Hello,
When I replaced the stock a903 3 Speed transmission, I put in a Ford Motorsport "Z Spec" T5 transmission. It has closer ratios espically between 1st and 2nd Gear.
Examples can be found here.
1964 Dart Grüne Hölle Road Course/Track Day/AutoX Project
- Thread starter slant six
- Start date
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When I replaced the stock a903 3 Speed transmission, I put in a Ford Motorsport "Z Spec" T5 transmission. It has closer ratios espically between 1st and 2nd Gear.
Examples can be found here.
4/15/25:
Taxes are done, no worries from the IRS People.
Sunday was finally a sunny day here for more than 2 hours after 10-12 days of straight April Showers.
I took the car for a shakedown run to the bike trail for a 20 mile bike ride and then to the the "Pitt Maneuver" 24h of LeMons Race at Pitt Race (the Road Course Track here near Pittsburgh, PA)
Here it is is parked on the top of spectator hill at pittrace - If you zoom in and squint you can see some lemony cars in the background on track.
The car ran well. Some fiddly bits to take car of:
- loosen the Valve Lash to 0.024" / 0.028" from 0.020" and 0.026" It makes a difference you can feel andv a difference in the idle quality.
- recheck the timing
- found a slow leaker in the LR Tire... pulled the wheel last nite and found I picked up a nail. No time to dismount and patch or put a plug in it, so I took it to the local shop where I get my state inspections done and got it repaired today.
3 Cordobas (2 of the B body flavor, One was a J Body/Mirada; I have no pictures of the mirada shaped one) were on track at the same time at the Lemons Race.
I don't believe I witnessed any slanted 6 powered entries at the event. I was there on Sunday, as Saturday so very doomy and gloomy ' round these parts.
I also Enjoyed this Corvair among the many Front Drivers and Seemingly endless sea of BMW 3 series cars.
Ready for More adventure.
Taxes are done, no worries from the IRS People.
Sunday was finally a sunny day here for more than 2 hours after 10-12 days of straight April Showers.
I took the car for a shakedown run to the bike trail for a 20 mile bike ride and then to the the "Pitt Maneuver" 24h of LeMons Race at Pitt Race (the Road Course Track here near Pittsburgh, PA)
Here it is is parked on the top of spectator hill at pittrace - If you zoom in and squint you can see some lemony cars in the background on track.
The car ran well. Some fiddly bits to take car of:
- loosen the Valve Lash to 0.024" / 0.028" from 0.020" and 0.026" It makes a difference you can feel andv a difference in the idle quality.
- recheck the timing
- found a slow leaker in the LR Tire... pulled the wheel last nite and found I picked up a nail. No time to dismount and patch or put a plug in it, so I took it to the local shop where I get my state inspections done and got it repaired today.
3 Cordobas (2 of the B body flavor, One was a J Body/Mirada; I have no pictures of the mirada shaped one) were on track at the same time at the Lemons Race.
I don't believe I witnessed any slanted 6 powered entries at the event. I was there on Sunday, as Saturday so very doomy and gloomy ' round these parts.
I also Enjoyed this Corvair among the many Front Drivers and Seemingly endless sea of BMW 3 series cars.
Ready for More adventure.
That sounds a lot like Vixen!
The valve cover turned out really nice!3/17/25:
No painted hood back from the body shop yet.
So I did a few other things:
Finished the Valve cover - lots of little welds and some metal finishing, then painting.
Installed on the car:
Good thing I was able to finish that project as the Valve cover that I put on there temporarily was getting nicked by the rocker arm adjustment screw:
I Had ordered variable rate rear springs and then installed them.
The 4 link kit originally came with 175#/Inch Springs which I felt were too soft.
Then I ordered 200#/Inch which were great, but still saggy when loaded with the tongue weight of the trailer, and a trunk full of stuff and a full fuel tank.
So I am going to try these - 175#/300# Inch Rate Springs. The rate is supposed to increase as load is applied, so maybe I will not have to futz around with changing spring heights so often when towing etc.
