03JeepJeep
It's a hoot!
Awesome build
'73 Swinger - turbo SB, EFI, Overdrive...on the cheap! :)
- Thread starter daveakre
- Start date
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YoungDart75
Well-Known Member
I've been slowly picking away at this project on my lunch breaks, and it's almost ready to get tuned! Just a few odds and ends left to finish up. It's nice to not have to pump the carb a couple times to get it to cold start.
Holy heck he does exist. Keep it up.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Well I finally have this hoopty on the road! Still working on the tuneup, but it runs pretty good. I'm reasonably sure I don't have enough fuel pump to make any real power yet, so I have a 5 psi spring in the gate. Feels nice and strong on 5 psi though! Just got back from a beer run, this junk cruises so nice at like 65mph it's nuts!!
FragginDale
Well-Known Member
Any updates Dave?
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Nothing especially noteworthy. I've been dailying it on nice days, runs really good for the amount of tuning knowledge I have, lol. Just put a nice converter in it and this thing really rips now on only 5 lbs. Makes boost prettymuch instantly and spins the street tires hard.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Still just driving this junk. My daughter loves it though and always requests to go for a ride in daddy's "Blue Zoom" and go fast. Turned it up to 11 psi and boy is it rowdy, but I blew an intercooler pipe off and immediately ran it over, so it's down for the moment for some repair. Have a 450lph fuel pump and a flex sensor coming for it, so it should be e85 ready pretty soon, then I can really pour the coals to it and try to break stuff. 
It's her favorite car:
And she approves of driving fast.
Lil burner on like 4-5 psi. Gotta get some vid of it turned up once I get it back together this weekend.
It's her favorite car:
And she approves of driving fast.
Lil burner on like 4-5 psi. Gotta get some vid of it turned up once I get it back together this weekend.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Lol, yeah, that kinda sucked, but it is what it is. Got it all put back together last night, went and made a hit to test it out and blew off another. Oh well, Dave's Terrible Turbo Fab strikes again, lol.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Well, I got it back together and it doesn't blow cold pipes off for the moment, instead it just blows the tires off! I was on my way home last night, rolled into it at 30mph and hazed the 275 pro's once it built boost. So I was like "OK, maybe I'll try a hit from 50, so I can get some data without wheel spin." So I whack it at 50 and immediately burned the tires off of it in a big scary sideways burnout up to nearly 100mph. Safe to say I need to work on the suspension next, lol. I would be surprised it this isn't an 10 second car as it sits if it could just hook. So next is some Assassin bars, a rear anti-roll bar, and a maybe a decent set of double adjustable rear shocks.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Lol, took a few minutes to get over my heart attack.
Parts should be here in the next day or two. FedEx says they delivered them yesterday, but they're nowhere to be found. Hoping they turn up Monday so I can floor this thing without dying.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Man, it's been over a year since I've updated this? I've actually made some progress! So far:
New bigger fuel cell
Twin 450s in the cell
Flex sensor install
Billet RPS fuel filter
MSD 2 step halfway hacked in
BOV so I can stop blowing couplers off
Rear ARB and traction bars
I still have to get good shocks and some monoleafs, and finish up some odds and ends. I'd really like to swap it to a Holley so I can learn to tune it myself. HPT is a little overwhelming sometimes. It's currently on 11psi, and a blast to do big smokey rollers in. Anyway, here's some videos from the last year:
New bigger fuel cell
Twin 450s in the cell
Flex sensor install
Billet RPS fuel filter
MSD 2 step halfway hacked in
BOV so I can stop blowing couplers off
Rear ARB and traction bars
I still have to get good shocks and some monoleafs, and finish up some odds and ends. I'd really like to swap it to a Holley so I can learn to tune it myself. HPT is a little overwhelming sometimes. It's currently on 11psi, and a blast to do big smokey rollers in. Anyway, here's some videos from the last year:
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Ahahaha I asked a guy on fb how to adjust them!
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Small update - working on the 2 step control wiring. Also making whooshy noises.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
So I was lazy and left e85 in the tank since October and I think I clogged an injector. Also, this thing needs a battery! I think some 250lb injectors are next on the list to get this thing running 100% and future-proof the fuel system. I need to build a barn too, my garage is packed full of junk and a '68 Barracuda shell, no room for the Dart. Obligatory excuse for not wrenching pic to satisfy @YoungDart75 and his incessant attempts to motivate me. Sposta get 7-9" more today too.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
So I'm not sure what I want to do with this car. The last year or two I've been working long hours and just feeling burned out on the hot rodding thing. Let it mostly sit in storage for the time. Recently moved to a more office-y job and am considering getting back to work on the hoopty.
