I have a 2007 RT with the road and track package. After much discussion, my wife and I sold another project so I could work on this car. I love this car. It has been a solid car, but its 16 years old, slow by todays standards, and needs some TLC. I will be getting around $10k to work on this part of the build. It wont finish everything, but it will help with a lot of the work. Im breaking it down in sections.I want some advice on things as I go, and Ill need help from those who have already installed some of these parts.

The car is stock, except its lowered on coilovers. I also have drilled and slotted rotors, but they are factory size. It has 165k miles, but I was able to score a refurbished engine a few months ago for $2500. So Ill be starting this build with a zero mile engine. Here is the plan:
Install new engine-
Cam-
Supercharger-
Exhaust-
Wheels and tires-
Paint-

Like I said, I cant do all this with $10k, so Ill be waiting on the wheels and paint for awhile. Also while I would love to do an entire exhaust, I wont be able too. I think I have decided to cut the suitcase off, and replace it with flowmasters. I might try and put some cutouts in also, but they will be after the muffers, because Im old, and while I like it a little rowdy sometimes, when I start the car at 5:00 A.M., I dont want to wake everyone up. So here are the things I think Im going to do;

Engine- Install the new, 0 mile refurb engine. Ill add some aluminum valve covers and MSD coils. Ill paint it Hemi orange too. I think Ill leave the plastic intake. The aftermarket has a few, but they dont look much better to me, and they are expensive and dont offer much gain in HP.
Supercharger-Im going with a Torqstorm. Ive been watching these guys for awhile, and I like that I can buy my own parts like injectors, and intercooler. So, Ill contact the guys at torqstorm and see what they recommend. The internet seems to say hellcat injectors, and any 3" inlet/outlet intercooler. I almost decided to get a water-to-air intercooler, but they have a lot of moving parts that would need attention, and I daily drive this car, so Im going to go simple.
Cam- Ill call a few places and see if there are any over the counter boost cams available. I want it choppy though, and Im willing to give up a few HP to get an aggressive chop. I might have to have a custom grind made. We will see.
Mufflers-Ill weld in the 40 series flowmasters. Im sure there are guys who will read this and scream at their computers, but I love the flowmaster sound. To me a car buils is about performance, but it also has to have a certain sound, stance, and feel. Ill give up a few HP to achieve a sound just as fast as Ill give up a little ride quality for the right stance. Im weird that way. I also want cutouts, so it can be rowdy when I want, but have the resonators when it needs to be quieter.

As for the rest, Ill try and get the wheels and tires by next spring, and start working on paint. Let me know what you have ran into when doing these things to your car. Hopefully all of this will go off with no drama, all the parts will fit perfectly, and there will be no surprises.......But Im sure that wont be the case.

 

Don't forget headers. Even shorties are better than the stock manifolds. Fewer issues with breaking bolts too.

Not sure if 'lumpy' and 'supercharger' will go together well..... Talk it over with your cam expert. (Comp, Crane, etc. Whomever you choose.)

Could you find a wrecked hellcat, and just take the motor/wiring/computer from that, and drop it in??

 

I thought about headers, and if I can squeeze them in I will, but only if I can get the long tubes. With the RT/RT I allegedly get the SRT8 manifolds which are almost as good as shorties. We will see if I can, if not I can add them later. I considered the hellcat blower adapter kit from MMX- it sounds tempting with hellcat blowers being cheap on ebay. But it ends up costing more, plus I have always liked the power delivery on a centrifugal blower. As far as a drop in, it couldnt work. The hellcat engines are the newer generation, so the computer and everything would have to go. Then the trans would just explode after that. 500 hp is what I have read is the recommended max, and this should put me really close.

 

Just doing forced induction may put you over... They are no slouch from the factory.....

 

If you're going to work directly with Torqstorm, ask THEM, not what the internet says. That's usually the quickest way to Destination F@ck*d.
There are blower cams available all over, focus less on chop and more on matching one to the blower you're going with, especially since you intend to daily it. A blower at 8 psi on stock internals (you have not mentioned beefing up the engine AT ALL) will put you in stock 392 territory without blowing it up; much more than that and you will scatter parts. I would go with a ProCharger on something like this though.
If you want your car to sound like a late 80's 5.0 fox body, by all means, go with the rustmasters. Just be prepared to replace them sooner rather than later. Many better choices that will match well with the hemi.
Also, a stock 5.7 rebuild will most likely have MDS cam & lifters; if it isn't an early truck engine then you will need to remove the heads to replace the lifters.

Very doable and has been done, but it has to be EVERYTHING. Luckily the actual physical structure of the platform has changed very little from 2005 to now.

Yes they are and no you do not. All 5.7's within their respective families get the same log style exhaust manifold. The 5.7 was never designed with performance in mind and stock it is not built as a performance engine (cast crank, weaker rods, hypereutectic pistons, no piston oil jets, weaker timing set, smaller heads, etc).

