to enjoy the swinging '60s than in a '69 Dodge Swinger. The Dodge boys dreamed up this mini muscle car to snag buyers strapped for cash, hawking it as 6,000 r-p-m for under $3 grand. [ Peyton ] For that price tag you could get anything from a straight six up to a 383 Magnum, but the real muscle came when you ordered the 340 package. [ Tommy ] $2,800 bucks got you all the standard muscle car goodies like heavy duty rally suspension, firm ride shocks, and dual chrome tipped exhaust. Plus you got a four speed Hurst shifter pulling a set of 323 gears, giving you full control as you swing into action. [ Peyton ] Power bulges on the hood announced what was brewing underneath, Dodge's potent 340 V-8 small block. It churned out 275 horses at 5,000 r-p-m. That was less than 383 but it made up for it by being 90 pounds lighter, making it perfectly balanced for the small car. [ Tommy ] Bumblebee stripes tagged it as a junior member of Dodge's elite Scat Pack, which included the SuperBee and Charger. It could run with the big boys knocking out quarter mile times in the mid-14's and hit 60 in just six seconds. [ Peyton ] The 340 only came in a two door coupe with slick options like the black vinyl roof and exclusive bright red paint color. Sheet metal was the same as the '68 Darts with minor changes to the grille and taillights. [ Tommy ] On the inside the car was all business, no frills. Bench seats were standard, and there was plenty of room for all your buddies. By today's standards it's nowhere near a compact. It's only one inch shorter than a Dodge Magnum. [ Peyton ] Darts also came with a GTS package, but you were better off saving your money and getting the Swinger instead. All that set the GTS apart was some fancier bling. [ Tommy ] It's main rival was the Chevy Nova SS, which would run you about $300 more for the same amount of performance. Of all the muscle cars that year this one was by far the best bang for the buck. How about $10 bucks per horsepower? Plus being so small it flew under the muscle car radar of insurance companies, meaning lower premiums. [ Music ] The car was a hit in its first year with over 16,000 sold, and Dodge continued swinging well into the '70s. A '69 Swinger 340 is still a good bargain today for anyone looking to own a classic piece of American muscle. Seeing part of Dodge's history makes us excited about working on our Charger. Gas and go with premium air flow. We've got the goods coming up next.

[ Tommy ] Welcome back to Detroit Muscle. Now the next thing we're gonna have to do with this process of installing our supercharger is upgrade our fuel pump. Luckily on these late model Mopars you don't have to drop the tank bout from under the car. There's an access hole right here under the seat. So we've got to take this stuff out and then we can smell that gas for a few minutes. A few of these interior pieces have got to go. This would have to be the easiest rear seat removal I've ever done. Now we just need to pluck out this pump. After removing the locking ring lift out everything as an assembly and be careful not to get gas all over your interior. We got our pump assembly out of the tank and now we have to get the pump out of this little plastic housing. Now we're gonna have to also do some modifying to everything just to get this new bigger fuel pump installed, but that's all in a good effort to making some more power. With a little help of a pry tool you can open up the fingers and the pump will slide right out. The new pump came with a new sock that you simply push onto the inlet. Then next it's time to message it into the housing, paying attention not to damage the pump or bust the plastic. We had to whittle on the cap of the housing to make room for some plumbing. Then all that was left was to terminate the lines and secure them into place. [ Music ]

[ Music ]

Well now all I've got to do is make sure that all my hose clamps are nice and snug. Then we can reinstall this back into the fuel tank and the fuel system is basically done. We're getting dangerously close to firing up our Hemi with that supercharger on it. The next thing that we've got to take care of is installing our new reservoir for the coolant system. Now from the factory we had a plastic unit that sat over there but now that ProCharger and the plumbing is taking up the space where it lived. It's not a big deal. We've got a couple of pieces of hardware that we've got to take loose so that we can put that tank in there. [ Music ] The hose needs to go down and across the bottom of the radiator. Then back up to the hose that connected to the original reservoir tank. We also wanted to keep the hoses off the accessory drive. No need to get fancy here. Just a couple of zip ties will do the trick. [ Music ] Next up was the p-c-v tube. We had to make a small splice to complete the connection, and a razor blade will get the job done. [ Music ]

[ Music ] Installing this ProCharger kit has went as smooth as glass, and knowing the performance gains that we just bolted into this Charger in less than a day is pretty exciting. It's kinda like the old saying. You get to have your cake and eat it too, which makes me think who wouldn't want this? The cake or a supercharged Hemi, both sound pretty sweet if you're asking me. One last thing. We'll use our Diablosport handheld tuner to flash the computer. I have to say today's been pretty good for me. We were able to bolt on 100 plus horse to that late model Hemi, and it didn't take a whole lot of work to do it. Now this thing's got a supercharger and I have to say I'm pretty excited about getting the opportunity to stretch its legs and listen to that sweet sound that it's gonna be making. For right now guys we're all out of time. So y'all keep it between the ditches.
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