The Charger Days with John Grant

John Grant takes the reigns for our second Chasing History Charger Week story with his unique insight into the development of the Chrysler Valiant Charger.

Raised in Adelaide, John’s interest in cars started at the age of 13 when he acquired his first car, a 1948 Austin 8. The automotive bug stuck, with John having owned over 50 cars as well as six motorbikes at last count.

But there’s a whole lot more to John than things that run on petrol. He completed two years of National Service including a year in Vietnam in the late sixties, started his own business in 1987 and has been involved in voluntary welfare work for over a decade.

John was kind enough to reflect on a 25-year career at Chrysler Australia Limited (CAL) and subsequently Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) with a distinct focus on Chrysler Valiant Chargers. 

A Career at Chrysler

John started off by fielding a question about how it all started.

“I was the only motor mechanic apprentice to be employed by CAL in January 1963. How I managed that, I will never know. When I started at CAL, I went straight into the Experimental Department. I did not have to attend the ‘normal’ CAL Apprentice Training School. Again, I’m not sure why!

“My job as an apprentice involved the usual apprentice stuff. This included assisting other tradesman, sweeping the floor, cleaning up, etcetera. I also had to ‘look after’ the Director of Engineering's ‘S’ series Valiant. The car was a ‘mink’ colour and had been fitted with a 225 engine, auto trans and equipped with a ‘Hyper Pack’, which was an engine performance pack from the US. Each day I would wash it, top it up with fuel and then road test it around the block. It would touch 70 mph in second gear!

“Ernie Hancock, a senior technician in the workshop, took me under his wing. At that time, the testing of the AP5 Valiant had just commenced. The testing shift was between 8pm and 4am. It was during the night for security reasons. We never had a test track like Holden or Ford.

“Anyway, Ernie said I could come out with him one night, which I did, not expecting to drive. But in Ernie’s laid-back manner, he said, ‘you drive’. That’s where it all started. If anything had gone wrong, Ernie would have been sacked for sure. Remember, this was a prototype. A hand-built, one-off!

“Ernie also built a vehicle called the ‘Valano’, a Milano fibreglass body with a highly modified 225 slant six, Jaguar 5-speed trans and Jaguar differential fitted with inboard disc brakes. This ‘Valano’ set many records, which can never be broken. Sadly, Ernie passed away last year.” 

John with his first car, a 1948 Austin 8

National Service

John returned to Australia in late 1969 after completing National Service in Vietnam.

“The government of the day said your employer must re-employ you upon discharge. This happened, but they did not consider seniority or super fund implications. I left CAL in January 1968. I arrived back in Adelaide on December 3, 1969. This was less than 36 hours after leaving Vietnam. There was no discharge medical and no debrief. I was given a leave pass which dictated I return to CAL on February 2, 1970, which I did.”

Returning to Chrysler

There was something different in store for John upon his return, and it involved an effort to win motor races on a Sunday to sell cars on a Monday.

“I was just expected to be absorbed back into the Experimental Department as if nothing had happened! I can assure you that was not an easy time for me, and those around me were quite conscious of the fact that I had ‘changed’, but not for the better!

“I seem to remember the VG Pacer racing program picking up momentum under the management of John Ellis at the time. The race program was moved to the CAL head office in South Australia. Coming back, I was able to get involved in the build, development and maintenance of the VG Pacers.

“In fact, I looked after Norm Beecheys 4BBL Pacer when he raced it at Mallala in South Australia. My wife and I drove the Pacer to the race track, Norm competed in two races and then my wife and I drove it home again. How things have changed!

“I can remember completing hundreds of endurance laps around the Mallala Motorsport Park. There, we tested engines, tyres, brakes, etcetera. We used our Managing Director’s VG Pacer. On one occasion, while negotiating a right-hand turn into the ‘esses’, the left-hand-rear wheel fell off! That caused a little excitement as the rear of the car jumped into the air and finished up spinning onto the trackside grassed area.

“This failure resulted in Borg Warner Australia revising the machining, adding a small radius on the axle shaft adjacent to the wheel flange and the rear wheel bearing area. I was also a pit crew member, responsible for the left-hand-front tyre change (and disc brake pads, if necessary). Remember, in those days we used trolley jacks and ‘special’ wheel braces. We were nominated as the quickest pit crew!”

Along came the Charger

Something was brewing within the four walls of Chrysler Australia, but it didn’t have four doors.

“I became involved in the Charger program from day one. This progression was a natural flow on from the VG racing days.

