RestoMods 1970 Dodge Charger: Back With A 426 HEMI

Caecey Killian February 2, 2026 8 min read 0

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The shape of a 1970 Dodge Charger doesn’t need much help. Long hood, fastback roofline, and wide rear quarters still turn heads before the engine even starts. RestoMods has built a few Chargers already, so when this one rolled into the shop as a big-block driver, they knew exactly where it needed to go. It started as a clean, Viper Red streetcar. Today, it is RM33: a Tuxedo Black 1970 Dodge Charger restomod with a 426 cubic inch Gen 3 HEMI, a Tremec TKX five-speed, modern suspension, and $50,000 in cash tied to the giveaway.

This car has already done its job once. It went out as a red giveaway car, helped the previous winner secure a house, then came back to the shop for a color change and a second run at the sweepstakes. Underneath the black paint, it is the same ground-up build. Everything important is still new, sorted, and ready to drive.

From Local Driver To Ground-Up Build

The Charger came from a local seller at Viking Exotic Classics. It was a 1970 model with a big-block 440, an automatic, and a bench seat. The team drove it about forty-five minutes back to the shop and came away surprised at how well it behaved on the freeway. It checked the boxes for a good starting point: solid, complete, and usable.

For a while, the plan was simple. Fresh red paint, a better drivetrain, some upgrades, and a spot in the RestoMods lineup. Once they committed to building it as a sweepstakes car, the standard changed. A ten-foot paint job and rebuilt stock-style parts were not going to cut it. The Charger came apart. The body went to SB Body and Paint. The frame rails, floors, and structure were cleaned, braced, and prepared for real power. By the time the shell came back, the engine, transmission, suspension, and brake choices were already set.

Blueprint Engines 426 Gen 3 HEMI And Tremec TKX

At the center is a 426 Gen 3 HEMI from BluePrint Engines. It starts with a Hellcat-style block, forged rotating assembly, and high-flow heads, then gets tied into a Holley Terminator X Max EFI system. It runs as a complete package, with a CVF front accessory drive handling the Powermaster alternator, GM Type II power steering pump, and Sanden air conditioning compressor.

Exhaust duties fall to a MagnaFlow Street Series stainless system. Hooker BlackHeart headers feed into a two and a half inch system with an X pipe under the car, then back over the axle to a clean pair of tips at the rear valance. At idle, you can hear the cam in the Blueprint Engines HEMI. At cruise, it settles into a deep, livable tone, and when you roll into the throttle, it sounds like a Charger should without turning into a harsh, metallic crackle.

Behind the HEMI sits a TREMEC TKX five-speed. RestoMods wanted a compact manual that would fit the Charger tunnel without major surgery but still live behind a torquey HEMI. The TKX checked those boxes. A Silver Sport Transmission clutch pedal conversion and clutch master cylinder set up the pedal feel, and a QuickTime bellhousing keeps everything safe if something ever lets go at RPM. Out back, a Mopar 8¾ rear end with a limited slip and freeway-friendly gears keeps the car moving without feeling busy on the highway.

Chassis Reinforcement And QA1 Suspension

Once the power level was set, the rest of the car had to catch up. Mopar unibody cars have a reputation for twisting when torque hits hard, so the team stiffened the Charger with US Car Tool subframe connectors, torque boxes, and extra bracing. The floor was stripped, welded, and coated so it can actually be washed and wiped down instead of worrying about every mile.

The front suspension uses a full QA1 cradle with coilovers and rack and pinion steering. That takes the place of the original torsion bar layout and factory steering box. Control arms, steering geometry, and camber gain now look like they belong under a car that might touch a track day or at least an on-ramp with some intent. The rear of the car rides on QA1 hardware as well, with a four-link and coilovers controlling the Mopar 8¾ housing. With all of the adjustments in the upper and lower links, the car needed a proper four-wheel alignment to dial in. Once that was done, the Charger stopped feeling like a big, floaty coupe and started to behave more like a sharp, large grand touring car.

