2nd chance to make changes, what you you change?

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I wished I would have just kept ONE car and spent money on it.Instead of buying and selling several cars spending way more than if I just kept the first one.
 
My 66 dart is getting closer to being completed , I just rectified one of my changes by putting bucket seats in. The one thing I should of done is mini tubs. We did sub frame connectors and moved the springs in. Should of taken the extra step of mini tubbing it.
 
I also should have swapped out the dash that was cut for a single D.I.N. stereo head unit for one that could take the original radio (I had one). Original radio with hidden modern system would have been the way to go.

Cley
 
Wow, As I read all the 2nd thoughts I feel much better about where I am at. It appears that very few of us really think this out before we jump into it. From RRR saying he wishes he would have stayed with chevy (i still have mine) to many wishing they could get wider tires, a tub, frame connectors, to dash design, to interior done twice (which I will probably end up doing because Im not happy with it), to cam selection (which I think I went to aggressive), to rear disc brakes which I didnt do, (yet lol), to removing the mid body trim (which I did and I wish I hadnt! Lots of work to weld and cover those holes), to paint which I cant make up my mind on! then to keeping it driveable while making changes which I have never driven my car since I bought it almost 4 years ago!
Yep its obvious that I made the same mistakes as many others here so I guess that makes me "normally abnormal" like the rest of you fellows! Well keep the 2nd chance thoughts coming as we may help others from duplicating our mistakes. But then would that make for a fun build? Making the mistakes and redoing our cars over and over again while throwing tons of money at them is what us car guys do, right? lol
Rod
 
True that :)
I don't know anyone with a hot rod that considers it 'finished'.

rod7515 said:
Wow, As I read all the 2nd thoughts I feel much better about where I am at. It appears that very few of us really think this out before we jump into it. From RRR saying he wishes he would have stayed with chevy (i still have mine) to many wishing they could get wider tires, a tub, frame connectors, to dash design, to interior done twice (which I will probably end up doing because Im not happy with it), to cam selection (which I think I went to aggressive), to rear disc brakes which I didnt do, (yet lol), to removing the mid body trim (which I did and I wish I hadnt! Lots of work to weld and cover those holes), to paint which I cant make up my mind on! then to keeping it driveable while making changes which I have never driven my car since I bought it almost 4 years ago!
Yep its obvious that I made the same mistakes as many others here so I guess that makes me "normally abnormal" like the rest of you fellows! Well keep the 2nd chance thoughts coming as we may help others from duplicating our mistakes. But then would that make for a fun build? Making the mistakes and redoing our cars over and over again while throwing tons of money at them is what us car guys do, right? lol
Rod
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The one thing I would have done different is to put some aftermarket seats in instead of the stock buckets, mine look great with the new Legendary covers but I wish I went for comfort instead. With the price of the covers I could have bought some very comfee seats.
 
I learned from the cars I've had in the past...the fender well headers that hit the ground on every bump or dip in the road, the big block that gets such lousy gas mileage it rarely gets driven, the lowered car that you can't drive over a speed bump without hitting and rubs the tires, etc.
This Dart got none of those...just a nice mild 300HP 360. Rebuilt drivetrain. Drive it anytime, enjoy it and gets decent gas mileage.
 
Yep ^^^ My Hemi car sits, and I drive the Valiant way more.
 
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After 3 deades and how many Mopars later??, I have pretty well got my act down to exactly where I want and need it. Drive em, work on em, buy/trade some parts for fun, and most importantly for this ole geezer, supply all the labor ( mine) and BE prugile with the $!!!!!
Just remember fast is never fast enough, and there I no bottom to the hole you can throw $ down!!!
 
1969reddart said:
I learned from the cars I've had in the past...the fender well headers that hit the ground on every bump or dip in the road, the big block that gets such lousy gas mileage it rarely gets driven, the lowered car that you can't drive over a speed bump without hitting and rubs the tires, etc.
This Dart got none of those...just a nice mild 300HP 360. Rebuilt drivetrain. Drive it anytime, enjoy it and gets decent gas mileage.
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-----THIS !! I have even thot about detuning mine a whole bunch so I can drive it more . Would have to change out the heads and cam for sure.
 
