Working on a 71' Demon

[71340demon]

Well I'm new to this site and just from what I have seen in a couple of mins, I'll be on here frequently! Just a little info on what I'm working with, my pops has recently gotten me a 71' 340 Demon, it runs, but it has its lows too but what do you expect its a 40 year old car! Anyways, my dad and I plan on working on it over the summer so that should be fun!

On to the reason I made this post, I recently washed the car and water started to leak under the steering area on the drivers side. Water wasn't rushing into the car just little drips.

Another thing I wanted to ask you guys, what can I do with having a roll cage stuck in the car?(No I didn't put it in there, the previous owner used it as a drag car, this will come into detail later on this post) I really want my dad to enjoy the car but he can barely get in it! I saw something online where you can make the door bar movable, is that something to consider? We have already agreed that we will leave it in their, just because its welded onto the body of the car and we are scared it mite hurt the structure to remove it. Not only that, it will leave sharp edges in the car.

Also like I said before, the person before us had used it to drag race (i plan on using it as a daily) so obviously he put in some mods on the car. Whenever we turn the car on it'll run for about 5 secs before it will die, so i just give it gas for awhile, then it will stay on. Anybody have any idea what I could be? My dad suspects it could be the carburetor being adjusted wrong or to racing needs. I just wanted to get your guys view on that.

And last but not least, the back seats are out of the car, its just flat. Honestly me being a junior in HS, I usually have company with me so I would really like to put some bench seats back there, but is it worth it? The front seats are some professional bucket seats (i have no problem with them, they just look like a sore thumb in a old beauty like the car itself(their yellow and black)) So what would you guys do? Think its even worth putting in a backseat and what would I do with the whole front seat ordeal? I know this is all just appearance crap that I shouldn't worry about till the car runs properly, but I just want to get your guys opinion on it.

Anyways thanks for reading and any reply would be great! Have a good one!

Also if i'm not supposed to post this here I'm sorry I just didn't know where to post it.

 

[grassy]

Welcome from the east coast of Canada ! Great looking scoot.

Junior in high school ? Grade 9 ? My daughter got her Duster in grade nine as well...

Have fun.

Ian.

 

[joeboy]

Sounds like a great car, glad you are gonna spend some time on it with your dad. take it slow, read a lot here and you'll be fine.

I got my dart is High school too, 19 yrs ago.

There is a bunch of into on the site, and a bodywork/interior section that may have more of the info you need.

heres a few tidbits about your questions:
1 water leaks, I would assume its leaking from the windshield wiper arm gaskets, windshield gasket, or maybe event the drivers side vent, you may need to flow water over the top and crawl under the dash to see with a light...

2 your "dies cold" sounds like it may have a carb without a choke to help it run rich until its warm, many cars set up for racing don't. Depending on the carb you maybe able to put one on, or you may need a new carb. There are some great minds on here (not me) for carb tuning, so post up in the air/fuel section when you start to tinker if your dad needs help...

3 rear seats are easy to find on the website, or craigslist, but show us a pic of what it looks like now, the "flat" comment makes me think the seat mounts may be gone. (pics of rear seat back, bottom, and the tire wells from the interior) You can find front buckets/console, or front bench on the site as well, some may need recovered but there are many places to have it done, or by factory type covers.


JOE

 

[OldmanRick]

Welcome to FABO! That car looks real good for a project, at least from the outside.

You guys may be taking on a little bigger project then first glance would suggest, depending on how far to the race side everything is? Any specifics you know about or info from the previous owner would be very helpful.

Just scratching the surface, yes you can make the door bar removable or hinged. Since the rear is tubbed, it's likely that a modified or custom backseat would have to be fabbed up for it, plus access would be restricted by the roll bar, and then the seat belt issue would come into play also?

Drivetrain specs are another issue.....Meaning is the engine cam & compression compatible with street use/pump gas? What type torque converter is in the transmission, stall speed? What rear gear ratio does it have?

Can the existing wiring support all the street requirements? lights/blinkers/horn/wipers, etc.

Just a few thoughts to alert you that sometimes bringing a drag car back to the street can sometimes be easier said then done. Hopefully yours will be easy.

Pics of the underside, engine, and interior would be great also...

Good Luck, Rick

 

[RedFish]

Welcome.
It's a nice looking ride on the outside.

 

[OldmanRick]

Just a quick thought for you...

Whether you decide to start a overall build thread in "Restorations" or maybe "Mopar General Discussions" is entirely up to you.....But if you do, and want answers to specific questions, it's better to post them in the appropriate Forum as you will get more targeted responses.

Just don't ask the same question in more then one thread.....it tends to cause a lot of confusion with the overlap. Just trying to be helpful.