Problem is, I need to figure out if this is a cruiser or a racer. It's got way more power than the blown out vintage shocks and rear leafs can put down. The 4" fender dumper is a little bit too loud for cruising around town under the radar, but the overdrive, fuel injection, and 17" wheels make it drive really nice. I'd like to upgrade engine management to a Holley, but I'm trying to decide if I want to do a transbrake and reverse manual valve body or not. Maybe a quiet(er) exhaust to the back bumper is the ticket. Not sure I want to keep the rollcage if it's going to be a street cruiser though.
So the way I see it is either I build:
A basic racecar - reverse manual transbrake, finish the cage, keep the fender dump exhaust, maybe swap the front bench for race seats and lose the backseat, nice double adjustable drag focused shocks
or build
A street car - quiet exhaust, 17" drag radial, cut the cage out, put some carpet in, some street oriented shocks, etc.
OR
Gut my rusty blue car and transfer all the racey parts to this rust free barracuda chassis and build a for real racecar.
All I know is none of these options are cheap, and the price of parts has like doubled since I was last looking around.
Problem is, I need to figure out if this is a cruiser or a racer. It's got way more power than the blown out vintage shocks and rear leafs can put down. The 4" fender dumper is a little bit too loud for cruising around town under the radar, but the overdrive, fuel injection, and 17" wheels make it drive really nice. I'd like to upgrade engine management to a Holley, but I'm trying to decide if I want to do a transbrake and reverse manual valve body or not. Maybe a quiet(er) exhaust to the back bumper is the ticket. Not sure I want to keep the rollcage if it's going to be a street cruiser though.
So the way I see it is either I build:
A basic racecar - reverse manual transbrake, finish the cage, keep the fender dump exhaust, maybe swap the front bench for race seats and lose the backseat, nice double adjustable drag focused shocks
or build
A street car - quiet exhaust, 17" drag radial, cut the cage out, put some carpet in, some street oriented shocks, etc.
OR
Gut my rusty blue car and transfer all the racey parts to this rust free barracuda chassis and build a for real racecar.
All I know is none of these options are cheap, and the price of parts has like doubled since I was last looking around.
MidnightSwinger
Well-Known Member
I vote keep it the way it is, add rear suspension and full length exhaust. Best of both worlds.
If it were me...I'd really put work into the chassis of that 73' and go hurt some feelings at the track. I would take every side bet I could and make some $$$. A lot of people underestimate a good patina
Basically what I'm saying is, turn the wick up and drive the wheels off that *****!
Basically what I'm saying is, turn the wick up and drive the wheels off that *****!
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Yeah, all the rear suspension actually needs is a set of monoleafs and some decent shocks. The difficulty with the full length exhaust is that there is like no room between the giant bellhousing and the torsion bars in front. I have to do some goofy fab work and make some oval pipes or something.
Yeah this is what I'm leaning towards. If I do the quiet exhaust, I'd like to go back to 15" body colored wheels with dog dishes on them I think. I have a pair of painted draglites for the rear, I just need to paint the fronts and find some dog dishes that don't cost a fortune.If it were me...I'd really put work into the chassis of that 73' and go hurt some feelings at the track. I would take every side bet I could and make some $$$. A lot of people underestimate a good patina
Basically what I'm saying is, turn the wick up and drive the wheels off that *****!
Nice. Stick with it, man. I've been following your build for a while. I love hybrid hotrods. When going fast is the goal, all that matters is who crosses the finish line first.
Get that Swinger as light as possible and dial the suspension in. Make that $$$. Then you can fund your other projects. That 73' has lots of room to grow.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's the thing, in order to be even remotely competitive in my area, I'd need to weigh like 2700lbs and make like 1200hp. I've had gutted tin can cars before, and while they're fun, as I get older a soft and quiet car that's still decently quick is more and more appealing. I think getting a quiet exhaust on it will convince me to keep it a cruiser.
Gotcha. As a point of reference, my 72' Scamp weighs 2944lbs with a full interior and backseat and sound deadening with a Dana 60. The only fiberglass on the car is a six pack hood and front/rear bumpers. If I got a Lithium battery, it would be 2900lbs even. 2700lbs would be tough without fiberglass doors and gutting the interior. Sacrifices would have to be made.
It's definitely possible to shed weight, but it gets expensive for sure.
Depending on the event's rules, I bet you could enter it into a no prep Daily Driver class and be very competitive.
daveakre
Well-Known Member
Maybe. I'd need to figure out the suspension and maybe get a transbrake. A guy on the LS Swapped Mopars Facebook page just posted about his 4 inch exhaust hidden in custom recessed floorpans, that might be the way to do it.
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