My 1972 Dodge Dart

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Velocity111

Velocity111

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Here is my 1972 Dodge Dart project, after three years worth of work. To start, I have to give a big thanks to Denny (HemiDenny) from HDK suspensions, who did all the heavy lifting for this A-body conversion, can't say enough about the man or the suspensions he builds - if you're looking for a front end, Denny and his set up is the way to go!!

While the list of parts are too many to list, here are some of the highlights:
- HDK front end suspension - big Hemi really looks like is supposed to belong there, the HDK suspension positions it perfectly and allows improved hood clearance. That and it handles awesome!!
- FHO 572" Hemi - Tim Banning is the best to work with, fantastic work!!
- Passon Perf 855 Trans - Jamie Passon is the man!!
- RMS Lynx rear suspension & Ford 9" - the crew at RMS are fantastic to work with!!
- Shaved inner passenger fender - so removing the oversized valve comes can be done without dropping the motor
- TTI 3" exhuast w/ DynoMax mufflers
- New Hood, scoops, badging, chin spoiler, rear deck wing, decals, gas cap, etc.
- Wilwood disks all around - stayed small enough that if I want to switch back to 15" rims in the future they'll still fit
- Switched from a 2 spd wiper motor to a 3 spd motor, which then allowed the low profile air cleaner (dipped to look like carbon fiber), which gave us the proper hood clearance
- 70' B-body pistol grip shifter works perfectly, doesn't hit the bench seat or the console when shifted forward

Intent was to do a little Pro Touring set up, so there are 18" on the front and 19" on the rear, and kept the width civil with 295s so I don't have to worry at all about rubbing. Built to be a cruz night car, she can be a handful when moving slow, but all well worth it.

I had a lot of help with this build from the various shops that provided parts, but Denny QB'ed the whole thing and again did all the heavy lifting - if you need anything Denny is the Man!!

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Rmoore said:
Beautiful car !! Wow !! You ran it at the track ? If so what did it run
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Have not run it at the track, and as a cruz night car likely will not. Yesterday was actually it's first drive as I took it to get NY state inspection, and as expected a couple of issues came up as part of the shake out of any new vehicle. Ex. needs a good alignment, certain gauges still not correctly calibrated, but the one that I'm worried about is the car runs very hot. I had to go with an unusual cooling set up due to space consideration, I would have liked to go with a traditional mechanical fan and shroud, but had to go with an electric "pusher" fan in front of the over-sized radiator - and I don't think it's working well. Will likely have to rework this set up, but without major surgery I'm not sure what other options I have. Either way I can't drive the car regularly until I get that sorted out. With this photo you can see the lack of space behind the radiator.....10lbs into the 5lbs bag.....

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Velocity111 said:
Have not run it at the track, and as a cruz night car likely will not. Yesterday was actually it's first drive as I took it to get NY state inspection, and as expected a couple of issues came up as part of the shake out of any new vehicle. Ex. needs a good alignment, certain gauges still not correctly calibrated, but the one that I'm worried about is the car runs very hot. I had to go with an unusual cooling set up due to space consideration, I would have liked to go with a traditional mechanical fan and shroud, but had to go with an electric "pusher" fan in front of the over-sized radiator - and I don't think it's working well. Will likely have to rework this set up, but without major surgery I'm not sure what other options I have. Either way I can't drive the car regularly until I get that sorted out. With this photo you can see the lack of space behind the radiator.....10lbs into the 5lbs bag.....

View attachment 1715540806
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It looks like you might have room for two small puller fabs mounted diagonally in the upper left hand corner and bottom right corner. If you leave the pusher then the 3 fans should cut it.

Noce car! Looks alot like the xv motorsports car.
 
/6 Matt said:
It looks like you might have room for two small puller fabs mounted diagonally in the upper left hand corner and bottom right corner. If you leave the pusher then the 3 fans should cut it.

Noce car! Looks alot like the xv motorsports car.
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Thats certainly an option, much appreciated. I'm looking at a number of possibilities. My first move today is to drain the radiator, pull the thermostat, and will boil it on the stove to confirm when it's actually actuating - making sure it's not defective. Then I may try running without the thermostat to see if the most simple solution works first. Additional puller fans are another option I would consider, all the way down to full on custom work to relocate the radiator - but would rather not do that if i don't have to.
 
