Charging into the past

In 1975 I went to Pert h to buy a car and ended up at Aver y and Love, Beaufort Street. Looking back now it was muscle-car heaven as one walked passed XU1s, GTSs and vans. Spared a gla nce for t he Sta rlight Blue Phase 2 HO; no test drive, as someone had f logged the t hree-inch ta ilshaft, but at $4200 it looked good va lue. I ended up with a Limelight VJ E48 Charger with ROH Pro-Sprint rims wit h Big Boss 60s, dual ex hausts and Falcon GT tips. For 18 months I ruled my neck of the woods; nothing could touch it in a st ra ight line.

Fast for ward, 40 years, car long gone. The t win-plate clutch proved too heav y for my girlf riend. But I got rid of the wrong one as I found out 30 years later to my cost. But t he sound of t hat si xpack engine with its Weber induction noise has stayed wit h me. Si x years ago, I started my quest to build an E49 replica. We (my son and I) had a barn-find moment at Hyden, lif ting a ta r p to f ind a Mercur y Silver V H XL 265, three-speed that had done only 66,000k m. I have nearly a ll t he good gear to make it a RT replica including a D354 engine, genuine E49 carbs and manifold, four-speed, dash, driv ing lights and loom etc.

Then I look at t he charger we found with its W36 sport rims and blue upholster y and know as soon as I pick up the welder something will be lost. I guess t here would be three areas of modification, t he radiator support to f it t he four-inch atmospheric heat shield, t he weld for t he rear bra ke proportioning va lve and the f loor pan to f it t he fourspeed hump. How big a hole is needed to f it a four-speed into a t hree-speed car?

Any way, I thought I would go in with my eyes wide open, appreciate your input.