I worked for a Dodge dealer in the mid 70' - mid 80's. I remember the add where Chrysler thanked all the other manufactures for running Chrysler Hemi's in all their manufacturer sponsored funny cars.
Ehh....that's kind of like Band-Aid thanking all the adhesive bandage manufacturers for using their design. By the 80s NO competitive AAFC was running an iron Gen 2 Hemi--or ANY Chrysler product in their engines. The design yes because wedges suck on fuel compared to the giant chambered Hemis.
I’m about Tony’s age, and my heart will always belong to the 60s Mopars, and B/RB engines in particular. But ONE rip behind the wheel of a 392 Challenger makes you admire the modern stuff…. A LOT. My 2012 SRT will be in my fleet a long time, though nothing will replace the ‘69 R/T.
I'm the 2'nd Owner of a '71 R/T-SE Challenger 440-6/4-speed which came from Bob Banning Dodge in Maryland. The Original Owner was a BIG supporter of the whole "Hustle/Power-Broker/Direct Connection" thing. Along with the Car came LOTS of spare parts and LOTS of old "Hustle" "Direct Connection" Books ect. It's pretty cool that they're bringing D-C back,and in a way it's something that ONLY 'Chrysler would do,' Hopefully it works out.
You nailed it saying “it’s like the Gods are speaking directly to you”. Each bulletin had the authors name on it, and those names were top engineers, names we already knew and respected. You are also right about it being referred to as the bible, I’ve heard d it called that in many different parts of the country.
Still have my "Yellow book" It wasnt just motor stuff. It was light years ahead of everyone, when the manual on rear suspensions came out, and explained how a drag race rear suspension should act. My favorite was their explaination of how "traction bars" were an aftermarket creation to band-aid the fact that most GM cars (specifically Camaros and Firebirds) had crap rear leaf springs, and were a total waste on a Chrysler product. I've got an old Direct Connection catalog around here that shows the whole "Purple Shaft" line. As noted, it wasn't a specific camshaft, but a whole line of camshafts, from stock 340 cams, to rollers.
Geez, first they hint at bringing back the fratzog, and now they're bringing back Direct Connection? How cool would it be if they brought back a modern A-body equivalent that was pure Mopar but a little more affordable than the Charger & Challenger?
Worked for Chrysler in the Direct Conection program. I watched performance Die the smog laws and the insurance company's killed it. Glad to see it coming back the shame is it now costs more than my house
Back in 1975, I ordered my cam from my direct connection catalog and it was called "The Purple Shaft" cam in that catalog. It came with the lifters. I bought it for my 1970 440. It was not radical and worked well on the street. (A post below reminded me it was the "Street Hemi Grind" .) It pulled very strong at 3,000 rpm and up and the idle was great and sounded beautiful. With High compression pistons, headers and a 650 Holley on a midrise manifold, it ran really well for many years.
Dodge marketing has been in another universe compared to Brand G and F. We'll get UT into a Hellcat yet and make him a believer in old...and new muscle!
I love old Mopar but you can tune a Hellcat any way you want. You can put higher stall but you won't need it. Look at this way. My old stock 440 turned roughly 375 HP. My new 345 turns out 375 stock and from factory the tranny will take 1000hp. The only downfall is cheap parts these days and it is getting worse for new in both markets.
Originally, things started out during the muscle car era as the Dodge "Scat Pack" and Plymouth "Rapid Transit System". They were putting out info and holding seminars for gearheads when those cars were brand new. Then later it evolved into Direct Connection. I remember Direct Connection really well, but the original Scat Pack and Rapid Transit System were a bit before my time. I was in grade school during the muscle car era.
Chevrolet is the king of modern High performance with the LS crate engines and thousands of aftermarket kits for them. Dodge and Ford have some catching up to do
@@christianperspective9527 dude, how many supercharged SUVs and pickup trucks does GM have in their lineup? How many 700 horsepower 4 door sedans does Chevy sell?. Yeah.......
I have parts of that book I have the 426 racing manual and all the big block sections. I have other Direct Connection stuff but I would have to dig it out to see all that I have. Went to a Sox and Martin Clinic in Lexington Ky in 1969 and when Ronnie fired up the SS/A Barracuda it broke a few windows in the building. It was spectacular to this 15 year old kid.
Tony- my late Father, Larry Henry, lived and breathed Direct Connection. He along with Brian Schram, Larry Shepard and the crew put years into DC and helping the grassroots racing community. The catalog was his baby every year. Thank you for keeping this knowledge alive and sharing with the next generation.
And this at a time when GM is trying to prevent tuners from adjusting the ECM software. 🤔 And I agree on Dylan! He's a wonderful young man who would make an excellent brand ambassador! 👍🇱🇷
Dylan has a marketing degree I believe and he has done some wonderful work on his own. Mostly self-taught with help from his dad and no fear of tackling big projects like his recent early Challenger rescue with a third gen hemi. He’s also part of the Tennessee crowd which now includes Bennett, VGG’s Derek, and Tony. He also is in the Junkyard Digs, Thunderhead289, Classicmustangs427, Deboss Garage group. Did I mention that you should follow all these channels?
Uncle tony is a walking encyclopedia of mopar knowledge, what tony said about sports at the beginning was spot on, btw i have a purple stripe .509 cam in my 440.
If you don't see the connection between the old cars and the new ones Tony you're not looking. I'm swapping a late 5.7 hemi into a 95 Dakota right now and it bolts right to my 518 which is essentially a 727 with an overdrive hanging of the ass of it. The Mopar spirit is still alive and well.
That s the beauty of mass production. The early 3.9L V-6 was essentially a 318 minus 2 in casting. Front & rear webs had the identical bolt pattern for accessories & trans .🙄missions. I worked on the original conversion assy line of V8 Dakotas in 89' ( Whittier) when Dodge reintroduced the V8Dakota the bugs and fit had Improved. Good luck on H.O. Swap!🔧💥
@Elliotmagnum that's much better than what's under most peoples fingernails, especially long fake nails. wipe wipe wipe, poorly wash and? uh-huh. I'd rather eat a bit of road dirt, coated in oil and grease, doubtful there's many terrible germs in it. 🤣
When I was 12 years old my neighborhood, called Violet Hill, had a very active group of Mopar drag racing enthusiasts with some really competitive drivers and vehicles. The most successful of them was a Mopar dealer mechanic named John Baughman. He started out racing in a 1956 acid dipped, Rustoleum red Dodge with a 383 achieving low tens consistently. Chrysler Research and Development reps began using John as a testing platform for various prototype racing drivetrain parts which propelled him to a pretty famous and lucrative career in the sport.
