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Well, after reading all the terrific young gun stories, I though I would finally tell mine.
My name is James and I'm 23 years old. I have always been into muscle cars and loud engines since I can remember.... Maybe because I grew up around all that car stuff, thanks to my dad. When I was little, he sat me on the fender of his '69 Chevelle every time he worked on it. When I turned 16, I got my drivers license and started looking for a 66 Chevy Nova. (because my dad and brother are die hard Chevy guys.) After searching for many moons, with no luck finding a Nova, my dad's Gear-Head friend Gary found a 1970 Dodge Dart for sale by the original owner. So I went to go check it out, and when I saw it, I absolutely fell in love with the car, and that's how my Mopar obsession came to be.
The car was a 1970 Dodge Dart owned by an old lady named Hildegard. She sold it to me for $2,000 bucks, and even gave me $25 to put a full tank of gas in it! It was equipped with a 225 slant 6, 904 tranny and a 741 8 ¾ rear axle.
The first thing I did to it was rebuild the entire front suspension with the help of my dad.
I drove it like that for 2 years until the slant 6 threw a rod. My first plans were to pull out the old slant, build a 400HP 318, with a 727, put a 373 sure grip in it and call it good. But, shortly after, I turned 18, joined the US Army, and the car sat in my front yard waiting for me to come home… After 2 deployments to Iraq and 4 years of service, I finally get out of the Army and am able to work on my Dart! The plans for the build totally changed on me as I had 4 years to read all the Mopar Muscle/Action mags I could get my hands on. I even became a member of a couple great forums (BBD and FABO). While enough story tellin’. Here's all the work up to date, my good friend Jordan is helping me too.
Here it is on the way to my buddies house back in Feb.
Out goes the 8 3/4
Interior is out. Solid floors, no rust anywhere!
Here are some pics of our mini-tub job:
Homemade subframe connectors 2x3x120 boxed steel, installed 3" side verticle:
Heres some pics of spring relocation:
Here is my narrowed Strange S60. 35 spline axles, detroit locker, 373 gears, wilwood 12.19 brake kit:
Installing RMS street linx kit, I had to make an 1/8" plate for the rear crossmember, as I had one of the "loose" cars:
Installing the RMS alterkation:
American racing torq thrust 15x10, with BFG radial 295/50/15:
Installing the 4 speed hump:
I will soon have some pics of my 833 4 speed, that my brother rebuilt using new parts from passon performance, with hydraulic clutch, and quicktime bellhousing, competition plus shifter, and custom made shifter linkage.
Heres my small block 408 stroker, built by Hughes Engines: Forged internals, 10:1 compression, stage 3 ported Edelbrock alum. heads, port matched victor 340 intake manifold, milodon gear drive, hydraulic roller cam and lifters, 576, 576 lift at 256* duration @ .050". Hughes 1.6 roller rockers, main stud girdle, 1 3/4 TTI headers and 7qt milodon pan. Dynoed @ 532 HP and 520 FT LBS.
Well, there ya have it. All my work up to date. I will post more pics as soon as everything is finished welded, and the car will be able to sit on its own for a change! BTW, I had to go with 17" rims instead because in order for a 15" wheel to fit on front, it would have to be way skinny for my liking, so I custom ordered american racing thorq thrust 17x8 for the front and 17x11 rear. I'm going with 315/35/17 Nitto 555 and 245/45/17 for the front. Rims should be here in about 2 months...I will keep you all updated....sorry for all the pics if it is too much...
Well, after reading all the terrific young gun stories, I though I would finally tell mine.
My name is James and I'm 23 years old. I have always been into muscle cars and loud engines since I can remember.... Maybe because I grew up around all that car stuff, thanks to my dad. When I was little, he sat me on the fender of his '69 Chevelle every time he worked on it. When I turned 16, I got my drivers license and started looking for a 66 Chevy Nova. (because my dad and brother are die hard Chevy guys.) After searching for many moons, with no luck finding a Nova, my dad's Gear-Head friend Gary found a 1970 Dodge Dart for sale by the original owner. So I went to go check it out, and when I saw it, I absolutely fell in love with the car, and that's how my Mopar obsession came to be.
The car was a 1970 Dodge Dart owned by an old lady named Hildegard. She sold it to me for $2,000 bucks, and even gave me $25 to put a full tank of gas in it! It was equipped with a 225 slant 6, 904 tranny and a 741 8 ¾ rear axle.
The first thing I did to it was rebuild the entire front suspension with the help of my dad.
I drove it like that for 2 years until the slant 6 threw a rod. My first plans were to pull out the old slant, build a 400HP 318, with a 727, put a 373 sure grip in it and call it good. But, shortly after, I turned 18, joined the US Army, and the car sat in my front yard waiting for me to come home… After 2 deployments to Iraq and 4 years of service, I finally get out of the Army and am able to work on my Dart! The plans for the build totally changed on me as I had 4 years to read all the Mopar Muscle/Action mags I could get my hands on. I even became a member of a couple great forums (BBD and FABO). While enough story tellin’. Here's all the work up to date, my good friend Jordan is helping me too.
Here it is on the way to my buddies house back in Feb.
Out goes the 8 3/4
Interior is out. Solid floors, no rust anywhere!
Here are some pics of our mini-tub job:
Homemade subframe connectors 2x3x120 boxed steel, installed 3" side verticle:
Heres some pics of spring relocation:
Here is my narrowed Strange S60. 35 spline axles, detroit locker, 373 gears, wilwood 12.19 brake kit:
Installing RMS street linx kit, I had to make an 1/8" plate for the rear crossmember, as I had one of the "loose" cars:
Installing the RMS alterkation:
American racing torq thrust 15x10, with BFG radial 295/50/15:
Installing the 4 speed hump:
I will soon have some pics of my 833 4 speed, that my brother rebuilt using new parts from passon performance, with hydraulic clutch, and quicktime bellhousing, competition plus shifter, and custom made shifter linkage.
Heres my small block 408 stroker, built by Hughes Engines: Forged internals, 10:1 compression, stage 3 ported Edelbrock alum. heads, port matched victor 340 intake manifold, milodon gear drive, hydraulic roller cam and lifters, 576, 576 lift at 256* duration @ .050". Hughes 1.6 roller rockers, main stud girdle, 1 3/4 TTI headers and 7qt milodon pan. Dynoed @ 532 HP and 520 FT LBS.
Well, there ya have it. All my work up to date. I will post more pics as soon as everything is finished welded, and the car will be able to sit on its own for a change! BTW, I had to go with 17" rims instead because in order for a 15" wheel to fit on front, it would have to be way skinny for my liking, so I custom ordered american racing thorq thrust 17x8 for the front and 17x11 rear. I'm going with 315/35/17 Nitto 555 and 245/45/17 for the front. Rims should be here in about 2 months...I will keep you all updated....sorry for all the pics if it is too much...
