spirit of 76

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Why do you like the car? Because its rare? Low production? Clean and close to original? Future value?
If that is it - then you know you have to put the original six and aluminum manifold back in it, find period correct wheels, and enjoy showing it. Thats cool.

"what type of personality do you have not to be able to drive a cool car?"
I see lots of cars at shows that don't suit me- doesn't mean they're not cool or the owner can't be proud of it.
http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2012/04/01/hmn_feature12.html
 
Congrats , best of luck with your new ride keep us all posted
 
Cool car, but I agree with most here. If your interested in it because its a spirit of 76, or because it's a dart lite. Then you have to keep it original for it to have any value later.

If you big block it, it will be so much fun that you'll probably never want to change it back.
But you wont get back what you've put into it later, because its no longer original.

Just my two cents.

personally I thing the slant 6, 4-speed overdrive is a great combination and I'd love to have one for a daily driver.
 
Qcrete said:
As far as value, isn't every car more valuable to its owner(unless they don't know what they have)I guess my point is if Im going to put money into any car, isn't it best to put money into a rare,low production number car then one that they made a million of?(so to speak)unless you got it from a family member who bought it new,I don't think it will cost me a lot to swap the motor because the body is nice,even if I put 10k into the drive line is it worth it?what would the car sell for if it was mint with a 440 that looked like it was installed from the factory.Not sure what road to go down..
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Be honest with yourself and us, you want to big block it and want everyone to agree with you, don't you?
After the novelty wears off in a year or so, you are planning on selling it and are trying to maximize your profit.
I'm not saying you're wrong. Not at all.
I certainly would be tempted to do what you want to do.
Just don't hack the car up is all most of us are concerned about.
But keep the original engine and parts available with the car when you do sell it.
Why not find a less rare car to do with whatever you want to it?
I did.
Check out my build thread.
That's the right thing to do. It's a very rare car.
The stories i could tell about regrets for fun and money with cars........
 
It's your car so do what you want. It's a car I'd like to have and wouldn't change but it ain't mine.
 
I obviously can't tell you what to do with it as its your car but if it were MY car I would leave it completely stock!! I've never seen a feather duster or dart lite in real much less a Spirit of '76 car!! I'm not a fan of the dart sports but I'd LOVE to own a car like that!!
 
I would put what ever motor in it you want, but keep the interior and exterior decals, and not cut anything.
This car is fairly rare, I only seen one and it was in a junk yard for 20 years with no colision damage, the 4-speed was missing but the car actually looked nice, my guess is wv rust killed the torsion bars or rear leaf spring hangers and it was drove in there for junk.
Never thougt a slant car would be rare, but I did see it on a flat bed, with 68 road runner, 70 cuda.
The old man owned the junk yard said some collecter bought all his mopars, and he was pulling them out and loading his trailer 3 at a time.
 
If it were my car, I'd think about rebuilding the /6 and putting on a 4-bbl manifold. You know, just to be a little different... It's a cool car in my book.
 
Well first of all thanks for all the replies, every time I walk past the car I think what's this car really worth? for sure I will keep the original motor and k frame if I do go BB, but if I do go with a BB it will set me back a bit, and the six will wait who knows how long? but it always can be brought back,I had a 70 and a 74 cuda in high school a 69 440 roadrunner conv 4 speed another 69 383 rr auto a 69 charger 440 4 spd so I have had a few nice cars,life issues forced sales,but now I never had a dart and if it were just any Dart I would not even ask what to do,but it seems as soon as I build a car I get the cudda wouldda shouldda its been about 12 years owning a MOPAR OTHER THEN MY TRUCK,for sure I will keep all the documents and parts and the look of the car in place.To answer a question... why would I buy or build a less RARE car,because I found what I think is a once in a lifetime find to work on,why let that pass by?
 
"I found what I think is a once in a lifetime find to work on,why let that pass by?"

I agree.
So is it still on Ebay or did the auction close last night?
 
I owned one of the Dart Sports about 7 years ago.
It was a very solid car inside & out with 80K on it.
it was a 8 out of 10 car.