200 Rate on the Right: - Constant Coil wind Distance
175/300 Rate on the Left: - Coil winds get closer toward the top and more open on the bottom.
The removal / install was easy with the lift.
I put some silver anti-seize on the adjusting bits, but I should look into those spring seat bearings.
Thanks Rob!
Over 400 Miles of driving so far with a minimal amount of interstate - maybe less than 15 miles total. No noticeable or perceived leaking from any of the welding work of the valve cover. Looks a lot like the 1st year 1960 ones without the cutout for the Heater box on the 1961-'62 Valiant / Lancer.
thanks, I should have something for you soon.
I have everything to do one too. I may try it. I'm likely going to need the extra room, as these 318 valves are approaching .300" longer than the slant 6 valves.
Bust out the hot glue gun, Measure lots, cut once and fill the gaps with hammer and dolly work.
4/21/25:
All Packed up for a trip with the Grüne Hölle '64 Dart.
The weather forecast was improving as the days got closer, but when I left it was not totally dry on my entire route.(more on that later.)
The trip Took me to Blacksburg, VA and instead of taking the Highways or Interstate (I79/US19/I77/US460) I rerouted through the middle of West Virginia, pretty much straight south, taking US119 / US250/ WV92 and finally US219. The travel time is of course longer but the drive is more interesting, as I get to see snippets of small and medium sized villages and towns on the route.
After I rolled the car out of the Garage, I hoisted my trusty Vintage Cannondale MTB on the roof rack, tightened the fork mount as well as cinched down the rear tire strap.
I left before dawn, preparing for a quiet drive south over the state border to cross into West Virginia.
On a good day it will take me exactly 1 hour to get over the state line, this time was fairly good at 58 minutes. Once in WV, I stopped for some fuel and a sandwich.
South of Elkins, WV on US Route 250, I remember looking east toward the cloud filtered sunrise over the mountain ridge, and thinking it "looks white and snowy up there."
As US 250 Wound up to ~4000' in the Monongahela National Forest, Sure enough ~3"-5" of fresh, wet snow fell over night. It was a winter wonderland with much of the Spring's wet snow still adhering to the trees
State Plow trucks had been through the area, plowing, and putting down cinders and sand. I did not detect much salt, thankfully. The Drive up elevation was fine, but after cresting the high point, the way back down was much more icy and snow packed. A normal car with All seasons and ABS would have been fine, but this thing with the UHP Summer tires does not provide a lot of confidence in the snow, so it is time to put the camearfone down and drive it to Green Bank with out putting it over a cliff or into the Armco.
I did not realize it at the time, but I was following some vehicles a bit close and many sections of the road had cinders on them. (too early for street sweeping in the mountain regions of WV.) One of the Headlights got a got hit and was destroyed. The glass on these headlights is thin and prone to crack or chip when encountered with road debris.
No Worries, I ordered a replacement and had it overnight shipped to my location for installation the next day.
Why did I route through all the back roads and snow covered roads? To encounter the NRQZ, the GBO and the Radio Telescopes housed there. Pocahontas County, WV is quiet and there is some pretty neat stuff if you look around besides the Radio Telescopes. If you cant live without your WiFi or cell phone or shopping plazas and Starbucks then this place is not for you. But if you are a bit of a science nerd and like to see one of 3 places like this in the world then the highlands of WV is where to find it.
(I will Edit and toss in some more / better pictures when the disposable camera is developed).
At the Observatory there are no Cell phones or digital cameras allowed inside the Restricted area, and all maintenance vehicles are diesel powered. No Spark ignition internal combustion engines allowed due to the radio interference.
Here are some Pictures on an instant camera of the Robert C Byrd Radio Telescope (the largest one at the GBO) as well as Some Old Diesel International Harvester Trucks and Scout in the maintenance shop yard.
All Packed up for a trip with the Grüne Hölle '64 Dart.
The weather forecast was improving as the days got closer, but when I left it was not totally dry on my entire route.(more on that later.)
