In case you need further confirmation that we live in amazing automotive times, the Hellcrate engine may just be it. Order it from Mopar, install it, and transform a vehicle of your choice into a tire-shredding 707-horsepower monster. Easy, right?
The real question is what vehicle to drop this monster engine into?
A customer of Ace Performance, in Tewksbury, MA decided to drop into what might be perfect candidate for it, a ’68 Dodge Charger R/T.
The project vehicle is a previously restored ’68 Dodge Charger R/T. It has a period-correct 440 under the hood and looks damn proper down to the vinyl roof, black steelies, white letters, and the almighty dog dish hubcaps. But it’s not a numbers-matching car or otherwise unique, besides being generally awesome. Chrysler made tens of thousands of these and this is just one of the refreshed survivors.
Hellcrate upboxing!
Our friends at ACE Performance “Advanced Concepts Engineering” have received a special crate with a motor in it.
A Hellcrate, if you will.
Here they are unboxing it.
Baer Connard
Posted by Hooniverse on Monday, December 11, 2017
The Hellcat engine was ordered directly from Mopar. Along with the engine came the optional Crate HEMI Engine Kit with powertrain control module (PCM), power distribution center, engine wiring harness, chassis harness, accelerator pedal, ground jumper, oxygen sensors, charge air temperature sensors and fuel pump control module.
Like making a baby, any idiot can drop a crate engine into a chassis, but making it work is a whole other story. Ace Performance is installing a Emtron ECU in place of the Dodge unit to make the whole thing run. It will help with possible future expansions, flexibility to add more power, and modern motorsport features such as traction control, launch control, and boost by gear. The engine will be connected to a Tremec T56 Magnum manual transmission. From there the power will travel to a Dana 60 differential equipped with a limited-slip rear gearing.
With this much power, chassis upgrades are a must. Magnum Force Transformer full-cradle with coil-over springs at all four corners and four-link rear will replace the leaf springs. Baer brakes will handle the stopping duties. Because of the size of these brakes, the wheels will be upgraded from 15-inch to 18-inch but will remain black painted steel. Proper rubber, to be determined, will do its best to keep Charger going where directed.
Otherwise, this Charger will remain looking pretty much as is seen in these photos. There is some talk to perhaps upgrading the seats for whiplash prevention purposes, but that’s really about it. It will look just any other black Charger with black wheels, chrome trim, and a vinyl roof. But it might sound and go a bit differently.
We will be following the progress of this project.
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