moparlee
64 Valiant
I wish that I could see the pictures. I'm sure it looks good.
Lee
Lee
Mopowers' 66 Dart Build
- Thread starter mopowers
- Start date
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Glow Worm
"Not Your Grandmaw's 318"
That's an awesome car! Can't wait to see it when it is done.
As far as the dash goes..... If you are happy, that's all that matters.
As far as the dash goes..... If you are happy, that's all that matters.
70Duster440
Well-Known Member
Nice work, man! Keep it up.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
fstfish66 said:
We're just running late model A body upper arms with the re-enforced stock lowers, 10.8" brakes (I have brackets for the 11.75 discs, I just don't think it would be smart with the skinny tires we'll be running). So, pretty much using a stock front end with poly bushings (rubber lower control arm bushing) and C-body tie rods (just because I needed new ones and they were cheaper than the small A-body tie rods). We may have to modify the K-member once we mock up the engine and oil pan. We'll be using .890" torsion bars as well. I thought of going with the alter-ktion, but at this point, I'd rather put that money elsewhere. The frontend parts were basically free to me. I may step up one day and run coil overs and tube uppers, but we'll see.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
fstfish66 said:
We took the plans for the cal-trac type bars that are posted in the tech pages and made our own with a couple slight modifications. I'm not sure I understand your question. The spring itself is fixed at the front just like in a normal leaf spring application. The two plates on either side of the spring pivot to transfer the force of a launch down on the spring to prevent spring wrap. I probably should have just put in some ladder bars and coil overs, but the stee was free and I just bought some cheapy JRS springs. Plus, it was my first spring relocate job, so itwas a good learning experience.
Also, the rear in the pic is the 8 3/4 we built before we decided to go with a dana 60.
sb 66 valiant
Member
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be sure to leave some type of ventilation in the cabin for any incoming air to escape. if the cab gets pressurized it can slow your et, even with everything blocked off. make a pass with all windows up and everything closed, then make one with the back windows cracked for air to escape (not too far or the starter may back you up!) and compare the times. i know guys that go as far as to install a belly pan under the engine bay to cut drag.
Alaskan_Dart
Mopars are an addiction
I like it, not a purist myself, I hate over restored cars, being a bodyman/painter, you tend to get that way over time. Theres a '66 Dart near me for sale, real cheap, $600.00. Makes me wonder now, oh and the glove box door thing, good thing you left it there, you'll need somewhere to put your racing gloves, you don't wanna just leave them lying on the floor board!
Mark :thumleft:
Mark :thumleft:
daves66valiant
68 Dart 340/727:66 Signet Vert 340/5spd: 68 D100
really awesome job. this almost gives me inspiration to keep my parts car and make it a race car too. $$$$$ shot my load on the vert. Love the picture album. Incredible amount of work in 16 months.
1966 dart wagon
Well-Known Member
nice pics of the rear suspension, looking good, we want more pics :headbang:
416 scamp
Well-Known Member
Looks good! Nice work :headbang:
mopowers
Well-Known Member
That's interesting. I've never heard that.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Thanks agains for the nice words. I'll post some pictures of the roll cage install when I'm done. I only work on the car friday nights and saturday mornings because it is at my folks house. So progress seems slow at times.
adriver
Blazing Apostle
I prefer an orginal look. Atleast all "mopar" parts. I like upgrades.
But that's me. I don't think I would go overboard on the idea of"orginal" though.
But for any na-sayers of what you are doing, the question I would ask is did all the gauges/speedo/switches work?
If not, what were the options then?
It isn't like the stuff we are working on is reproduced. Not cheaply anyway.
It aint' a Rustang.
You do what is necessay to save the Chrysler. And drive it.
Know what I mean?
But that's me. I don't think I would go overboard on the idea of"orginal" though.
But for any na-sayers of what you are doing, the question I would ask is did all the gauges/speedo/switches work?
If not, what were the options then?
It isn't like the stuff we are working on is reproduced. Not cheaply anyway.
It aint' a Rustang.
You do what is necessay to save the Chrysler. And drive it.
Know what I mean?
nasty69
junior member
wow, really good work on the rear springs. never thought of that, i just bought the kit from moparperformanc.com and fixin to start drillin the holes. its a pain in the ***, especially for me b/c i don't want to **** it up.. later
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Well, I got a little bit more work done this weekend. I finished up patching the fire wall and installed hood struts off a ford taurus. I wanted to get rid of the springs running across the firewall. They are just tacked for now, but they work great. It's pretty easy to open the heavy steel hood. I was able to get them out of the way a bit, so now I have plent of room for the roll cage and big block. What do you think?
