TECH | FUEL FOR THOUGHT
the steel fuel lines. A brass tee connected
all the fuel lines together. Between the
fuel pump and the brass tee, a date-coded
1967 fuel filter was installed. The fuel-line
installation looked like a factory installation.
The electric choke required a keyed
12-volt source to power it up. We were
able to tap into a switched voltage in
the factory fuse box. The wire from the
fuse box was neatly passed through a
grommet in the firewall to the engine-bay
wiring harness. The wire was tucked into
the aftermarket convoluted tubing that
encased the OEM wiring harness. We
ran the wire around the engine to the
passenger-side valve cover. The wire was
extended from the tubing to the choke,
and after connecting the wire to the
choke terminal, we reconnected the neg-
ative battery cable and turned the ignition
key to the run position. We observed the
choke move to the fully closed position.
Pleased with the electrical operation of
the choke, we connected a fuel pressure
gauge into the fuel line to the carburetor,
and a timing light was connected to the
battery and cylinder No. 1 so we could
adjust the engine timing once the engine
started. The coil wire was shorted to
ground, and the engine was turned over
for about 20 seconds. This filled the float
bowls and provided us an opportunity
to see if there were any fuel leaks—we
did not notice any. Subsequently, the coil
wire was reattached to the distributor. The
throttle pedal was depressed twice, and
we twisted the ignition key to the start
position. The engine jumped to life. After
the choke pulled off (about 3 minutes),
the ignition timing was adjusted, the
idle speed was corrected, and the fuel
pressure was observed. The fuel pump
provided 6 psig, which was sufficient for
the Brawler. The engine was shut off,
and the fuel pressure gauge was removed.
The 273 was restarted, and as the
engine temperature rose, the coolant
was topped off. We connected a vacuum
gauge to the Brawler, and the idle
mixture screws were adjusted until the
highest vacuum reading (19 inches)
was achieved. We were a little concerned
that we had turned the four idle mix-
ture screws in significantly to only three-
quarters of a turn out from the seat. The
engine’s exhaust smelled very rich, even
with the minimum position of the idle
mixture screws. To allow us to moni-
tor the exhaust gases when we returned
to the dyno, a Hooker clamp-on O 2 sen-
sor bung (PN 71014302-RHKR) was
installed. Before we left for the chassis
dyno, we installed our new unsilenced
The kickdown bracket was installed
onto the back two manifold bolts on the
driver side. We adjusted the kickdown
linkage, as described in the factory
service manual. When the kickdown
linkage is properly setup, the factory
parts work great. We did not have any
problems with the kickdown linkage
operating with the Brawler.
We attempted to keep the Brawler
installation factory-appearing. The fuel
line we elected to use was^5 ⁄ 16 -inch steel
line. The as-delivered inlets to each float
bowl of the Brawler were changed to
Holley^5 ⁄ 16 -inch inlets to accommodate
the use of the steel fuel lines.
We routed the heater hoses from the
manifold to the heater core through a
factory bracket support, which retained
the factory appearance. At this point,
everything had been reattached to
the manifold or carburetor. The 1967
reproduction fuel filter is partially
hidden by the heater hoses.
To provide all the bends of the fuel lines,
we used three different tubing benders
and a tube-flaring tool. We took plenty
of time to bend each fuel line to clear
all the engine accessories, the belts,
and the carburetor choke mechanism.
The fuel line from the fuel pump to the
carburetor float bowls required several
compound bends, but the result was
a proper-fitting fuel line that did not
make contact with anything and looked
like a factory piece.
The electric choke required a switched
12-volt source. We piggybacked a keyed
12-volt source in the fuse box. The wire
was run through a firewall grommet and
into the convoluted tubing that housed
the main engine wiring harness. The
wire was connected to the carburetor
choke. We tested the switched 12-volt
wire with a test light. A fuel pressure
gauge is on the right side of the
photo. We set it up to measure the fuel
pressure. Once the 273 was started,
the fuel pump provided 6 psig.
To use the Brawler on a Mopar product
and to provide the proper throttle and
kickdown linkage geometry, we fitted a
Holley throttle extension lever (PN 20-7)
to the Brawler’s throttle shaft linkage.
There are no modifications required to
fit the throttle-extension lever. It installs
with two bolts, washers, and nuts.
28 moparmuscle.com