1968 SS Dart in progress

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I really love these types of projects. Your car looks great! It's amazing how it's transformed from what you started with.
 
Getting closer to fire up. Just took the car up to my Dad's shop to use the lift. Only catch is we had a Hemi flex plate and have to get a new one. Should have it this week and will finish mock up of the TTI long tubes and send them out for ceramic coating. Pics are of it on the trailer on the way up to my Dad's and on the lift :) Other pics are of an altered wheel base falcon my Dad just finished building and is for sale.
 

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Finally! The freshly completed 440 is installed with black ceramic coated TTI long tube headers with 2" primaries. The transmission is a newly built 727 torque flite with reverse manual valve body and 4000 stall EDGE racing torque converter. Also pictured is the newly built steel drive shaft fit with 1350 series u joints. Not pictured (forgot to take the picture) is the new exhaust complete with 3" pipe and super 40 series flowmasters all coated in black ceramic.
Some pictures illustrate the necessary clearancing of the oil pan to allow for proper articulation of idler arm and center link. Schumacher recommends the use of 66-73 C-body style oil pan due to the fact it has clearance built in for suspension. The only problem is those are shallow pans and they are getting hard to find. A little persuasion with blunt instruments and the clearance is perfect while retaining the deep pan :). Slight clearancing of the primary header tube which is nearest the manual steering box had to be performed. Some clearancing of the passenger side header was required to clear the torsion bar. We centered the steering box, dialed in the toe, adjusted camber, and added in more load into the torsion bars to get the ride height right. Next on the list is to bleed the brakes, install radiator and associated parts, bolt the converter to the flywheel, finish the wiring, finish minor fuel plumbing, nut and bolt the chassis, top off fluids, etc.. and light her off :burnout: I'll keep you posted.
 

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That's awesome! Thanks for detailing your every little step, it will help me and others as we attempt the same. I might have missed it earlier, but what torsion bars are you using?
 
Great build! Probably my all time favorite A Body ever and I will continue to follow the progress. Keep up the awesome work.
 
I am using the 340 torsion bars. The slant 6 bars are too soft with a big block installed.
 
The devil is in the details as they say. In certain areas, a swap to the 427 hemi would of been easier than the wedge! Heck of a lot more expensive though!
 
132068Dodge said:
I am using the 340 torsion bars. The slant 6 bars are too soft with a big block installed.
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I have the /6 W/ ac bars which is what I understand the real hemi cars had. I'm hoping they are enough to drive the thing around, not just race it. I'm also going to be using every bit of aluminum I can to shed weight off the front. Guess ibwont know til it's all put together. At least it will be a fairly easybswap if I need to go that route. What do you mean a hemi is expensive?!?
 
The slant 6 bars will work. It will just sit a bit lower in the front. Using fiberglass and aluminum will definitely help :). A customer had a cloned A990 car in the shop about a year ago and the builder had used all aluminum bolts which were drilled, fiberglass bumpers and the whole nine. The guy had somewhere around three to four grand in custom fasteners alone to shed weight. Wild stuff! It certainly helped shed the pounds. Oh, it was a non competitive street driven car as well......?
 
Well, I am making steady progress each weekend with final assembly. Lots of new parts going in along with plenty of fabrication of new brackets. Pictured are the freshly painted aluminum radiator, new A/C condenser, and new B&M plate transmission cooler. For brackets I just used some 1" strap, took my time, and made sure my spacing allows for proper airflow and clearance of mounting hardware. I also installed the new Trans-Dapt 2" aluminum spacer, Russell -6 fuel log, notched the gaskets, and installed the new PRP Mopar throttle cable bracket, and the MSD blaster 2 coil and bracket. Looks like the 21" cable won't be long enough so I have a 24.25" unit coming from Mancini racing. A good deal at only $26.00. Limited spacing between the radiator and water pump pulley necessitates the use of a small spacer and flex fan set up. New AN fittings on order with Summit to finish up fuel plumbing from mechanical pump to carb. Also installed the overflow tank at inside front of drivers side fender. We are going to try and have it ready for Mopars at the strip :burnout:.
 

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Well, today is the big day! Time to fire the motor for the first time. Heading back up to Dad's shop to nut and bolt and tie up loose ends, re-prime the motor, top off all fluids and break in the cam. Wish me luck! I will post pics and or video if I can figure the video part out once she is running.
 
132068Dodge said:
Well, today is the big day! Time to fire the motor for the first time. Heading back up to Dad's shop to nut and bolt and tie up loose ends, re-prime the motor, top off all fluids and break in the cam. Wish me luck! I will post pics and or video if I can figure the video part out once she is running.
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good luck! :thumblef:
 
The 440 fired right up and sounded great. Oil pressure at 80 PSI! Break in went well but it did start to run a little hot near the end. Turns out the entire drivers side is running lean. Passenger's side looked great. Probably an issue with the carb. Greg will get that sorted out this week Valve cover gaskets did not seal correctly either. Minor issues as is typical with most initial fire ups. All electrical looks good. Just had to switch a power lead for the tach. Now it works fine. We used the tach in the timing light for break in. Also, already ordered a set of the Moroso reusable gaskets to replace the once and done and supposedly reusable Mr. Gasket gaskets.
 
I did but I have never uploaded and it is sideways. I tried to fix it in windows movie maker but seemed to be a total PITA. Figured it wasn't worth it anyway. People have seen a million 440 start ups by now anyway.
 
132068Dodge said:
I did but I have never uploaded and it is sideways. I tried to fix it in windows movie maker but seemed to be a total PITA. Figured it wasn't worth it anyway. People have seen a million 440 start ups by now anyway.
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Still fun to see! upload it to youtube their editing is much easier I bet..
 
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