Tyler from Hoovies Garage finds out that his Dodge Charger has a big leak near the rear brakes, and that a few other things need rectifying.
Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage is of course a man that loves his cars. Hoover of course has his own YouTube channel, one he says is “the dumbest automotive channel” on the platform. He also takes part in the Car Trek adventures with Ed Bolian and Tavarish, usually with some pretty interesting cars involved for the three. Hoover naturally has an exceptional car collection of his own. One of those is the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440, a fantastic muscle car.
Hoover likes to buy some pretty interesting cars, and this Charger is certainly one of them. However, that is not for good reasons. Hoover bought this car from Miami and set about driving it back home, some 1,000 miles, back to Kansas. That went awry as the original tires exploded, and it got towed to Tavarish’s place. The car was eventually shipped back home, and Hoover needs to get the car looked at. Clearly, there are quite a few things wrong with this car. It is though a very original survivor, so it certainly has that going for it.
Over To The Car Wizard To Find Out What Is Wrong With This Charger
Hoover takes the Charger over to the Car Wizard to get it looked at, and find out what exactly is wrong with it. He gets the Wizard into the car to give it a drive, and to see what he thinks of it. The Wizard loves the sound of the 440 ci engine under the hood, and we also do too. Trying the brakes out, the Wizard founds out that they aren’t very good. Perhaps there is an issue with the drum brakes after all these years.
It certainly sounds good, and it does indeed rev high. The car is going at 40 mph and revving at 3,000 rpm. That is something Hoover wants to have a go at sorting out and reworking. But the braking issues seem to be of the guy’s biggest concern. The pedal has to go all the way to the floor pretty much, and then when they do grab its quite sudden. Its very off and on with the brakes. The car definitely needs quite a few things done to it, so the two go back to the garage to put it on the lift.
Find Out What Might Be Wrong With The Charger
The engine bay does look very clean, and the fact this car is so original gives it another plus point as well. The two listen to the gasoline boiling away, which is just something that happens under the carburetors on these cars now thanks to modern gas. The air-conditioning is another fault with the car, as Hoover is only able to get one temperature out of the AC. The compressor they think is not working properly. You can get a replacement compressor, but the Wizard wants to try and make that compressor work to keep it original.
The Charger of course has headlight covers, but they don’t work via the switches inside the car. They need manually lifting. Not ideal if you are on the move. It sounds like there is a vacuum leak in the reservoir stopping them from opening. And when you open one manually, it tries to close the other one. Getting underneath the car, they see there is some play around the front wheels. Essentially, a few things are a little bit loose which culminate to create one problem. It is also clear the steering needs some adjusting.
A List Of Problems That Slowly Adds Up
There are leaks around the oil pan too, but something pretty standard. That won’t be too hard to fix up. Something interesting the pair note is that there are modern brake lines. They have clearly been redone at some point. But underneath the pair find there is very little, if none at all, rust. It is remarkably clean underneath. And with so little changed, it is essentially as it was when it left the Dodge factory. A leaky differential though is not something anyone wants to see.
A Rare Survivor That Hopefully Can Get The Love It Deserves
There are even original factory tags around the differential. They aren’t accurate anymore, but they are still there. They find the big problem with the brakes though, and that is because the rear brakes are leaking their fluid everywhere. That is why there is so much travel in the pedal. But luckily, there are no terribly major issues that need rectifying. The engine is good for one, and overall the car is in good condition. It is not one major issue, more a lot of minor problems that have added up to create a relatively major problem. Looks like Hoovies Garage will get a good Charger when all of this is all done and sorted.
