''I'm going to fix it up someday'' The resurrection of a '74 Dart Sport......

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There is a local guy who has a cobra /427 side oiler. He installed a centre force....it lasted 4 months LOL!!! Probably the way he drives it.
 
Dartnut said:
thanks for the question, Dan.
Yes, i am now happy with it, (now that it's broken in).
I resisted getting on it for 600 miles, and followed the break in procedure to the letter in the instructions.
Then i finally got on it last fall before i put the car away for winter, and it hooks and feels good!
I believe that it is a good clutch set up for a car under 500 H.P., and will last a fair amount of time at that power level.
It is as good as advertised.
Good and bad?
Well, i'll try to explain my experience to you.

First the good:

-Easy installation. No problems whatsoever.
I love the way it engages, it is mellow to drive with no finessing or special technique needed at all. I bet you couldn't stall the car unless you really tried.
-It really locks up when you get on it from say 4000 rpm and dump it. Smooth initially for a split second while the front end lifts slightly, and then boil the hides off. No slipping, and no smells of burning clutch material.
-It definitely isn't an ''on off switch'' type of clutch. Actually, it's quite the opposite.

Now the bad:

-It's tricky to get it adjusted just right.
My setup uses 100% stock linkage with a nearly new flywheel. Initially i had about 1/2'' of freeplay by hand at the top of the pedal. That was too much, as the clutch wouldn't disengage fully even with the pedal pushed all of the way to the floor. I ended up with about 1/4'' by hand and it JUST disengaged enough to fully release just before the pedal hit the floor. Now that i have some miles on it, you have to push the pedal almost to the floor to release it, (i would say about 3/4'' from the floor), which is about right.
-Removing the over center spring in the car is a pain in the ***.
I ended up using a cut off disc on a die grinder for this. I'm an old man and not a contortionist, and i cursed this part immensely!
-The pedal feel isn't as light as everyone claims it is.
I was told that it's lighter than stock, and that is B.S.
The original clutch i had in the car was a stock replacement Borg&Beck for a 340, and it
was lighter feeling than this one. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning......

A few more footnotes:

My (maybe) 300 horse 360 won't even phase the capabilities of this clutch set up. If i had a 600 horse setup, i would probably look into something different, but up to say 450 horses, i would definitely recommend this clutch to anyone.
The clutch works as advertised, and the car shifts well, so i feel that it is engaging and disengaging properly.
In the past i have used McCloud street and strip Borg&Beck clutches and they worked very well and took a lot of abuse without failing or any problems at all for that matter.
The pedal stiffness was slightly more with them than with this set up.
I run Pennzoil GL4 Syncromesh oil in the transmission, and it works very well.
The transmission is a '71 833 out of a 340 Duster that is all stock and in good shape.
I also would recommend the Dakota pilot bearing that installs in the crank register and remove the pilot bushing. Some people say don't do it, but, i have had zero problems with it.
The whole set up including all of the minor mods i made makes no unusual noises or vibrations associated with the clutch throwing off the balance of the engine etc.
Overall, i'm happy with it.
Thanks again,
Tom.

P.S.
We could exchange phone numbers and talk some more if you want........or you can come down here and try it out and see how you like driving it, and make your decision for yourself! :D
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Thanks for all the great info Tom, its been so long since I put my fresh 340 4speed set up in I can't remember for sure but I think it was a McCloud plate and disc set up and it performed well for me but if I was going to change my set up during this build would be the time to do it. Mostly I was looking for a little less pedal pressure since this 54 year old leg isn't what it was when I was in my 20's when I parked the car, lol!

Maybe will run into each other at some of the swaps or shows and I will contact you Tom if I need some more info. You can tell by my build I'm a little way off the goal this year being to get the shell into paint before winter.

Thanks Tom
 
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needsaresto said:
There is a local guy who has a cobra /427 side oiler. He installed a centre force....it lasted 4 months LOL!!! Probably the way he drives it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if you drive anything like an animal and abuse it, nothing will last......:violent1:
 
Swinger340Canuc said:
Thanks for all the great info Tom, its been so long since I put my fresh 340 4speed set up in I can't remember for sure but I think it was a McCloud plate and disc set up and it performed well for me but if I was going to change my set up during this build would be the time to do it. Mostly I was looking for a little less pedal pressure since this 54 year old leg isn't what it was when I was in my 20's when I parked the car, lol!

Maybe will run into each other at some of the swaps or shows and I will contact you if Tom if I need some more info. You can tell by my build I'm a little way off the goal this year being to get the shell into paint before winter.

Thanks Tom
Click to expand...

I'm 53, so the lighter pedal was a concern to me, especially since i've had my left knee scoped 2 times for damaged cartilage.
It is lighter than the McCloud set up from what i remember, i don't have one side to side to compare.
I think you would like it in your application............:cheers:
Yeah, we'll run across each other one of these days, i don't get up to your neck of the woods very often though.
Let me know if you need anything for your project Dan, i just might have it, you never know!
Tom.
 
