Hotchkis 76 Dart Build
Racing Pedal Assembly
We installed a Tilton Firewall Mount Pedal Assembly to take care of the brake and clutch pedals in the Dart. The Tilton unit is super robust and up to the task of the races that the owner of this car has planned. The pedal assembly has built in master cylinders for the clutch as well as separate ones for front and rear brakes, allowing us to precisely dial in brake bias.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646442451386/
Steering Column
We wanted to have a car that was easy to steer while driving around the pits, on and off of the trailer, and on a tight autocross track but could also have completely manual steering for higher-speed tracks. So we installed a Unisteer Electronic Power Steering system onto an Iditit tilt-wheel column along with a 2:1 steering quickener. We fabricated both the mount for the column on the dash bar as well as the mount for the quickener itself.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646085990379/
Fluid Reservoirs
Next, we fabricated a mounting bracket for the three Roush fluid reservoirs (Brake, Power Steering, and Clutch) on the engine bay bars.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646483745611/
Bumpers
For the car's bumpers, we needed something that was going to be lighter than the factory steel bumpers but just as strong. We fabricated a tubular bumper out of 1.25-inch (.083-inch wall) tubing and made it mount to the factory bumper mounts. Then we created a fiberglass bumper from the factory unit and riveted the fiberglass piece to the tubular bumper underneath. We did this for both the front and rear bumpers (though we are only showing the front here).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646084847510/
Interior
We also started work on the interior paneling and accessories. We created the template for the aluminum panels using paper and cardboard. After creating the templates we then transferred them to the aluminum sheet metal and carefully cut out the pieces before tacking them into place inside the car. We also added two battery boxes to the drive shaft tunnel behind the rear seat. The two batteries will eventually be connected through a BUS switch allowing the driver to switch batteries mid-race should one of the primary one go bad. Finally, we added a hydraulic hand brake lever so that the owner can quickly rotate the car on tight rally stages.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646085843329/
Racing Pedal Assembly
We installed a Tilton Firewall Mount Pedal Assembly to take care of the brake and clutch pedals in the Dart. The Tilton unit is super robust and up to the task of the races that the owner of this car has planned. The pedal assembly has built in master cylinders for the clutch as well as separate ones for front and rear brakes, allowing us to precisely dial in brake bias.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646442451386/
Steering Column
We wanted to have a car that was easy to steer while driving around the pits, on and off of the trailer, and on a tight autocross track but could also have completely manual steering for higher-speed tracks. So we installed a Unisteer Electronic Power Steering system onto an Iditit tilt-wheel column along with a 2:1 steering quickener. We fabricated both the mount for the column on the dash bar as well as the mount for the quickener itself.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646085990379/
Fluid Reservoirs
Next, we fabricated a mounting bracket for the three Roush fluid reservoirs (Brake, Power Steering, and Clutch) on the engine bay bars.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646483745611/
Bumpers
For the car's bumpers, we needed something that was going to be lighter than the factory steel bumpers but just as strong. We fabricated a tubular bumper out of 1.25-inch (.083-inch wall) tubing and made it mount to the factory bumper mounts. Then we created a fiberglass bumper from the factory unit and riveted the fiberglass piece to the tubular bumper underneath. We did this for both the front and rear bumpers (though we are only showing the front here).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646084847510/
Interior
We also started work on the interior paneling and accessories. We created the template for the aluminum panels using paper and cardboard. After creating the templates we then transferred them to the aluminum sheet metal and carefully cut out the pieces before tacking them into place inside the car. We also added two battery boxes to the drive shaft tunnel behind the rear seat. The two batteries will eventually be connected through a BUS switch allowing the driver to switch batteries mid-race should one of the primary one go bad. Finally, we added a hydraulic hand brake lever so that the owner can quickly rotate the car on tight rally stages.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hotchkis/sets/72157646085843329/