THANK YOU for using your platform to explain that there is no one “purple shaft” cam! There’s a 484, a 509, the magnum/commando reproduction cam, etc. and they’re ALL purple.
Tony, I'm 67 years old and had the best of both worlds as a teenager growing up in the late60's and early 70's. My family owned a bodyshop so I had a place to wrench on my cars and all the tools I would ever need! Back in the day, I was building up a 318, just for the hell of it, to see how fast I could make it go. My bible was the Hustle Stuff and Direct connection catalogues! I, indeed, bought a Purple Shaft cam that was misted in purple paint. As far as the 318, I blew the doors off many stock 340 Dusters and Cuda's in my 73 Roadrunner. If I could only go back in time! Keep up the great work and as I always say, "MoPar or NO car! Get your motor runnin"!
I bought a Purple Shaft cam for my 1970 440 back in 1975 from Direct Connection. I posted above that this was what Chrysler called it in that catalog. It was a perfect choice for my engine as it turned out and, you are probably right that it was close to a six pack spec. although the idle sounded a lot more loppy than my friend's 6 pack.
No. They came in a range, from lift and duration lower than the factory, to very high lift and duration cams that needed double and triple valve springs. There was a "Street Hemi" grind offered that had the same lift and duration as a street Hemi, but cut for a 440 that was considered a good "dual purpose" cam, as they like to call it.
@@auteurfiddler8706 Yes, you nailed it. It was a long time ago but once you mentioned "Street Hemi Grind" that is exactly what I bought. You jogged my memory. Thanks.
@@TL-angzarr I believe the taper on the cam and on the lifters was different to resist wear with the higher pressure valve springs and expected higher RPM.
Direction Connection is needed today as much as it was in the 70's. The information from the past is the foundation of today. Now Tony you need to start wearing a bright white Stetson hat. Oh hell yea!
I bought a purple cam kit in the 80s .488 lift 284 duration. It was beefy. Produced gobs of power in an 11 to 1 440. I still have the motor and hope to resurrect it some day.
I remember I didn't like it when Direct connection changed to Mopar performance, it seemed too modern and took me awhile to get used to. Glad to see it returning but dang I'm getting old! Maybe I could trade Uncle Tony my newer Challenger to his little red Dart.🤔🤣
Uncle Tony, had fun this episode brought back great memories. I’m from Australia where even less real MoPar information was available and still have my DC manuals, catalogs, paraphernalia spanning the many years until their name (and concept) change and even have my members pin currently hanging up in my workshop. Love all your videos as it’s always a stroll down an almost forgotten memory lane for me
I had forgotten about that bit of badass. There was no Google and there were alot of b.s. rumors about performance. That came straight from the guys who made it no b.s.it was awesome. Better than any magazine article
That yellow book in the hands of a gear head made us Chevy guys a little nuts. Mopars still had a hard time staying with a Poncho or Buick I could tune😁 Thanks for the memories Tony👍
Oh yeah the Bible, the great wish book. The only book in the garage without greasy finger prints. If you didn't have one, you were not a true Mopar man.
UT I had a genuine hydraulic MP cam that was actually purple. It was ~1990. It came bundled with lifters. It was the grind below the ".509". The 509 was the biggest hydraulic you could get from MP (Mopar Performance) before going to a solid lifter camshaft and had you guessed it .509" lift at the valve. Mine had the 'purple mist' on the cam billet (or shaft) between all the lobes and journals the entire length of the camshaft. The specs were (I can't believe I can remember this) 284/484IE/68deg overlap. Out of the box it was utterly filthy with machining swarf but had wax on the lobes and journals. When washed it was definitely purple on the non machined surfaces indicating the billet was painted before grinding.
Greetings from the high plains of Texas. The tech tips remind me of EMD tech tips and maintenance instructions. Little booklets with pertinent info and tips on how to “put the miles back in”.
Ah yes, the old 'Direct Connection' books. By 1983 there were 3 in the series: P4286519 Engine Modification, P4286727 Oval Track Modification & a 3rd that has been missing from my collection for decades. 2 minutes into this video & I had to pause to find my missing link. It's Chassis Modification & I'll have a replacement copy before next month. Man, the 2 I still have are well worn from extensive use! Back to the video.......
P4452761 in my 318 GOLD Duster with an Edelbrock Performer and 625 Carter AFB in 1985. I was always wanting to up it to the P4452992 or maybe the 231. But the Duster was my daily and it ran just so well and sounded like it was out kill the world with the headers, duels and California turbos under it.
I put a new radiator into an old 08 R/T yesterday. Just the 5.7 hemi and a pistol grip 6 speed was a lot of fun to drive. I have driven alot of these newer chargers and challengers but that was the first manual I have gotten to drive. Rowing your own gears with the newer pistol grip was a lot of fun. The car instantly feels more muscular with a stick.
Great video. It brought back fond memories. My dad and I both worked at my grandfather's Chrysler dealership in the 60's and 70's. I am very familiar with the "Purple Shaft", cam. It was also referred to as the "Hemi Grind". I ran this cam in my 67 Barracuda, with a transplanted 340. It had .471 intake lift, .474 exhaust lift, and 284 degrees duration. It ran very well on the street. It embarrassed many Chevy's and Fords.
I can relate to this. When I was 16 my dad bought a 2000 ski doo mxz 700. It came with a ski doo racing manual which is just like this. I read that thing from front to back like 50 times. Lol times before the interweb. Kids these days have no idea what it was like
This is great news and long overdue, something for the Mopar fans to really cheer about. And great for the car hobby in general. I know as a Ford guy my Total Performance manuals from 1960s up to the current manuels today are invaluable. You never throw away a bible or any automotive literature no matter how outdated it may seem.