From the inside:
From the inside:
I have been watching this 66 and you and your dad are doing this like you have dun it before. I sure have enjoyed watching this great car come together. Hopefully I can see this car in person and park a 66 273 dart a/c show car I do not own yet next to it and get a picture.
That dart will look so mean when it is dun.
Keep up the good work and give your dad a pat on the back.
That dart will look so mean when it is dun.
Keep up the good work and give your dad a pat on the back.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Thanks a lot Mike! It looks like we have done it before because you only see pictures. They are mearly snapshots of a loooooooooong process. And I don't take pictures of our screw-ups.
But yeah he's helped out a lot every step of the way. Here's my old man in action:
Thanks again for the kind words. I just hope some people out there can borrow some ideas from us just like I have from others. That's what the sport of hotrodding is all about. Hopefully we can finish the roll cage in a few weeks and get this thing back on the ground.
fstfish66
Well-Known Member
looks great,,,,thats next on my list ,,smooth out the fire wall
QUESTION how did you arrive at the location to mount the brackets for the hood shocks,,,,,i have been wondering what it would look like,,,i did it on the trunk lid of my street rod,,and ide like to do it on my cuda,,,same hood as your sorta,,,
QUESTION how did you arrive at the location to mount the brackets for the hood shocks,,,,,i have been wondering what it would look like,,,i did it on the trunk lid of my street rod,,and ide like to do it on my cuda,,,same hood as your sorta,,,
mopowers
Well-Known Member
We measured the expanded and collapsed length of the strut. I think it was like 19" and 13 1/2". I measured from the front lip of the hood to the ground before we took the old springs off, just to make sure I can arrive at the same lift with the struts. Then I cut a 2 x 4 to keep the hood at that point while we popped the springs off and drilled out the spotwelds on the brackets. After making the brackets to mount the struts, I bolted them to the struts and sort of eyeballed where they should go, making sure they were straight when looking at them from the front of the car. Then I marked them with a sharpie. Then I closed the hood and measured the sharpie marks to make sure there would be enough travel to keep the struts from binding (made sure the m easurement was more than 13 1/2").
If you think about it, there is a ton of variability with where to mount them. Without being an engineer, I kind of resorted to this trial and error. Luckily we nailed it on the first try and they work flawlessly. If fact, the hood opens within 1/4" of where it did before the swap.
Fstfish66: Do you have any pictures of your trunk with the struts? I was thinking about doing the same with my trunk.
fstfish66
Well-Known Member
i havent done the trunk on my 66 yet but i did on my 40 dodge,,the factory truck prop on the 66 cuda is a spring in a tube,,kinda like an early shock the factory trunk hinges on a early cuda are fragile,ive seen a shock that is not charged by gas,,it holds the lid up some how with no resistance,,the guy told me he seen it advertised in a mopar magazine,, but ive looke every place,, they just started using them at work to hold up tool box lids,,,i am going to find out hwere they got them at,,
Dago Red
Well-Known Member
:notworth:I've seen work turned out by supposedly professional race car shops that couldn't hold a candle to yours and dad's attention to detail. RICK
Hey man! This is a great thing your doing. You, pops and a car. Just wonderful. This seems like a project going along with a great idea without a drawing to copy from or set idea thats in stone. I really dig this thread. Hats off to you and your dad. I'll have to wait a few year IF my daughter actually has this itch. She loves Go-Cart racing. Just discovered it.
(Hummm, may be a chip off the old block (head) in her yet!?!?)
(Hummm, may be a chip off the old block (head) in her yet!?!?)
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Thanks for such a great compliment. I think it's because we are both such perfectionists and we don't get paid for it, so it doesn't matter how long simple tasks take. THe photos make it look like everything we do only take a couple hours. I assure you that isn't the case. Thanks again.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
We're just sort of winging it as we go. I'm kinda surprised its coming along as well as it is. Me being 25 and out of the house for some time now and my dad being 55, it's sort of like the good ol days of messing around in the garage. I love the father-son male bonding thing. I hope your daughter gets the itch as well! Good luck buddy!
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Here's my latest progress from this weekend:
This is our first roll cage install, so the rest of the tubes should go in a lot faster. I didn't realize how much time it takes to perfect the little 2 x 2 .125 subframe outriggers going from the frame to the rocker. Hopefully we'll get a lot more done this weekend. Once this damn cage is in, I'll be able to get this thing back on the ground and mock up the engine and trans.
This is our first roll cage install, so the rest of the tubes should go in a lot faster. I didn't realize how much time it takes to perfect the little 2 x 2 .125 subframe outriggers going from the frame to the rocker. Hopefully we'll get a lot more done this weekend. Once this damn cage is in, I'll be able to get this thing back on the ground and mock up the engine and trans.
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