Jrlegacy23's 72 Dart Build, pro-touring style

-
I ended up talking sense into the body guy doing the tubbing, he used to doing Chevys. He is just splitting the tubs and adding a 3"ish wide strip to the factory tubs.
 
Makes sense. I went full tub to get everything to the outside as far as possible. I'm also shortening an 8.8.
 
After buying my Hemidenny K Member, Here are the list of items I had purchased for the completion:

Speedwaymotors parts list supplied by Hemidenny: $621.92
QA1 Upper ball joint assembley with assembley tool through summit: $159.86
Fatman MII tie rod ends: $ 42 + shipping (?)
Drilled and slotted 11" brake kit: $289.95
need to order coilover kit still: $388.95

So total, additional investment to the K Member is: $1502.68
 
Just picked up a pair of 275 35 20's off ebay, used for $100 shipped to use for mach up. I am thinking of 18s in the front and 20's in the rear. I will post some more pics once they come in and I put them in place.
 
Sounds interesting. Thanks for the price breakdown.
I guess I'm lucky, a local tire shop let me rummage through a large stack of tires, and mounted one on a used rim for my mock up for free.
Waiting for pics.
 
UPS came today and I got my new 11" front brake kit. They came with 7/16" and 1/2" lug studs. My four year old wanted to help, so I let her place the 7/16 studs in the holes on the right rotor.
 

Attachments

  • front brakes.jpg
    115.6 KB · Views: 1,719
I taped off the rear rotors and the front drop spindles and cleaned them with Acetone. I then painted them with self-etching primer and then with spray on bedliner. It came out pretty nice. Here are some pics:
 

Attachments

  • taped up.jpg
    103.9 KB · Views: 839
  • primered rotor.jpg
    114.8 KB · Views: 838
  • lined.jpg
    52.3 KB · Views: 837
I also coated the Fat Man tie rod ends. Here is a pic of the first coat, Yes I touched up the bare spot on the tie rod. No bare spots on the spindles, just the paint is still wet.
 

Attachments

  • spindles.jpg
    93.3 KB · Views: 817
  • tie rod.jpg
    56.5 KB · Views: 815
Trial fitted a set of 275/35/20 tires on the back to see how they look:
 

Attachments

  • side tire.jpg
    71 KB · Views: 1,885
Looking good. Very interested to see more pics as it goes together. With your mini-tub, is there much spare room with the 275?

This question is a tad naive I suppose, but would you mind giving your take on the advantages of your front suspension conversion over say just a set of drop spindles?
 
Nice work, as always everything looks great. Its funny when I started my build thread back in September 2010 there were only a handfull of builds worth watching ....now there all over the place looks like the bar is always being raised.
 
Idaho, There is a lot of extra room. I am definitely not using the full potential I have with the minitubs. I estimated where a 10" wide wheel with 7" backspacing would be. I have around 1.5" of room to the quarter panel and about 2" to the springs. I am running a 56.5" wide rear differential from wheel mounting surfaces.
As for the front suspension, here goes a long winded answer. I really like the idea of a correctly placed rack and pinion steering (minimal bump steer) and the coilovers are just as adjustable as the torsion bars, but without taking up all of the space. Leaves more room for exhaust system, seems to be a stronger set up, it is not 40 year old metal that may or may not have been stressed and fatigued.
A lot of people will argue one way or another but I suppose both have there advantages. I am also running 2" drop spindles with the front suspension (as I believe most are with this conversion), so I am comfortable with the fact that I can get a lower stance without compromising the suspensions ability to handle without having to go to a thicker spring. Don't get me wrong, I like the torsion bar suspension system, I just prefer the coilovers more as thats what newer cars use for better handling. I guess it is all personal preference for each persons use.
 
76orangewagon said:
Nice work, as always everything looks great. Its funny when I started my build thread back in September 2010 there were only a handfull of builds worth watching ....now there all over the place looks like the bar is always being raised.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I feel the same way, there are all kinds of nice builds around. Yours definitely tops the list. My friend, I think you were one of the ones that raised that bar.
 
Thanks for the helpful response. I also have an 8.8 4:10 posi waiting to be shortened, will relocate springs and tub or mini tub.

For the front, I just want to do whats needed to get the fender at tire top level or a smidge lower with an 18" wheel and rubber thats proportional to about the same profile (35) you've got. Not sure yet if I'll even need drop spindles.

Any reason you're not using up the tub space?
 
Idaho said:
Thanks for the helpful response. I also have an 8.8 4:10 posi waiting to be shortened, will relocate springs and tub or mini tub.

For the front, I just want to do whats needed to get the fender at tire top level or a smudge lower with an 18" wheel and rubber thats proportional to about the same profile (35) you've got. Not sure yet if I'll even need drop spindles.

Any reason you're not using up the tub space?
Click to expand...

I am looking to do pretty much the same thing, I just have an infinity to new technology for some reason. I am goint o run the 275/35/20 (27.6' tall) in the rear and 245/40/18s (25.6' tall) in the front. This yields me the same amount of sidewall front/rear and still have a staggered look. This page helped me get dimensions, just pick your tire size and click specs. :
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/sizes/results.jsp?diameter=18

As for why I am not using the full potential, I minitubbed to get something a wider than a 7 or 8" tire in the back. I looked into a 12" wide wheel, which will fit and maximize the space in the minitub, but my wallet did not like the price of 12" wide wheels. 10" wide are much more common and a couple hundred cheaper per side.

If you like the torsion bar set up and want to go that route, there are a couple options for you. If you want handling with a drop look, I would run a Hotchkis (or similar) 1.03" torsion bar. You will get the handling from a stiffer bar and be a little lower to get the stance you want. If you do not care about the handling, and like the stock ride, then I would go with drop spindles. Just remember with the drop spindles, to clear the tire rod ends, you either have to run a 18" wheel or have less than 5.75" backspacing on 17" or smaller rim. The only thing that I would not do personally is run stock spindles and just turn the torsion bars way down, other wise the car will lean like a bastard around corners.
 
If you like the torsion bar set up and want to go that route, there are a couple options for you. If you want handling with a drop look, I would run a Hotchkis (or similar) 1.03" torsion bar. You will get the handling from a stiffer bar and be a little lower to get the stance you want. If you do not care about the handling, and like the stock ride, then I would go with drop spindles. Just remember with the drop spindles, to clear the tire rod ends, you either have to run a 18" wheel or have less than 5.75" backspacing on 17" or smaller rim. The only thing that I would not do personally is run stock spindles and just turn the torsion bars way down, other wise the car will lean like a bastard around corners.
Click to expand...

Man, that's good info, thanks! I would not mind a stiffer front end so I'll look into the bigger bars. I imagine they would help avoid header dings too. With those you'd say you can turn the adjusters down some and still have enough suspension travel?
 
The higher the ride height is set with torsion bars, the less suspension travel you will have and the ride becomes more harsh because the bars are wound tighter.
A thicker bar allows you to have a lower ride height and still have a descent suspension that can handle turns and maintain suspension travel.
 
Here are couple pics that Hemidenny sent me of my HDK frame and control arms all mocked up in his garage.
 

Attachments

  • mock up finished.jpg
    78.4 KB · Views: 4,068
QUOTE=jrlegacy23;1969571975]Here are couple pics that Hemidenny sent me of my HDK frame and control arms all mocked up in his garage.[/QUOTE]

your K was a big hit at the Nationals, Looks great and was well recieved by lots of spectators.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top