I remember a , hustle stuff flyer from the late 60’s . the cover page was a product called “chop sticks” the hemi guys were destroying pushrods . “chop sticks” were a slant six length rod , you would shorten for your application . the kit included a tool used to press together your custom rod
I remember the main cam I was in the habit of calling the "Purple Cam" was the .509 lift hydraulic cam for the 440. I also remember Mopar Performance having articles in the book of various engine combinations from slant 6 to big blocks for a particular drag race ET range you were shooting for. I.E., what cam to use, intake, etc. I loved those books and still have mine. I also saved a now rare book about Mullen & Co. who did a ton of work on cylinder heads for Mopar drag racing programs. Wild stuff in this book. Lots of welding up of heads back then.
Just sold my direct connection B/RB head port templates... not a big sportsball guy anymore either but apparently #Brandon is having a hell of a season!
Same idea as the early small block Chevrolet performance camshafts; the Duntov cam made from 1957-63 was referred to as the "green stripe" cam, and the solid lifter cam that replaced it in '64 was the "pink dot" cam.
I remember late 90,s mopar performance had a full line of purple cam s ran may around that time all had a purple stripe around front of cam near front lobe very cool. Those cams even today work very well in a true tough street strip combination it's the tight lobe separation angle that makes the sound and nasty sound
It is very neat that Dodge shows acceptance and appreciation for its performance driven customers. Not a fan of the new stuff but definitely agree that they have the right stance on exciting their customers. Dylan would be a good representative. I agree, great video
Back in those days i seem to recall not purple cams but purple striped valve springs required in place of stock to go with high lift and high RPM cams . I got my last DC catalogue in 1980 and haven't seen it for nearly 4 decades .
This is great news for all you Mopar folks and the car hobby in general. All my Ford info from the early Total Performance days of the 1960s up to now is like gold and a wealth of information. Keep your bibles fellas, never throw anything away even if it seems outdated.
Around 1986 after Shirley Muldowney's bad accident I went to her home to show her a Top Fuel Drag Racing board game I developed. 7 of us played the game, one was a fellow named Larry Henry who Shirley said was head of Direct Connection.
I still remember picking up my "Purple" cam kit from the local Chrysler/Plymouth partsman, Ducky Don. Put it in, picked up a buddy to go to the bars and he said, "You sure got a bad miss in that motor." LOL Still have the Direct connection decal on the dash.
I watched it on my television where I can't comment, I can see your team needs to give the other guys more time. They are really showing their inexperience, when I watch them I see my self when I was 14 or 15. Good luck to you all on your competition.
I ran a " purple shaft" cam in my '70 340 I ordered from the Direct Connection catalog. There were a number of durations and lift available like you say. It had this Wicked clickety sound to it that really caught the ear. And really great low end with the stock dual plane intake and AVs carb with that spring loaded flap set just right.. Later I ran the Direct Connection" Racer Brown" ST-21 cam after I had the same engine balanced and blue printed along with solid lifters. It was so easy to bring over adjustable rocker arms/ push rods for that from a 273 I had....Man! the power that setup produced with a simple AVS carb and stock dual plane, 273's in the back.. Had to be power timed by ear though coz the lift was around 510 or so, so I could bog pretty easy... then the rubber smoke would pour out the wheel wells. I learned exponentially about my engine and how to build on it from magazines like Super Stock etc. My favorite guy there was Sonny Liston if I remember correctly. Memories.
I remember seeing the Direct Connection name here and there as a Chevy enthusiast. I was 18 in 2000, all I knew about Direct Connection was an ad here and there in magazines, and the Direct Connection chrome valve covers which my friends and I thought looked dorky.
Bought a '73 Charger, 400 ci, to restore. Had a "purple" DC cam - the owner was so proud. Checked out the specs. It was identical to the original cam that he replaced with it. Oh, well.
25 years ago I had Mopar's Engines manual, by Larry Shepard. It was great. There was only one thing in there I didn't agree with, then or now: Larry said, "don't choose a cam by the duration @ .050. Go by the TOTAL duration." Completely opposite of what we all know now.
Yes, the different "stripes" across the rear face of the cams were references to the different specs of each cam. I remember seeing a catalog with it stating the high performance "Purple stripe" camshaft, when I was a young gearhead in the mid 70s. They also had a small block "Mickey Mouse" cam kit too. Those are just the two that jostled my feeble ,memory at this instant.
It’s great to see a revival of something that was great for our generation, being brought back for the current generation of Mopar owners / followers. Especially in this day and age where car companies design their cars where they don’t allow/want you to touch anything on them, so you’d have to take them to the dealer and spend a fortune for something that can be done at home. Especially customization. Dylan is a Shoe-In for sure for CDM! Good job Chrysler, good job! 👍🏽 God Bless 😎
Always something new and out of the ordinary interesting on this channel, all the time. I am never disappointed! Tks for the good time I have watching your vids.
Yes UTG it was simply referred to as a purple shaft cam , meaning that the Chrysler engineers suggested specifically ground cams that were available from DC
What I want to see is people take a modern Mopar Challenger pr Charger take all the electronic and fiddly plastic bits out. Put old school big block parts back in. Just a shell and motor. That would be cool.
Good to see Stellantis is not choking Chrysler like Daimler did. I put one of those 'purple' cam and lifter sets in a 70 GTX back in ’85. It was between that or a Crane Fireball. Lost no bottom end and shifts moved from 5200 to 5800 with DC technical bulletin help on the 727. My girlfriend wouldn't ride in it anymore.😁
Back in the early 80s me and my brother were blue oval and bowtie guys. We would go to the Mopar dealership and get the direct connection stickers and cut them up so they read "correct direction " and put them on our cars. Our Mopar buddies were not amused.
I was a member of Direct Connection in the 80's and after it changed to Mopar Performance. I had DC stickers on my 71 Duster and a MP sticker in the rear window of my 94 Ram. I still have all of my performance parts catalogs and newsletters from back then too. I disagree about the purple cams, they were sold in those DC and MP parts catalogs as the "Purple Shart" series cams, that is the name Mopar itself gave them. Like you said, they did have a light purple color to them, probably as a way to identify them at the factory as Performance grinds, but they were sold under the name "Purple Shaft" right from Chrysler.
Tony I am sure you know this but a lot of your readers may not. You could actually order a COMPLETE short track round track car from Petty Enterprises that they had speced out. You could order it complete as a rolling unit with engine installed or in boxes for you to assemble. I remember them being advertised in Circle Track magazine for around 10K for the unassembled kit. Really cool concept that never really caught on but man, what a concept.
