autoxcuda
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1968 Hemi Dart wheel well templates
- Thread starter chryco69
- Start date
famous bob
mopar misfit
famous bob
mopar misfit
yes
I have owned 3 Factory LO Darts
There was no template for these cars.
When NHRA asked Chrysler for a Template in '68 they sent a 6 Ft. piece of butcher paper
with a 5 foot hole in it. Non of my cars were very uniform in dimensions!
Yes = I am old
Goggle: John Irving Drag Racer to see some of our current A Body Racers
There was no template for these cars.
When NHRA asked Chrysler for a Template in '68 they sent a 6 Ft. piece of butcher paper
with a 5 foot hole in it. Non of my cars were very uniform in dimensions!
Yes = I am old
Goggle: John Irving Drag Racer to see some of our current A Body Racers
—-
Nice to meet you John! I did check out your page, very impressive and an honour to meet you! What a great racing history that you’ve had alongside your son. Terrific!
That is really something to have owned and experienced those L0 cars as you did. Did you race all of them? I for one sure wouldn’t mind hearing more about your past L0 cars.
Yes the wheel wells on L0 cars, there’s lots of different looks, that’s for sure. And guys who try to duplicate them (I for one) spend countless hours researching pictures and articles and then take our best shot at it. I often wonder if the original L0 cars when the wheel wells were cut, how the outer quarter was reattached to the wheel tub, if at all.
Thanks for posting GTX John!
The wheel tubs were sealed to the quarter panels.
Even then they got some smoke inside during the
burnouts!
Even then they got some smoke inside during the
burnouts!
autoxcuda
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very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Did you happen to be the original buyer of any of your L0 Darts?
One of the cars I bought new was $4,224.00 Another one the engine was stolen out of
before it ever went down the track and I bought it from the original owner
and was the first one to every race it. The third one I bought from Dick Tower
who raced it before me.
ns1rm21
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A little update for anybody interested. For the past several months Autoxcuda and I have been working on a template for the wheel cutouts on the Hemi Dart. We’re on our 8th rendition of the template, each time we revamp it it gets a little better and more user friendly. Our template has both the first and third generation of shape so it will accommodate a tire up to 30 inches tall. Tonight I was working on the instruction sheet to go along with the template. I’m trying to do my best to explain everything, be thorough and remove all the guesswork. If interested I buying a template, pm me and I’ll put you on my list and as soon as there available I’ll let you know. Thanks, Troy
Lots of time being spent on getting these templates right. They look good too.
abodyjoe
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awesome work but man thats a ton of work for something that was a hack job to begin with.. i highly doubt any two wheel wells (even on the same car) were the same..lol
Seeing some updates on this post as of late tells me it’s time to chime in. Decided to check tire fitment on the Dart a few weeks back, some pics.
Bolted on tires from the Plymouth to do a trial fit. 4.5”BS on a 12” rim.
7/8” space on the inside at the closest point. That will work.
Tire sidewall protrudes 1/4” out from the panel, tread nicely tucked on inside of lip.
1.750 space at front, 2” from tire to upper lip. These are Hoosier 18195D06 with 30.6” height, 15.2 cross section & 13.5” tread width. Hoosier 31X14’s will also work nicely.
Installed a set of CE wheelie bars because at some point there will be a trip to the strip and I want nothing to do with the rear bumper dragging the track. Ended up having to angle out the rear mufflers to keep the bars clean when they’re in street mode.
The tires on the Dart pics came off the 64 for trial fit, nice that one tire fits both. This was my last race of the season. Tripped the 60’ beams all day with the rear tires. Tires are Hoosier 18195D06.
Bolted on tires from the Plymouth to do a trial fit. 4.5”BS on a 12” rim.
7/8” space on the inside at the closest point. That will work.
Tire sidewall protrudes 1/4” out from the panel, tread nicely tucked on inside of lip.
1.750 space at front, 2” from tire to upper lip. These are Hoosier 18195D06 with 30.6” height, 15.2 cross section & 13.5” tread width. Hoosier 31X14’s will also work nicely.
Installed a set of CE wheelie bars because at some point there will be a trip to the strip and I want nothing to do with the rear bumper dragging the track. Ended up having to angle out the rear mufflers to keep the bars clean when they’re in street mode.
The tires on the Dart pics came off the 64 for trial fit, nice that one tire fits both. This was my last race of the season. Tripped the 60’ beams all day with the rear tires. Tires are Hoosier 18195D06.
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ns1rm21
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Very nice work by all!!
The template is designed to be a general guide of where the original cut out was. How you execute the procedures is up to you. I made my wheel wells very ugly on purpose because that is how I believe Hurst did them. (Fun fact, when I took my Dart to the body shop to be painted I told him the body work was done. He laughed at me because the quarter panel were ugly!)
Maxel, that looks awesome!! That is a perfect example of a real clean execution of the wheel well cutouts.
As I said before, the execution is up to you.
The template is designed to be a general guide of where the original cut out was. How you execute the procedures is up to you. I made my wheel wells very ugly on purpose because that is how I believe Hurst did them. (Fun fact, when I took my Dart to the body shop to be painted I told him the body work was done. He laughed at me because the quarter panel were ugly!)
Maxel, that looks awesome!! That is a perfect example of a real clean execution of the wheel well cutouts.
As I said before, the execution is up to you.
—-
Yes they sure were not pretty back in the day, it had to be all about getting the tires under there and off to the track. I grabbed a couple pics of some wheel wells of a L023 that recently auctioned that coincides with the original cut wheel wells.
Bakerlite
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Sure do!! These are front guard wheel wells grafted to the rear.
You know, I thought by now someone would have uploaded a Hemi Dart rear template for members to download and print out....for free..
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ns1rm21
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I’m real close in releasing our templates. The template it’s self is done along with the introduction and instruction sheets. I picked up the shipping supplies along with color coded Sharpie markers that are needed to do the job. I’m real excited about these templates and they would of never happed without the help of Steve Wall (Autoxcuda). Steve took the information that has taken me years to gather and together we got it down on paper in a way where anybody with metal fabrication skills can do this job themselves. Steve and I have over a hundred hours in making these and it took eight revisions on the template alone to get them to a point were we feel it’s good for everyone. I still need to do a few things before releasing them but you will be able to see them first time at Spring Fling car show on April 23rd and 24th at Woodley. I will have a special display showing both my LO and BO replicas along with never seen before original paper work telling all you want to know about these cars. To be honest with everyone this has been a 30 year dream of mine and I want to share it with everyone. So come out and enjoy the day. Go to CPWCLUB.COM for more details about the show.
ns1rm21
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I’m still figuring that out. It will be under $100. I was trying to make it a flat rate that includes shipping cost but there is a $27.30 swing from east coast to west coast so that won’t work. I THINKING it will be $85.00 plus shipping and handling but that is not finalized. Thanks for asking.
Unless you just want the factory Hemi car LOOK, IMO, there's just no need to do it with al of the available wheels we have today, the spring relocation which you'd probably be doing anyway. You can get a really BIG tire under these cars without cutting and exterior sheet metal. Again, if you're wantin the LOOK, go for it.
IMO I’ve always though Dodge should have made all the dart wheel wells this way front and back look the same instead of the fender skirt look
No two were exactly the same.
I owned three Darts and they were all different as delivered.
I owned three Darts and they were all different as delivered.
