Death Metal Charger Road Test! This 2JZ Swapped Death Trap Is Ready For Rev-Limiter Burnouts!


Death Metal Charger Road Test! This 2JZ Swapped Death Trap Is Ready For Rev-Limiter Burnouts!

Finnegan and Newbern are back at it! Yep, working on cars again, having fun, laughing, and pissing a bunch of you Mopar purists off by swapping a 2JZ Toyota turbo engine into the Death Metal Charger. Sure it’s wrong, but who cares! This thing was a pile that had no business being saved anyway, so anything they do to it makes it better. And oh is it better now! You just watch.

Here is the video description:

In Episode 167 of Mike Finnegan’s Garage, we replace the antique rear axle and shocks in my 1968 Dodge Charger stock car and then do rev-limiter burnous! If you haven’t seen this car before, it’s got a unique history. This is a legit barn find, a car built in 1969 to go ARCA stock car racing, but it never turned a lap; it sat for 50 years in a barn before landing on eBay. I bought the dilapidated Charger and then Tony Angelo and I got it running and road tripped it from Georgia to Indiana to visit the original builder. He wasn’t too happy to see the car again, which killed the vibe of the project for me to the point where I was ready to sell it in 2020. Then I got the the ridiculous idea to rip out the weak 383ci big block Mopar from under the hood. My plan was to finally experience a proper Toyota 2JZ inline 6 cylinder engine by swapping it into The Death Metal Charger. The hate from the Mopar crowd was excellent but despite all of that, I fell in love with the car again. It was lighter, faster and almost twice as powerful as before and it made 2J noises, which is rad! The old Timken rear axle wasn’t happy about all the burnouts I’d been doing and the old Monroe shocks were trashed so this video is all about curing those problems. Newbern and I installed a 9-inch axle from Quick Performance. The axle features disc brakes and an extra pair of four piston calipers from Wilwood. We also installed a Wilwood master cylinder for our drift brake handle. Here’s the link to the Sikky hand brake we paired with the Wilwood master cylinder CLICK HERE. Here is the place to get more information about QA1 Stocker series shocks: QA1 Mopar Parts


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10 thoughts on “Death Metal Charger Road Test! This 2JZ Swapped Death Trap Is Ready For Rev-Limiter Burnouts!

  1. KCR

    First thing. you guys out west or down south. Do not know what the definition of rust is. This isn’t rust. it’s now called patina. Rust in the “rust belt ” in the US. Means nothing there to weld to at all. And Finigan will rot in Mopar hell for this bastard of an engine swap. end of the story.

  2. 75Duster

    What Finnigan has done to the Death Metal Charger doesn’t bother me, it was butchered up when he got it, he still has the 383 for it, and with the new Ford 9″ he has only improved it. So as a Mopar guy I have no problems with the Charger, Blaphemi is actually my favorite car of his.

  3. Pizzandoughnuts

    Actually the 2JZ engine is firken awesome, easy hp and reliable. Can’t see why this is a bad choice, other than wacko purist crying like a 2 year old.

    1. KCR

      It’s a simple fact. A Mopar engine can go into anything, I.E Hemis. However, it’s also a fact. That only Mopar power plants go in a Mopar. Just hat simple

    2. sm

      You think we are purists ?Put an HEMI in a Supra see what happens . The Import crowd will put a warrant on you .Better change your name and country . Those guys are nuts.

  4. Dave

    This is great stuff. I’m a Ford guy, but when LS motors started showing up in Fox bodies, I gave it some thought. Hot Rodding and drag racing have always been about going fast cheap. Back in the day, guys were putting early Hemi’s, Caddy, and Olds motors into whatever they had in the search for horsepower.

    I’ve seen Honda Civics run 10’s with front wheel drive, and 2JZ Supra’s closing in on 7’s. Good for them. On the Power Tour this year I saw a Tesla run a 9.57 while blowing away a rowdy Hellcat Challenger. Fast is fast.

  5. Douchebag Tommy

    At this point, I think it;s anything that will gather views and likes. I was all about it when the show first came out. Now…..yawn.

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