Recommendations for a balanced daily based on things I've done to my own dailies (which include a hemi Ram, 06 R/T, an 05 R/T & 12 SRT, I leave nothing stock lol):
- Decide on whether you're going to leave the short block stock or not. Stock internals are fine with a decent cam or low boost but it doesn't leave room for growth (and power is addictive). Lowest insurance policy id replacing the pistons; stock pistons the ring land is too high and that will be the first thing to fail. Next up would be pistons & a 6.1 crank; 6.1 crank is forged and has the same stroke. If you do the crank then you may as well do the rods with the pistons and then you won't have to worry about it until you're at 12 psi and counting.
- A decent cam will get you into the 400+ hp range but with the stock pre-eagle heads & intake you won't ever see the goal you're looking for. The stock heads and intake are well matched to the stock cam; they all run out of breath before 6000 rpm which is why the stock shift point
is 5800 (the SRT's go to 6200 for a reason). Back in the early days, a well tuned 5.7 with a cam upgrade & manifold swap could almost keep pace with a stock 6.1. A head swap got it even closer.
- Boost - a blower (even at low psi) will get you just about to where you wanna be instantly. ProCharger guarantees a minimum 110 hp boost on a stock pre-eagle; that puts you at 450 instantly and you retain almost stock style driveability.
- TCM - everyone forgets about these. If you're gonna ramp up power, trans calibration needs to change with it. Mopar TCM's are harder to find nowadays but you can easily get a custom tuned TCM with basically the same specs. Alternatively, if you can find an 05-07 SRT8 TCM
that will suffice. TCM's are the only module in the car that don't require VIN matching.
- Trans - the NAG1 will hold up just fine with what you're trying to do. The exact same trans lives behind factory 392's no problem (I have one) and even 392's that have had stock internals blower kits installed (ProCharger 200 hp gain at 7 psi on a stock early 392, which is 670 at the
crank).
- Brakes - with the go comes need for the whoa. Stock R/T brakes are the same brakes the 3.5 V6 cars get those years. You have options that range from expensive to really expensive:
1. Cheapest - upgrade to the best pads & rotors you can get
2. Next $$ - later model BR9 police brake upgrade can be done to the earlier cars but it requires drilling the holes out for the larger caliper bolts. This can be done in conjunction with the larger rotor rear police (but same stock rear caliper with different pads) brake option.
3. Next $$$ - Brembo swap - I've always said the stock Brembo 4 pots are what the R/T's should have gotten from the beginning. It used to be cheaper but the pandemic & subsequent depressed economy screwed everything up. You will spend probably right around $2k for a full
set of spindles with calipers and rotors. Cleveland PAP usually sells them as kits they take off wrecked cars. SRT's use a different master cylinder but it isn't a requirement. This swap ties you to at least 20x9 factory spec wheels.
4. The most $$$$ - aftermarket brakes - upside, you can get higher performing brakes that will fit inside your stock wheels however you are definitely going to pay for them; even the awesome TCE kits using Wilwood brakes for these cars are going to be north of $3k unless you can
find used but good. Upside is that you don't need spindles swapped for them.
- Speaking of wheels - stock wheels for you are either 18x7.5 or 20x8. Best tire you can put on an 18 is 245, that 20 a 255. Gonna need more rubber. OEM 20x9's carry 275/40's no problem. With their offset you would need spacers up front unless you do a Brembo swap or get
the Scat PAck WRT wheels, which were designed to work correctly on both spindles (they're also lightweight and forged). If you do the Brembo swap then the factory Hellcat 20x9.5's will bolt right on with 275's. Otherwise custom wheels it is. 1st gen LX can do 9.5 (w/275) up
front and 10.5 (w/295, possibly 305) out back with the correct offset.
- Suspension - Stock R/T's sit a little high and wallow in turns (I hated mine stock). You're already lowered so you have that covered, so long as you have at least an SRT spec or higher sprig stiffness. Also I imagine you have stock sway bars; good noticeable upgrade to be had
here. Back in the day the police front bar was the biggest factory front bar at 32mm; now it's the Hellcat bar at like 36/38mm. They both use the same 22mm rear bar.
- Gears - You have a 2.82 open rear. You need a later model 3.06 Getrag. It is a better ratio and also has actual mechanical limited slip in it.

