1968 Dodge Charger

[Paul Ceasrine]

Car and Driver (October 1967)

Found that the Charger 383 had a 'special driveshaft' with a round-disc
welded to the front of the driveshaft called an 'inertia-yoke' to help
eliminate vibration.

Part #2852162 (3.00" tube diameter driveshaft)

And the 383/330 HP with the 727 Automatic Transmission had a
'special' 10.75" (2350 RPM Stall) Torque Converter (Part #2801764).

Their 'Press Test Car' was equipped with a Torque-Flite Automatic
Transmission, 3.23 Gears w/Sure-Grip, and Red-Line F-70 x 14" tires.

Performance Results.........15.35 @ 91.7 MPH

Note; 'Car and Driver' Magazine was dissapointed, as the original 'Test Car'
was supposed to be a 4-Speed Charger 383, but the car experienced
electrical problems and was not delivered to the Magazine test location.

[Keith 944]

Quote: "Found that the Charger 383 had a 'special drive shaft' with a round-disc
welded to the front of the drive shaft called an 'inertia-yoke' to help
eliminate vibration."



i just sold my 69 440 r/t 4-speed, Dana car. i had some extra parts that someone had gathered, one part was that drive shaft w/ the ring on it, i thought it was some sort of dampener but was not sure till you posted that info....

[Paul Ceasrine]

Keith,,,,,,,

Here it is,,,,,,,Type #7290

The 383 unit with an 8 3/4" Rear utilized the 52.07" length driveshaft.
The 440 unit with the 9 1/4" Dana Rear utilized the 50.96" length driveshaft.

[Paul Ceasrine]

December 1967

High Performance Car Magazine

Taking a looking at the 'new' 1968 Charger 383 (4-Speed) compared to last year's 1967 Charger 383 (4-Speed).

Article; 'Did We Miss Something At The '1967' Dodge Rebellion, And Did We Now Catch '1968' Dodge Fever.

Part 1

'1967' 383/325 HP 4-Barrel
325 Horsepower @ 4800 RPM
425 Foot Pounds of Torque @ 2800 RPM
10.00 to 1 Compression Ratio
Performance.................15.92 @ 86.7 MPH

'1968' 383/330 HP 4-Barrel
330 Horsepower @ 5000 RPM
425 Foot Pounds of Torque @ 3200 RPM
10.00 to 1 Compression Ratio
Performance.................15.15 @ 92.1 MPH

We asked, where did the nearly (-.77) quicker times come from, despite only a (+5) Horsepower increase in engine output.
Is the 1968 383/330 HP engine underrated, or is the 1967 383/325 HP grossly overrated. Or, is Chrysler completely
'off-the-charts' in listing the Advertised Horsepower rating of the 383 4-Barrel at '330' in the 'new' 1968 Dodge Charger 383.

Both cars have the near identical shipping weight - (1967 Charger '383' #3650 lbs.) and the (1968 Charger '383' #3653 lbs.)

High Performance Car will take a look at the major differnences;

For 1968, the 383 Engine has a different rotating assembly, though the bore and stroke sizes are identical.
The 1968 engine has a Piston positive deck height of (+.014), while the older 383 has a (-.007) below deck
Piston height.

The 1968 Cylinder Heads (Casting #2843906) are Open-Chamber style, with a 79.5 CC combustion chamber volume,
while the older 383 uses the (Casting #2406516) Closed-Chamber style with a smaller 73.5 CC combustion chamber
volume.

The difference in Cylinder Head and Piston Deck makes no change in either 383 Compression Ratio of 10.00 to 1.

Chrysler has stated that the 'Open-Chamber' design will improve cylinder volume flow, and that the new #2843906
casting will increase CFM flow, due to improvements in the port design.
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Both Cylinder Heads utilize the 2.08" 'big-valve' Intake, but the 'new' 1968 Cylinder Heads have 10% larger Intake Ports,
which now have a radius-type design instead of the older 'flat-floor' intake port shape.

The new 383 Cylinder Head now utilizes a 1.74" Exhaust Valve, while the 1967 and earlier 383 Cylinder Heads carry
a 'small-valve' 1.60" Exhaust.

The bigger exhaust valve, larger throat area opening, and improvements in the exhaust port design (less restrictive bends)
increases exhaust flow by 18%.
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Both the 1967 383 and 1968 383 utilize the same Valve-Train. The Camshaft unit has a lift of .425 Intake and .437 Exhaust,
with a Duration of 256* Intake and 260* Exhaust, and with an Overlap of 32*

Valve Springs remain the same, with a load rating of #134 lbs. with the Valve Closed, and #208 lbs. with the Valve Open.
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A big difference was found in the cast iron Dual-Plane Intake Manifold. The 1967 unit (Casting #2205968) which has been a major
complaint with 383 performance-minded drivers, has been replaced with a new larger runner and improved flow cast iron
Dual-Plane intake (Casting #2806301).