I had no idea what the whole “direct connection” deal was. You explained that very well in this video, thank you. I wasn’t around in the 70’s to know what that meant (I wasn’t even around until the turn of the century lol) but I have seen lots of old mopars at car shows with those stickers and license plates on them. I have never really taken much of an interest in mopars because chevy parts are much more in my price range lol
They are going to offer "bodies in white" too. That's such a throwback and so bad ass. All the big names of the 70s, thats how they got their pro stock cars. Landy, Carlton, Sox&Martin, Mcandless.... all those guys ordered a body in white and buit the car off that platform.... bringing it back (challenger model) is just way cool.
Thanks Unk for clearing up one of the few things I actualy knew.....I thought!!! The "purple shaft", and I bought a few of them for my small blocks in the '70s, was always a hemi grind. Charlie at the chysler truck center would wholesale them to me for $36.... Freshen up the lifter faces on a flat surface with 600 grit emery cloth, add 2 degrees to the cam, dump a bunch of stp over it and we were good to go. Now you got me so confused I'm even sure if the guy's name was Charlie!!!!
Well, there were say, 5-10 purple shaft cams for a given engine at any given time. I am sure Charlie gave you the one closest to the "Street Hemi Grind" because he knew you wanted to hear a little lope but knew anything bigger would make the car very unpleasant for most of your driving. That's what I would have done in 1979 for a customer anyway.
@@auteurfiddler8706 Yes, it was a good street cam for a daily driver (3690213) but the mopar performance cataloge replacement seemed better. Charlie ran a 318 track car .... he was great
Even though the only Mopar that I own is a 1978 Lil Red, I have 2 (n.o.s.) DC license plates that I found at a swap meet, 1 on the truck and the other in a lock box waiting for me to find a Warlock!
The Direct Connection parts catalog sealed my decision to go Mopar in the mid 70’s and 80’s. After researching what GM and Ford had to offer in factory support and development. From Super Stock spring and shackle kits developed by Dick Landy to battery in trunk kits. Direct Connection could supply you with the parts you needed for the street or strip. I had a “purple shaft” in a 383/ 69’ Roadrunner ( most lift and duration I could get in a hydraulic application) High Volume oil pump, deep pan for the 727 auto. Battery in trunk kit, electronic ignition for daily reliability. Key elements for a formidable street rod with minor “aftermarket” applications from B&M, Holley, Hooker and Accel. Quote from first time ride along friend who drove a Mercury Bobcat: “What!” We’re doing 60 already???”
I joined in 82, still have my welcome letter, lapel pin and my first set of dc bibles of which are written in by myself and my mini when he was learning to write.
I wish every company would do this (the direct connection) id be able to gain so much from learning about old 90s toyota engines the diesel ones that is (H series, L series engines and B series engines)
I was actually considering that cam just the other day for my road race 440 build ... I was sayng the silliest thing that whoever owns Chrysler right now has done is getting rid of the Mopar Performance catalog - as thats just potential profit just thrown in the bin! I thought maybe since this push for electric cars, the powers that be might be 'scared' of this oldschool performance scene, emissions be damned lol. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel it seems, hopefully they dont run it into the ground..
It's insane to see a manufacturer that actually cared about its product enough to get manuals out to thier consumers.
We have strayed so far.
I worked for a Dodge dealer in the mid 70' - mid 80's. I remember the add where Chrysler thanked all the other manufactures for running Chrysler Hemi's in all their manufacturer sponsored funny cars.
I had that screenshotted on my old phone lol it was great
Ehh....that's kind of like Band-Aid thanking all the adhesive bandage manufacturers for using their design. By the 80s NO competitive AAFC was running an iron Gen 2 Hemi--or ANY Chrysler product in their engines. The design yes because wedges suck on fuel compared to the giant chambered Hemis.
My late Father was partially responsible for that ad... He was an early employee at Direct Connection, later Mopar Performance.
When Tony says "No Desire" just wait a week. He's talking himself into it!
Yeah, I can see a new gen Challenger, at least one new gen Charger, and a Ram truck of some type ending up in the fleet.
Or mopar goes all in and announces Uncle Tony has a hellcat on the way for free!
I’m about Tony’s age, and my heart will always belong to the 60s Mopars, and B/RB engines in particular. But ONE rip behind the wheel of a 392 Challenger makes you admire the modern stuff…. A LOT. My 2012 SRT will be in my fleet a long time, though nothing will replace the ‘69 R/T.
You are correct grasshopper...
I'm the 2'nd Owner of a '71 R/T-SE Challenger 440-6/4-speed which came from Bob Banning Dodge in Maryland. The Original Owner was a BIG supporter of the whole "Hustle/Power-Broker/Direct Connection" thing. Along with the Car came LOTS of spare parts and LOTS of old "Hustle" "Direct Connection" Books ect. It's pretty cool that they're bringing D-C back,and in a way it's something that ONLY 'Chrysler would do,' Hopefully it works out.
You nailed it saying “it’s like the Gods are speaking directly to you”. Each bulletin had the authors name on it, and those names were top engineers, names we already knew and respected. You are also right about it being referred to as the bible, I’ve heard d it called that in many different parts of the country.
Names like Tom Hoover.
Still have my "Yellow book" It wasnt just motor stuff. It was light years ahead of everyone, when the manual on rear suspensions came out, and explained how a drag race rear suspension should act.
My favorite was their explaination of how "traction bars" were an aftermarket creation to band-aid the fact that most GM cars (specifically Camaros and Firebirds) had crap rear leaf springs, and were a total waste on a Chrysler product.
I've got an old Direct Connection catalog around here that shows the whole "Purple Shaft" line. As noted, it wasn't a specific camshaft, but a whole line of camshafts, from stock 340 cams, to rollers.
Geez, first they hint at bringing back the fratzog, and now they're bringing back Direct Connection? How cool would it be if they brought back a modern A-body equivalent that was pure Mopar but a little more affordable than the Charger & Challenger?
I second the motion Dylan McCool would make the perfect candidate!!👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸
Yep, Dylan McCool.
