MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...

[goldduster318]

I'm glad it will be done, but holy crap they are taking a long time. I just don't get why it would take them 10 months to do this. I installed pretty much the whole TVS on my back in the garage, aftermarket driveshaft and 1350 yoke, TTI exhaust, replaced the spare tire well, converted the car to EFI with my own kit (MS3 Pro), built my own fuel lines, custom trunk floor mod for the aeromotive phantom, tuned it, aligned the car 3x in my garage, and drove 1300 miles since you dropped yours off. And I work 40 hrs a week and commute 1.5 hrs a day. Oh yeah and I basically rebuilt half my friend's 1971 Demon too.

The borgeson box is awesome. in my top 5 best mods. I also have 1.06 torsion bars and I love them. You should be happy with those mods. I wouldn't want to see your bill though lol.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Yeah, unfortunately when I bought my T-bars, everyone was using 1.06" and said the bigger stuff is just way too stiff. Shortly after, the adjustable shocks came to the market and I got 25% off at last year's Thanksgiving sale. When people started putting the new shocks on, they started bumping up T-bars. We'll see how this does. My front end should be a tad lighter due to some aluminum parts on the 360. I'm going to remind them to move the battery to the trunk.

As for the steering pump, I believe we're going to go with an aftermarket unit. I don't recall which one, but they had something planned for it. They've installed the Borgeson box in a couple of GM vehicles before they switched over to ADR or something.

I don't want to talk down on Hotchkis because every time I go in there after they complete something, I'm amazed by their work. Part of the problem is that they only have one builder/installer there who does all of the work. He's a great guy and has a sharp eye for detail and doing stuff right. The other part of the problem, from my point-of-view is their priorities. In their shop, customer product installation takes #1 priority, followed by the boss's personal cars, and then long term project builds aka my Dart. If I were to have a complaint, that would be the only one. Granted, if I were to do the same work, it would have probably taken me 5-10 years. Maybe never even finishing.

The bill between Hotchkis and IMM is pretty astronomical. Luckily, I made and save all of my money from my internships in college and don't really have many expenses now as I live at home and work full-time that it's not as big of a hit. But once I get my car back, I am never taking it back to a shop again. Just way too much money spent.

I'm looking forward to getting the car back. I've been aching to drive it for years now. Hopefully, the end of February deadline wasn't just blowing smoke. If anything, I'd think they'd be pretty tired rolling my car all around their shop every day.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Had a long day today. Drove all the way out to Indio to pick up the engine and drove all the way back to Santa Fe Springs to drop it off at Hotchkis. Engine looks real good and Brian was great to talk to. It's a 408 making 523 hp @ 6000 rpm and 522 ft lbs of torque at 4500 rpm.

Crank: Scat 4340 4"
Rods: Scat 4340 I-beams 6.123"
Pistons: Icon Forged Dish 4.030"
Camshaft: Custom Hydraulic Rollers by Comp Cam
Lifters: Morel
Timing Set: Double Roller
Oil Pump-Pickup-Pan: Milodon Road Race Pan and Pickup with Melling Pump

Heads: Engine Quest/IMM
Intake Valves: 2.02
Exhaust Valves: 1.60"
Rocker Arms: 1.6 Chromoly
Intake: Port-Matched Edelbrock LD4B
Carb: Holley 850 DP
Timing: 34 deg

Headers: TTI shorties

 

[MuuMuu101]

I talked to the guys at Hotchkis and really pushed them for that late-February date. They said, if anything mid-March and they'd try their best to get me at Muscle Cars at the strip.

 

[gold66cuda]

Thats going to be a mean machine, keep pushing the boys!

 

[MuuMuu101]

Thats going to be a mean machine, keep pushing the boys!

There's still quite a bit of work. They're working on a customer's car and the boss's '72 Barracuda. Both of which should supposedly be finished next week. The cage isn't done. They wanted to add another tube to the side impact swing member to better triangulate the cage and prevent it from caving in on me in case of a side hit.