“My main orientation was the Charger race car development with our competition program manager, John Ellis and well-known racing driver, Leo Geoghegan. Unlike Ford and Holden, we only had one permanent team member.

“Our race team labour was drawn from the bank of experimental technicians. It was a kind of roster system, as we would prepare the race car while working overtime after our daily grind. It depended on other projects as to whether we worked on or pit crewed the race cars.”

Built in Adelaide

The chosen ones

John explains the process for building the Charger prototypes and ordinary cars destined for competition.

“The Charger prototypes were built in the experimental body and chassis areas. We didn’t have special facilities or a separate workshop. Our cars were built ‘on line’ with no special panels or side rails as per the Holden and Ford teams.

“The engines were supplied to Tonsley Park from the engine development department at Lonsdale. The engines were received into the engineering store and dyno sheets supplied to John Ellis, which I never saw. He just gave me a list of engine numbers and which cars they were to go in.

“The engines taken out of the production-built cars would have been returned to the assembly line to be refitted to other Chargers. I have no idea how this was sorted out through the paper trail system, but this in itself has caused a lot of confusion over the years.”

Readying the beasts for war

With an ongoing battle to improve the handling of the Charger, John describes the steps the taken to get all four corners of the car in sync.

“During the vehicle preparation, we concentrated mainly on the chassis set up. Somehow during production, the wheelbase would vary from side to side and we would adjust that by adding shims between the rear spring front hanger and the chassis. The position of the steering idler arm bracket would wander around at times and if it wasn’t rectified, the bump steer on the left-hand-front wheel was unacceptable. We also had a bit of a fiddle with the front suspension to allow for more adjustment in areas of positive castor and negative camber.”

Braking caused some challenges, too. This led to a memorable moment as testing of the ‘mule’ Charger ute ground to a halt.

“Our development program was conducted at Mallala. I remember being out there one day and from memory, Leo Geoghegan must have completed enough laps to qualify for a ‘mini’ Bathurst. The most surprising event was when Leo pitted and said, ‘I think we have a problem with the right-hand-front brake’. I jacked up the ‘mule’, removed the wheel, and a section of brake disc rotor fell on the ground. I will never forget the look on the brake engineer’s face!

“The cause of the failure was deemed to be a ‘heat soak’ problem with the section of the brake rotor under the calliper head while stationary. At times we used to rock the car back and forth during a pit stop to prevent this happening again, while the foundry at Lonsdale came up with another mix of material to prevent further problems, on either the road or on track.

“Apart from the disc brake cracking problem, the only other problem we experienced was with the differential, supplied by BWA. The crown wheel attaching bolts would become loose, causing failures. The various fixes we applied to this problem were transferred into all CAL products equipped with a limited-slip differential.”

The Charger Centura

Having been intricately involved in the highest performance Chargers built by Chrysler Australia, a very different request then landed on John’s lap.

“One day, probably circa 1973, Walt McPherson, CAL Chief Engineer, asked, ‘John, do you think your team could fit the 4-cylinder engine and 4-speed manual transmission from a Centura into a Charger?’

“We always loved a challenge in Experimental Engineering, so I said, ‘yes’.

“Well, we did. Once an existing Charger was stripped of all its unnecessary components, we decided the best place to start was to poke the Centura transmission gear shift lever through the existing gearshift hole in the Charger’s floor pan.

“That was a good idea, because the engine was then located in a position that suited our needs. We then fabricated the front engine mounts and transmission mounts, cobbled together an exhaust system, fuel system, cooling system plumbing and wiring, speedo cable, etcetera. Monroe Wylie grafted together a suitable tail shaft and BWA supplied a 3.7:1 ratio differential.

“We all took it for a drive including Walt McPherson and other management and engineering personnel. My thoughts were that the French engine sounded like a Singer sowing machine! It also lacked horsepower and torque.  The overall assessment of the package resulted in it being labelled the ‘Slug’, so I guess that says it all!

“Walt floated this idea at a time when GMH had just chopped two cylinders off their 6-cylinder Holden engine and called it the “Starfire”, also known in the trade as the ‘Misfire’.”

A famous sport sedan

Keen followers of Australian motor racing in the mid-seventies will remember the red, black and white Chrysler Valiant Charger sport sedan that thrilled fans lining the fences. Unsurprisingly, John was also involved in this program.

