A-bodies.......Big motors

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HemiDenny

HemiDenny

HDK Suspension
FABO Gold Member
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Hi, my name is Denny and I put Hemis in A-bodies for the street (a hobby; not a business). I currently have a '70 Duster under construction. I hope to participate in technical discussions here.
This latest car will have my own custom-built front K-member/subframe with coil-overs and disc brakes, a Hemi (of course!), An A833 Hemi trans (18 spline) with a Gear-vendor's overdrive and an 8.75 rear end. Full rear framerails and integrated subframe connectors, street-rod style 4-link and coil-overs in the rear and stretched wheelwells front and rear with 29" tall front tires (215/75R-15's on 15x4's) and 30" tall rears (315/60R15 Drag Radials on 15x10's).
The fab, bodywork and chassis are all pretty much done.......next the interior gets finished (have all the stuff), all the chassis parts and suspension get plated or powdercoated and then final paint and trim. It will probably be next summer until it's 100% as I just broke ground on a new house.

This Green '73 was my last one (that's me on the Mopar Muscle cover)......

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That is one clean install on that duster it looks factory! No it looks better than factory.

Keep us posted on your new project.

Or is that a Dart I'm just not up on the post 70 A body cars
 
To go along with this topic,did anyone see the Discovery Channel's show "Wrecks To Riches"? The shop owner ,Barry, did this exact swap using a '69 Dart and MagnumForce's front crossmember w/rack and pinion steering and side-to-side torsion bars. Apparently,this k member arrangement saves 100-150 pounds off the front end.
 
65Val said:
To go along with this topic,did anyone see the Discovery Channel's show "Wrecks To Riches"? The shop owner ,Barry, did this exact swap using a '69 Dart and MagnumForce's front crossmember w/rack and pinion steering and side-to-side torsion bars. Apparently,this k member arrangement saves 100-150 pounds off the front end.
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I saw that last night - it was awesome! I couldn't beleive what it auctioned for - something like $60K??? I came into it in the middle, but my husband (sweet man that he is) recorded it for me...
 
Denny........I just returned from the pub with a fresh stone chip on the roof.......You have to love dump trucks!

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HemiMark said:
Denny........I just returned from the pub with a fresh stone chip on the roof.......You have to love dump trucks!
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Ahhhhh........Marcus........ :salut: .......I'm glad you took my advice and joined up!.................................. :thumblef:

Here is a picture of (my best friend) Mark's 528" '71 Hemi Duster......(made 603 HP on 92 octane on Ray Barton's dyno).......Kiesler/Tremec 5-speed, Dana 60 rear, 4 wheel disc brakes and coil overs on the front. 275/60-15 Drag Radials on the rear (and it needs them!!!). He also has a complete set of identically sized Torque-Thrust D's with an identical set of tires that he runs sometimes. He's getting ready to start on a Dart.........Possibly with one of the new 5.7 Hemis and A/C.............................

No trailer queen.......He drives it daily and drove it from Pittsburg to the Mopar Nats in Columbus the last two years.

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Just some history........My first Duster was this '74.....made out of a '70 in 1975 (ironic since the one I'm building now is a '70 made out of a '73 and they have all been painted by the same guy!)

This car had a roller-cammed 383 with a 4-speed and a Dana 60......leaf-link
rear suspension (anybody remember those?). ran 11.0's back in the day.

I'm currently trying to locate this car.....I sold it to a guy named Roger Green in Arkadelphia, Arkansas in 1977 if anybody has any info.............. :help:

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Better let you guys in on little brother Dave's '72 with 446" wedge/Torqueflite power too!

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The Dart under construction! I love the teardown process. Zip lock bags and coffee cans a must! Oh yeah, a nice cold Labatt Blue doesnt hurt! i just picked up the 340 short block....I hope its not a door stop!

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HemiMark said:
The Dart under construction! I love the teardown process. Zip lock bags and coffee cans a must! Oh yeah, a nice cold Labatt Blue doesnt hurt! i just picked up the 340 short block....I hope its not a door stop!
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............Oh Man!.......................Are you sure you want to do this Mark?..................... :sad2:
 
That is a great question......... Let me try to answer. I bought the 68 hard top (not post) for 1500.00 and drove it all last summer. I considered just driving it and leave it alone....but...I cant help myself! I though about a 68 SS/AA clone but I have something else in mind! I see that Hemi in my Duster every morning ( I open the hood after each drive so the Hemi is the first thing I see when i head of to work in the morning! I'm sick , I know) and I wonder.....how cool would it be to have 600hp, automatic, a/c 1968 Dart with grandpa hubcaps, no hood scoop, no tubs, no stripes...I'm getting a wood! :evil2:
 
.......CLEAN..................................

My new one coming out of the acid dipping bath........then it was trucked to Indianapolis to be totally dipped (E-coated) in electrostatic primer. All chassis work (rear frame rails, subframe ties, trans hump and overdrive tunnel, wheel tubs and rear floors/bulkheads) were done before this...........

Rear wheelwells are already stretched 3" (in length) here............

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Here's a couple of "before dipping" shots.........the tunnel modification behind
the shifter hump is for the Gear-Vendor's overdrive.......

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Can anybody guess where those nicely rounded inner wheel tubs came from?
 
Here are the basic rear chassis parts before installation

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This is the bracing for the front coil-over shocks for when I'm using one of my custom K-member units. It also uses a Pinto (street rod type) steering
rack. With no torsion bars or steering linkage in the way, TTi's B-E body headers tuck up very nicely with tons of room........You'll never go back!

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