The Story Of My Blvd Bruiser

crayzcuda · May 22, 2011

**No Asphalt Was Harmed During The Making Of This Story**

It all started back in the Spring of 1995.

While working on my Dart in the garage, I hear a guy doing a burnout up the back lane. I stuck my head out to see a multi-coloured Aspen. Thinking to myself 'What the heck is this guy doing" He races up to where I'm standing and says to me "I hear your a Dodge guy....wanna buy it?" Not knowing how this guy knew anything about me, I took a look at that beast.

It had a 360, 4 barrel, short duals, buckets and console. It was in rough shape but it had just laid two long, sweet patches up the back lane. Hell ya, I wanted it!

Ended up in a tough price negotiation with the guys' wife, finally got her down to $350.00 from the $700.00 she wanted. The car turned out to be an original 1977 Aspen R/T, 360, 2 barrel with a 3.21 sure grip.

What a blast it was to drive! With a black trunk, two different coloured brown doors, one white and one off-coloured brown fender and the rest of the car the original light blue with only the back half of the R/T stripe left, my friends soon started calling the car "The Cop Catcher" since it caught the eye of every cop that I drove by. I drove it everyday so by the end of that summer, it was becoming a real hassle.

It was time for one solid paint colour.

Never thought it was worth taking pics before body work started. Note: 2 Fiberglass fenders in brown.

TO BE CONTINUED......

bremereric · May 22, 2011

How about any concrete?....:smileinbox:.....keep um coming.

crayzcuda · May 23, 2011

The concrete trashing comes a little later. LOL

crayzcuda · May 23, 2011

Black!! I wanted it Metallic Black!!

But, I was quickly talked out of that by the Dad of a buddy of mine. He had been a body man/painter for over 25 years working on high end and exotic cars. I had known him since I was six and he had always said he would do a car for me. Well, I had found the perfect car to take him up on his offer.

After seeing some of the handy work that I had started, he was pretty quick to take over the project. I sure learnt a lot from him and I'm glad I listened when he said the original colour was the way to go. The Aspen ended up being the last "classic" car he painted. He passed away a few years later. The body and paint still look as good today as it did back then.

That winter, I was on a quest for a headliner and two black door panels to replace the off-coloured ones that had been on the car. The rest of the interior was in real decent shape and cleaned up really nice.

Along came the spring and I couldn't wait to go cruising but I was quick to discover that the original 360 was starting to get kind of tired and it didn't quite match the shiny new paint.

A Motor! A Motor! I Need A Friggen New Motor!!!

TO BE CONTINUED......

crayzcuda · May 23, 2011

And It Needs To Be A Good Motor.

When a buddy tells me about a guy who had just smashed up his Valiant with a 340 in it, the hunt was on. And I mean it was a hunt, took over a month to finally catch up with this guy. Came to find out that the whole passenger corner was all smashed in, he didn't have any insurance on it and he was still driving it around. So, I buy the car from this guy and he starts complaining "How am I suppose to get to work tomorrow?" Wow.
I told him " I just gave you $700 bucks in cash....take a friggen cab."

Anyways, I got it!! A 1970 340, line board 30 over with 10.3 to 1 compression, balanced and blue printed ....the works ... all in stock trim. Sweet!! Now the build begins. It is now the winter of 1996.

Switched cams to a Mopar 474 cam with matching springs, Moroso oil pan, Holley 600 vac secondaries, an LD 340 intake, Crane gold 1.5 roller rockers, set of Hooker headers and some fancy bolt ons. Yanked out the tired, greasy hulk. Now this car was really going to rock!

"The Cop Catcher" was definitely in line for a new name change now.

TO BE CONTINUED......

bremereric · May 23, 2011

I hope you painted that engine compartment before putting that nice and clean motor in there...:toothy1:

crayzcuda · May 23, 2011

LOL! I was hoping nobody was going to notice that! I have 101 excuses as to why I only touched up the worst spots. I shoulda, coulda, woulda but I didn't.

bremereric · May 23, 2011

crayzcuda said:
LOL! I was hoping nobody was going to notice that! I have 101 excuses as to why I only touched up the worst spots. I shoulda, coulda, woulda but I didn't.

Pull it back out and do it...you like me have another car to drive when you tear one apart...

crayzcuda · May 24, 2011

"The Aspirin"

So, short on cash after the motor and my brand new hood ornament being on the way. I reused the 360 converter. I just knocked the weights off of it and reinstalled it and the transmission with a shift kit that was already in the car. I just jammed a set of 2 1/2" Cherry Bombs on for exhaust.

Summer of 1997

Now driving it everyday, my friends started calling it "The Aspirin" being that it was so friggen loud. Even had the wife complaining when I started it in the unattached garage, it would shake her china in the china cabinet. It was time to take it to the track and show them what it could really do.

