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Im Ryan, from Modesto, CA. I will be turning 20 next month. I have always grown up around Mopars. I remember watching my dad wheel his Dodge Dart street stock around local short tracks for many years beating up on the Chevys. I think that is really what got me hooked on the Dart. He purchased a 74 Dart Swinger, 2 door 225 slant, 904, 7 1/4 as a parts car for his street stock in about 1990. The car had a bad left side motor mount and the previous owner wanted nothing to do with it so my Dad got the car from him for (he says $100) very little. Thankfully he got out of racing street stocks in '92 and started driving the very first Legends Car on the west coast. And the car was never cut up or anything. The only problem was it sat out in our horse pasture with a broken windshield all that time, a small half dollar sized hole in it. So the dash pad was severely damaged. The bench seat was also pretty bad. But when I turned 15 and my permit was starting to get closer and I was going to need a car. So I asked my Dad what was wrong with it. He said it ran when I parked in there 15 years ago. So I got the keys opened her up...had that wet musky smell...popped the hood and started peaking around. Granted I really had no idea what I was doing. So we pulled it out of the pasture and my Dad said have at it. We irragate that pasture so there was mud up past the K-Frame. The distirbutor was also cover in mud. So after cleaning the mud off I pulled the cap and cleaned it up inside of there. Put in back on, threw a battery in it, and changed the air cleaner. And it fired right up. My Dad came out looking like holy crap you actually did it. I was pumped and wanted to go drive it. But the brakes were shot. So we pushed it in the garage and I started removing the old windshield. Luckily my Dad took the glass out of the race car and put plexiglass in there so we had a windshield. Got that installed then the brakes and tires. After all that was finished up I could finally drive it. And the best part of all I HAD A DART! I drove the car like that for about a year, I lowered it one day (alittle to much) and hit something scraping a hole in the pan. Luckily there was no oil that really dumped out. So nothing internally happened. But we had to take it out to fix the pan. So I figure since its out why not drop in a V8? My Dad said if I could find a V8 K-Frame with disc brakes we'd do it. Next week at the local junk yard I found a 4 door Valiant (73) about to be crushed. Literally the guy was driving the forks through the windshield when I stopped him. They pulled it out and sold it to me for $125. From the T bars forward. Now it was V8 time. An old 78 360 we had laying around was the perfect candidate. It was out of a Dodge PowerWagon. So with the V8 came a T F 727, an 8 1/4 out of a Duster...and BBP wheels. After about 3 months it started running like crap. So I pulled the valve covers off and cranked it and ( I cant remember which cylinders now) but 3 of the rockers were not moving. So I purchased a cam and installed it. I dont know exactly how it chewed up three lobes. I probably wasnt doing my part in checking the oil enough. Then drive went out in the transmission and on the freeway one day (again my fault) it went bang. Tossed the #5 rod threw the pan. An ugly sight. Split the cylinder, all the coolant mixed in with the oil...bad bad bad. So it was then time to build an engine, we choose a 318 this time. The block was pretty bad looking on the outside but once the heads were pulled and taken all down it wasnt too bad. Although the there was some water in the #3 cylinder and the old pistons were a ***** to get out. So it had a sleeve put in and was cleaned up to .030 over. We installed a 340 crankshaft and flat top pistons. With a MP Purple Shaft. Eddy dual plane and a Holley sit atop it. After I hit a armco barrier and crunched up the left front. I wanted to put a 72 Dart front clip on it, I figure since I gotta change fenders and bumpers and everything else to fix the damage what the hell, why not. So I did. Then it was the wing window doors (Im a sucker for wing windows)...and then last week was the 72 rear clip. So now when someone asks, I hesitate and say its a 72 8). And yesterday I started stripping the paint so I can get it straight as an arrow and shoot it black. My finished plans for the car is mini-tub, Magnum heads, black with flat black out and flat black strip across the back, black interior...I need to get the bench redone, and hopefully...just hopefully one day I can bolt a 4 speed behind it. I plan on keeping this car until the day I die...maybe be buried in it lol.

That is my story, rather long...but once I get going...lol

Thanks for reading,
Ryan