John (left) during the build of the John McCormack Charger sport sedan

“John McCormack approached senior CAL Management with the idea of building and racing a Charger sport sedan to be sponsored by Ansett Team Elfin. A ‘secret’ factory was located near to CAL (Tonsley Park) and Gary Cooper’s Elfin workshop.

“My initial role was coordination of the parts required from CAL and arranging the pressing of the aluminium panels. The project commenced with a body shell. This was almost a full-time job for me. I used to assist with the Charger build on weekends along with a team of talented engineers and other tradesmen.

“John’s Charger was fitted with a mid-mounted 5-litre Repco engine, a Hewland 5-speed manual transmission and a Hewland transaxle. Many other parts including suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres were from sourced from Gary Cooper’s F5000 race cars.

“I travelled regularly to race circuits around Australia as part of the Ansett Charger racing team. As payment for working on the Charger, John would buy us ‘part-timers’ a lunch on a Sunday at a local restaurant.” 

The Super Charger

John decided it was time to push the limits of his own machinery after playing key roles in the height of other Chrysler Australia racing programs.

“A fellow mechanic working on the Ansett Charger encouraged my interest in drag racing. Initially, I used my family VJ Valiant Regal sedan, a 265 4-speed with six pack Webbers and an exhaust system. I posted a time of 15.4 seconds and a speed of 90mph. I guess I was hooked, using the Valiant sedan. My wife’s car was not going to work!

“I then purchased a VJ 265 Charger that had rolled and then a new body from Chrysler, ex-paint shop, Limelight in colour, for $700. Now I was getting serious. I swapped all the bits over, with help from other CAL employees.

“A new, updated six pack engine package was installed. The engine spec was basically an E49, but with addition of a special camshaft designed by Roger Carroll from the CAL engine development department. This camshaft was called the ‘E49 plus’. If CAL had stayed in competition with the Charger, this camshaft was the key to a significant increase in the engine’s horsepower/torque!

“With this original combination, a time of 12.97s and a speed of 106.6mph was achieved, setting a few records at the time. Then came the costly decision to go with a highly modified 340 engine package, with all the ‘good bits’ from the US, including a 9” Ford diff fitted with 5.13 gears, a Borg and Beck triple plate racing clutch and a single rail BWA 4-speed trans.

“These mods with the ‘Super Charger’ outstanding repaint achieved a time of 11.6 seconds with a speed of 121mph. I received sponsorship assistance from the CAL experimental team, TAA, CMV, Norris Dyno, Hungry Jacks and other willing helpers.

“The great old Charger is still going strong to this day!”

John’s ‘Super Charger’

Tonsley Park Twilight

As things wound up in Charger-land, John moved into a couple of different roles at Tonsley Park.

“I was appointed Supervisor, Chassis and Truck Development, in 1975. The Experimental Engineering department consisted of trim development, static test, body development and road test. I was responsible for supervising a group of workshop technicians working on all things mechanical in both cars and trucks!

“When Mitsubishi Motors Company (MMC) and Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) jointly decided to compete in the ‘Group A’ racing program, I was appointed Competition Programs Manager in December 1984. This was a huge undertaking. These race cars were very specialised and required facilities and expertise that were not available at MMAL.

“We started by hiring a workshop, then employing highly-experienced race car builders. In the meantime, we arranged the shipping of a left-hand drive European-spec car from MMC. Kevin Bartlett had a left-hand-drive Starion which he attempted to race at Bathurst in 1984. It was a disaster, so the race program was taken from him and bought into MMAL in Adelaide, along with his Starion. When MMAL decided to leave the racing scene after Bathurst 1986, I was out of a job!

“I then became Project Engineer for special projects, which meant getting involved in all sorts of stuff including recalls, motorsport assistance and even handling enquiries dating back to the ‘six pack’ Chargers and the Sigma Turbo. I ended up leaving MMAL in March 1987 after 25 years of service.

“I then opened my own business called “Grantspeed” modifying CAL/MMAL vehicles and also building specialised engine packages.” 

Today

Having played such a part in the performance legacy of Chrysler Australia, John’s interest in all things Charger has never left.

“I am still heavily involved in anything Charger including Charger Clubs and providing technical advice. I have owned three Chargers, two of which I used to build into my drag racing car.

“The other Charger I owned was a VJ, E55, 340. It’s a black car with brown trim, which was the only one built to that spec. The car is still surviving in Adelaide, with less than 100,000 kilometres on the clock.”

That’s our second Charger Week story in the books. Another huge thank you to John Grant for taking the time to help us put this story together.

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