The trip Took me to Blacksburg, VA and instead of taking the Highways or Interstate (I79/US19/I77/US460) I rerouted through the middle of West Virginia, pretty much straight south, taking US119 / US250/ WV92 and finally US219. The travel time is of course longer but the drive is more interesting, as I get to see snippets of small and medium sized villages and towns on the route.
After I rolled the car out of the Garage, I hoisted my trusty Vintage Cannondale MTB on the roof rack, tightened the fork mount as well as cinched down the rear tire strap.
I left before dawn, preparing for a quiet drive south over the state border to cross into West Virginia.
On a good day it will take me exactly 1 hour to get over the state line, this time was fairly good at 58 minutes. Once in WV, I stopped for some fuel and a sandwich.
South of Elkins, WV on US Route 250, I remember looking east toward the cloud filtered sunrise over the mountain ridge, and thinking it "looks white and snowy up there."
As US 250 Wound up to ~4000' in the Monongahela National Forest, Sure enough ~3"-5" of fresh, wet snow fell over night. It was a winter wonderland with much of the Spring's wet snow still adhering to the trees
State Plow trucks had been through the area, plowing, and putting down cinders and sand. I did not detect much salt, thankfully. The Drive up elevation was fine, but after cresting the high point, the way back down was much more icy and snow packed. A normal car with All seasons and ABS would have been fine, but this thing with the UHP Summer tires does not provide a lot of confidence in the snow, so it is time to put the camearfone down and drive it to Green Bank with out putting it over a cliff or into the Armco.
I did not realize it at the time, but I was following some vehicles a bit close and many sections of the road had cinders on them. (too early for street sweeping in the mountain regions of WV.) One of the Headlights got a got hit and was destroyed. The glass on these headlights is thin and prone to crack or chip when encountered with road debris.
No Worries, I ordered a replacement and had it overnight shipped to my location for installation the next day.
Why did I route through all the back roads and snow covered roads? To encounter the NRQZ, the GBO and the Radio Telescopes housed there. Pocahontas County, WV is quiet and there is some pretty neat stuff if you look around besides the Radio Telescopes. If you cant live without your WiFi or cell phone or shopping plazas and Starbucks then this place is not for you. But if you are a bit of a science nerd and like to see one of 3 places like this in the world then the highlands of WV is where to find it.
(I will Edit and toss in some more / better pictures when the disposable camera is developed).
At the Observatory there are no Cell phones or digital cameras allowed inside the Restricted area, and all maintenance vehicles are diesel powered. No Spark ignition internal combustion engines allowed due to the radio interference.
Here are some Pictures on an instant camera of the Robert C Byrd Radio Telescope (the largest one at the GBO) as well as Some Old Diesel International Harvester Trucks and Scout in the maintenance shop yard.
4/21/25 Part 2:
After I arrived and got settled in I went for a bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg, VA.
The next morning, my friend Lou and I Had an errand to run before getting to the McAfee Knob trailhead Area on the AT.
The Errand involved swapping his daily driver vehicles for inspection at Oliver's Garage. Oliver has some cool Automotive Treasures lying about to spy at, here are a few:
An Oldsmobile 442:
A 1957 Chrysler Saratoga:
A late 1940's or early 50's Dodge Truck:
After we swapped vehicles for the state inspection business, then we got to the Hike.
The hike contains elevation gain for the first 2 hours from the trailhead parking area to the knob. ~4 Hours of total hiking from the trailhead to the knob and back.
Some people say the Knob is the most photographed spot on the AT.
It has great views of the valley below and the mountains and the rippled landscape.
The weather for the rest of the trip was clear and beautiful. No snow here.
The Next Day we decided to go canoeing. The Roof Racks can handle probably up to 3 bikes or one canoe and one bike.
This Canoe Just happened to match the car well!
After I arrived and got settled in I went for a bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg, VA.
The next morning, my friend Lou and I Had an errand to run before getting to the McAfee Knob trailhead Area on the AT.
