Speed Hunters Project Yankee at SEMA-- 1975 Dart Sport!
Well I like it, although that's probably not a surprise to anyone that's seen my car or posts.
Like with any build done by someone else there are some things I would do differently, but I think he got a lot of things right. I don't know why he stayed with the 833OD after going to the hemi, it's not a bad transmission but considering he converted to a hydraulic clutch and replaced the crossmember anyway (last part not at all necessary to mount that transmission) I would have gone to at least a 5 speed. The TKO conversion kits out there wouldn't have been any harder to install to given the mods he did. Heck even a T56 wouldn't have needed much more. The cosmetic stuff, like the driving lights and fender mounted mirrors aren't really my thing, but I see what he was going for. And while the fender mount mirrors might not be cosmetically pleasing I bet they work better. Certainly not any worse than the factory mirrors, because both the round and sport style factory mirrors are pretty bad for actual function. He got the look he was going for, kind of a 240Z inspired appearance.
With the wheels he did what you need to do in order for the larger diameter wheels to look right. You have to drop the car and fill up the wheel wells. If you don't, it just looks goofy. But if you set the ride height properly and fill up the fenders they look great. Guess he really loved those TE37's though, because the offsets he chose were completely wrong. He pulled the fenders just to mount 255's, which seems like a waste. With the proper offset he could have run the 255's without any significant fender mods. It might have been a little tricky with a 17x9, but the Hotchkis tie rods probably would have helped with the outer tie rod interference issue that can come up with 17x9's and enough offset to fit 255's. Same in the back. You can fit 275's on a bone stock Dart Sport if you get the offset right. If he'd run 17x9's with +25mm offset in the front and a 0 to +12 offset in the back with those 17x10's he could have done those size tires with little to no body modification. Heck even if he had gone +20 or +15 in the front (instead of the -10 he used!) he might have gotten away with just rolling the fender lips instead of pulling the fenders. I run 275's and 295's on my Duster (front/rear) with a lot less body work.
The front spoiler is big for a street car, but he pointed out several times this was a track going build not a street driver. I mean his R888 toyo proxes are an R compound tire, although I guess technically they're DOT legal. On the track bigger is better for the spoiler, you want it to actually do it's job and keep air out from under the car. A smaller spoiler might be more aesthetically pleasing, but it wouldn't work as well. It's actually not much bigger than the '67 Camaro spoiler I run up front, I went with that because you can get OER '67 Camaro spoilers for $30, so when I accidentally bump a parking block or curb it's cheap and easy to fix my spoiler.
Well I like it, although that's probably not a surprise to anyone that's seen my car or posts.
Like with any build done by someone else there are some things I would do differently, but I think he got a lot of things right. I don't know why he stayed with the 833OD after going to the hemi, it's not a bad transmission but considering he converted to a hydraulic clutch and replaced the crossmember anyway (last part not at all necessary to mount that transmission) I would have gone to at least a 5 speed. The TKO conversion kits out there wouldn't have been any harder to install to given the mods he did. Heck even a T56 wouldn't have needed much more. The cosmetic stuff, like the driving lights and fender mounted mirrors aren't really my thing, but I see what he was going for. And while the fender mount mirrors might not be cosmetically pleasing I bet they work better. Certainly not any worse than the factory mirrors, because both the round and sport style factory mirrors are pretty bad for actual function. He got the look he was going for, kind of a 240Z inspired appearance.
With the wheels he did what you need to do in order for the larger diameter wheels to look right. You have to drop the car and fill up the wheel wells. If you don't, it just looks goofy. But if you set the ride height properly and fill up the fenders they look great. Guess he really loved those TE37's though, because the offsets he chose were completely wrong. He pulled the fenders just to mount 255's, which seems like a waste. With the proper offset he could have run the 255's without any significant fender mods. It might have been a little tricky with a 17x9, but the Hotchkis tie rods probably would have helped with the outer tie rod interference issue that can come up with 17x9's and enough offset to fit 255's. Same in the back. You can fit 275's on a bone stock Dart Sport if you get the offset right. If he'd run 17x9's with +25mm offset in the front and a 0 to +12 offset in the back with those 17x10's he could have done those size tires with little to no body modification. Heck even if he had gone +20 or +15 in the front (instead of the -10 he used!) he might have gotten away with just rolling the fender lips instead of pulling the fenders. I run 275's and 295's on my Duster (front/rear) with a lot less body work.
The front spoiler is big for a street car, but he pointed out several times this was a track going build not a street driver. I mean his R888 toyo proxes are an R compound tire, although I guess technically they're DOT legal. On the track bigger is better for the spoiler, you want it to actually do it's job and keep air out from under the car. A smaller spoiler might be more aesthetically pleasing, but it wouldn't work as well. It's actually not much bigger than the '67 Camaro spoiler I run up front, I went with that because you can get OER '67 Camaro spoilers for $30, so when I accidentally bump a parking block or curb it's cheap and easy to fix my spoiler.