Velocity111 said:
Thats certainly an option, much appreciated. I'm looking at a number of possibilities. My first move today is to drain the radiator, pull the thermostat, and will boil it on the stove to confirm when it's actually actuating - making sure it's not defective. Then I may try running without the thermostat to see if the most simple solution works first. Additional puller fans are another option I would consider, all the way down to full on custom work to relocate the radiator - but would rather not do that if i don't have to.
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leaving the t-stat out is really not an option!! Not every case but most cases leaving the t-stat out can make your over heating worse !! The reason is the coolant is moving to fast thru the radiator to cool down appropriately!! Just a thought to put out there !!
 
Rmoore said:
leaving the t-stat out is really not an option!! Not every case but most cases leaving the t-stat out can make your over heating worse !! The reason is the coolant is moving to fast thru the radiator to cool down appropriately!! Just a thought to put out there !!
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I appreciate the warning, I've heard the same, but even still i did remove the stat today to see if it helps. With old or stock sized radiators the fluid can cycle quick enough to not cool, but I'm banking that my 3 row over sized Griffin radiator is big enough that even without the stat it'll have enough vol to cool. If not it'll go back in.
 
Velocity111 said:
I appreciate the warning, I've heard the same, but even still i did remove the stat today to see if it helps. With old or stock sized radiators the fluid can cycle quick enough to not cool, but I'm banking that my 3 row over sized Griffin radiator is big enough that even without the stat it'll have enough vol to cool. If not it'll go back in.
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you will get it worked out !! You’ve made it this far and it’s a beauty!! Wished I lived close by so I could go for a ride and feel the power that 572 puts out!! It has to be incredible!!
 
4mopwr said:
Looks good Velocity! Nice street car!
Is that the air cleaner that FHO sells for Stage V intake?
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Yes, that's the low profile cleaner Tim has. Came in grabber orange, but I had it dipped to look like carbon fiber, which goes better with the car. Nice thing is with Denny's front end sitting the motor about an inch lower than usual, and the low pro air cleaner, I still have roughly 2-2.5" of clearance to the stock hood, so i didn't need to cut in the big hemi scoop - which I'm not necessarily partial to.
 
Velocity111 said:
Here is my 1972 Dodge Dart project, after three years worth of work. To start, I have to give a big thanks to Denny (HemiDenny) from HDK suspensions, who did all the heavy lifting for this A-body conversion, can't say enough about the man or the suspensions he builds - if you're looking for a front end, Denny and his set up is the way to go!!

While the list of parts are too many to list, here are some of the highlights:
- HDK front end suspension - big Hemi really looks like is supposed to belong there, the HDK suspension positions it perfectly and allows improved hood clearance. That and it handles awesome!!
- FHO 572" Hemi - Tim Banning is the best to work with, fantastic work!!
- Passon Perf 855 Trans - Jamie Passon is the man!!
- RMS Lynx rear suspension & Ford 9" - the crew at RMS are fantastic to work with!!
- Shaved inner passenger fender - so removing the oversized valve comes can be done without dropping the motor
- TTI 3" exhuast w/ DynoMax mufflers
- New Hood, scoops, badging, chin spoiler, rear deck wing, decals, gas cap, etc.
- Wilwood disks all around - stayed small enough that if I want to switch back to 15" rims in the future they'll still fit
- Switched from a 2 spd wiper motor to a 3 spd motor, which then allowed the low profile air cleaner (dipped to look like carbon fiber), which gave us the proper hood clearance
- 70' B-body pistol grip shifter works perfectly, doesn't hit the bench seat or the console when shifted forward

Intent was to do a little Pro Touring set up, so there are 18" on the front and 19" on the rear, and kept the width civil with 295s so I don't have to worry at all about rubbing. Built to be a cruz night car, she can be a handful when moving slow, but all well worth it.

I had a lot of help with this build from the various shops that provided parts, but Denny QB'ed the whole thing and again did all the heavy lifting - if you need anything Denny is the Man!!
Click to expand...

OMG, my Wife has a 72 and I hope she doesn't see yours.:D
Stunning example of a classic hotrod Mopar.
 
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