71 dart

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black betty

black betty

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
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Location
Bainbridge, PA
Here are some pics of my 71 Dart. It started as cleaning upthe engine, rebuilding the front suspension and adding subframe connectors. Now I am building a full custom chassis with C4 corvette front suspension and a custom 3link for the rear. The engine is undecided at this point but I think I am going to use a 400 I have sitting in my garage. It will have a 6spd manual and a 9in ford rear. I am sure I left things out but I will post updates as I have them.

before
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Ride hight when done.
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Todays UPS delivery
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Very cool but may I suggest a full four link rear suspension? I think in the long run you'll be happier with the adjustability.
 
I like the FR500 wheel choice. When I was thinking about how I want to do my lime green Duster I actually had someone PS some on to see how they might look! I like them!

DusterFR500's.JPG
 
Guitar jones

I am using a 3Link because it is going to be more of a roadrace car than a drag car. I also want to keep some of my back seat. I will have 2 buckets in the back and the 3rd link will be in the center armrest. I did design a lot of adjustment into my 3Link brackets.
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thats gonna be bad *** looking.. why a vett front suspension? whats something like that cost?
 
I chose vette suspension because it is good and cheap. I payed $500 for rack and pinion steering, aluminium upper and lower control arms and 13" brakes. I will have less in the whole chassis than what a front suspension kit would cost from magnumforce or RMS with the same options.
 
black betty said:
I chose vette suspension because it is good and cheap. I payed $500 for rack and pinion steering, aluminium upper and lower control arms and 13" brakes. I will have less in the whole chassis than what a front suspension kit would cost from magnumforce or RMS with the same options.
Click to expand...

how are you mounting it? gonna stick the entire assembly in ot make up your own mounts?
 
My plan is to design the brackets. A friend of mine works at a machine shop and I will have him make the brackets. He is who made all the 3Link brackets.

check it out e-brake handle, headlight knob and wiper knob.
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those are sweet... its nice to have a guy like that at your disposal..


definatley keep us updated with pictures.
 
Wow, ambitious project, but should be a unique ride when completed. Make sure you show us some pics of the front suspension install. You may be starting a craze. Mike
 
Man you have to keep the pictures of this coming! I recently and briefly had my Valiant on the road and after the trans died about a week ago. I have decided to move forward with the same basic concept you are doing. It would be very educating to compare design ideas. Unfortunatly I dont have a machinest at my disposal, however I am a welder / fabricator and have many tools to help ease the process. I think you made a good choice on the vette front end. Is that a common price for that set up? Seems that you struck a hell of a deal there! Please keep us posted on progress, we can compare notes! Later man and good luck. Hey check out these sites I have been inspired by the XV engineering.

http://www.lateral-g.net/

http://www.xvmotorsports.com/faq/index.cfm

http://pro-touring.com/
 
if i want to run a 15in wheel with a 28in tire is there a way i can equal this using 17in wheel becasue i want to run these on my duster or the bullets
 
If I read what you are asking correctly, then yes you can get a 17" wheel tire combo that will get very close if not exactly 28" high. The newer wheels stay in the same general sizes overall.
Example: A 15" rim with a 70 series tire may be 28"
Where A 17" rim with a 45 series tire may also be 28"
It is common that with the bigger rim to have less sidewall.
 
DusterBoy15 said:
if i want to run a 15in wheel with a 28in tire is there a way i can equal this using 17in wheel becasue i want to run these on my duster or the bullets
Click to expand...



you want a 17" rim and tire that measures 28" tall?


i'm running a 275/50-17 on my dart wich measures 27.8 X 10.8... with a stock suspension they would hit the springs.. i'm sure there is something as tall but narrower out there.
 
can i run 17x8s on the front and 17x9s 0n the rear with the stock suspension(ive already converted to big bolt)or will i have to mini tub it in the rear?i have to mini tub it i will be running the 17x10.5 with the widest tires i can find to fit
 
I just dropped my rearend housing off to be narrowed and tomorrow I am picking up the steel for my frame and chassis table. I also just picked up a 74valiant for $300. It has good PA inspection and I drove it home. I will start another thread for that car.

4mulaSvaliant

I am on Laterl-g.net and pro-touring.com almost every day there is so much good info there. Keep me posted on how your project goes.

slantscamp

I bought the frontend on ebay they are on there all the time.
 
What is your general plan with the vette front end? Are you going to pull it apart and use what you need, or are you going to fit the vette system to a new front clip? Also if you plan to just fit the whole thing, what is the track width difference? Or actually how wide is the vette set up from outside of the rotor to outside of the rotor? I seen the vette frt clips on ebay the night I first responded. You peeked my curiousity with the price you paid. I see they are all over ebay for bout' 600.00 Im sure if you keep an eye out you can get em for atleast what you did.

Id like to see how you set up your 3 link as well. I have really been studying the set up they use at XV. Like yours appears, they have a decent amount of adjustabilty. Seems like a great idea if you cant nail the geometry dead on the first time. Are you going to move the floor pans around to fit the exaust? Or are you planning to build an entire custom floor? I think I will figure what the lowest fixed object is going to be and then set everything atleast that high. It will probably be the center of the differential or possibly the spring/shock plates at the rear. Ill just keep every thing above that hight.

Well I hope all goes as planned and I will keep in touch with this post for sure! Lata' Donnie
 
If you are going to make a road race/handling car it is counter productive to use the big block for power as far as weight balance is concerned. Unless it will be lightened with aluminum parts.


Chuck
 
4mulasvaliant

I am not sure if I can reuse the crossmemeber or not I have not tried it. I cant get the track width measurement right now because I have the frontend torn down to clean it up. I think the 3Link needs the adjustability because you need to change it depending on the track. If I go drag racing the bars need set different than if I am going to an autox or roadcourse. They could be set different if a course has more corners in one direction you would set it do turn better that way. I will be building complete floor pans for the car so the exhaust should be no problem. The lowest point on my car will be the rockerright behind the front wheel. It will be 5" to that point and everything will be higher than that.

340mopar

Your right about the big block but I am just building the car to have some fun it doesnt need to be competitive in any class. I am also setting the engine back in the car 5" or 6" maybe more and I just love big blocks. Like you mentioned lots of aluminium parts are avaliable.
 
Same thoughts here, Im not going to build it for any particular racing. I just want the look and performance and the drivability that comes with this type of set up. As well as the look of course. No big deal on the specs for the front end Im sure I can find em some where, I was just curious. Thx man Ill keep an eye on your progress. Lata' Donnie
 
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