71 dart resto mod, here we go

[nwdart]

Bought this project from another member year ago, just made its way into my shop yesterday for the first time. Already mini tubbed and frame tied ,springs moved in . 78 318 no manifold or carb. Pulled motor and tranny and frame. Was going to use k but and there is always a but or a what if and over night I decided to use a lot of my parts I have been accumulating for my 69 dart that is still on rotisserie. 69 will be a 340 console shifted 4 speed and is a ways off. So putting street lynx rear and hemi Denny's front k in 71 with 380 crate and built 727 3000 stall and gear vendors overdrive . 71. Already had a 8.8 open cut down in it and I scrounged another one with 3-7 gears posi and discs for 125.00. All this started so we can do 1/8 mile drags on a airport runway for a lions club charity in my moms neighborhood 3rd weekend in august. Ran my challenger last few years. Not doing anything to exterior of car until this winter just going after mechanical for now, will look like a beater but handle,stop and haul *** for now. Just ordered some 5-13 gears ,quick ratio manual rack,dropped spindles and will woods for the front. What do you guys think she will run. Nwdart

 

[nwdart]

Can only load 1 pic at a time ,engine bay was painted good enough for drag,driver before p o sat the 318 in the engine bay, hard for me not to redo it . Denny's k frame looks so much better nwdart

 

[nwdart]

Engine bay

 

[nwdart]

Sub frame connectors were already installed floor and roof were coated in por 15, paid 800.00 for the car 15 minutes after it was posted on fabo. Sold a 69 cuda to a buddy in battleground wa 4hrs from my house and picked up the dart on the same trip . Great weekend. Nwdart

 

[nwdart]

Pics of the 380 crate that has about 5k on it, strong runner. Trans was built by a old drag racer and shifts hard right at 6 k had it in my challenger . Should be a good combo power to traction with the rms street lynx rear with nitto drag radials. Not so much power car just spins the tires like a lot of over motored cars that don't hook up, looking for the slingshot launch. After the drag race weekend will put the 3-7 gears back in along with the gear venders overdrive and have a nice street car. Nwdart

 

[nwdart]

Could not leave engine bay alone, painted it base ,clear coat. Color is new challenger burnt orange. Looks great

 

[nwdart]

Just put the 275-60-15 nittos on 10 inch cop car rims under the dart. When the 4 link goes in should be pretty low. Starting to get excited.

 

[nwdart]

Car will be orange with silver top,deck lid and hood with a hemi scoop. Painted k frame in the silver,I like the contrast . Motor will be black with the polished Tti headers.

 

[nwdart]

Ran into a snag, both 8.8 rears are different . Different splines so gonna cut down the mountaineer 3-7 posi disc brake and put under my 67 gt. Have to use the narrowed 8 3/4 that was also bought for the 69 in the 71 now as I have to be ready to run by aug 9th. Got the rms 4 link installed this weekend . Rear rocker is 2 1/2 inches lower than my 67 on ss springs. 10 inch mopar wheels will not work now with this rear now but the 275 60 15 will clear the frame rails on the stock cop car rims for now . Got to keep moving forward! Nwdart

 

[nwdart]

Just came in for lunch,got the motor trans headers and Kframe in the dart. First time installing everything from the bottom, was so much easier. Made the rolling motor platform out of a form panel taper cut to fit between the engine hoist and screwed 2 of my car rollers to the bottom. Low profile and worked great. Got to get back out there. Nwdart

 

[nwdart]

During install

 

[nwdart]

Lovin the color contrast,front panel will be blacked out later.

 

[inkjunkie]

looks good....

 

[nwdart]

Gear venders clearance in trans tunnel was a bit tight even after gentle massage with 2 lb hammer. Decided to cut it and fold it up to maintain 3/4 inch clearance all around. Car was auto car converted to 4 speed then back to auto tunnel before I got it. Probably would have cleared if tunnel was unaltered. Have 2 keep moving forward. Nwdart

 

[69conv]

Lookin good, at this rate you will be driving in no time. I'm lookin forward to seeing the full color scheme, you picked some very eyecatching colors.

 

[nwdart]

This weekend I got the 456 gears installed in the 8 3/4, remember the 513 and the 8.8 rear did not work with this timeframe. Disc brakes installed, fuel cell set, regulator, filter and 1/2 lines run back to the electric pump. Put in floor shift column, cut off the lower shaft and pulled it out of the tube, inserted new shaft that came with the manual rack and welded her up. Hope to be yard driving by next Saturday. Working full time and doing this nights and weekends. Got to have it mechanically finished by the 5 the aligned on the 7th drag racing on the 9th at moms. Gotta make it ,can not let mom down. New dart

 

[nwdart]

Steering pics

 

[nwdart]

Just tried to start for first time , no spark. Only using brown wire from orange box to negative coil. Positive coil to key. Suggestions?

 

[nwdart]

Blue wire to 12 volt at key fired right up and timed it to 34 degrees. Runs strong and throttle response is instant. Drag racing her on Saturday have a long way to go, first day of 5 days off in a row starts tomorrow . Have to have it on the trailer by tomorrow night for 8 hour run to moms for the drags on Saturday. Think I might actually make it ,was starting to wonder. Nwdart

 

[DFootCuda]

Glad you guys got it dialed in last night , thanks for letting me drink your beers and hang out . What ferry are you trying to catch ?

 

[nwdart]

Thanks for the help dennis, that was last Wednesday night first time firing her off. Thursday night 5:30 first time on the ground with tires on to set ride height. 7:00 first time yard driving then back in the shop to put fenders on with the scamp hood for the weekend only,did not want to cut my perfect 71 hood to clear the back of the air cleaner. Put the car on the trailer at 11:15 Thursday night and got on the 5:45 am ferry with a 9:00 front end alignment at les shwaubs. Went to unload at shwaubs and torque converter still was not full yet ,had to rev her up a little more than I wanted due to the fact the case of tranny fluid was still in the shop. I worked on this every moment that I was not at work or asleep for the last 45 days. After getting her aligned headed across the state to moms . Drove it after putting more trans fluid in it for the first time ever up and down the street, felt great, was a couple times last couple weeks did not think I would get her done,but never gave up and got her done enough to run and it ran strong.

 

[david98513]

what rack and pinion set up are you using?

 

[nwdart]

Mustang 2 manual rack quick ratio from summit racing. Drove down the track with one hand on the wheel , what a blast

 

[mopar79sean]

I just did see this build thread after seeing pictures of your car in the lowpar thread. I just wanted to say I really like everything you have done so far. What a great build.