Met him at the moparty in 2020 hes a cool dude .hes got my vote
Direct Connection was a huge benefit during the beginning of the Turbo era in the 80's. The Shelbys, turbo 2.2's, etc.
Worked for Chrysler in the Direct Conection program. I watched performance Die the smog laws and the insurance company's killed it. Glad to see it coming back the shame is it now costs more than my house
Back in 1975, I ordered my cam from my direct connection catalog and it was called "The Purple Shaft" cam in that catalog. It came with the lifters. I bought it for my 1970 440. It was not radical and worked well on the street. (A post below reminded me it was the "Street Hemi Grind" .) It pulled very strong at 3,000 rpm and up and the idle was great and sounded beautiful. With High compression pistons, headers and a 650 Holley on a midrise manifold, it ran really well for many years.
Still called that by most of the know builders and suppliers. Check Mancini racing, they lost purple shafts
That’s right, my catalog listed the cams as purple shaft cams. The street hemi grind and the next 2 cams above that were hot. Battleship springs too.
Dodge marketing has been in another universe compared to Brand G and F. We'll get UT into a Hellcat yet and make him a believer in old...and new muscle!
Apples to apples....hellcat vs supercharged 426...being able to launch on a higher stall converter, the hellcat won't stand a chance
I love old Mopar but you can tune a Hellcat any way you want. You can put higher stall but you won't need it. Look at this way. My old stock 440 turned roughly 375 HP. My new 345 turns out 375 stock and from factory the tranny will take 1000hp. The only downfall is cheap parts these days and it is getting worse for new in both markets.
@@MoparStars only 375 out of a 440? Was that on a 2bbl? Lol
Stock 74 ramcharger block. I didn't say I left it at 375 up. Just like my new 345 is over 425 HP with no internal swaps.
Originally, things started out during the muscle car era as the Dodge "Scat Pack" and Plymouth "Rapid Transit System". They were putting out info and holding seminars for gearheads when those cars were brand new. Then later it evolved into Direct Connection. I remember Direct Connection really well, but the original Scat Pack and Rapid Transit System were a bit before my time. I was in grade school during the muscle car era.
It seems to me Dodge promotes high performance more than any other brand.
Lsx?
Chevrolet is the king of modern High performance with the LS crate engines and thousands of aftermarket kits for them. Dodge and Ford have some catching up to do
@@christianperspective9527 please.
@@Welcometofacsistube as far as availability of aftermarket systems its no contest
@@christianperspective9527 dude, how many supercharged SUVs and pickup trucks does GM have in their lineup? How many 700 horsepower 4 door sedans does Chevy sell?. Yeah.......
I have parts of that book I have the 426 racing manual and all the big block sections.
I have other Direct Connection stuff but I would have to dig it out to see all that I have.
Went to a Sox and Martin Clinic in Lexington Ky in 1969 and when Ronnie fired up the SS/A Barracuda it broke a few windows in the building.
It was spectacular to this 15 year old kid.
Tony- my late Father, Larry Henry, lived and breathed Direct Connection. He along with Brian Schram, Larry Shepard and the crew put years into DC and helping the grassroots racing community. The catalog was his baby every year. Thank you for keeping this knowledge alive and sharing with the next generation.
Dodge did the coolest stuff in the late 60s & early 70s and have been doing it again over the last dozen years. GM and Ford can keep their EVs.
Plenty of things to dislike about ford and gm. The ev thing isn't one of them.
Let's direct that ire where it belongs, those pushing carbon credits.
2 years later and Dodge stops their V8s for EV and only manufacturer making V8 car is Ford.
And this at a time when GM is trying to prevent tuners from adjusting the ECM software. 🤔
And I agree on Dylan! He's a wonderful young man who would make an excellent brand ambassador! 👍🇱🇷
Dylan has a marketing degree I believe and he has done some wonderful work on his own. Mostly self-taught with help from his dad and no fear of tackling big projects like his recent early Challenger rescue with a third gen hemi. He’s also part of the Tennessee crowd which now includes Bennett, VGG’s Derek, and Tony. He also is in the Junkyard Digs, Thunderhead289, Classicmustangs427, Deboss Garage group.
Did I mention that you should follow all these channels?
Uncle tony is a walking encyclopedia of mopar knowledge, what tony said about sports at the beginning was spot on, btw i have a purple stripe .509 cam in my 440.
I do too I love the healthy rumpity idle
I have the .310/.313 purple shaft in mine , I had to run a vacuum pump from a 7.3 ford diesel so the power brakes would work properly .
I have one in my 360. .508 for smallblock. Threw it in 4° advanced @ the crank. Sounds very good!! Runs super too.
If you don't see the connection between the old cars and the new ones Tony you're not looking. I'm swapping a late 5.7 hemi into a 95 Dakota right now and it bolts right to my 518 which is essentially a 727 with an overdrive hanging of the ass of it. The Mopar spirit is still alive and well.
That s the beauty of mass production. The early 3.9L V-6 was essentially a 318 minus 2 in casting. Front & rear webs had the identical bolt pattern for accessories & trans .🙄missions. I worked on the original conversion assy line of V8 Dakotas in 89' ( Whittier) when Dodge reintroduced the V8Dakota the bugs and fit had Improved. Good luck on H.O. Swap!🔧💥
I still have the silver jacket, and an original direct connection license plate on the front of my pulling truck.
We need to start a petition to make Uncle Tony to be the Chief Donut Maker!
But then we wouldn't have UTG videos.
Uncle Kathy need that job. Bring in the pretty women.
@Elliotmagnum that's much better than what's under most peoples fingernails, especially long fake nails.
wipe wipe wipe, poorly wash and? uh-huh. I'd rather eat a bit of road dirt, coated in oil and grease, doubtful there's many terrible germs in it. 🤣
@@daverosinski3382 not sure how you come to that idea. Its not like UTG hasn't filmed a burnout video before
@@SmokeyRam "How to make Uncle Tonys Donuts" I'd watch.
When I was 12 years old my neighborhood, called Violet Hill, had a very active group of Mopar drag racing enthusiasts with some really competitive drivers and vehicles. The most successful of them was a Mopar dealer mechanic named John Baughman. He started out racing in a 1956 acid dipped, Rustoleum red Dodge with a 383 achieving low tens consistently. Chrysler Research and Development reps began using John as a testing platform for various prototype racing drivetrain parts which propelled him to a pretty famous and lucrative career in the sport.
