THE GRAND ILLUSION

KRAMER’S tone was ominous. “Charlie, you’re playing with the big boys now. It’s gonna cost a lot of money.” Charlie Caldwell was building his 8th project with his wife and garage partner, Denise. They had started years ago with an early production ’66 Street Hemi Coronet which they eventually sold for funds to build a Max Wedge. Then he found a ’64 Dodge-number 5 of 5 built 426/4- speed street wedge with 2600 original miles. Now it was a ’65 Dodge Coronet A990 clone the Caldwell’s were delving into. Jim Kramer of Kramer Automotive would be supplying rare and hard to find parts for their project as he had done with their previous builds. But this one might call for a second mortgage. Like many boomers today, Charlie saw the A990s run as a teen. Course he wanted one (who wouldn’t?) but buying one on a Mercury Comet Six budget was a trick that David Copperfield would have had a hard time pulling off, so it remained just a dream. Besides, Charlie wasn’t a hard core racer, just a regular guy running his Olds 4-4-2 street car down the strip occasionally on weekends at the local Thompson Raceway Park. An A990 might have been cool on the street, but certainly not practical with that finicky Race Hemi and small single exhaust (to make the car street legal). But the A990 package was not meant to be driven on the street. Chrysler even had a disclaimer inside the glovebox stating that the A990 was meant strictly for competition, not the street. And there weren’t that many around. The factory built only 101 ’65 A990 Plymouths and the same number for Dodge. Almost all were ownermodified for racing with that exhaust being the first to go. Many were converted to altered wheelbase cars for ’66 and later modified even more radically. An original unmolested A990? Even less of a chance than Ehrenberg picking up a bar tab. Jim Kramer estimates no more than 10 or so of these original factory race packages remain from the original 202. But whaddya know, Kramer just happened to have one sitting at his shop—a black Coronet belonging to “Hemi” Eddie Strzelecki. So what was the A990 package? For you new Yugo to Mopar converts who gave up trying to find lunch pail Yugo parts here are the highlights: ’Course the Race Hemi with aluminum heads, magnesium intake, 3166 carbs, special steel hood with scoop, the aforementioned single exhaust and mod’d right side shock tower, A100 van seats (Bostrum) on aluminum mounts, single wiper, single headlights (requiring a special grille), no sun visors, no armrests or backseat and no outside mirrors (they were an option in ’64-’65.) A big Super Stock battery came mounted in the trunk. Charlie was able to pore over Eddie’s car closely, noting especially how the right side shock tower was tweaked plus the additional modifications that allowed the right valve cover to be removed to adjust the valves without undoing the motor mount and jacking up the Hemi. He also scrutinized the body panels that differed in detail from production Coronets. Unlike almost all A990s, Charlie’s ride wasn’t destined to set tire on a dragstrip. Long ago, he and Denise decided to build show cars rather than nostalgia racers. Still, Charlie’s plan was to create a tribute A990 as faithful to the original as he could. But as we all know the best laid plans of mice and men… (you can read about the micemobile clones in our sister publication, “Rodent Rides” now on newsstands). Charlie found a ’65 Coronet roller, purported to be in good shape in Atlanta, Georgia. It looked good with a skim and quick paintjob, but stripped down in his garage, it showed its sins that would take floor pans, trunk pan, cowl, rear lip moldings and more to resolve. Not wanting repop parts if he could avoid it, Charlie went with used originals, including a K-member, from Kramer. Original hoods were not available, but Kramer’s repop of the factory piece is an exact copy. Kramer also supplies the pattern to cut out the proper hole in the hood and the mounting instructions. Two grilles were needed to make the one that accommodated the single headlights. Charlie sent them to Eddie Strzelecki who fab’d a proper grille. The grilles were pitted, and anodizing made them worse, so Charlie had to go the more expensive chrome route, sending the grille and headlight bezels to Jason Bair of Big Hemi Customs, for the brightwork. The rest of the shiny stuff was done by Doug Baumgardner, owner of Perfection Metal Polishing. One of the major deviations from an original A990 is under the hood. Charlie’s initial plan was to come up with a correct iron Race Hemi. But that was before he found himself at an estate sale where he saw an Indy 426 aluminum Megablock with Mopar Performance heads. The family showed him paperwork that indicated some custom work to the oil galleys and such, with the total coming to 13 grand. They said they’d take 5 just to get rid of it. Charlie said he’d be stealing it at $6500, so he forked over $1500 more than the asking price (Ehrenberg would have bargained $1500 off the asking price). Charlie sent the mill to Michael’s Racing Engines who builds all his engines. Michaels upped the ponies with a K1 stroker kit to net 492 cubes and stuffed the holes with street-friendly 10.5:1 Wiseco pistons and a Comp Cams solid roller bumpstick. Up top are Manley valves, Indy rockers and Smith pushrods. A Cloyes timing set and Milodon deep pan are entries in the durability column. Just as Michael was buttoning up the engine, he called Charlie and asked him what kind of fuel pump he wanted  “Whaddya mean? I gave you the Hemi pump I bought from Kramer.” “Yes, but this aluminum block has no provision for a mechanical fuel pump.” “Duh!” Tim Hyatt of Hyatt