Being my first time ever down the track and and the car on street tires, I managed to run a 14.05 at 100 mph with the tires spinning. (Note the 2.2 plus 60' times.)

Now I've gone and done it. I'm hooked. I got the race bug real bad now.

TO BE CONTINUED......

crayzcuda · May 24, 2011

WINTER 1997

Finally got my black Aspen!!

There wasn't a panel on it that didn't have a dent in it. LOL. The tranny was burnt and it had a bent front frame rail. Good thing "smell-o-vision" was never invented because that interior just reeked like something fermenting. But it was mine for 100 bucks!

crayzcuda · May 24, 2011

"Let The Racing Begin"

It was time for a tire change. Bought a set of 26 x 10.5 ET Street slicks. ( Just a heads up, those little squiggly grooves on the ET Streets don't do very good in the rain, because, yep, I was still driving it everyday in the summer.) While I was at it, it was time for a gear change from the 3.21's to a set of 4.10's. From a dual to a single plane and I replaced the 600 Holley with a 650 mechanical secondaries.

Summer of 1998

Still getting 2 second 60' times but now with the slicks spinning.

Now that my little Pit Crew was getting bigger, I was going to the track every Friday night, weather permitting.

For some reason, one night at the track, I bought 10 gallons of 108 Octane race fuel. That only made my traction problems worse. I was now doing 3 gear burnouts to try to get those Mickey Thompson's to hook. After the third huge, smoky burnout they told me I was reading at 107 decibels and their sound limit at night was only 98 decibels. My fun for the night was over.

Time for a real exhaust system.

TO BE CONTINUED......

crayzcuda · May 25, 2011

"It's Stealthy"

Knowing one of the tech guys at the track owned a Performance and exhaust shop, I had him build a racing exhaust that wouldn't exceed the sound levels at the track for Friday Night Street Legals.

So I had my new exhaust. It was a 3" tube with a H pipe and Flowmaster 40's. Down pipes turned slightly inward to bounce sound back and forth from ground to car. Man, was it ever loud inside the car now! I almost needed to wear my helmet all the time because the car itself was acting as a muffler. Even the mirrors and my teeth were shaking. Outside it sounded more " stealthy " with a real nice tone to it.

Still on a major quest to get the Aspen to hook, the battery had been placed in the trunk. Front sway bar was removed, adjustable pinion snubber was put tight to the floor. All but one rear spring clamps removed and two extras installed on the fronts, complete front bumper was removed. I even went as far as drilling out the front shocks. Not recommended for street use, trust me.

So now with the rear tires having a shoe polish line, we were going to find out what was going on with the traction. ( Sure would have been handy to have a cell phone camera back then.)

With friends watching, they were telling me it was jumping nice off the line but still spinning. They also discovered it was spinning going into second gear.

Still playing with the suspension and not really believing the second gear spin, I was quick to discover they were right. When it finally hooked in second one night, it lifted the front and sent me towards the stands. Freaked me right out!

Now being a regular at the track and always first in line, my friends no longer referred to it as "The Aspirin" it had become "The Race Car". LOL

bremereric · May 25, 2011

How about some Caltracs and some boxed in leaf spring pads?

crayzcuda · May 25, 2011

In 1999, I had never heard of Caltracs. I couldn't even find a set of 90-10 drag shocks for the front. The only thing else I did to the back was changed the spring pads to the older style and a set of 3" longer truck shocks. You're right though. I definitely wouldn't go racing now without Caltracs. The internet has sure made finding parts easier. It's all good though. the wheel spin made me work for every inch and it sure helped build my character up.LOL

bremereric · May 25, 2011

crayzcuda said:
In 1999, I had never heard of Caltracs. I couldn't even find a set of 90-10 drag shocks for the front. The only thing else I did to the back was changed the spring pads to the older style and a set of 3" longer truck shocks. You're right though. I definitely wouldn't go racing now without Caltracs. The internet has sure made finding parts easier. It's all good though. the wheel spin made me work for every inch and it sure helped build my character up.LOL

Well if you have more make sure you keep it coming..

crayzcuda · May 26, 2011

I Need A Daily Driver.

I took the Aspen "The Race Car" downtown early one morning and parked it in a underground parking lot. Came back later in the day to discover that the parking lot had filled up. Not even thinking, I fired it up and it literally shook the parking lot.

The sound of my new exhaust amplified and echoing off those concrete walls. Set off the alarms of the cars on either side of me, their lights flashing and horns honking as I 'quietly" try to back out of my parking spot. I managed to set off every alarm off of every car that had one. Luckily, I was on the first level, close to the exit and I think it was only about 15 cars I set off....sounded like 100 though.

I still get a chuckle when I remember the look on this guys' face as he was standing there, glaring at me holding his cell phone .