THANK YOU for using your platform to explain that there is no one “purple shaft” cam! There’s a 484, a 509, the magnum/commando reproduction cam, etc. and they’re ALL purple.
Tony, I'm 67 years old and had the best of both worlds as a teenager growing up in the late60's and early 70's. My family owned a bodyshop so I had a place to wrench on my cars and all the tools I would ever need! Back in the day, I was building up a 318, just for the hell of it, to see how fast I could make it go. My bible was the Hustle Stuff and Direct connection catalogues! I, indeed, bought a Purple Shaft cam that was misted in purple paint. As far as the 318, I blew the doors off many stock 340 Dusters and Cuda's in my 73 Roadrunner. If I could only go back in time! Keep up the great work and as I always say, "MoPar or NO car! Get your motor runnin"!
here's a third for Dylan Mc Cool. The purple shaft cams were most likely the Six Pack spec cams, both big block and small block.
I bought a Purple Shaft cam for my 1970 440 back in 1975 from Direct Connection. I posted above that this was what Chrysler called it in that catalog. It was a perfect choice for my engine as it turned out and, you are probably right that it was close to a six pack spec. although the idle sounded a lot more loppy than my friend's 6 pack.
No. They came in a range, from lift and duration lower than the factory, to very high lift and duration cams that needed double and triple valve springs. There was a "Street Hemi" grind offered that had the same lift and duration as a street Hemi, but cut for a 440 that was considered a good "dual purpose" cam, as they like to call it.
@@auteurfiddler8706 Yes, you nailed it. It was a long time ago but once you mentioned "Street Hemi Grind" that is exactly what I bought. You jogged my memory. Thanks.
Negative the six pack cam was the exact same grind as the magnum cam it was just 3 bolt vs 1 bolt. So many myths and misconceptions about this stuff.
@@TL-angzarr I believe the taper on the cam and on the lifters was different to resist wear with the higher pressure valve springs and expected higher RPM.
Direction Connection is needed today as much as it was in the 70's. The information from the past is the foundation of today. Now Tony you need to start wearing a bright white Stetson hat. Oh hell yea!
I bought a purple cam kit in the 80s .488 lift 284 duration. It was beefy. Produced gobs of power in an 11 to 1 440. I still have the motor and hope to resurrect it some day.
I remember I didn't like it when Direct connection changed to Mopar performance, it seemed too modern and took me awhile to get used to. Glad to see it returning but dang I'm getting old! Maybe I could trade Uncle Tony my newer Challenger to his little red Dart.🤔🤣
Uncle Tony, had fun this episode brought back great memories. I’m from Australia where even less real MoPar information was available and still have my DC manuals, catalogs, paraphernalia spanning the many years until their name (and concept) change and even have my members pin currently hanging up in my workshop. Love all your videos as it’s always a stroll down an almost forgotten memory lane for me
I had forgotten about that bit of badass. There was no Google and there were alot of b.s. rumors about performance. That came straight from the guys who made it no b.s.it was awesome. Better than any magazine article
That yellow book in the hands of a gear head made us Chevy guys a little nuts. Mopars still had a hard time staying with a Poncho or Buick I could tune😁 Thanks for the memories Tony👍
Uncle Tony: " I have no desire to do anything with a modern Hemi." Also Uncle Tony: Helps build modern Hemi powered Chrysler Conquest.
Helping is not desiring to do.
I may help build a house I would never want part in owning.
Oh yeah the Bible, the great wish book. The only book in the garage without greasy finger prints. If you didn't have one, you were not a true Mopar man.
UT I had a genuine hydraulic MP cam that was actually purple. It was ~1990. It came bundled with lifters.
It was the grind below the ".509". The 509 was the biggest hydraulic you could get from MP (Mopar Performance) before going to a solid lifter camshaft and had you guessed it .509" lift at the valve.
Mine had the 'purple mist' on the cam billet (or shaft) between all the lobes and journals the entire length of the camshaft.
The specs were (I can't believe I can remember this) 284/484IE/68deg overlap.
Out of the box it was utterly filthy with machining swarf but had wax on the lobes and journals. When washed it was definitely purple on the non machined surfaces indicating the billet was painted before grinding.
The .484 cam! If you didn’t have a good set of gears and decent converter that cam was a slug!
9:00 is exactly what solidified me as a Mopar guy. I may work at a gm parts department, but mopars are where it's at.
Greetings from the high plains of Texas.
The tech tips remind me of EMD tech tips and maintenance instructions. Little booklets with pertinent info and tips on how to “put the miles back in”.
You're bringing back a flood of memories, Tony. Bought a '65 Coronet in 1971. still have my Hustle Stuff catalog, etc. Still all Mopar
Ah yes, the old 'Direct Connection' books. By 1983 there were 3 in the series: P4286519 Engine Modification, P4286727 Oval Track Modification & a 3rd that has been missing from my collection for decades. 2 minutes into this video & I had to pause to find my missing link. It's Chassis Modification & I'll have a replacement copy before next month. Man, the 2 I still have are well worn from extensive use! Back to the video.......
P4452761 in my 318 GOLD Duster with an Edelbrock Performer and 625 Carter AFB in 1985. I was always wanting to up it to the P4452992 or maybe the 231. But the Duster was my daily and it ran just so well and sounded like it was out kill the world with the headers, duels and California turbos under it.
I put a new radiator into an old 08 R/T yesterday. Just the 5.7 hemi and a pistol grip 6 speed was a lot of fun to drive. I have driven alot of these newer chargers and challengers but that was the first manual I have gotten to drive. Rowing your own gears with the newer pistol grip was a lot of fun. The car instantly feels more muscular with a stick.
I remember having the Hurst pistol grip shifter in my old 73 Challenger…..
Great video. It brought back fond memories. My dad and I both worked at my grandfather's Chrysler dealership in the 60's and 70's. I am very familiar with the "Purple Shaft", cam. It was also referred to as the "Hemi Grind". I ran this cam in my 67 Barracuda, with a transplanted 340. It had .471 intake lift, .474 exhaust lift, and 284 degrees duration. It ran very well on the street. It embarrassed many Chevy's and Fords.