I had bought it with plans on making a 360 clone with a 4-speed.
owned it for a couple of years & couldn't bring myself to modify it.
The Son & I drove it from Tulsa to St Louis monster Mopar weekend.
It got 30MPG out of the 225 & OD manual trans running 70MPH.

Sold it to a Canadian guy, who flew in & drove it back.
He paid me 5900.00 for it.
 
Always wanted one for a good daily driver, which those Dart Lites and Feather Dusters were meant for. Ended up with a 75 Sport, also from Lake Placid (Florida) with 59K original miles on it. Slant 6, auto - fold down back seat, runs like a top. Only put 20K miles on it so far. Little old lady car.
 
BTW, only real problem with those cars is the transmission. The aluminum case has no bushing supporting the countershaft, which eventually wallows out and the gears crash together because all of the play. Tranny needs to be totally disassembled, the case machined and bushings pressed into it for the countershaft. Most of those old overdrive trans cars are parked because of the transmissions.
 
look up the "why the slant" deal on here. last time I looked it had what? 175 or so entires!????lots of good reasons for the slant. personaly i would vote to spend the bucks on it with the slant. a fabo member ran his 62 toad at the strip last weekend, going 11.04. not toooo bad!???
just my opinion. great find too!!!
 
I am going to go the 440 road,if anyone knows where I can get a 440( 66-72) Im looking,also a 4 speed Im going to keep the original for the 6 cyl when I get to it,also I want a k frame so I don't have to cut the original down,(or do they make a kit where I don't have to cut it down,also torsion bars and a rear end let the fun begin.Thanks for all your help.I will post pics as I go..
 
Original Blaaa Blaaa Blaaa
Put the big block in it like it should of had
from the factory.
Put the 6 weezer in the corner of the shed
where it belongs.

Chryslers sorry *** excuse to represent my
countries bi-centennial with a six popper.
Should of had a six-pac!
 
I got talked into a 340 I got a real nice block and some x heads backed up buy a 4 speed out of a hemi car,the original 6 cyl is apart and it fit into a big plastic toat along with the original 4 speed and the aluminium intake and carb with all the other stuff,it will have to wait,
 
Here's a nice Spirit of 76 that was just at the Las Vegas Mopar show....
 

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Qcrete said:
I am going to go the 440 road,if anyone knows where I can get a 440( 66-72) Im looking,also a 4 speed Im going to keep the original for the 6 cyl when I get to it,also I want a k frame so I don't have to cut the original down,(or do they make a kit where I don't have to cut it down,also torsion bars and a rear end let the fun begin.Thanks for all your help.I will post pics as I go..
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the Direct connection mopar big block B/RB A body K member is actually a 73 up A body small block V8 K frame. the spool mount engine mount boxes are cut and moved back tho i dont know how far back. i'm sure somebody has pix and dimensions for you to use. it looks pretty straightforward to me on this one. the mounts direct connection sold for this conversion i believe are big block C body spool type mounts.

mopar performance sells a bracket to move the master cylinder on the firewall over a bit. i think this was for hemi applications, but can give you a bit more room for a B/RB engine.

but why not build a stroker small block. the car will handle better and be better balanced without all the extra weight in the front, and a built 410 stroker. if installed with correct colors and air cleaner, can look like its a factory install satisfying your need for speed and some originality. find an 8&1/4 big bolt pattern rear axle,, unless the car already has one in it, and get the sure grip out of a jeep cherokee.

just my .02
Hope this helps
Matt
 
The wheels on that car maybe aren't everyones taste & I'm not sure I'd have picked them, but the car was well setup... :)
 

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It's a real nice car,and its a spirit of 76,but is NOT A LITE SPIRIT OF 76,we all know its about the options that make a car rare,this guys spirit was worth every dime he put into it,because its very rare,but I gotta say my spirit of 76 is a LITE,that makes it a lot more rare,(I think)I think the 340 that im building for it will be just fine,I want to keep the factory look under the hood,and factory look body and paint,upgrade the torsion bars rear end and brakes,some factory wheels,I want to try to go all mopar parts no after market.
 
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