Matching everything together as a whole gives you a good balanced car that will be an absolute blast to drive. My 06 R/T was wrecked (I got t-boned) before I could finish but this is what it had performance wise (not including visual or interior stuff):
- SRT suspension
- 4 pot Brembo swap
- Police sway bars w/Bwoody links
- SRT 20x9 wheels (rears had already been widened to 20x10's before I bought them) with 275 & 295 rubber
- Mopar TCM
I had a cam to put in it but hadn't gotten to it yet and right before the accident I was contemplating putting in a factory 392 so I could have almost 500 hp AND MDS lol. In case you're wondering, this is doable with a VVT engine because the 09-10 LX had the eagle 5.7, which is a VVT engine. The 09-10 5.7 PCM can be adapted to the earlier cars. Been done many times over and I'm contemplating doing it to my 05 R/T (Magnum).

 

Thank you for such a detailed answer. Let me see if I can clear a few things up.

I will talk to the Torqstorm guys and see what they recommend before buying anything else. I trust them more than a few forum write ups. Ill be asking advice on injectors, fuel pump, intercooler and cam.
I will be removing the MDS system.
Ill also talk to a few places selling cams to see if anything is available that meets the requirements.
I do not plan on going through the engine. I understand this will limit me, so its just going to have to suffice. That would be another couple thousand to forge the internals, and I just dont have it. I will be keeping my old engine though, and maybe some day I can start throwing some forged parts at it to make a bullet proof stroker. Who knows, but for now stock internals.
I would love to do long tubes, but they are out of the price range. I might be able to get them later, but for now they are just out. $10k doesnt go very far on a hemi.
I hadnt even considered a TCM. I was worried about going to far and need a stall converter, but the TCM never crossed my mind. I figured all that stuff was controlled by the ECM. It controlls everything else.
I will look at upgrading the center section eventually. I might see if I can have an LSD added locally.
When I upgrade wheels, itll be a staggered setup with 10.5s in the rear. I previously had those, but they developed a leak, and I removed them.

I seriously considered just doing a bolt on build- heads, cam, complete exhaust, intake/TB, cold air. But The supercharger just adds more HP in one unit. The cost isnt that much different either. But I like the idea of having that supercharger in there.

 

Nothing wakes up a motor like forced induction.

 

Find a set of SRT manifold take offs; make sure you get the matching mid pipes too. They are specific to each other depending on year. Up through about 2012/2013 the SRT manifolds (both 6.1 & 6.4) are the same, after that they changed slightly (same for 6.4 & 6.2) but still bolt in the same as a set. This was the old school low buck poor man's shorty header (because it literally is one) for the 5.7's.

In some cars it does, in the NAG1 cars there is a TCM under the dash (blame Mercedes lol). Just changing to a performance oriented TCM changes the nature of the car. I discovered the early Mopar Perf TCM had basically the same programming as the one behind my 392. I would've thought the early 6.1 TCM's would be similar but Mopar made two different perf TCM's, one for the 5.7 cars and one for the 6.1 cars. Programming is identical with the exception of the input rear gear ratio (2.82 for 5.7, 3.06 for 6.1). This tells me the MTCM is even more perf oriented than the stock SRT stuff at the time.

Not worth the cost if you are going to stick with the same size spindly axles. I'll put it this way; the axles (CV shafts) were spindly up through about 2011. I initially put a 2006 SRT 3.06 rear (215mm) in my 06 R/T (stock stock 2.82 210mm) because it was cheap. General all around driving not bad. When you put power to it however....a stock 5.7 will snap those axles. Found out the hard way at the track lol:



The Quaife and Wavetrac units that will actually fit are about $1300-1500 plus labor and you still have the same narrow axles. Axle upgrades are available but they aren't cheap either. Getrag out of an 11-14 SRT car gets you a larger ring gear, better ratio, factory limited slip and thicker axles. Once I started breaking axles I went and found a Getrag:



When I did this install 7-8 yrs ago I got a diff with axles (low mileage used, about 30k miles) for about $700-800 and just had to get hubs and a giubo. Probably more now but the cost is more than likely comparable to getting a new LSD installed with the same spindly axles.

No one ever complains about a blower except for gas mileage (or rather lack thereof) or when something breaks lol.

 

So last week, probably Wednesday, I was driving to work, and got blinded by a massive 4x4 with a bunch of light bars on his truck. There is literally about 16 square feet of light on this truck, and he keep them ALL on. Ive passed him a few times before this, but on this particular morning, there was a dead deer in the road. I hit it broadside. There was no way to avoid it, and I was blinded by the truck lights. Anyway, I pulled a dukes of hazard jump over this deer. I thought the car was dead. I drove it on to work, and then home, and put it on some ramps.There was fur and guts everywhere. The radiator and A/C condensor are bent, but there are no leaks and everything seems to work fine. I might have to drop the SC idea in favor of fixing the damage. I guess we will wait and see. Ill post pictures when I get ready to start pulling it apart.

 

Here in Michigan, it is illegal for trucks to run offroad lights on the road. To the point that is you don't have covers on the offroad lights, while on the road, you get pulled over and ticketed.