The Errand involved swapping his daily driver vehicles for inspection at Oliver's Garage. Oliver has some cool Automotive Treasures lying about to spy at, here are a few:
An Oldsmobile 442:
A 1957 Chrysler Saratoga:
A late 1940's or early 50's Dodge Truck:
After we swapped vehicles for the state inspection business, then we got to the Hike.
The hike contains elevation gain for the first 2 hours from the trailhead parking area to the knob. ~4 Hours of total hiking from the trailhead to the knob and back.
Some people say the Knob is the most photographed spot on the AT.
It has great views of the valley below and the mountains and the rippled landscape.
The weather for the rest of the trip was clear and beautiful. No snow here.
The Next Day we decided to go canoeing. The Roof Racks can handle probably up to 3 bikes or one canoe and one bike.
This Canoe Just happened to match the car well!
4/21/25 Part 3:
Later that Evening We went to a local car cruise in Radford, VA.
Lou Brought his Slant 6 equipped '34 Dodge 5 Window Cope with rumble seat.
To no one's suprise we had the only slant 6 vehicles there and also the only '64 Dart and '34 Dodge.
The Next Morning we got up early, hit the waffle house for breakfast, then pointed SW toward Marion VA for a drive on the "Back of the Dragon" a section of VA Route 16 from Marion, VA to Tazewell, Va which is claimed to have 438 Curves and ~3500' Elevation Change in 32 Miles.
Lou Brought his Well equipped for the task '62 Valiant V-100 2 door sedan, we joined up with Mark from Chilhowie, VA. He is another slant 6 die hard buddy and early A body fan. He brought along his '61 Valiant 4 door Sedan.
We ran the "back of the Dragon both ways. First north, and we were there early enough to avoid any traffic which was nice.
We hung out at the Back of the Dragon Brewery for a few hours before taking Route 16 South Back to Hungry Mother State Park.
On the North Route we did not encounter much traffic going the other direction. On the South Route, opposite traffic started to pick up with many motorcycles and about 70 Porsches running in Groups of 5-10 for their tour of the route.
As always we stop at the big overlook for some glamor shots.
After that we Stopped at Mark's place to check out some Slanted projects and to hang out and chat.
On the way back to Blacksburg for my final day of the trip we stopped at Pycone Creamery, which is owned by Ken, a car guy at heart.
This was our second stop at Pycone in as many days for the Fresh Homemade Ice Cream.
On the way back I took WV Route 20 From US 460 to Interstate 79. It bypasses about ~200 Miles of Interstate and Highway Routes - I77/US19/I79. It is slower, but much more interesting.
I made it home for an Easter visit with the family and In-laws, and was able to get one more ride on the bike trail before the Easter get together began.
It was a good trip, and put just over 1050 miles on the Grüne Hölle Dart. It will be ready for more adventure this summer.
Later that Evening We went to a local car cruise in Radford, VA.
Lou Brought his Slant 6 equipped '34 Dodge 5 Window Cope with rumble seat.
To no one's suprise we had the only slant 6 vehicles there and also the only '64 Dart and '34 Dodge.
The Next Morning we got up early, hit the waffle house for breakfast, then pointed SW toward Marion VA for a drive on the "Back of the Dragon" a section of VA Route 16 from Marion, VA to Tazewell, Va which is claimed to have 438 Curves and ~3500' Elevation Change in 32 Miles.
Lou Brought his Well equipped for the task '62 Valiant V-100 2 door sedan, we joined up with Mark from Chilhowie, VA. He is another slant 6 die hard buddy and early A body fan. He brought along his '61 Valiant 4 door Sedan.
We ran the "back of the Dragon both ways. First north, and we were there early enough to avoid any traffic which was nice.
We hung out at the Back of the Dragon Brewery for a few hours before taking Route 16 South Back to Hungry Mother State Park.
On the North Route we did not encounter much traffic going the other direction. On the South Route, opposite traffic started to pick up with many motorcycles and about 70 Porsches running in Groups of 5-10 for their tour of the route.
As always we stop at the big overlook for some glamor shots.
