My project car is a 1971 Dodge Charger. It has been in my family since 1978, but has been collecting dust for 22 years so I took it upon myself to roll it into my garage and begin making my dream car.
The first thing I did when I began working on it was strip everything except body panels. I sold all of the things I didn’t need and that is when the fun began! I had decided to make the charger a street legal race car so I bought some landrum leafsprings and Firm Feel Torsion Bars so needless to say, it is going to be a rough ride! 
It has a Dana 60 rear end and HUGE brake rotors! The most exciting part of the car is the powerplant… it is an 800 hp NASCAR engine!!! It revs to 9000 rpm and has more torque than my truck! My dad bought it for me for my birthday. I am really scared to drive it though because I don’t think the 295/ 50 rear tires can control the power. But there is an issue I have to address now. Whether or not I should put a roll cage in it. I understand that I will make the car very safe and I will be able to race in all events but I don’t want to give up the back seat and it increases the weight a lot… I don’t know what to do! What do you think? Please give me any suggestions for what I need to add or change!
What gears are in the back?
If it were my car, I’d do the following:
- Drag radials - I don’t even have half the power, and with 4.10 gears and a high stall converter I have trouble hooking up. If you plan on taking it to the track at all, it’ll be more fun to drive with traction.
- Roll cage - well, this depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If it’s more just for cruising around on the street, taking it to car shows, etc. then I’d pass on the cage. However, most tracks (at least the ones in my area) require a cage if you are running under 11.50s. Which, is definitely possible if you have a NASCAR motor. Just something to keep in mind. I’d hate to drive 60-70 miles to the track only to find out they won’t let me run because I don’t have a roll cage.
- Any one of the following “high impact paint” colors maxwedge.com/articles/highimpact.php
- A Hurst pistol grip shifter if it’s a 4-speed, Hurst Pro-matic 2 shifter if it’s a TorqueFlite.
Good luck! 
I believe it has 3.23 gears in the back.
- I am not building this to be mainly a drag car, but also a road racer, and cruiser so I will put small drag radials on when I am running the quarter mile
- It is going to be all black.
- Yep, it is going to have a manual 4 speed with straight cut gears so I will get a pistol grip shifter.
Sometimes a taller gear will help acceleration since it’s less prone to wheelspin.
- Oh ok, cool. Kinda like a pro touring car… gotcha.
- I have the perfect “high impact” color name for it: Baby Got Black!.. courtesy of Sir Mix-a-Paint.
- Awesome!
Should you install a roll cage. Hmm. With my knowhow on the subject of cars I will tell you weight on the inside affects acceleration. Weight on the outside affects acceleration and aerodynamics. But you’re installing a rollcage which is on the inside which is acceleration only. Now, it will affect top speed a bit because cars are like that but it’ll be barely noticeable (hopefully). The weight is spread out so it should be split near equally through the suspension. With a car collecting dust since 19 bloody 71 I’d get the suspension checked and maybe a new one or a good-shape original installed. But overall…
[size=200]SAFETY FIRST.[/size]
Install the dayum thang.
Erm… I already upgraded the suspension. It is A LOT more stiffer now.
My bad, hehe. (unless it wasn’t in the op or i missed it) but yeah. Like I said. Safety first - I’d install a roll cage.