I can relate to this. When I was 16 my dad bought a 2000 ski doo mxz 700. It came with a ski doo racing manual which is just like this. I read that thing from front to back like 50 times. Lol times before the interweb. Kids these days have no idea what it was like
I learned so much from those bulletins
This is great news and long overdue,
something for the Mopar fans to really cheer about. And great for the car hobby in general.
I know as a Ford guy my Total Performance manuals from 1960s up to the current manuels today are invaluable. You never throw away a bible or any automotive literature no matter how outdated it may seem.
Hell yeah there's no car like a mopar
I remember a , hustle stuff flyer from the late 60’s .
the cover page was a product called “chop sticks”
the hemi guys were destroying pushrods .
“chop sticks” were a slant six length rod , you would shorten for your application .
the kit included a tool used to press together your custom rod
I remember the main cam I was in the habit of calling the "Purple Cam" was the .509 lift hydraulic cam for the 440. I also remember Mopar Performance having articles in the book of various engine combinations from slant 6 to big blocks for a particular drag race ET range you were shooting for. I.E., what cam to use, intake, etc. I loved those books and still have mine. I also saved a now rare book about Mullen & Co. who did a ton of work on cylinder heads for Mopar drag racing programs. Wild stuff in this book. Lots of welding up of heads back then.
I've never been into team ball sports myself but certain racing teams have always caught my eye. Car and bike racing.
Just sold my direct connection B/RB head port templates... not a big sportsball guy anymore either but apparently #Brandon is having a hell of a season!
Let's Go Brandon!!!
You and Dylan McCool need to do a video together. That would be an awesome episode. Seeing you two doing work would be amazing.
I love the Fact the Italians are going balls out with Muscle! took a bunch of tony's to revive Americana and MUSCLE! LOVE IT! now where is the Cuda?
I remember always checking out the Direct Connection bible at the parts counter in the Dodge dealership I worked at back in the 70's and 80's.
Same idea as the early small block Chevrolet performance camshafts; the Duntov cam made from 1957-63 was referred to as the "green stripe" cam, and the solid lifter cam that replaced it in '64 was the "pink dot" cam.
I remember late 90,s mopar performance had a full line of purple cam s ran may around that time all had a purple stripe around front of cam near front lobe very cool. Those cams even today work very well in a true tough street strip combination it's the tight lobe separation angle that makes the sound and nasty sound
All us mopar guys got the good casting numbers from the manuals and had them in hand when we went to the junkyard.
I got my stuff through DC in '80. I had these iron stage 3 heads. You felt part of something BIGGER.
It is very neat that Dodge shows acceptance and appreciation for its performance driven customers. Not a fan of the new stuff but definitely agree that they have the right stance on exciting their customers. Dylan would be a good representative. I agree, great video
And shows recognition of poor mpg ;p
Back in those days i seem to recall not purple cams but purple striped valve springs required in place of stock to go with high lift and high RPM cams . I got my last DC catalogue in 1980 and haven't seen it for nearly 4 decades .
This is great news for all you Mopar folks and the car hobby in general.
All my Ford info from the early Total Performance days of the 1960s up to now is like gold and a wealth of information. Keep your bibles fellas, never throw anything away even if it seems outdated.
Around 1986 after Shirley Muldowney's bad accident I went to her home to show her a Top Fuel Drag Racing board game I developed. 7 of us played the game, one was a fellow named Larry Henry who Shirley said was head of Direct Connection.
I still remember picking up my "Purple" cam kit from the local Chrysler/Plymouth partsman, Ducky Don. Put it in, picked up a buddy to go to the bars and he said, "You sure got a bad miss in that motor." LOL Still have the Direct connection decal on the dash.
Lol, so the "bad miss" was only at idle I guess.😆
I watched it on my television where I can't comment, I can see your team needs to give the other guys more time. They are really showing their inexperience, when I watch them I see my self when I was 14 or 15. Good luck to you all on your competition.
I ran a " purple shaft" cam in my '70 340 I ordered from the Direct Connection catalog. There were a number of durations and lift available like you say. It had this Wicked clickety sound to it that really caught the ear. And really great low end with the stock dual plane intake and AVs carb with that spring loaded flap set just right.. Later I ran the Direct Connection" Racer Brown" ST-21 cam after I had the same engine balanced and blue printed along with solid lifters. It was so easy to bring over adjustable rocker arms/ push rods for that from a 273 I had....Man! the power that setup produced with a simple AVS carb and stock dual plane, 273's in the back.. Had to be power timed by ear though coz the lift was around 510 or so, so I could bog pretty easy... then the rubber smoke would pour out the wheel wells. I learned exponentially about my engine and how to build on it from magazines like Super Stock etc. My favorite guy there was Sonny Liston if I remember correctly. Memories.
We need to go back in time and put a 4 barrel on the twister 318. It will be a super twist. Like those shama lama movies
Direct connection is back!
I remember seeing the Direct Connection name here and there as a Chevy enthusiast. I was 18 in 2000, all I knew about Direct Connection was an ad here and there in magazines, and the Direct Connection chrome valve covers which my friends and I thought looked dorky.
It Wasn’t a Purple Paint, “It Was a Bluing on The Cast Steel Crank” making the appearance as “Purple”
Yes they actually called their cam the purple shaft cam here in canada they did it's the color of the dye they used in milling the cam
Bought a '73 Charger, 400 ci, to restore. Had a "purple" DC cam - the owner was so proud. Checked out the specs. It was identical to the original cam that he replaced with it. Oh, well.
Good to hear about the direct connection catalog, I really hope one of thoes hellcats ends up in your garage mate , you honestly deserve one .
25 years ago I had Mopar's Engines manual, by Larry Shepard. It was great. There was only one thing in there I didn't agree with, then or now: Larry said, "don't choose a cam by the duration @ .050. Go by the TOTAL duration." Completely opposite of what we all know now.
Reprint would be great. My book that I gave to my cousin with the challenger that I sold him had a blue cover.
Yes, the different "stripes" across the rear face of the cams were references to the different specs of each cam. I remember seeing a catalog with it stating the high performance "Purple stripe" camshaft, when I was a young gearhead in the mid 70s. They also had a small block "Mickey Mouse" cam kit too. Those are just the two that jostled my feeble ,memory at this instant.