^^^^^^Many of us love working on these old cars, BUT too many people get burned out because they have NO old mopar to drive. Be it cars under construction, race cars , cars too hipped up for the street, gas hogs, high $ show cars, ... YA need one you can drive!!!!
 
The one thing I learned is that the Mopar 292/108/508lift cam, made a chitload of power....... At rpms I almost never drove, and I never missed it after I pulled it out, and swapped in a 270/110
And the second is that a performance DD, with a M/T, needs an overdrive, before you ever drive it anywhere, so you can run an aggressive starter gear.
And the big tires/ and suspension upgrades, need to go on before you ever open up the secondaries cuz doing 180s in traffic is dangerous.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
The one thing I learned is that the Mopar 292/108/508lift cam, made a chitload of power....... At rpms I almost never drove, and I never missed it after I pulled it out, and swapped in a 270/110
.
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I learned pretty much the same. Lumpy bumpy cams sounds cool as heck but suck for street driving. I swapped the same cam you had in lieu of a 242/528 MPP solid and was much happier. It makes gobbs of tq at all rpms and idles nice and drives friendly in all situations.
 
roccodart440 said:
I learned pretty much the same. Lumpy bumpy cams sounds cool as heck but suck for street driving. I swapped the same cam you had in lieu of a 242/528 MPP solid and was much happier. It makes gobbs of tq at all rpms and idles nice and drives friendly in all situations.
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Wait what?lol,
the 292/508 I measured at [email protected] IIRC
I thought that cam had crap torque at the bottom end. But apparently I was wrong.
#1) I had installed that 292/108 at.............. 11.3Scr/8.76Dcr/176psi/143VP
#2) The next cam 270/280/110 cam went in at 10.9Scr/8.92Dcr/184psi/162VP
#3) the final cam,a 276/286/110 cam went in at 10.9Scr/8.72Dcr/179psi/153VP

The first cam@143VP comparatively, wasn't that bad. The problem was that the power was all way up there in the rpm,and I could really feel the powerband kick-in; so the bottom end just felt real soft,in comparison.The real problem was the 3.55s I wanted to run.
The next cam #2, had no such power-surge, and the 162VP was awesome, but it had way more torque/VP than the car could handle. AND I did miss the topend rush some.
Enter #3, I gave up some VP, and got a reasonable top-end rush back.
All three cams burned right thru first gear, and most if not all the way thru second, sooooooooooo,I suppose I shouldda just fixed my 60ft................ sigh.

Your 242 @.050,(which IIRC is a 284adv) would still be way more power up top than I need, and the psi/VP would fall again to where I wasn't happy the first time.lol, to 10.9Scr/8.58Dcr/175psi/148VP
Oh wait you said solid, so I don't have an advertised for that one, but the VP would probably be a little stronger... At 280* adv, and if I bumped the Scr back up I get......... 11.3Scr/9.0Dcr/187psi/160VP, Hyup I could totally live with that. I guess I'd be on the hunt for 4.30s again,tho.


In all honesty tho, that little #2 cam,the 270/[email protected] was awesome. I just bought a GVOD and started splitting gears, and never again felt the power-loss compared to the 292/108 . With a double overdrive, it returned incredible fuel economy.And with 8 useable gears, there was never a time I had to wait for power/torque. If it hadn't dropped two lobes right after an oil-change (that was when they took the ZDDP out), I woud never have changed it.
 
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Hyup 2 degrees
But my powerband requirement with the GVOD (.78 gearsplit), is only about 1300 rpm, so the 292/108 woulda been fine, if I hadda bought the GVOD first, and run the 4.30s with it.........like I did with the smaller cams. I just screwed up in the overall combo,(I was stretching first gear to 60 mph at 7000rpm, so I didn't have to shift;and it worked!, but the 3.55 x 2.66 starter gear kindof sucked) and I wasn't ready to buy the GVOD. When the second cam went in, I realized that starter gear was never gonna work, no how, and so now the GVOD became priority one. As soon as it went in with 4.30s I knew I was back on track, and realized my earlier mistake. But the little cam was returning such great fuel-economy that putting the 292 back in was out of the question in my DD.Plus by now it had been sold.
Eventually I got a 3.09 low/direct 4th Box and then the 4.30s came out, and the 3.55s went back in.And that's where it stayed since 2004. I've been hoping this 276/110 cam would die, cuz I'd like to order a cam in the 28to272/100to104LSA area to take real advantage of this gear-splitter. But it's a tough cam so long as I keep feeding it ZDDP,lol.
If you're interested. the new trans ratios are; 3.09-2.41-1.92-1.50-1.40-1.09-1.00-.78od.....and on the street I usually shift it using the black bold ratios. For aggressive driving I additionally use the two reds, and stop at 1.50, cuz with 3.55s this is already over 90mph. The 1.09 ratio would take me to over 120mph.I almost never use the 1.50/1.40s back to back cuz the rpm difference is only about 400 rpm. Same with 1.09/1.00;always one or the other.So really it's a 6 speed, with alternates, for 5th and 4th.
The starter gear with 3.55s is 10.97,plenty for the street,and 65=2236 with 27s
 