After that we Stopped at Mark's place to check out some Slanted projects and to hang out and chat.
On the way back to Blacksburg for my final day of the trip we stopped at Pycone Creamery, which is owned by Ken, a car guy at heart.
This was our second stop at Pycone in as many days for the Fresh Homemade Ice Cream.
On the way back I took WV Route 20 From US 460 to Interstate 79. It bypasses about ~200 Miles of Interstate and Highway Routes - I77/US19/I79. It is slower, but much more interesting.
I made it home for an Easter visit with the family and In-laws, and was able to get one more ride on the bike trail before the Easter get together began.
It was a good trip, and put just over 1050 miles on the Grüne Hölle Dart. It will be ready for more adventure this summer.
Great pictures as always, Greg, but lemmie ask you. What's the "6 CAM" mean on the side?
bjkadron
Well-Known Member
That looks like a really fun trip! Cool to see A-bodies getting used as actual cars. I would like to get my duster to a more streetable, touring form like this. Starting with a race car and adding the street back in is a process. Haha.
Hi Rob, that is the SCCA AutoX Stuff, classifications.
You choose a random car# (I chose 6) and then the class - mine is CAM-T. I add the T with tape as needed.
I bought "removable stick on" Decals for the car - but they don't really remove on my paint like on a new vehicle, so I leave them on it. There is too much mud in the car for magnetic stuff and it tends to fly off anyway.
Yes they can work for doing things other than burnouts and going to the local cruise in.
Richard Sweet
Well-Known Member
You are truly an adventurer. I hope your heater works well.
Thank you sir!
I really did not even need the heater. And yes it works great when needed.
I just pulled the center temp knob out and opened the left side heater valve.. but did not run the fan at all.
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Richard Sweet
Well-Known Member
Wow, the Back of the Dragon must have been quite a thrill to drive, especially with no traffic and it's nice and long! Are you still feeling the car out? How comfortable are you in pushing it? I couldn't see the tack; what rpm do you like to keep it under? Are you happy with how it handles and runs? It looked like you stayed on your side of the road and there weren't any surprises or deer jumping out. I didn't see any speed limit signs; what's the state's max speed limit? I couldn't see your speedometer either. You and your car both got a good work out. Didn't seem like there were any problems. You must be pretty happy with it.
6/7/25:
I just did a relash on the valves. I was lucky that on my last ~1000 Mile trip as one of the pressed in trunion shafts for the Grey Chunky Roller rockers was working loose. It did not back all out way out or fail, as I was beating on the car pretty hard around the Back of the Dragon. I swapped the roller rockers back out to a set of stock rockers.
The stock rocker arms put out so much more oil up top compared to the aluminum grey roller units.
Also, here are some photos from my last trip (4/25) from the Disposable Camera at the Green Bank Observatory inside the Restricted Zone:
As you walk or bike past the the Restricted zone gates this is what you first encounter:
If my memory is correct the closest instrument is the 85' Telescope, then The 140' Telescope and above the treetops about ~1/2 Mile away is the Robert C Byrd Telescope.
This is the same 3 instruments as above, just the 85' is cut off on the left.
This is the view looking back towards the Restricted area gate, parking area, and visors' center which cannot be seen in this shot.
Close up of the 140' Telescope.
A fascinating documentary about the construction of the 140' unit can be found in this video:
Here are some better shots of the Robert C Byrd Telescope (the big one) this thing is huge!
Compare it to the ~8' High Fence surrounding it in the foreground.
This week my daughter and I explored putting 2 bikes on the roof rack - it worked fine.
We Went to the Local bike trail for some bike time.
Next up is a tent camping trip, and will be using the '64 dart as our truck.
It will be fully packed on the roof with 2 bikes, one canoe, pulling a trailer with firewood, camp gear, tents, paddles, rods, cooking gear and other tenting things. It should be a blast!
I can 99.9% guarantee that we will be the only ones there with a 61 year old car towing and hauling stuff.