Wilwood Brakes

The brake setup comes from Wilwood front to back. The Charger uses a Wilwood master cylinder with an Evans CNC custom-machined lid, six-piston front calipers on large rotors, and four-piston calipers in the rear. Hard lines are hand-bent, tucked, and supported around the subframe connectors and four-link brackets. Stainless braided flex lines connect to the calipers. The goal was simple: strong pedal feel and repeatable braking that matches the rest of the hardware.

Exterior: Tuxedo Black, New Trim, And The Right Stance

When the car first left the shop at RM30, it wore bright Viper Red paint that paid tribute to its Mopar roots. After the first winner chose cash, the team brought the car back, stripped the red, and resprayed it in Tuxedo Black. The new color suits the Charger’s lines and plays into the “hero car or bad guy car” attitude that black Chargers are known for.

Every visible surface outside has been addressed. The Charger received new chrome, new stainless trim, and new glass. The grille is restored and detailed, badging is refinished, and the body lines remain sharp instead of washed out. Lighting gets a quiet upgrade as well. LED headlights and LED taillights improve visibility and safety while keeping a factory-style look from a few feet away.

Stance comes from the QA1 suspension, but the visual part comes from the wheel and tire package. The Charger rides on American Racing Groove wheels finished with black centers and bright outer surfaces. Falken RT660 tires in 245/40R18 front and 295/40R18 rear give the car real grip without losing the sidewall that makes a muscle car still look like a muscle car.

Interior: Modern Function In A Classic Layout

Open the door, and it still feels like a seventies B body, just without any of the tired pieces. The car runs Dakota Digital gauges that tuck into the factory-style cluster. Vintage Air handles heating and air conditioning with controls that blend in with the dash instead of looking like an add-on. The column is a Flaming River tilt unit, tied to the rack and pinion with polished joints and a stainless shaft. A Billet Specialties steering wheel finishes the driving position with a clean, simple design.

Seats are Sparco GT buckets with leather on the outsides and suede-style inserts. They sit lower than many modern sports seats and keep the headrests at a sensible height so they do not look out of place in a classic car. A Hurst pistol-grip shifter sits where it should for the Tremec TKX, trimmed and shaped to feel natural instead of cartoonishly tall. Three-point belts, new panels, fresh carpet, new headliner, and all-new interior hardware tie everything together so the cabin feels like a modernized version of a base Charger rather than a parts catalog mashup.

A RestoMods Giveaway Car With History

RestoMods calls this 1970 Dodge Charger, RM33, their thirty-third giveaway vehicle since the program started. In its first life as RM30, the Charger wore red paint and the same Blueprint Engines 426 Gen 3 HEMI, QA1 suspension, and Wilwood brake package. Derek, the original winner, had a choice: keep the Charger and fifty thousand dollars, or take one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash. He chose the cash, and the last update from him was that he was using the money to buy a home for his family.

That choice put this 1970 Dodge Charger back in the queue. Instead of rebuilding it, the team repainted it, checked it over, put miles on it, showed it at SEMA, and then tucked it away under a cover until it was time to run as RM33. It still has about a thousand miles on the odometer. It still runs the same Blueprint Engines HEMI, Tremec TKX, QA1 suspension, and Wilwood brake package. It still feels like a brand new 1970 Dodge Charger built in 2025, not 1970.

This is not RestoMods’ first time putting something special on the line. Their last giveaway paired a classic Ford Mustang Fastback with $50,000 in cash, setting the tone for how seriously they approach these builds and the people who win them. RM33 continues that pattern, giving the community another shot at a fully sorted 1970 Dodge Charger with a story already written into it.

AboutCaecey Killian

Caecey Killian covers builds, installs, and product features for Car Junkie Magazine. He has spent years on the floor of the garage chasing horsepower across SBC, LS, and modern muscle platforms, and that shop time runs through every article he writes. His current CJM project is Project Street Reaper, a 1976 Camaro built around a fresh SBC 350. He is also known for Project Mighty Mouse, a 1977 Chevy Nova running a 1962 small-journal 327 SBC, with build coverage published across multiple online automotive magazines. His media background spans long-form build documentation, install coverage, and product features across the magazine and the Car Junkie Magazine YouTube channel. He writes the way he wrenches: specific, honest about the mistakes, and grounded in real garage work.

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