1973 Dart 340 Sport Project
- Thread starter supertruck
- Start date
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Small progress but got the Hellwig rear bar installed. The supplied end links were too short so had to buy the adjustables. May come in handy later on for fine tuning the bar. Also pick up the engine later today, had to machine the heads for pushrod clearance with the kit from B3 Racing.
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Got the heads back from Cams Racing Engines after having them machined for pushrod clearance to accommodate the B3 Racing Engines' geometry correction kit. Had to machine 0.040 from the intakes and 0.060 from the exhausts for pushrod clearance. Got the heads reinstalled, including the new X2 pushrods, adjusted the rocker side clearances, and adjusted the valve lash. Everything looks good now, the headaches dealing with the kit install should be well worth it down the road.
Got the Schumacher Tri-Y headers back from powder coat. You can also see the box with the B&M megashifter I plan to use with the 200-4R transmission.
I hope that is a high temp ceramic finish. Cosmetic powder coating -- even the high temp (which maxes out at 1200 degrees) -- will not hold up to exhaust temps.
Thanks CudaChick! Guess I'll find out, the shop guaranteed the product.
Mounted the Wilcap adapter, hub, and flex plate to the block today. Can't say enough about the quality. The flex plate and hub adapter were balanced with the rotating assembly. Good thing because a small amount of material was removed on each piece. Tomorrow is a test fit with the 200-4R.
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Got the engine installed with the Schumacher tri-y headers. I'll set the correct height when I get the Trans in. Right now, looks like the header may interfere with the idler arm, although Mike Schumacher says I'll have clearance once correct height is set.
I did the final test fit of the 200-4R Trans today. The pics show how much of the cross member I had to cut out. Had to take more than planned from the passenger side but everything clears now. Time to clean everything up and get ready for what I hope will be the final install. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Just some notes on the Wilcap adapter for anyone considering this route to the 200-4R install. Overall the kit is top flight all the way. The provided instructions give you all the info you need to complete the installation. All bolts / nuts / washers / studs needed are supplied. The adapter bolts to the block with grade 8 SHCS and they're recessed into the adapter. Crank bolts and torque converter bolts are supplied. To bolt the transmission to the adapter, Wilcap supplies studs and nuts. One word of caution - I installed the block/adapter/trans out of the vehicle to test the fit up. For the installation, I put the engine in first, then installed the trans from the bottom. Doing it this way, there was not enough clearance with the studs to get the trans in place. I ended up removing all but the two bottom studs and replacing them with SHCS. Make sure and check this if you use the Wilcap. I had Loc Tited the studs and they were a pain to get out. I also bent the pinch weld up and flattened it against the firewall to get some extra room. Then I used brush-on seam sealer on both sides of the pinch weld. Once the trans is in for the final time I'll post some pics of the clearances.
The Schumacher headers were a guaranteed fit, one of the reasons I went with them. Attached pics show the mods I had to make to the tubes to get clearance. On the passenger side, two tubes were hard against the idler arm / steering assy with the engine in final location. I'm using the Schumacher spool mounts, had the engine as high as it would go in the mounts, sitting level, and still had to dimple the tubes. On the driver side, I had to dimple the tubes to clear the torsion bars and the steering box, even though I went with the Borgeson smaller box.
Below are a couple of pics of the close quarters with the Schumacher tri-Y headers.
The engine / trans is in for the final alignment. With the carb mounting surface sitting level front to rear and side to side, the trans is down 3 degrees, what I was looking for. Here are a couple of pics of the clearance with the 200-4R trans after my cross member mods. Many thanks to the guys who came before me in passing on the info on the mods. Now I need to figure out what to do with the E-brake cable.
That's a piss off.. my Schumachers fit perfect.. but that was BB headers..
Looks good keep up the good work..
darndart
Well-Known Member
Awesome project! I had a similar project about 18 years ago. 73 Dart Sport 340 Auto. Mine was a sunroof car that was all rusted out. I ended up putting a entire roof from a donor car(non-sunroof). It was a lot of work, but I was much younger then! Still have the car today!
mygasser
Well-Known Member
I'm glad you said that, I've got Schumachers for the 383 I'm fitting in my '68 valiant.
My car was a 68 Dart with 440.. but sorry thinking about it now I did have slightly grind some meat off on engine boss, but no pipe mods.. I really liked those headers the mounting flang was really thick no warp and leaks.. good luck..
mygasser
Well-Known Member
thanks, i did a 440 into a 65 dart a few years ago and made fenderwell headers. that was tight so this time a 383 with good headers should be a breeze (fingers crossed).
neil.
The Trans mount for the 200-4R is complete. Kind of hard to see in the pic, but I used 1 3/4 roll bar tubing, 1/4 flat bar, and some 1/4 angle bar to make my mount. Tied the cross member into the sub frame connectors. Should be plenty strong.
A quick note for those doing the 200-4R switch and in need of a speedometer cable. I wanted to keep my dash stock, which means using the Dodge clip-on speedometer cable. I got with the guys at Speedometer Solutions and told them I needed a cable with the Dodge clip-on and the 200-4R trans fitting. They're making me one to my specs and length. Stock was $61.00 and heavy duty with a metal sheathing to protect when near headers is $71.00. I ordered it in the morning, they shipped the same day. Can't beat that.
Mounted the AC condenser and AT cooler today. To mount the condenser I modified the mounts from the original condenser, which was toast. Used the condenser recommended by 89on35s in his AC conversion thread. Still a long way to go, but getting there.
Thought I'd post this for anyone using the 26" Champion radiator. The radiator, when set in the stock location, sat up so high that I'd have to trim the hood support to get clearance. Instead of doing that, I did some measuring and cut out the bottom of the core support. I then used some 1/2 inch square tubing to lower the cut out piece enough to get clearance. You can see what I did in this photo, and also in the photo in the previous post. Just another way to get a larger radiator in there.
Received the ball socket adapters from Accurate Exhaust today. Needed these since I'm using the Schumacher tri-y headers.
txstang84
Well-Known Member
Another cool build
Received the Summit dual exhaust kit today. Really good value for the cost. Laid it out to make sure all the pieces were there. Ties in nicely with the ball sockets connectors from the previous post. Probably begin installation in a couple of weeks.
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