i like the idea of the big block for sure but $7,000 of upgrades might be out of my budget
anyway to make it happen a tighter budget or is that just what it takes to make it right?
Absolutely. You can do it a lot cheaper by taking your time picking up stuff at junkyards and doing a lot of the work yourself. I did about 70% of the work on my own (with friend's help). For example, we made and welded up the home-made Frame stiffeners in my garage..All of the work on this Dart was done in my home's 2-car garage except for the recent tranny rebuild and the bodywork/paint. But some things are just costly. An A-body 8.75 rear end is going to be around $500. The Gear-set, assuming a SureGrip 3.55, 3.73 or 3,91 in good shape, is going to run another $500, give or take. That's $1000 right there. Sure, you can probably get some of the same items cheaper somewhere, but if time is of the essence, sometimes you gotta bite the bullet. E-Bay has some deals...I got both my 3.23 and my 3.91 third members off of E-bay, as well as outside door handles, trim pieces and other assorted stuff. The rest I got at MOPAR junkyards and Swap Meets. My 902 heads and 727 transmission are such examples. The trans was $150.00, and after an oil and filter change, worked on my "Daily Driver" Dart till about 8 months ago. The 902 heads were $100, plus some custom work (porting, flowing, new seats..). My engine got mostly new parts. Block and steel forged crank were used, but all other rotating assembly parts were new as were the fuel, oil and water pumps.The Performer RPM manifold was used, as was the Pro Billet distributor. But the rest of my MSD kit was all new. Holley 750 was used but I had it rebuilt by SMI, Throttle/ Kickdown linkages and bracketry are new (Lokar). NOS Radiator was $175.00. Junkyard driveshafy, cut down and balanced was $50 plus $75 respectively..Cragar SS wheels, custom offset, were $100 each. Front Brake calipers (NOS) from a 1971 GTX were $30/ea.
I scrounged as much as I could. The build took me a year and a half.
But trust me, it all adds up...$20 here, $60 there...
As I said earlier, I'm in it for about 7 -8 K, Not counting any of the engine-work or paint & body...All told, including the price of the car ($2500) I'm in it for about $15K.
I have heard of others doing the same for a lot cheaper, and I am happy for them..but this is what it cost me.
Is there a good reference or go by for doing the work so i can really know what i might be getting into?
yes, go here (it was and still is an invaluable source of info for my build):
http://www.bigblockdart.com/