Dartnut said:
I'm 53, so the lighter pedal was a concern to me, especially since i've had my left knee scoped 2 times for damaged cartilage.
It is lighter than the McCloud set up from what i remember, i don't have one side to side to compare.
I think you would like it in your application............:cheers:
Yeah, we'll run across each other one of these days, i don't get up to your neck of the woods very often though.
Let me know if you need anything for your project Dan, i just might have it, you never know!
Tom.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Tom, my good bud Kevin (scatpacker) has come thru for some of the many missing pieces, its crazy how much stuff we discarded on these cars back in the 70's when we were messing, ahhhhhh, rodding them up. Thanks for the offer I may take you up on it.

Cheers Danny.
 
Hello dartnut guitar guy here from rust panels thread finally found time to scope out youre thread. I really like the green kg8 color I don't think I have ever seen it before. Sure would like to see it fresh. Are you gonna paint it that color? Keep up the good work I will follow your thread as time allows Ray
 
Thanks for the interest, Guitar Guy, If and when i ever paint it, it will be the original color of Dark Sherwood Green Metallic (KG8).
I just brought the car out from storage and will be driving it soon after i give it the once over and a bath......lol
There will be more updates in the future for sure, so keep watching!
 
I love this thread Dartnut. You give me the inspiration to keep pushing along on mine. Super nice sport. Really good work. I love the color combo of sherwood green, and white stripes with white interior.
 
Good to see peeps still posting on this thread. This is a great one,hands on guy!
 
Thanks for the compliments, guys!
I still drive the car regularly, i've done a few more things to it and haven't gotten around to posting any updates.
maybe i should get off my butt and do some posting, seeing that people are still reading the thread!
 
I have been working on a 1974 Scamp for a friend, replacing the torsion bar cross member, torsion bars, brake lines and other rotted out floor sections. All that was left was the brake cable. The cable had been tie-wrapped to the torsion bar on one end the other dangling in mid-air.
It has been a long time since I had worked on this model but in the past had a 75 Duster as DD. Great car it was till rust did it in.

We looked thru FABO in search of the primary parking brake cable routing and mounting point. Happy to say that as a result of your build thread post # 17 we are now able to solve the mystery of where it is routed thru the cross member.
With any luck at all the car should be back running this week after 20 years stored in a garage.

Thanks for the info! James
 
needsaresto said:
There is a local guy who has a cobra /427 side oiler. He installed a centre force....it lasted 4 months LOL!!! Probably the way he drives it.
Click to expand...

I got 150,000 miles on the stocker in my 94 chevy pickup. Owned it since new. Either this guy doesnt know how to drive a stick or he's an effin animal with it all the time. Some people just need 2 pedals, and a slushbox.
 
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moparmat2000 said:
I got 150,000 miles on the stocker in my 94 chevy pickup. Owned it since new. Either this guy doesnt know how to drive a stick or he's an effin animal with it all the time. Some people just need 2 pedals, and a slushbox.
Click to expand...
Yup. Animal and that side
oiler ain't stock lol
 
sprntpshr said:
I have been working on a 1974 Scamp for a friend, replacing the torsion bar cross member, torsion bars, brake lines and other rotted out floor sections. All that was left was the brake cable. The cable had been tie-wrapped to the torsion bar on one end the other dangling in mid-air.
It has been a long time since I had worked on this model but in the past had a 75 Duster as DD. Great car it was till rust did it in.

We looked thru FABO in search of the primary parking brake cable routing and mounting point. Happy to say that as a result of your build thread post # 17 we are now able to solve the mystery of where it is routed thru the cross member.
With any luck at all the car should be back running this week after 20 years stored in a garage.

Thanks for the info! James
Click to expand...
Glad to have helped you, to me, this is what build threads are all about.........
 
Dartnut said:
And the black 318 4 door that i won my class bracket racing it in Spokane, Washington back in the late 80's!
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????

I have lived in the Spokane area most of my life. Did you live here or travel to race?

BTW, love the build, just reading it after you linked to it in the "Stock or not" thread. Have to say, there is a whole lot of similarities between your car and mine. Some of the pictures gave me goosebumps thy were so similar to one's I took.

Back to reading. :D
 
DionR said:
????

I have lived in the Spokane area most of my life. Did you live here or travel to race?

BTW, love the build, just reading it after you linked to it in the "Stock or not" thread. Have to say, there is a whole lot of similarities between your car and mine. Some of the pictures gave me goosebumps thy were so similar to one's I took.

Back to reading. :D
Click to expand...
Thanks for enjoying my build.
It would be great to meet up with you and see your car one of these days!
to answer your questions, I traveled 180 miles one way to race.
I used to go to Spokane Raceway Park a lot back in the day from Canada. (the locals called me nuts) lol.
And, I used to hang out with some guys in Post Falls, Idaho and usually spent the night there.
For quite awhile it was go down there and race on Saturday, hang out with them after, and drive home on Sunday.
I did this every 2 weeks in the summer for a couple of years.
I was also there when Big Daddy blew over his Top Fuel car in the traps during the ''World Finals'' that they used to have.
Ahhh........the good old days!
I would have to find and scan some pictures if they exist, i lost the majority of them and the trophies etc, in a house fire years ago.
 
