Mopar Muscle – October 2019

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