Chuck Merken is no casual car guy. As a high schooler in the 60s, he started a car club with his buddies called The Nomads. As he told us, he did a lot of street racing and frequented Lyons regularly on the weekends. He’d get his hands dirty, doing mods on his car himself in the hopes of getting even a few more horsepower. These days he can afford to have someone else wrench on his ride. And no doubt he’d be glad to have help considering how much work went into his 1963 Dodge 330.
When he got the car, it was a rust-free Cali vehicle. That spared him some work. But of course it still had to be put on an auto rotisserie for a complete restoration. The frame was taken down to the bare metal and re-surfaced. The undercarriage was undercoated with 3M Dynatron Dyna-Pro (544). Every piece of chrome or aluminum was replaced. And the dash was also completely re-done.
With a ‘58 Chrysler 392 Hemi under the hood, the Viper Red 330 is supported by Mopar Super Stock springs. The wheels are AR’s Torq Thrust II, wrapped in Mickey Thompsons. Chuck went with a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission. For the exhaust he selected from Borla’s ProXS series. And the list goes on (see next page).
Fifty years after he started that car club, Chuck Merken now belongs to the Inland Mopars. And he has a little company when he goes cruising. He and his wife Linda are the together the proud owners of their Dodge. We have to say, they certainly have the right to be.
Engine
Exhaust
Transmission
Differential
Complete Rotisserie
Restoration by
The Street Rod Factory
(San Marcos, CA)
Paint
by LEAR
(Lake Elsinore, CA)
Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the August 2016 print issue of the Drive Magazine.