Would be fun to meet up sometime. Hope is to have my car road trip worth before this summer, and if so, who knows the trouble I could get in. :)

Who did you hang with in Post Falls? Only name I can think of that direction is Mark T, but don't remember if he is in Post Falls or CD'A.

Do you ever remember an orange 340 Duster with strobe stripes and an Air Grabber hood and "Cargasm" for a license plate? That was my brother's. I got into Mopars because of him and that Duster. Went to shows with him when I was in H.S. and until the end of '87 when I joined the Navy. Should have been some overlap between us at some point.

Never made it to the "Finals" but I sure remember when they were going on.

If you aren't aware, the city took possession of SRP several years ago and (I think) put the owner in jail for tax evasion or something. Now it is Spokane County Raceway and has gone through several managers. I try and go once in a while, actually ran my Duster at the Friday Night Drags last year.

Here is a current picture before our local club show. No stripes, but some interesting similarities to yours.

IMAG0593.jpg


And a dirty motor shot:

Duster 021.jpg
 
DionR said:
Would be fun to meet up sometime. Hope is to have my car road trip worth before this summer, and if so, who knows the trouble I could get in. :)

Who did you hang with in Post Falls? Only name I can think of that direction is Mark T, but don't remember if he is in Post Falls or CD'A.

Do you ever remember an orange 340 Duster with strobe stripes and an Air Grabber hood and "Cargasm" for a license plate? That was my brother's. I got into Mopars because of him and that Duster. Went to shows with him when I was in H.S. and until the end of '87 when I joined the Navy. Should have been some overlap between us at some point.

Never made it to the "Finals" but I sure remember when they were going on.

If you aren't aware, the city took possession of SRP several years ago and (I think) put the owner in jail for tax evasion or something. Now it is Spokane County Raceway and has gone through several managers. I try and go once in a while, actually ran my Duster at the Friday Night Drags last year.

Here is a current picture before our local club show. No stripes, but some interesting similarities to yours.

View attachment 1715283829

And a dirty motor shot:

View attachment 1715283830
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting the pics, DionR, very nice looking car you have there.
The engine compartment is almost a mirror image of mine.
Maybe p.m. me with your contact info and we can B.S. on the phone sometime.

The guys i used to hang out in Post Falls had the last name of Hansen, and they were identical twin brothers.
Both even had '70 Super Bees and both were 383 4 speed cars.
One was Yellow, and one was Brown.
I can't say that i remember your brother's car, but i do remember a few that raced there every weekend.
One of the cars was a silver '69 Road Runner with ''Sugar Bear'' on the side of it and a chubby guy raced it all of the time.
Another was an old '30s coupe that was a orangy red that had ''Bach Bros.'' on the side of it.
The top was severely chopped on it, and it was fast.

As for the owner at the time, his name was Orville something and he was a sheister then.
Sounds like he would be the kind of guy that would be into tax evasion............

My brother still goes there a couple of times a year, i haven't been to Spokane for almost 15 years, but i would like to go again some time in the future.
So, what did your car run?
I'm thinking my Dart Sport would run about a low 15 second pass and that's about it.
I would be surprised if it even ran high 14s. It's pretty mild.
 
Don’t remember the brothers.

Sugar Bear passed away several years ago. Can’t say I remember the coupe.

To be clear, my brother has always been more of a show trophy guy, so we didn’t go tot the track often. His car felt fast, but I couldn’t even tell you if it actually ever ran. I remember going to the track once and finding that it was pumping ATF out of the case so fast we had to stop and refill it to get it home, so we didn’t run that day.

What does your brother drive?

My Duster ran high 14’s, I think. Drawing a blank, have to go look for the time slips. That was with a 2.71 rear gear and an OD 4 speed that didn’t like to shift at higher rpms. And the motor is really more a truck motor than a muscle car motor. Original block with rebuilder (low compression) pistons, Magnum R/T heads, an OEM roller cam out of a 2000 Ram, and the MP dual plane Magnum intake. So, similar to the MP 300 HP crate motor, with less compression.
 
Found the time slips by accident this weekend. Best run of the night was 14.844 @ 90.80. Not the best. The 2.71 rear gear really hurt me with the OD trans as I wasn't really getting into 3rd (1:1) until just before the line, and the syncro's are so worn it wouldn't shift at times. It was still fun though.
 
DionR said:
Found the time slips by accident this weekend. Best run of the night was 14.844 @ 90.80. Not the best. The 2.71 rear gear really hurt me with the OD trans as I wasn't really getting into 3rd (1:1) until just before the line, and the syncro's are so worn it wouldn't shift at times. It was still fun though.
Click to expand...
That's what it's all about.............
The fun!
 
Years later and still one of my favorite threads. I hope the car is still being enjoyed as it should. :)
 
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