my 74 dart project

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74fldart

74fldart

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Location
orlando, florida
This is going to be a street strip type car, with a budget of around 3k if that is possible. i bought the car with out motor, trans, rear for $700.00. It was a project gone bad. The car was comletely finished paint wise and sat outside for 7-8 yrs. rust got back into it so now im having to take care of that as well as everything else it needs. I have a good 383 and 727 trans thats going into it along with a dana 60 i just got shortened for it. i hope to finish the car by january.

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thanks, my first major hurdle is to get it to roll so i can get it into the garage. working in the dirt is not fun. im working on getting a dana under it. i got one from a truck for $150.00 , cut the ends off and had new strange ends welded on. Now im getting with dr. diff to see about some yukon axles.

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The 383 is a good choice for that car. 727 and Dana should make a bullet proof driveline. Good luck. Howard
 
Are the leaf pads sitting flat on the leaf springs? The pinion angle seems WAY low, if everything is sitting where it should be. I am betting the center section is sitting down, and that is what the wood block is for?
 
yes the rear is just sitting there loose for wheel and tire checking. i didnt have the perches welded on yet. i understand the car needs to be on wheels with all weight ( engine, trans , and all in ) on the wheels when you set your pinion angle (3 to 5 degrees) then you have the spring perches welded in place. the shop that did the welding on the rear said for a leaf spring car a pinion angle of 3 to 5 is what you want.
 
Wow, good to see another 74 Dart project!
Good luck with yours, I like it!
 
Looks really good! Keep us up to date on the engine install b/c I think I here my Dart calling for a 383.
 
i sure will, one thing going for me is that this car has a v8 kframe already in so that helps out. today i ran into a guy at a swap meet that rebuilds transmissions and will rebuild my 727 for $200.00 if i supply the parts. so i took his card .
 
Grr, I need to start hitting up swap meets!
Stupid school-not-being-over-yet-ness!!
 
74fldart said:
This is going to be a street strip type car, with a budget of around 3k if that is possible. i bought the car with out motor, trans, rear for $700.00. It was a project gone bad. The car was comletely finished paint wise and sat outside for 7-8 yrs. rust got back into it so now im having to take care of that as well as everything else it needs. I have a good 383 and 727 trans thats going into it along with a dana 60 i just got shortened for it. i hope to finish the car by january.
Click to expand...

Car looks good! Good luck with the project!
 
well today i got around to dropping the 383 in the engine bay as a trial test fit. i got a pair of bb spool type mounts from ebay and wanted to see what problems i will have. well i was surprised to find out the motor went in with out any major interference issues. the only thing i need to change is the valve covers. the dr. side hits the brake booster so ill put on a pair that came from a 400 that arent as tall where i need that clearance. now headers will be another story with the power steering gear but im going to try and modify some b body ones .

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well i talked to jim lusk and im going to move the mounts on the k frame back as he says in the dc kframe mods in the tech section of the board. actually when i look at the motor in the car it is sitting not completely straight. it is level but i do need to move the mounts backward. then the transmission will line up to its mount also. i dont want to spend the 175 bucks on the schumacher mounts so i guess ill cut and weld.
 
Best of luck with your '74! I also have a '74 I will be starting on 1st of the year. Mine is a bit different than yours though! See my thread - 1974 Dart Police Sedan - A Day in the life.

Later,
Bruce B.
 
That 383 looks mean just sitting in that car just the way it is already! I'm looking forwards to more progress pictures and updates. Good work. Oh, any idea what the 383 came out of?
 
the motor came out of a 71 charger i had. it ran real good but i wanted a 440 for it so i found one and put it in. this 383 has the lower compression pistons and the 346 heads, so its a 300 hp engine. for the last couple of months i have gone thru the transmission and that has taken me about 6 weeks to get it finished , with waiting on parts to come in and all. the hardest thing for me in rebuilding the 727 was getting the bushings out. the rest is pretty easy, i was able to use c clamps for compressing springs to remove servo pistons and clutch springs. another thing you have to be very careful is the valve body, with over 100 parts, its easy to put a spring back in the wrong position , there are several that are very close to the same diameter and length . the book by carl munroe is probably the best out there for rebuilding and has a good section on modifying also. i used a kit that included red clutch disks, kolene steels, a red lined front drum band, and i went with a 3.8 kd lever where as i had a 3.2 in there before. i also notched the bottom of the case for access to the converter bolts, i put in 12 new clutch springs instead of the 9, i put in a accumulator blocker rod, the front servo had a bleed hole i it, i plugged that. i installed a trans go 2 shift kit, it in self required quite a bit of valve body mods, drilling and so forth. a lot more than when i installed a b&m kit in the charger.

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today i cut the motor mounts and moved them the required amount to fit the big block in correctly. this is saving me the price of the schumacher mounts. let me say it is quite a job while the k member is mounted in the car.
you end up sitting right on top of your work but i managed to get it done.
ive still got a few final welds but the welder went on break so i did too.

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let me also say my original cost estimate for completing this car ($3000) has been passed and ive still got a ways to go. oh well, i guess i was dreaming. now im hoping 4500 will finish the car. also my time estimate for the end of the year is not gonna happen . i did luck up and bought a complete parts car that im selling parts off of. that is helping out and the dana is almost done, just lacks the setup after i had put in the posi unit.
the shop is getting to be quite full now i need to get this thing together.

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nice project...should be nice when its done....what kind of truck did you get your dana out of? did it already have a posi/ suregrip and gears, or are you buying all that stuff aftermarket? as far as budgets go, my budget for my scamp was 3500 to finish it, but as im seeing im just going to need 3500 to do all the interior and body/ paint, and thats with tons of deals being cut for me.....budgets are definitly hard to follow lol...anyways good luck with it
 
thanks for the kind words, the dana came from a 72 ford camper special the guy i got it from said. it didnt have the posi but had 410 gears, so i found a used posi on ebay for 190.00 then the axles i did buy new from dr. diff, they set me back 325.00. then the axle bearing housing ends and the welding i paid to have done so it adds up quick. iam trying to buy everything i can used . today before i went to work ( i work 2nd shift) i did another trial fit of the engine and transmission. it is sitting nice and level and straight. tommorrow ill crawl underneath and see how the trans mount lines up.
 
today, the engine and transmission got bolted in for good. the only problems that occured was the transmission mount holes had to be elongated toward the front and the pass. side engine mount perches needed the bolt groove widened a hair. nothing a little grinding with a carbide burr couldnt take care of.

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Hey looks like a sweet project, and im in the same boat as you - i figured i could put my dart together for wayy less.. i guess i was just brainwashed by all the magazine " go fast for cheap " articles .... lol
 
well 2 months have passed since the last post, now i have the rear end finished and bolted in to stay, the engine has a set of e body headers on it dents and all but it can be done. i have an exhaust system off a b body on the car now. whats left is the right tires, as ther4ars are 275/60 15 and i have a 4" back spacing and need 4.75 or so but the budget says ill have to make do with these wheels and get a 255/60 tires and it will fit. the fronts are 225/ 70 /15 so they are too wide too, so ill try a set of 215s and see how they fit. also need to get the driveshaft shortened , wire the motor and electric fans up run a brake line to the rear and to both wheels, then mount master cyl and booster .

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My first time going through this thread. The car looks awesome. I cant wait for you to get it running. This makes me want to put a 383 in my car eventually... Someday when I have the money I might just do that. Awesome work keep it up
 
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