70 Dart Triple Treat Build

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The Dart is finally supporting itself, threw the v8 springs in so i could see how the wheels and tires are going to fit. Once a couple small parts come in its off to my buddies shop to have the frame connectors, mini tub, spring relocation and roll cage installed. Hopefully will have the motor done in the next couple weeks too, then its time for body work.
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Decided to put the rest of the front clip on. Wanted it to look more like a car when it goes on the trailer to have its chassis work done at my buddies shop. Was going to do more but had to empty on an enclosed trailer at my buddies new house that he bought.
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Finally had time to work on the car again: had to order larger wheel spacers (which weren't the correct center bore diameter initially) to accommodate the 17x8s due to the backspacing vs tie rod clearance issues, the tie rod end was hitting the rim so that wasn't any good. Finally have the steering installed and roughed out, need to take track width measurements vs the rear end to see what the difference is. Rebuilt the steering coupler on the column, that was a pain and readjusted the mount distance of the column to the firewall so that it actually lines up with the 3 mount points inside the car under the dash. Tonight is interior tear down night, everything that needs to come out for the roll cage is coming out.
 
Ended up working on the dash at a friends house the other night and it turned out alot better than I expected. Gauge holes need to be cutout and finally can start the wiring. I already modified the factory wire harness; removed all unused circuits and the junk factory fuse block That took a long night of pure headache, 2 wire diagrams and a Haynes manual to get it right. I have a marine grade fuse block that's going to replace the factory one. Also haven't decided if I'm going to remove more of the dash (without compromising structure) to lighten it up a bit more or just go with what's been cut out at this point. Passenger seat came in with brackets and sheet aluminum ordered for the fuel cell enclosure.
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Knowing how bad my luck has been lately, a thought occurred to me to mock up the dash with the gauges installed to see if you can actually read them...nope. So in comes this disaster of a fix. At this point, its all i can do with the tools that I have so it will work for now, I'm going to end up cheating a bit with some JB weld and body filler to fix the small imperfections but all in all if will work until I buy a fiberglass dash from VFN. Also that dash pad was cracked in a few spots and dried out horribly so i didn't sacrifice my mint dash pad just to mount the tach.

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Need to get some flush mount fasteners BUT the enclosure for the fuel cell is done. First time using a sheet metal break worked out pretty well in my eyes. The plan is to secure the tank underneath the car to keep the center of gravity as low as possible while having the top of the tank accessible when you open the trunk to fill up and still have space usable trunk space. Looks like its going to fit with room to spare but wont know for sure until its finished and underneath the trunk floor pan.
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FYI: Jaz fuel cell dimensions they list are completely misleading. The length and width were both a quarter in off but the tank itself measured 3/4 of an inch shorter. Only thing I could figure out is that the dimensions are of the footprint of the tank, not including actual sides that are elevated and the height includes the cap.
 
Spent the night prepping the floor pans for the frame connectors, that was awful, sealed off the firewall for the most part and cleaned out the rest of the interior to prep the inside for the roll cage to be installed. Did also fill the hole in the driver door (unfortunately) since i couldn't find a decently priced replacement. More work tonight to get the car ready to slam together before the end of the month. Engine is suppose to be done tomorrow (this is the 8th time i've heard this from my engine builder) which will give me even more motivation to get the car assembled. Rear end is getting rebuilt Saturday and hopefully a driveshaft done next week.
 
Trans cooler and horns are mounted. Car left a couple days ago to go to my buddies garage to weld the frame connectors and do the spring relocation. Also just finished moving into a new house. Too much to do and not enough time
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Frame connectors and floor patch done. Mock up trans for the driveshaft length next and start the rear spring relocation.
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Dash is in, interior wire harness and bulkhead in, firewall forward harness in, wilwood prop valve and line lock in place, new master cylinder bench bled and installed, transmission is in and driveshaft length is set. Windshield is going in tonight and HOPEFULLY a motor. Talked to my builder Saturday and he said today is the day. On a side note, a buddy came over and I ended up tire staking my Jeep on their lifted GMs.
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Are you running the rims in the back that are in the pix? If so why are you mini tubbing it if they fit?
 
moparmat2000 said:
Are you running the rims in the back that are in the pix? If so why are you mini tubbing it if they fit?
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They fit enough to mock up and roll, sidewall hits the leaf springs. Plus I have slicks planned and I tried test fitting those, they're not even close.
 
Well my motors back, she didn't go in with out a fight BUT its now in and I found out I installed the centerlink backwards. My friday deadline is coming near and pressures starting to get to me but keep pushing forward is what Im living by at this point. It will be done Friday and driving Saturday, just depends on how much sleep Im willing to sacrifice. Majority of the wiring is done minus the dash panel which will take half an hr, my electric fan is hitting the water pump so that needs to be figured out.
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Didnt end up finishing the Dart in time, it was a group decision between a few of us. Just wasnt enough time to slam it together, teat and tune before leaving on such a long trip (3.5hrs to Norwalk OH) so we did a few small things on Friday and addressed the passenger quarter panel. Going to finish the car this upcoming week though and it will be perfect..
On a side note, super summit was awesome and cant wait to drive the car on the autocross course and drag strip next year.
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Always a bit more enjoyable not thrashing to get done, after the initial disapointment of missing a milestone you want to hit. Also more time to debug.
 
Stephen Hotz said:
Always a bit more enjoyable not thrashing to get done, after the initial disapointment of missing a milestone you want to hit. Also more time to debug.
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I'd have to agree with you, would suck if something wasnt right because I forgot to check over it. I guess it's better to take time and slow down some times
 
Started filling the radiator up with coolant and heard a peeing sound coming from the back of the block...pressurized the cooling system to find coolant pissing everywhere coming from the matting surface between the corners of the heads and intake manifold. Called the guy that built the engine (40+ years of experience) and magically had no idea. Pulled the intake manifold to find he used these stupid red dowel pins to help keep the gasket in place which neither compressed enough to let the intake seal properly or was small enough to fit inside the mount hold on the intake. Funny because the head gaskets have clips to hold the intake gasket in place so those dowel pins seem unnecessary. Luckily I had a gasket set for a 360 laying around so I robbed the gaskets and reinstalled everything. Guess its time to take care of business with the other guy now. Never having some one build an engine for me again.
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That sucks man! One step forward, three steps back. Least you found the issue.
 
Been jumping around doing a bunch of the small but tedious jobs on the car: completed the temporary gauge cluster (wiring and plumbing), installed seat and mocked up the shifter position, mocked up the kickdown cable, made a throttle cable extension plate, plumbed brake lines from the master to line lock, to prop valve and rear axle lines but ended up being 2 fittings short of finishing all of the brake lines. Im sure there's more things I missed but the bulk of the work is done, the small things are just killer time wise.
 
Car is pretty much ready to go minus a couple small details that can't be addressed until it's back on the ground. Hood scoops installed, shifter is done, fixed the tail light wiring, cleaned up the dash wiring. Once the spring relocation's done, carpet will go in, passenger and back seats, alignment, exhaust and set the ride height. Then its test and tune to get ready for the new goal, Roadkill Nights in Detroit August 10th
 
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