I never parked the Aspen underground ever again.LOL

It was now time for a more street friendlier daily driver.

Can you believe it? I found myself another 1977 Aspen to drive everyday, rain or shine! It was red with a white top.

All I can really remember about this car is that I drove it for 3 years without a problem. Until one day the rear end finally went on it and the rust started to get the better of it. (Note I could only find one pic of that red beast)
It sure was a nice cross-over though going from one 1977 Aspen to another.

It gave "The Race Car" a chance to rest up over the week.

TBC....

crayzcuda · May 27, 2011

Now time for some serious racing for the new millenium.

Friends of mine from the track were already racing main events on Saturdays and Sundays. They told me to quit playing around on Friday Nights Street Legals and start racing with them for points.

My new goal was to take "King Of The Street" LOL

Knowing one of the key pieces I was missing was a stall converter. it was time for the 340 to come out.

Set of Edelbrock heads, 508 Mopar cam, 750 Holley, 3500-3800 stall, Holley blue pump, 3/8" fuel lines and a fuel cell. Set of 28x12.5 drag slicks and some nitrous.

Put the car on a serious diet, tie the frames together and install a roll bar.

The Aspen was going to start living up to it's new name "The Race Car".
Time to get a trailer and take that Blvd Bruiser off the street!

But.... you just never know what life will throw your way.

Did a good job butchering up my left hand that year, cutting the tendons and nerves.

SON OF A ..........

TO BE CONTINUED....

crayzcuda · May 29, 2011

The Aspen.... "Could Have Been A Contender"

So there I was, having a hard of a time just driving a car. Going racing was out of the question for awhile. I couldn't even stand being a spectator at the track so I stopped going all together. Not long after that, I started losing the race bug.

With the 340 just sitting on the engine stand now, a friend of mine wanted the block and X heads for his Dart project. He offered me four 440's, one being a low mile rebuild. We started trading small block/big block parts back and forth.

I now had lots of big block stuff, N.O.S and a unfinished race car sitting in my garage.

A new plan started to emerge.

TO BE CONTINUED......

crayzcuda · May 31, 2011

Going Big Block

I had been pondering with the idea of just moving the mounts forward on the 440 block instead of cutting the crossmember and moving the crossmember mounts back.

With a straight edge and a tape measure, I measured between the Aspen's original 360 and one of the 440's. The passenger side was only going to be off by about an 1/8th of an inch. With a little bit of grinding, it should be an easy swap.

Friends not believing it could be that easy, it was time for the Aspen to go Big Block.

Grinding an 1/8th of an inch off the mounting ear on the passenger side and just adding an 1/8th of an inch spacer on the drivers side, the motor mounts were now in the same location as the small block. Now all I had to do was fill the rest of the gaps with spacers.

With the transmission mounted on the 440, it was time for a trial fit. First obstacle I came across was a motor mount stiffening rib on the passenger side that had to be cut down for the front of the block to clear.

Second obstacle, I found was the front of the oil pan was going to be too tight to the crossmember. So, out comes my trusty grinder again, quick cut of the back of the crossmember lip about 1/2" was enough for the pan to clear. It was now a 440 Aspen.

"D'Oh"!! I forgot to mount the oil pump.

Motor would have to come out one last and final time for oil pump motor mount clearancing.

But it worked!!

TO BE CONTINUED.......

crayzcuda · Jun 3, 2011

"RB Aspen"

With some grinding to the forward face of the motor mount and the motor mount bolts, the oil pumped cleared.

Time for the final fit. "D'Oh", now the oil pump hits the cross member mount on the front outside. I didn't want to pull the engine out again, so I just left it hanging there on the engine hoist. One quick cut about half way down on the outside of the front mount was all that was needed. It was all the way in for the last time. Time to bolt everything down.

Not wanting to slip the headers and the motor in at the same time, I choose the Hedman 75060 headers, because it came in multiple pieces and each individual tube could be fitted with the engine installed.

With some slight tube clearancing, the only problem I found was one of the tubes on the passenger side would be too long and run into the firewall. Pushed a dent into the firewall of about an inch and that was enough room for the tube to clear. Slipping the lower tubes on from the underside, I found that the driver side tubes would be too close to the Pitman arm. With some `dents` in the Pitman arm area, they were all installed.

I installed a torque chain on the motor to prevent it from pulling the tubes into the Pitman arm.
With the headers having a 3" collector, they made a nice transition into my 3" exhaust.

A quick measure of the drive shaft length, I found one in the corner of my garage that came off an A body. It had a 727 and an 8 3/4 that would be the right length.

Needing more cooling capacity, I found an aluminium 2 core, high efficiency rad out of a Minivan that fit the bill. LOL

With a performer intake, my previously used 650 Holley and some other misc. used parts, it would be ready to fire up (and maybe just a quick rip around the block).

TO BE CONTINUED.....