69 Dart 340 Swinger Street/Road Race build

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LOL I learned the hard way for sure. I will say, the mask was pure white on the inside so it did it’s job.
 
Big progress tonight! I am pretty stoked with how everything is going back together. And the side to side alignment with the body is off less than 1/8”. I’m pretty sure it’s more than that from the factory lol.

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I ordered my wheels today. Went with Konig Dekagram 18x9.5 front and rear. I should have them Friday so I can test fit the rears before I decide on tires and get them mounted. At least i'll have the car as a roller for a short period until the front end comes off LOL.

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Nice build. I didnt run a tube inside my LH frame connector, I just routed the parking brake cable inboard of the subframe connector. Still enough room with it re routed. Mine is a 4 speed. Subframe connector is only temp pinned with clecos in the pic. I used transition plates against the crossmember since i welded in 10 gage 2x3 boxed steel and was concerned that welding thick subframe connectors directly to the thinner gage crossmember at a 90° angle will eventually fatigue and crack. Yours look like the US cartool ones. Those are super nice. Green is aircraft epoxy primer

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You are correct, USCarTool subframe connectors on mine. They are thicker than the factory super thin floor, but they welded in just fine. I carried the weld puddle on the thicker steel and washed the puddle up to the thinner floor. Turned out great. I debated on the tube through the subframe connector but i’m glad I did it. Took 2 hours alone, but turned out nice and kept the cable along the original path.
 
Not a lot of progress this weekend. My son and I had to travel 4hrs away for his first MX race of the year. But, my wheels showed up and boy does the 9.5” width fill up the rear wheel wells. I’m pretty sure I’ll be trimming the outer lips a bit to fit the 10.7” wide 275/35-18s. I also got 3” ARP screw in studs since the 2” studs are barely flush with the open lug nuts.

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I got the 275/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires mounted today. The stance is PERFECT in the rear. The front will be another 2” or so lower

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cool car nice work. Do you think you will keep the vinyl top when you get it finished? I love that red black combination.
 
K.O. SWINGER said:
cool car nice work. Do you think you will keep the vinyl top when you get it finished? I love that red black combination.
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Thank you!

Yes, I plan to keep the top. It’s actually in really good shape minus a melted spot in the rear by the trunk lid from a drop light left on it. I also plan to put the rear black stripe back on as well as adding a fiberglass hood with the Hemi scoop all in satin black.
 
your car, your choice on scoop. I'd vote for 6-pac scoop...if I was asked. will look good with black stripe.:thumbsup:
 
yes it is. not quite as tall and definitely smaller base. (VFN has sizes listed for comparison) also has the lip on the front for the boundary layer, like the old two piece snorkel scoops.
 
Back on the Dart today. I removed the front suspension. A big thank you to this site and the wealth of information on here. I removed the torsion bars without issue because of the great info here. The upper control arm bolts were all seized so I had to break out the plasma cutter and cut the bolts out. Tomorrow I’ll remove the steering and the K member. Hopefully I’ll have time to sand blast the K member in preparation to reinforce it with more 4130 sheet metal. It’s crazy how bad the factory welds are. So I’ll reweld everything while it’s off.
I had to mock up the front wheels and I’m LOVING the look for sure.

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glad to see you are back and making progress on the car. do you have an estimated finish date or car show you are planning to unveil it at? Bob
 
My son broke his wrist a few weeks ago racing and I was out of town for work, so unfortunately I was not able to work on the car much lately. But, I'm back on it so I should be making good progress moving forward.
I am aiming to be driving it this summer. Probably not til July/August i'm assuming. I'll make quick work of the front suspension and then move on to the interior next. My big hold up is going to be the direction I go with the engine. My ultimate goal is a nasty 340 screamer, but that's a pretty expensive route at this time when I'm dropping a lot of $$ on the rest of the car. I am also leaning towards a semi-budget 5.9L Magnum build with forged pistons, rods, aluminum heads, and the BW S400 75/96 turbo I have. I could assemble this engine myself. The thought is to go the less expensive Magnum route and then in a few years build the 340. I'm supposed to get a call back from Opel Engineering today to go over engine options so i'll see what he has to say.
I'm not really a car show guy, but I will try and make as many Downers Grove cruise nights as possible. That show is incredible with the level of cars that show up.
 
sorry to hear about your son's wrist.hope it heals well and does not give him problems in the future.
Opel Engineering-good people.
give me a shout before you head to downers and I'll stop by and say "hi".
 
Sounds good! I'm sure I'll be reaching out to you when I get to assembling the drive train to pick your brain on how everything goes back together. I took it apart 24 years ago so I'm a little rusty on how it all goes back together LOL.
 
no problem. looking forward to it. I'm close if you want me to stop by...I won't bring 8 people with me.
 
Ok looks like I will have a lot of time at home hear for awhile. I figured I should order my suspension sooner than later. So I went ahead and ordered all 4 Hotchkis/Fox shocks, QA1 LCA's, QA1 strut rods, QA1 torsion bar adjusters, Hellwig 1.25" front sway bar kit, and SPC UCA's. I will get a hold of BAC tomorrow and order the Borgeson PS steering box and everything to attach it to the original steering shaft. Then, I ultimately decided to go with the Doctor Diff 14" Viper front brake set up. This will be a very good kit with radial mounted calipers and 2 piece rotors and will save over $1000 on the Baer 6P 14" kit I really want to go with. Lots to do!
 
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