The 1968 Intake Manifold has 10% 'greater' Branch sizes, and a 50% increase in Runner-sizes.

Also, the carburetor mounting bore sizes have been increased from the 1 7/16" (Primary) and 1 9/16" (Secondary) on the
1967 Intake Manifold, to an equal 1 11/16" (Square-Bore size) on the 'new' 1968 Intake Manifold.

The incease in 'branch and runner' sizes, and larger sized throttle bore openings will provide for a significant improvement
in performance at the higher RPM levels.

[Paul Ceasrine]

'Did We Miss Something At The '1967' Dodge Rebellion, And Did We Now Catch '1968' Dodge Fever'

Part 2

The 1968 Charger 383 Carburetor is a new design Carter AVS, that carries an 'advertised' CFM rating of 625,
(true rating of 637 CFM's). This vacuum secondary operated Carburetor has 1 7/16" Primary Throttle-body openings,
but has larger 1 11/16" Secondaries for increased air/gas flow mixture.

The 1967 Charger 383 is equipped with the sometimes 'pesky' Carter AFB, which carries a 575 CFM rating. This
carburetor also utilizes a 1 7/16" Primary, but has a smaller 1 9/16" Secondary Throttle-body opening.The
'mechanical' secondaries can be problematic at times, letting the mixture get 'too lean'.

The new' Carter AVS (Air-Valve Secondary) utilizes an 'air-valve' for the secondaries. As the throttle is opened,
air-vacuum slowly pulls down on the secondary throttle plates. This way, the mixture is kept from getting 'too lean'.
This also improves the all important 'Venturi-Effect'.
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There is no change from the 1967 Charger 383 Dual-Snorkel and the 'new' 1968 Charger 383 Dual-Snorkel Air Cleaner.
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Ignition remains the same with always reliable Single-Point Distributor with a Vacuum-advanced unit.
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[Paul Ceasrine]

'Did We Miss Something At The '1967' Dodge Rebellion, And Did We Now Catch '1968 Dodge Fever'

Part 3

It is obvious that there is a significant difference in the 'driver-side' Exhaust Manifold unit..

The 1967 Charger 383 utilized a standard unit (Casting #2532626) which is the same manifold found on the
'intermediate' 383 2-Barrel 'non-performance' engines. These are somewhat restrictve units, that do effect exhaust flow
from the left side engine bank.

The 1968 Charger 383 now has a 'new design' High-Perfomance exhaust manifold (Casting # 2843992) with extended
header-type passages that have a wind-swept flow design which deliver an improvement in exhaust flow, which unleashes
an increase in horsepower gain from the left side engine bank.

Both exhaust manifolds have a 2.25" flange exit opening, but the 'new' 1968 unit has a more efficient header exit passage,
with a less restrictive bend, resulting in an increase of nearly 40% more exhaust flow.
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Both the 1967 Charger 383 and 1968 Charger 383 utilize the 'same' Passenger-side exhaust manifold (Casting #2532464).

The Exhaust System piping is the same size for both Models. The primary piping carries a 2.25" diameter to each
'low-restriction flow muffler'. The tail-pipe leaves the muffler with a 2.25" size, but is tapered down to a 2.00" diameter
as it crosses over the rear-axle, and then ends with a 1.88" tail-opening.

But, in the 1968 Charger 383, if you order the 'Exterior Decor Package', the tail-pipe leaves the muffler with a 2.25" size,
and is also tapered down to 2.00" diameter as it crosses over the rear-axle. But the 2.25" diameter is returned to the
pipe as it exits to the end with a 2.25" opening for the Chrome-Tipped extension.

[Paul Ceasrine]

'Did We Miss Something At The '1967 Dodge Rebellion, And Did We Now Catch '1968' Dodge Fever'

Part 4

There is a difference in the Engine Fan assembly. The 1967 Charger uses a 'standard' 17" 4-Blade Fan,
mounted directly to the Water Pump drive.

The 'new' 1968 Charger 383 uses an 18" 7-Blade Fan, with the addition of a Fan-Clutch (Part #2863216).

The 7-Blade Fan provides addittional cooling, and the Fan-Clutch reduces drag on the Engine, which helps
prevent Horsepower 'loss', resulting in a saving of (5 to 7 Horsepower).
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We found no other mechanical differences between the 1967 Charger 383, and the 1968 Charger 383,
as the transmissions, clutches and shifters are identical.

The only other item, was that the 1967 Charger does come through with the Tachometer as 'standard equipment',
while this is an 'option' on the 1968 Charger.