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I had 3:73's with 26" tires with my GVOD and went to 4.56's and 28's.

In hindsight 4:30's would have been perfect, maybe... I'm trapping at 6200 and cruising at mid 2k
 
roccodart440 said:
I had 3:73's with 26" tires with my GVOD and went to 4.56's and 28's. In hindsight 4:30's would have been perfect, maybe... I'm trapping at 6200 and cruising at mid 2k
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I thought I would someday try 3.73s....... but then I thought I might try 3.23s....... But then I took the car to the track and it went 93@6200(1/8) in 1.50 ratio(second over), using 4 ratios to get there; and so I said good-enough. The 3.73 x 3.09 would give me a starter gear of 11.53, about the same as a 2.66 x 4.30=11.44, which I had already been running for a few years, and I had never been real happy with that much starter gear. So now the decision to stick with the 3.55s (10.97starter)was cemented. If I had traction, I thought I might try the 3.73s, cuz it would get me 60=6700 in first-over, instead of 6380 with the 3.55s...........but then the 276 cam is peaking at about 5300,soooooo, naw I'll just keep the 3.55s..lol.
Are you splitting gears?
Boy I'll tell ya, what a blast!
That GV shifts like lightning, when you bypass their computer. When I first started using it I had a CFII, and between the two of them,they broke a lotta stuff.I had to pull that CFII disc outta there, and swapped in a factory 340 disc, and then shimmed the PP away from the flywheel until the below-3000rpm hit was soft enough for a DD and it stopped shredding 340 discs. Now it's a dump-it-and-go-deal. And if I rev it up to over 3000 the flyweights do their job and the slip goes away. IMO, perfect for a DD, kindof a semi-auto,lol. It still barks the tires at every Part-Throttle engagement, over say 3500.
Zero to 109mph@7200; 4 ratios,with ONE pull on the stick,lol what a hoot!!

If you're not splitting, you're missing some gooooood times.
 
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I always run mine on manual and yes I sometimes split gears on the street but always run the 1/8th mile mile in 2nd OD. I go 7.48 @6200 in the 1/8"
 
Well yer fastrNme.
Mine went [email protected],with a 2.2x 60ft,and spinning 325/50-15DRs; they say still hazing them thru the traps. As soon as I got her out a ways I dropped that clutch, and when the tach hit 7000, I started shifting and the tach just sat at or near 7000 the whole rest of the way. I really had no accurate idea of when to shift until the tach sorta started climbing past 7000. I was tempted to abort, but I didn't smell no clutch. So that was my 4th and only successful run, so I called her done. It's never been back. 93mph just surprised the chit outta me! 93 shouldabin about 6150.
Boy, if I could get my 60 ft down to around 1.80, maybe I could line up with you,lol. 7.40 is pretty fast. Heck 7.92 is pretty fast. My old swinger 340 hit [email protected] the qtr, with 3.55s,back in 71........and I thought that was fast! lol. Heck we all thought low 14s was fast.
 
I would have done the mechanical upgrades first so I could drive it but the first thing I did was blow the car into a hundred different pieces. I did most but not all of the cosmetics and got burned out on it..Only drove it around the block a few times and that's it. As soon as the new gas tank and sender get here and installed I'm going to cut my losses and sell it and look for something I can drive. Not sure what brand..I'm a car guy 1st but would consider another MOPAR.
 
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