Mopowers' 66 Dart Build

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I realize a lot of the previous photos got wrapped up in the whole photobucket fiasco, but I’ve finally got some updates now that I’m able to devote some time to this project. I apologize for all of the photos.

Anyhow - I spent quite a bit of time scraping undercoating and wiping the residue off with goof off and brake cleaner. When all was said and done, there was about 25 lbs of undercoating scraped off. That’s one job I hope to never do again! Bottom photo is just a random shot of the two turds at this stage.

I've been keeping sort of a journal of the build, so bear with me while I load the photos.

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A couple holes still needed to be patched from when we installed the cage. I also had to raise the transmission hump about an inch to clear the 727 and the trans blanket I intend to run.
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I figured now was as good a time as any to learn how to build a 727. Having never done it before, I was a little nervous, but it actually wasn’t bad at all. I ended up filling it with a lot of good stuff – alto red clutches, kolene steels, billet steel front drum, steel front planetary, CRT revers manual valve body, A&A Ultimate sprag, etc…

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I had to clearance the case a little in order to utilize all 6 bolts in the ultimate sprag. Probably overkill, but whatever. I also added a small oiling hole for the sprag and relocated the vent.

Hopefully it works!

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Bottom side all cleaned up and painted.

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First time giving this ***** a wash in too many years. It’s just nice to see it on all four for once. It definitely needs softer springs up front.

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After mocking up the master cylinder, it was apparent that it was pretty close to the valve cover and I figured why not see if I could buy some extra room, so I made a 2-bolt adapter with a slight offset up and to the driver’s side. It’s not much, but the little bit of extra room will be nice. I welded a spacer block to the pedal as well to compensate.

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I noticed the cylinder heads had some rust in the intake runners, so I figured I’d bust them off and clean them up a bit. I’m glad I did because a couple of the intake ports had some pretty nasty rust scale. A little elbow grease and a wire wheel and all was good in the world. It was also a good time to do a good ol’ redneck valve job (i.e., old fashioned backyard valve lapping). The heads turned out nice. They held mineral spirits without leaking, so hopefully they work.

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Next on the list was a driveshaft loop. I had one of those old universal Lakewood loops laying around, so decided to modify it and I think it turned out okay. I was able to get it nice and tight to the floor pan. I also made it so the bottom piece is easily removable to ease driveshaft removal.

The drive shaft I made at a local driveline shop. They used 3” DOM and new 1350 ends. The yoke is a 1350 Spicer unit I picked up a while back.

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I ended up picking up another oil pan, so I could free up the Milodon pan for when I build the hotrod motor. Since I had some scrap laying around, I figured I may as well make a baffle.

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Now for a big-ish change. Early in the build, my dad and I had made a midplate/front engine plate setup. After tinkering on some engine accessories and exploring several exhaust options, it was apparent that the mid and front plates were causing more headaches than they were worth, so I made the decision to get rid of them and build some standard motor mounts. I cheated though and bought a couple weld-on poly bushing ends. I think they turned out okay. Here are some before and after shots. As you can see the motor mounts free’d up a ton of space.

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I don't think I have ever heard anyone complain about too many pictures around here. :)
 
I figured I’d give the tops of the pistons a good cleaning before bolting down the heads. Damn slugs are about 0.120” in the hole at TDC to net a whopping ~7.5:1 SCR. I may as well just mount up a Briggs and Stratton pull cord to the balancer to start this pig. After bolting up the heads, I started mocking up an old alternator I had to make some brackets and decided to just cheat and pick up some brackets from AREngineering and use a 90 amp Toyota Denso alternator.

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A couple other random tasks that needed to be done was to figure out the throttle pedal situation. I had an extra 67+ throttle assembly and figured I could make it work, so after a little cutting, welding, and bending it’ll work great. I kept the pedal ratio the same, so that shouldn’t be a problem. If anything, I may have to make up some kind of pedal stop, but I know a guy…

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Next up was plumbing the brake system. I ended up making all new brake lines. It was tedious, but they turned out nice. I made a little bracket to mount the line lock to as well.

I also shortened the steering column outer housing for header clearance for when that time comes.

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Next was assembling and mounting up the steering column. You guys know what a pain it is to assemble the coupler and seal clamp. I made a tool to assist out of some scrap. While I was at it, I installed a set screw for safety, as these earlier couplers didn’t come with a safety pin.

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Next on the list was plumbing the radiator and trans cooler. I welded a small tab to the radiator crossmember to bolt a couple 90* an bulkhead fittings to. From there, I’ll run ptfe lines to the transmission. I used hardline in the front because of the tight 90* bends I needed to make.

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Everything in the cooling system seems to fit really well. I was able to find some great molded hoses that work perfectly (upper hose was Gates #20229, lower was #20046 if I recall correctly). I ended up pilfering the shroud off an electric fan I had as well. I think it was from a Ford T-bird or something similar. It fits the crossflow radiator almost perfectly. Also notice I’ve got a coil and HEI module mounted, wired and ready to go – just need 12 volts to the coil, along with some plug wires.

Next up is finishing plumbing the transmission cooler, than on to figuring out the exhaust situation.

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Got the transmission cooler lines made. I used -6AN stainless-jacketed PTFE hose. Man this type of hose sucks to assemble.

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mopowers said:
Next project is building the exhaust. I've been putting it off, but I guess now's as good a time as any.
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Just remember, all the procrastination you don't get done today, you can always do tomorrow. :thumbsup:
 
Revhendo said:
Just remember, all the procrastination you don't get done today, you can always do tomorrow. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Very true! I've got flanges, a box of tubing, and a couple mufflers that have been staring at me for a while. Haha! The motivation is that once the exhaust is done, I can at least put 12V to the coil and fire this ***** up.
 
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I'm almost done with the passenger side. It's not my best work, but it should get the job done with the stock 400. If nothing else, it's great practice for when I build a proper set of long tubes.

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