Racing solved the problem donating the Mallory electric fuel pump. But there was more to come. And another thing. Charlie always wanted a magneto. Some guys lust after Rolex. Charlie? Magneto! He couldn’t wait for the tooth fairy to come across, so he bought himself a used Ronko Vertex unit, sent it to French Grimes Racing who dialed it in for the Hemi. Charlie loves the way it looks and he likes to crank the engine to build up oil pressure before he hits the mag to fire up the Hemi. Rick Gorski of Firecore cooked him up a set of custom wires. Course stock would have been a Chrysler electronic ignition or dual-point distributor (which Charlie has on his shelf). With a nod toward originality, Charlie picked up a magnesium intake (7 lbs.) with the 3116 Holley carbs, linkage and gas lines along with a Hemi fuel pump and air cleaner from Kramer. Those air cleaners are impossible to find, and some guy repop’d 100 sets that are dead-nuts on. Even so, because even the ’pops themselves now are scarce, the tab for that alone came to two grand. “Charlie you’re playing with the big boys now …” was a recurring haunting refrain that echoed in his head. Michael’s dyno showed 770 hp and 760 ft-lbs tq on a mild pull. Chrysler supplied a header exhaust system for racers to swap for the joke pipe that came on the car. But that race exhaust was way beyond Charlie’s already blown up budget. TTi headers were put into play backed by a 3˝ stainless full exhaust out the rear—an 8-hour fab job by Bob Makki. The trick was to route the exhaust around the electric pump and along both sides of the gas tank making it look neat, original, and legal. Bob’s parting comment to Charlie was to, “never come back with another job like this.” Paint and body prep were handled expertly by Brian Westbrook and Adam Dopp of East River Rides. For some reason there was a color mixup and Flash Red (an ’87 Dodge Omni color) was sprayed instead of the correct Bright Red (although we can’t remember an Omni ever looking this good). The Caldwells liked the result so much, they didn’t insist on a repaint. Can’t blame ’em. The engine installation, as was the total car disassembly and reassembly, was handled by Charlie and Denise in their home garage that’s well equipped with lifts and welders and snacks in the fridge. But it wasn’t snack time when Charlie tried to close the hood that threatened to smash his $2,000 air cleaner. A panic call to Kramer. “Charlie, didn’t you know that the A990 cars had to have a .-inch spacer between the frame and the K-frame which lowered the motor so the hood would clear the air cleaner?” “Duh!” Most A990s came with a TorqueFlite, but Charlie wanted a 4-speed, He called Jaime Passon at Passon Performance and asked him to supply a Hemi trans from clutch pedal to trans mount. The 8.˝ rear with 4.13 gears was built by John Peto. (The Dana 60 replaced the 8.˝ rear on Hemis starting in ’66). Moving to the chassis, Charlie tied the frame and went with Hemi T-bars up front and Super Stock springs out back. Pretty conventional. He took a detour from stock with the binders, opting for Master Power Brakes discs all around. He was having a problem sorting out another disc brake setup for a ’65 Comet he had bought from another company and was getting nowhere with them. He happened to stop at Master’s shop in Mooresville, North Carolina on a trip back from Florida. They were able to solve his problem that he had struggled with for 2 years in short order. Charlie was so impressed that he bolted their brakes on the Coronet and he became an avid fan of theirs. Charlie’s says his good words about the company has sold many brake sets for them (so where’s the commission?) When it comes to A990 interiors, there aren’t many choices. There are only two guys offering them—Gary Ball and Jim Kramer. Charlie went with “you’re playing with the big boys” Kramer who gave up his last set of A100 van seats along with a complete interior—door panels without holes for the rear window cranks and no armrests. Ralph Farinacci made the rear package tray and rear seat delete panel. Scott Whitaker of Dynamat came across with the sound and heat barrier. Charlie has the correct Stewart-Warner gauges and Sun tach that he mounted in the car just like the one in Eddie’s car. He felt pretty good about that…until he tried to hook it up. Too bad it doesn’t work with a magneto (Duh!). Charlie was stymied for months until he found an adapter that allowed him to pick up a signal from the mag. It works “reasonably” well (give or take 500 rpm), but what the hey, Charlie ain’t racing anyhow. That Super Stock battery was another piece of work, custom made for him by the Antique Auto Battery Co. When the 80-lb. battery was done, the girl called him with the bill and asked if he was sitting down. Good thing, the total came to almost $500. Charlie groaned and said “I know, I’m playing with the big boys.” Charlie and Denise began their A990 project in 2009, and the car saw its first show in 2012—the National Hot Rod Reunion in Kentucky where it took top honors in the Muscle Class and Best of Show. That was followed by Best Super Stock at the Drag Times Reunion in Henderson, North Carolina. This car was also one of 6 chosen to represent the 100th year of Dodge and the 50th year of the Race Hemi at the CEMA show on the steps of the Walter P. Chrysler museum. Charlie’s tribute car competes against “real” A990s. Such was the case at the York, Pennsylvania show where it still won Best of Show. More than one judge told Charlie privately “there ain’t enough real parts on most of these so-called ‘real’ cars that they’re any different than the car you have. The difference is you’re telling the truth. ”