Don't forget about Joe Colletti who started the Colletti domination center's an ran a race program along with a few dealer ships
Everyone should have an Uncle Tony you look like a fun guy.
Hell yeah! Dodge doing it different! Kudos to the guys that are making this happen! If only it would be affordable, sigh…a guy can dream
It’s great to see a revival of something that was great for our generation, being brought back for the current generation of Mopar owners / followers. Especially in this day and age where car companies design their cars where they don’t allow/want you to touch anything on them, so you’d have to take them to the dealer and spend a fortune for something that can be done at home. Especially customization.
Dylan is a Shoe-In for sure for CDM!
Good job Chrysler, good job! 👍🏽
God Bless
😎
Always something new and out of the ordinary interesting on this channel, all the time. I am never disappointed!
Tks for the good time I have watching your vids.
Yes UTG it was simply referred to as a purple shaft cam , meaning that the Chrysler engineers suggested specifically ground cams that were available from DC
Still love seeing a set of DC valve covers and matching air cleaner on Mopar guys cars!
I had a purple cam let go drop a valve and send a rod through the oil pan…..it started my journey to 1000hp NA 440.
What I want to see is people take a modern Mopar Challenger pr Charger take all the electronic and fiddly plastic bits out. Put old school big block parts back in. Just a shell and motor. That would be cool.
Good to see Stellantis is not choking Chrysler like Daimler did. I put one of those 'purple' cam and lifter sets in a 70 GTX back in ’85. It was between that or a Crane Fireball. Lost no bottom end and shifts moved from 5200 to 5800 with DC technical bulletin help on the 727. My girlfriend wouldn't ride in it anymore.😁
Back in the early 80s me and my brother were blue oval and bowtie guys. We would go to the Mopar dealership and get the direct connection stickers and cut them up so they read "correct direction " and put them on our cars. Our Mopar buddies were not amused.
I was a member of Direct Connection in the 80's and after it changed to Mopar Performance. I had DC stickers on my 71 Duster and a MP sticker in the rear window of my 94 Ram. I still have all of my performance parts catalogs and newsletters from back then too. I disagree about the purple cams, they were sold in those DC and MP parts catalogs as the "Purple Shart" series cams, that is the name Mopar itself gave them. Like you said, they did have a light purple color to them, probably as a way to identify them at the factory as Performance grinds, but they were sold under the name "Purple Shaft" right from Chrysler.
Tony I am sure you know this but a lot of your readers may not. You could actually order a COMPLETE short track round track car from Petty Enterprises that they had speced out. You could order it complete as a rolling unit with engine installed or in boxes for you to assemble. I remember them being advertised in Circle Track magazine for around 10K for the unassembled kit. Really cool concept that never really caught on but man, what a concept.
I had no idea what the whole “direct connection” deal was. You explained that very well in this video, thank you. I wasn’t around in the 70’s to know what that meant (I wasn’t even around until the turn of the century lol) but I have seen lots of old mopars at car shows with those stickers and license plates on them. I have never really taken much of an interest in mopars because chevy parts are much more in my price range lol
They are going to offer "bodies in white" too. That's such a throwback and so bad ass. All the big names of the 70s, thats how they got their pro stock cars. Landy, Carlton, Sox&Martin, Mcandless.... all those guys ordered a body in white and buit the car off that platform.... bringing it back (challenger model) is just way cool.
You have to respect the company that's just doing the right thing and stuffing a Hemi in everything while everyone else is doing ev
Thanks Unk for clearing up one of the few things I actualy knew.....I thought!!! The "purple shaft", and I bought a few of them for my small blocks in the '70s, was always a hemi grind. Charlie at the chysler truck center would wholesale them to me for $36.... Freshen up the lifter faces on a flat surface with 600 grit emery cloth, add 2 degrees to the cam, dump a bunch of stp over it and we were good to go. Now you got me so confused I'm even sure if the guy's name was Charlie!!!!
Well, there were say, 5-10 purple shaft cams for a given engine at any given time. I am sure Charlie gave you the one closest to the "Street Hemi Grind" because he knew you wanted to hear a little lope but knew anything bigger would make the car very unpleasant for most of your driving. That's what I would have done in 1979 for a customer anyway.
@@auteurfiddler8706 Yes, it was a good street cam for a daily driver (3690213) but the mopar performance cataloge replacement seemed better. Charlie ran a 318 track car .... he was great
And the kid 70's created such great automobiles!!!
Even though the only Mopar that I own is a 1978 Lil Red, I have 2 (n.o.s.) DC license plates that I found at a swap meet, 1 on the truck and the other in a lock box waiting for me to find a Warlock!
Marvelous commentary! Bravo! 😃 I have a 69 road runner and bought a “purple cam“, lol!
The Direct Connection parts catalog sealed my decision to go Mopar in the mid 70’s and 80’s. After researching what GM and Ford had to offer in factory support and development. From Super Stock spring and shackle kits developed by Dick Landy to battery in trunk kits. Direct Connection could supply you with the parts you needed for the street or strip. I had a “purple shaft” in a 383/ 69’ Roadrunner ( most lift and duration I could get in a hydraulic application) High Volume oil pump, deep pan for the 727 auto. Battery in trunk kit, electronic ignition for daily reliability. Key elements for a formidable street rod with minor “aftermarket” applications from B&M, Holley, Hooker and Accel. Quote from first time ride along friend who drove a Mercury Bobcat: “What!” We’re doing 60 already???”
I joined in 82, still have my welcome letter, lapel pin and my first set of dc bibles of which are written in by myself and my mini when he was learning to write.
I wish every company would do this (the direct connection) id be able to gain so much from learning about old 90s toyota engines the diesel ones that is (H series, L series engines and B series engines)
I would be so blessed to go to my local dodge dealer and get a speech from Tony him self❤
Iam in gatlinburg right now wish I new where you were If I had the time I'd pop in to see the place in person
I was actually considering that cam just the other day for my road race 440 build ... I was sayng the silliest thing that whoever owns Chrysler right now has done is getting rid of the Mopar Performance catalog - as thats just potential profit just thrown in the bin! I thought maybe since this push for electric cars, the powers that be might be 'scared' of this oldschool performance scene, emissions be damned lol. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel it seems, hopefully they dont run it into the ground..
509 is still a great cam.