1971 Dart Swinger

[AnotherA]

Bought the car for $3,900.

It was an original /6 car that has been converted over to a 318.

My immediate project over the winter is getting the rust off the car and getting it primed.

I feel like i'm $10k in the whole and I haven't even started.

Will post pictures tomorrow of the carnage from removing the vinyl top and the adhesive.

In the mean time here are my plans for the car.

Motor/drive train:
Leave the internals of the1975 150 horse 318 alone for the moment. If I find good heads i will slap them on but other then that I'm just going to slap the intake and carb on it and see what the turbo will do.
Looking at adding a Holset hx50/55 or a MP T70 turbo. Would use stock drivers manifold and run the exhaust from the drivers side underneath and up to the passengers side into a custom log manifold.
Have the Flange off the front of the passenger manifold and build a brace that mounts to the head to help support the weight of the turbo.
Friend is converting a carb so it will work for blow through.
Lots of other turbo supporting mods to add.

Add a posi with probably a 3.23 gears.

Suspension:
PST front sway bar kit.
upgrade the v6 torsion bars to .88 bars.
Edelbrock shocks
power brake booster

Interior:
Bucket seats and rear bench seat
new carpet
new headliner
new dash pad
Radio - I only have the AM radio in it now.

Body/chassis:
twin hood scoops
rims and tires
Minitub
media blast
Paint and undercoat with por 15.









Few rust issues.




In general its pretty clean under neath.

[rbdart]

Congrats On Your Purchase Of My Favorite Body Style-yes Its A Long Road To Get Them Where You Want Them But They Are So Worth It. Your Car Is In Awesome Shape And Complete And With An 8 3/4 Rear Already In It , Very Good Find And For The Money You Did Very Well. Those Little 318 Motors Do Alot More Than You Think When It Comes To Perf Mods. The Car Appears To Be In Super Good Shape With The Standard Qtr Panel Rust Issues[easy Fix] The Vinyl Roof Is Almost Always Like That[didnt Put Mine Back On] My Car [also A 71 Dart] Was A /6 Car That Now Sports A Very Warmed Over 440-727 Thats Taken Me 3.5 Yrs To Get It To Paint Stage ,which Is Going On As We Chat In My Garage [71 Rallye Red-black Tailstripe-twin Scoops-rear Spoiler-no Vinyl Top] Its Mostly A Labor Of Love And Money/time [lots Of Both] Thats Both Rewarding And Sometimes Frustrating But In The End Its Well Worth It To See The Finished Product And To Sport Around And Show It Off, To Me They Are One Of The Best Looking Cars Of The Mopars And Mine Is Built For Looks And Performance, No Trailer Queen Here, Will Be Tagged And Insured And Driven Like It Was Stolen. Good Luck On Your Find And Build, You Have A Very Good Base To Work Off Of, Takes Time, Money, Patience And Perserverience And A Strong Love For The Mopar Muscle[which Rules] And A Dedication To See It Thru----have Fun

[Westtexdart]

Very nice car to start with. Thats some very good looking whitetail country in the background. Do you hunt ?

[HemiPar]

Congrats on the "new car". Looks like a great starting point. Mine, the previous owner already pulled the top off my car. Looks like it has been off for a while, no rust anywhere else on it. So my spring project is to get the top fixed up. I don't plan on putting the vinyl top back on but will paint the top black.

[Motopsycho]

good starting point looks good

[72bluNblu]

Nice looking '71! Good luck getting it fixed up, should be a nice one!

[Snake]

keep on swingen

[jomoper]

Besides the rust issues ,that car looks really straight and it's all there!
Good luck on your new project

[itberusty]

Nice looking Dart. That year front end is my favorite.

[Button]

Nice solid original car alright! Hemipar and my son and I are doing the same thing, painting the roofs black rather than deal with a vinyl roof. A while back on our thread, someone mentioned possibly doing a type of "Rhino Lining" on the roof and still useing the stainlees trim for the vinyl roof. That would give the roof it's "grainy" look and yet you'd never have to deal with rust ever again. Come to think of it, you wouldn't have to worry about a hail storm either! But I'd have to see it on someones elses car first before I'd experiment with it on mine, you'd never be able to get it off if you didn't like it.

[AnotherA]

^^ Interesting idea, but like you I will wait for someone else to experiment with it.

Some snaps shots from todays work.
I removed the trim around when wheel wells and then worked on cleaning up the roof.









Here are a couple that high light my other hobby of photography.






My friend is the one doing the welding. I got the welding 101 course today but need more practice before I go burning holes in panels.

[daredevil]

glad to see body is first instead of next winter. rust never sleeps

[AnotherA]

Right now I'm only fixing the rust areas that I can't buy a body panel for.
The fender patch and quarters will wait until I get the motor and suspension done.

[sneke_eyez]

Looks like a great car!
Nice find right there.

[res1vw21]

I like the welding pics! Nice dart and I am glad body is coming first.

[AnotherA]

I ordered a Master Power T70 .68 A/R Turbo yesterday for it.
Will post pictures when I get it.

[GoFish]

Really?! A T70 turbo? What kind of boost are you planning to run? What are your horsepower goals? I don't think a T70 will even kick in until 3200-3500 rpm. Will this be a race car only, or will you also be driving it on the street?

I'm very curious about your build, since I'm building a '71 Scamp that will also utilize a turbo on my 360 engine. You can see my long block in this section under "Turbo Scamp." We should compare notes...

[EvilScamp]

My brothers 71 Dart is originally the same color combination as yours,we just discovered it had a black vinyl top at one time.

[AnotherA]

Originally Posted by GoFish

Really?! A T70 turbo? What kind of boost are you planning to run? What are your horsepower goals? I don't think a T70 will even kick in until 3200-3500 rpm. Will this be a race car only, or will you also be driving it on the street?

I'm very curious about your build, since I'm building a '71 Scamp that will also utilize a turbo on my 360 engine. You can see my long block in this section under "Turbo Scamp." We should compare notes...

What turbo did you go with?
I will be trying to hit 500hp with it. Will be a street pounder with minimal track time. I got the T70 with the intent of putting a 360 in the car after I pop this motor.
Looking for some truck manifolds and replacing my power steering with manual steering.

I'm not re freshening the motor or anything, i'm going to see what the turbo does with a stock 1975 318 with a 150hp. Then I'll buy heads and a cam and get it into the HP it should have been at.

I will be posting updates as I go.

[GoFish]

Its great to see someone else looking at the power of turbos for our A-bodies! I'm looking forward to seeing your build progress.

Not be be a downer, but I think a T70 will prove to be WAY too big a turbo for your 318, given your 500 hp goal, especially since you don't plan to freshen the motor. Not sure if you have forged or cast crank/rods/pistons, but a cast rotating assembly won't hold up to the turbo at more than a couple of lbs of boost. At least the low boost means you won't need to run an intercooler. Tuning can also be a b*tch for a turbo running with a carb. It can be done, but its not as easy as with fuel injection. I strongly suggest a shift kit for your transmission, otherwise it will be toast when the turbo kicks in.

I'm also running a T70 turbo, mine coming from Garrett. The block has all forged internals, and includes a main stud girdle to hold it all together. 8.5:1 compression pistons, and I'm installing F.A.S.T. XFI fuel injection. The plan is for running 8-10 lbs. of boost on the street, with the ability to crank it to 15 lbs. at the track.

I'll be watching as your car comes together. Good luck!