Pro Touring 72 Demon build

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813Demon340

813Demon340

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I thought I’d share my current 72 Demon Pro Touring build. I’m not going to go into the same depth as my last 71 Duster 340 restoration thread though.
After having the privilege of owning the Red Brick 68 Valiant, I learned what a well built A body is capable of on a road course. So with that knowledge in hand I set out to build my 72 Demon in a very similar fashion. My plan is to get it sound mechanically and sorted out track wise before painting it and making it all pretty. Rough idea in my mind was to make a “what if” version of a Demon T/A had Dodge continued in SCCA and switched to A bodies in 71/72

When I got my Demon it was a rust free , disassembled shell with some of the parts. The only downside was that a previous owner obviously had a welder and a lot of time on their hands. They decided to weld up the cowl, side markers, door handles, all the lock holes (including the trunk), all of the body plug holes, all of the engine compartment holes, and swapped out the fuel filler opening for some modern filler door. Some of those mods would be in my favor and some would have to be reversed. So, first thing was getting the car sorted out and what was good, bad, usable, and sellable.

First up was a solid foundation, so here are the the suspension related details:

-QA1 tubular upper control arms & strut rods
-Boxed lower control arms , with poly bushings
-Braced, welded 340 K frame
-Quick ratio (16:1) manual steering box
-Bilstein shocks
-Hotchkis 1 1/2 “ front & 1” rear tubular sway bars
-1:20 Sway Away T bars
-11/16 tie rods with HD PST sleeves
-US Car Tool Frame connectors & torque boxes
-Dr Diff offset spring hangers
-Wilwood 13” Front discs
-Dr Diff 11.7” Rear Discs
-11/16 Tie Rods & Sleeves
-B body 8 3/4, perches moved in
-2:76 & 3:91 Sure grip pumpkins
-340 rear leaf springs
-Polyurethane bushings throughout

The Demon is getting close to being drivable now, so I'll update the thread to its current state.
Heres how looked when I bought it sight unseen....

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Small bolt pattern 8-3/4 out and powder coated B body 8 3/4 in. Also note wrong fuel filler opening (the metal didn't have the right curve either), luckily the original cut out piece was mixed in with the parts.

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Dr Diff's parts really helped, especially the rear disc brake kit and the lightweight master cylinder. The offset shackle kit kit gives you about 1/2" to 3/4" more tire clearance and included the front front hangers with the dual mounting holes.

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I figure the US cartool subframe connectors and torque boxes will stiffen things up good for now until I can get a cage installed. I also decided to throw the 72 grille in it initially. I cut out the turn signal housings to make them ram air inlets that will connect to the air cleaner. I'll run some LEDs in the small part of the turn signal lenses (the rest is cut out already) as well as using the turn signals in the headlights. You'll also notice the white Durango in the background. Thats the engine donor. Picked it up for $500 cause it had a bad trans, but it had a low mile remanned 360 magnum. I wanted to run a Hemi but that was too good of deal to pass up on for now while I collect stuff for the Gen 3 Hemi conversion. I have a complete 4 speed changeover to go behind it too.

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The Four speed conversion is now complete. I also modded the dash and removed the dashpad. I painted it with wrinkle paint for different look on the dash, door tops and rear window surrounds. In my time playing with Mopar I have found that stock works and its easier to change things from there, so the stock cluster and wiring are back in it for now. I also restored the heater box assembly since a defroster is pretty important around here and the extra weight wasn't too big of a concern. I installed the back glass and chrome.

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The Mustang wheels & tires are temporary, but a safe fit, until things get settled and some miles get on the car. I searched for a DC style spoiler outback to go with the SRT440 hood that should be here in a few weeks. After going back and forth with wrong gas caps I found one of the flip top adapters and threw a cap I had laying around on there. There are a HUGE amount of differences between 71 and 72 A bodies as I have come to find out, and I knew A bodies really well. I've had several cars and parts cars over the years and had a lot of spare parts that I could use. I got tired of all of the extra parts & clutter from over the years and have gotten rid of almost everything I didn't need for this build. So once this one is done that will be it for quite awhile.

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Thanks!
I didn't do much to the motor for now. I put a Kevco pan and pickup on it once I found out my Canton pan wouldn't clear the steering. I added an RPM air gap and Quicktime carb. I chose to keep the serpentine set up for now and eliminate the A/C. This motor will probably go into my 73 W100 once the Gen 3 conversion happens. I got a set of Dougs headers from Autozone online, but they had to be dented quite a bit to clear the 1:20 T bars.
I am very fortunate to live near Summit racing as so many parts came from them.