I just did a relash on the valves. I was lucky that on my last ~1000 Mile trip as one of the pressed in trunion shafts for the Grey Chunky Roller rockers was working loose. It did not back all out way out or fail, as I was beating on the car pretty hard around the Back of the Dragon. I swapped the roller rockers back out to a set of stock rockers.
The stock rocker arms put out so much more oil up top compared to the aluminum grey roller units.
Also, here are some photos from my last trip (4/25) from the Disposable Camera at the Green Bank Observatory inside the Restricted Zone:
As you walk or bike past the the Restricted zone gates this is what you first encounter:
If my memory is correct the closest instrument is the 85' Telescope, then The 140' Telescope and above the treetops about ~1/2 Mile away is the Robert C Byrd Telescope.
This is the same 3 instruments as above, just the 85' is cut off on the left.
This is the view looking back towards the Restricted area gate, parking area, and visors' center which cannot be seen in this shot.
Close up of the 140' Telescope.
A fascinating documentary about the construction of the 140' unit can be found in this video:
Here are some better shots of the Robert C Byrd Telescope (the big one) this thing is huge!
Compare it to the ~8' High Fence surrounding it in the foreground.
This week my daughter and I explored putting 2 bikes on the roof rack - it worked fine.
We Went to the Local bike trail for some bike time.
Next up is a tent camping trip, and will be using the '64 dart as our truck.
It will be fully packed on the roof with 2 bikes, one canoe, pulling a trailer with firewood, camp gear, tents, paddles, rods, cooking gear and other tenting things. It should be a blast!
I can 99.9% guarantee that we will be the only ones there with a 61 year old car towing and hauling stuff.
Really cool stuff, Greg. I know the daughter thoroughly enjoyed it! Can I ask about the roof rack? I've thought of one for Vixen.
Hello Richard, You have a lot of questions there that I will try to answer.
- The Car is fairly well sorted, I like to futz and try different things like wheels, Tires, Shocks Springs and the Shock settings and Brake Pad Compounds as needed.
- I have have the car to to a tack day in '22 or '23 back ant NCM. It was pushed a lot. I try to do less pushing on narrow public roads when there are perilous cliffs, rocks, uneven pavement, oncoming traffic and Armco Barriers.
- This cam does nothing over 5500 So 3200-5200 is the RPM range It likes.
- Yes I can stay on my side of the road. That is a must!
- For this Road the speed limit is 55, but on the open sections I would say we were over 70.
- Yep, This is the most exciting car of the fleet, I do like it. And it can keep up with 90's Porsche 911's
- No Surprise Wildlife on that run - Woohoo!
Hello Rob,
The racks are all Thule Parts. Not cheap, but if you want to scrounge the CL, FBM, eBay you can find the parts, but the ads do not always have what you need and you end up with extra Thule bits to sell off.
I have just bought a second set of racks to put on my other MoPars.
This set uses a foot pack that is made for rain gutters.
I use the 5" foot pack - Thule Rapid Gutter Low Foot 300101
Great! because all my MoPars (including the truck and Van have rain gutters except for the 2 F Bodies.
My F body Wagon already has a Factory Roof Rack so that is okay and the F body Volare' Duster is a smooth roof with no rain gutters. I might invest in a seasucker bike rack for that car. again $$$, but It can be moved to any car.
The Cross Bars are Thule Wingbar Evo 135cm / 53"
I suppose other bars and Feet could be used, but I like the modular tslot on the Wingbar Evo's so that if I get a roof basket or a kayak carrier etc, I can jet look for Thule bits and make sure they work with the Wingbar Evo. I also dont like the lack of aerodynamics of the Square Bars.
The Bike Racks are Thule Fast Ride I have 2 so far and they are easy to remove or reposition. So If I have a rack on another car, I can just put the second fastride on that car's bars. I found that I can Load a Canoe on my 53" bars and set both fastrides to the outside edge of the roof cross bars. I will have some pictures of that next week.
Hope this is helpful. Adding these bits and the hitch to my cars makes my Truck not needed as much anymore, and these are more fun to drive ans use less gas.
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