LEFT: Ralph Farinacci made the rear package tray and rear seat delete panel. Neat job, we might add. BELOW: Antique Auto Battery built the 80- lb. Super Stock battery clone. The bill came to almost $500. It’s like, how many amps to you want to spend. Most A990s were automatics, but Charlie wanted a 4-speed supplied by Passon Performance. Interior is a copy from “Hemi” Eddie Strzelecki’s rare unmolested A990. A special adapter was needed to pick up the magneto signal to run the Sun tach. Interior is another Kramer offering. That was his last set of A100 van seats. Charlie promised to let Jim sit in them on occasion—for old times’ sake.

LEFT: Bob Makki bent

a custom 3˝ stainless

exhaust that exits at the

rear—an 8-hour job that

Makki says he’d never

do again.

BELOW: Charlie felt the

stock 14˝ wheels were

almost humorous on

a Super Stock, so he

swapped them for 15˝

painted steelies. He has

Firestone bias-ply up front

and Firestone pie dish

street slicks out back.

Michael’s Racing Engines did a good job making a modern Indy Megablock with MP heads look like a period ’Stocker. Charlie picked up a period Ronko-Vertex magneto because he always wanted one even though a electronic ignition and dualpoint distributor would have been correct. He does have the correct magnesium intake and Holley carbs. Headers are TTi as the Chrysler pieces were just way too expensive. A990 repop’d hood came from Kramer Automotive with instructions for cutting the hole. Repop’d air cleaner, also from Kramer, broke the bank at 2 grand. The GM master cylinder, part of MMP’s 4-wheel discs, came with the original ’65 shell.