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813Demon340 said:
Thanks!
I didn't do much to the motor for now. I put a Kevco pan and pickup on it once I found out my Canton pan wouldn't clear the steering. I added an RPM air gap and Quicktime carb. I chose to keep the serpentine set up for now and eliminate the A/C. This motor will probably go into my 73 W100 once the Gen 3 conversion happens. I got a set of Dougs headers from Autozone online, but they had to be dented quite a bit to clear the 1:20 T bars.
I am very fortunate to live near Summit racing as so many parts came from them. Our store here in Sparks/Reno has a 24/7/365 return/discount rack that has had many mopar parts show up over the years, which is why I was able to build this car with parts I had laying around. So instead of a scratch and dent sale a few times a year our store does it year round, so if you're ever up this way be sure to check it out.

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Super cool build, nice resource being that close to parts source. I am in Fargo, nuff said there. Anyway love to see how your frame stiffening adventures go. I am doing same and was totally unfamiliar with A bodies. This forum has saved me over and over again. Thanks for the pix!
 
Years of restoring Mopars has taught me that dropping the body down over the drivetrain the way the factory did is the only way to go, especially if you're doing it solo. I have a few dolly's and things I have made over the years to help this. Being able to bolt everything together outside of the car makes life so much easier when dealing with headers and big torsion bars, plus there is no bench pressing a transmission under the car. The front bar attaches to the bumper bracket holes and I use an axle strap to pick it up with the engine hoist. The strap allows the body to move around easily, if needed, to line up the 4 K frame bolt holes.

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Thanks Sublimeone, i like your build!. Yes, between here and Moparts there is a lot of great information available for these cars.
 
Thanks! I finally found my rear spoiler on Ebay. I put a wanted ad on here but didn't have any luck. This one was a MAS fiberglass one that was never bolted on or drilled and the price was right.

I have a few ideas for a front spoiler. I may start with a couple of Camaro spoilers and make them into one so its fits the Demons width better. They are $29 at Summit, but they don't extend down far enough to work in my opinion. Or I may build one like this one I did for the Valiant.

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813Demon340 said:
After having the privilege of owning the Red Brick 68 Valiant...
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So did you buy it from lilcuda (I think was the screen name)? Or did it pass through a couple of hands first?

Based on the past tense, guessing you no longer own it? Where did it go?

Sorry, hope that isn't too many questions. That car has fascinated for 20 years or more. Got to see it when it was owned by a local guy, but probably couldn't have swung buying it even if I had known before it left town.
 
813Demon340 said:
The front bar attaches to the bumper bracket holes and I use an axle strap to pick it up with the engine hoist.

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That picture/tech tip is worth the entrance fee! Seems like most of the time I see people doing this, they fight with the cherry picker because the legs are in the way of the motor and dolly. By extending the bars you created enough gap that there was no overlap. Sweet!

Probably been pointed out someplace here before, but sometimes I have to see things over and over again to figure it out.:BangHead::thumbsup:
 
That is one of the coolest and the most bad *** Valiants there is if you like going around corners!
DionR, Yes I bought it Lilcuda, and sold it about 2 years ago. It was for sale a couple of months ago on here and not much had been done to it since i had it. Its incredibly fast and very balanced. I have a feeling it will take a bit to get my Demon close to how that car felt at speed. The engine was incredible and was about as trick as an LA motor could be. In my opinion it needs fuel injection, a 5/6 speed, and a paint job to bring it to the next level. I hope whoever bought it gets it out more.
Yes, the front support is super simple to make, I used some thick angle iron and tube that attaches to the front bumper mounts. You actually can use it on a freshly painted & assembled car, as seen on my 71 Duster 340 Resto thread. The trick is getting the back end off the ground with either jackstands or wheel skates.

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813Demon340 said:
That is one of the coolest and the most bad *** Valiants there is if you like going around corners!
DionR, Yes I bought it Lilcuda, and sold it about 2 years ago. It was for sale a couple of months ago on here and not much had been done to it since i had it. Its incredibly fast and very balanced. I have a feeling it will take a bit to get my Demon close to how that car felt at speed. The engine was incredible and was about as trick as an LA motor could be. In my opinion it needs fuel injection, a 5/6 speed, and a paint job to bring it to the next level. I hope whoever bought it gets it out more.
Click to expand...

Have to admit I am surprised how many times it has traded hands. But that might just be due to my fascination with it.

Back to this build. Where's the progress! Need more pictures! :lol:
 
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