Hellcat V8 Engine Swap and Nitrous for 1968 Dodge Charger: General Mayhem

This is the story of a 1968 Dodge Charger that’s been adopted by abusive parents, namely the crew from the Youtube show Roadkill. After using the car as if they were filming the next installment of the Mad Max franchise, the guys decided to reinvent it and go for the swap.

When Roadkill first discussed the idea with SRT helm man Tim Kunisis, the executive warned them about the challenges posed by the electronics transplant. Still, the guys went ahead with the plan and got the ’15 bits and pieces from an SRT Charger development car that was heading for the crusher.

As they explain in a 3,000-word write-up on their website, the challenges of such a build, especially under the boost pressure of a deadline, are just as complex as the trills the guys got once the project car was up and running. Spoiler alert - plenty of zip ties and prayers were used in the process.

The technical details of the swap

This car was built following a few simple rules, all pointing towards the result remaining as close to the concept of the original Charger as possible. This led to various complications, such as figuring out how to move from the ’15 Charger’s independent rear suspension to the solid setup of the 1968 Dodge.

The retro machine was gifted with a custom center carrier bearing setup, comprised of a short section of the 2015 Charger driveshaft, a Ford F250 carrier bearing, as well as a custom shaft - the ’68 also received the ’15 ZF eight-speed automatic.

In order for the Ford sacrilege to be limited, the guys installed a complete custom rear axle assembly, supplied by Moser Engineering.

The job has led to multiple details that might seem unexplainable to an untrained eye. For instance, General Mayhem now packs an ABS module, even though the car is far from using anti-lock braking. How come? Well, Kunisis knew what he was saying when he mentioned the electronic challenge of the swap.

As for the connection to the road, the front suspension has remained stock, but it features QA1 double-adjustable shocks and QA1 strut rods. At the rear, we can find CalTracs leaf springs, CalTracs traction hardware, QA1 double-adjustable shocks, leaf springs moved inboard towards the frame rails, as well as wheel tubs. Hoosier QuickTime Pro DOT rubber mounted on bedlock wheels complete the setup.

We have to understand that, at least for now, this is a drag car, so the setup followed this particular aim. As a result, its best pass specs are the following: 1.66s for the 60-foot mark, 7.02s at 101 mph for the 1/8 mile, and 10.90s at 125.24 mph for the 1/4 mile.

The dark side of the Mopar

However, there are two sides of this story we don’t enjoy. First of all, the car was built to compete with another Hellcat swap, as Gas Monkey Garage built the opponent. We are talking about a Hellcat swap for a ’67 Dodge Dart. It seems the Gas Monkey boys broke the rules mentioned above, taking a lot of weight off their Dart and fabricating many of the pieces of this muscle car puzzle. As a result, the Dart walked the Charger in a 1/8-mile race, as you’ll be able to see in the second video below.

More importantly, the video showing these two memorable engine swaps racing was uploaded on Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s Youtube channel. The result of this awesome showdown? A little over 50k views in about one week. Shame on you Internet.

Mind you, the guys haven’t tested the Charger using the ace they’ve installed up its sleeve, namely a 250 shot of nitrous. Which only means we’ll have more news on this Mopar topic.