VF & VE second hand rare & demanding high Prices.

[panhead]

In early 1980, I did a night drag meeting open to panel vans that had to run street tyres and entered my Valiant panel van, a 265 Hemi with an E49 camshaft and valve springs, 40 thou off the head, Webers off an E48 and running on Avgas. It was 4 speed manual with a 3.23 diff on the old Bridgestone Steel Belted 60 tyres.

I was second fastest overall with 15.00 second pass and the fastest was an HQ panel van with a 350 Chev did a 14.96. In the final run, I beat the HQ who lit it up off the line by half a front guard and won the event in a 6 cylinder Valiant half a second faster than the average cammed 308!

My father was a Valiant enthusiast and had an E55 340 Charger and he got me an apprenticeship at a Chrysler/Mitsubishi dealer. As a kid, it all started with me playing around with Valiant's my father worked on at home nearly every weekend!

Back in the 70's & 80's, a lot of V8 boys were embarrassed by those 265 Hemi's with many of them running 3 speed manuals.



.

 

[RevNev]

Back in the 70's & 80's, a lot of V8 boys were embarrassed by those 265 Hemi's with many of them running 3 speed manuals.

Yes, the early E37 and E38 Chargers were 3 speed manual. One of the fastest cars I drove back in the day was a Centura with 6 pack engine and although an XU1 Torana handled much better, the Centura blitz it in a straight line.

Another drag meeting I took the Weber carbs off and tried a 4-barrel E34 Pacer manifold and Rochester carb that we had running well on the street and the car was 6/10th slower over the quarter mile. Chrysler did a good job with the Weber carbs and jetting, they ran well.

 

[vc commodore]

In early 1980, I did a night drag meeting open to panel vans that had to run street tyres and entered my Valiant panel van, a 265 Hemi with an E49 camshaft and valve springs, 40 thou off the head, Webers off an E48 and running on Avgas. It was 4 speed manual with a 3.23 diff on the old Bridgestone Steel Belted 60 tyres.

I was second fastest overall with 15.00 second pass and the fastest was an HQ panel van with a 350 Chev did a 14.96. In the final run, I beat the HQ who lit it up off the line by half a front guard and won the event in a 6 cylinder Valiant half a second faster than the average cammed 308!

My father was a Valiant enthusiast and had an E55 340 Charger and he got me an apprenticeship at a Chrysler/Mitsubishi dealer. As a kid, it all started with me playing around with Valiant's my father worked on at home nearly every weekend!

I have a KB Centura with a 60 thou over 265, crow 666 cam, carter 2 barrel, extractors, close ratio 4 speed and 2.92 diff.....

The body twists that much, it pops the left rear door open....

 

[vc commodore]

Back in the 70's & 80's, a lot of V8 boys were embarrassed by those 265 Hemi's with many of them running 3 speed manuals.



.

Still to this day, hemis are one of the quickest off the mark......The autos and the oil pump drives were the weak links....

245's aren't any slouch either.....

 

[Forg]

Yes, the early E37 and E38 Chargers were 3 speed manual. One of the fastest cars I drove back in the day was a Centura with 6 pack engine and although an XU1 Torana handled much better, the Centura blitz it in a straight line.

Another drag meeting I took the Weber carbs off and tried a 4-barrel E34 Pacer manifold and Rochester carb that we had running well on the street and the car was 6/10th slower over the quarter mile. Chrysler did a good job with the Weber carbs and jetting, they ran well.

They got da boyz from Weber in to do that, didn't they?
Or ... I have recollections maybe even took some stuff to Italy to get the experts there to wave some magic over them?

I only found out many decades later that the Chrysler team pwned the NZ equivalent of whatever the ATCC was called during those years. They just set them up, particularly suspension, better than even the Folden people who were leading here but couldn't keep-up when they went there. Potentially a difference in track characteristics was part of it, I guess, but shows they certainly had more potential than we saw here.

 

[vc commodore]

They got da boyz from Weber in to do that, didn't they?
Or ... I have recollections maybe even took some stuff to Italy to get the experts there to wave some magic over them?

I only found out many decades later that the Chrysler team pwned the NZ equivalent of whatever the ATCC was called during those years. They just set them up, particularly suspension, better than even the Folden people who were leading here but couldn't keep-up when they went there. Potentially a difference in track characteristics was part of it, I guess, but shows they certainly had more potential than we saw here.

Chrysler Aust sent an engine over with the webers to Italy to get them set...So your memory is still there....

Chrysler definately set the cars up better in NZ than Aust.....Not sure what the difference was though.....

 

[wetwork65]

Chrysler Aust sent an engine over with the webers to Italy to get them set...So your memory is still there....

Chrysler definately set the cars up better in NZ than Aust.....Not sure what the difference was though.....

Smaller and tighter tracks in NZ without long straights, so the cars couldn't "stretch" out (like at Mt Panorama with relatively huuge Conrod straight).
Probably resulting in a shorter diff ratio, since the speeds didn't need to be as high and the cars were lighter. But I was too young so someone else may know more.

 

[RevNev]

Still to this day, hemis are one of the quickest off the mark......The autos and the oil pump drives were the weak links....

245's aren't any slouch either.....

There was no comparison with the 245 Hemi against a 202 Holden or 250 Falcon.

I remember with CL Valiant Regal's we raced a few 265's and 318 V8's, and the 265's would smoke the 318's from a standing start!

 

[vc commodore]

There was no comparison with the 245 Hemi against a 202 Holden or 250 Falcon.

I remember with CL Valiant Regal's we raced a few 265's and 318 V8's, and the 265's would smoke the 318's from a standing start!

No comparison a 245 against a 304, 308 and 302 either....

I have 3X 245 powered Valiants....

I also own an ex-cop hwy patrol car....Has the teen fitted...Not real good down low but up high is where they come into their own...

 

[losh1971]

My cousin had a Charger 265, It had a four speed. I thought Chargers came out with four speeds?