Besides that, I talked to the guys about plans. Borgeson box is going in and I told them to gusset and strengthen the K-frame while they're at it. We're going to go with a Be Cool radiator. We went over some other things, but I forgot. Lol.

 

[gold66cuda]

Its great progress but yeah a bit more to do, remind them your a customer too, you would think working on the bosses car isn't what pays the bills.

 

[sireland67]

Sound like you keep adding more stuff for the shop to do, it is going to be a nice driving car when you are done.

 

[goldduster318]

cool deal on the engine...hope it's all together sooner rather than later.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Sound like you keep adding more stuff for the shop to do, it is going to be a nice driving car when you are done.

No, the engine's been in the plan since the car was first dropped off over there. Whether or not it was getting a supercharger, I took it to IMM to make sure all is good. As I later found out, all wasn't. The shop and I discussed, when the car was dropped off, about the steering box and I've been reminding them every other visit to make sure it's on the back of their mind. Same with the radiator, we've discussed that when the engine first arrived. If anything, the only thing I added was telling them to gusset and strengthen the K-frame to reduce the flex.

 

[MuuMuu101]

cool deal on the engine...hope it's all together sooner rather than later.

I agree.

 

[prrc]

Looks great, Can't wait to see it back on the road.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Looks great, Can't wait to see it back on the road.

I can't either, whenever that may be.

I talked to them again today, applying that pressure. Well, the '61 El Camino that has been in the shop for about a month or so was getting aligned today and should be done. However, the boss's Barracuda isn't done yet and won't be done till next Monday. They said, starting a week from Tuesday they'll get back on it. I told them to get on it. They're already ordering the PS box and radiator (of course charging more money). At this rate, there's no way the car is making it to MCATS. They still have to finish off a couple of the tubes in the side members of the cage. If anything, I may make it to Willow Springs for Spring Fling.

 

[67autocross]

It seems like they have had your car for almost a year, it sucks to be out that kind of money and still not be driving it.

 

[MuuMuu101]

It seems like they have had your car for almost a year, it sucks to be out that kind of money and still not be driving it.

It's been at Hotchkis for about 9-10 months. On top of that, I was working on it for almost a year prior to that doing all the suspension and brake upgrades. So, it's been about 1.5-2 years since I've actually driven the car. To say it sucks is kind of an understatement.

 

[67autocross]

I have a car or two that I have lot's of money tied up in that are sitting for various reasons, I now always keep one old car running at any given time so if a project drags you at least have something interesting to drive.

 

[MuuMuu101]

I have a car or two that I have lot's of money tied up in that are sitting for various reasons, I now always keep one old car running at any given time so if a project drags you at least have something interesting to drive.

That's what I would have liked to do, but this is my only fun car at the moment because I don't have room for another car. My daily driver is a 2011 Scion tC and I have no intentions on modifying it besides tires. I autocross it to gain experience, but that's it. I would like to have another car to play around with once this is 90% done, but I don't know if I have the energy in me to do it. I'm already selling off all of my spare A-body parts I won't need to keep me away from buying an early-A wagon or convertible for a cruiser. Plus, I'd rather use the funds to offset the cost of this project, as it's costing me a little more than I was expecting.

I have a couple ideas of projects I'd like after this. Maybe an old Dodge truck as I'm going to need a tow vehicle; however I'd prefer a newer Ram for less maintenance and more comfort. I was also thinking about a VW beetle converted into a Baja Bug as they're super cheap and a small part of me misses the off-roading days in the Baja club I was in college. Maybe something from the 80's like an E30 325is. It's good all around and I could do anything with it (daily, drift, rally cross, autocross, etc.).

If this car ever gets wrecked beyond repair, I will be using all of the insurance money on it to buy a Viper of some sort. Preferably a hardtop.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Well, things are starting to move now.

 

[sireland67]

It looks good up there, when did they tell you it will be done?

 

[MuuMuu101]

Mid-March.

 

[MuuMuu101]

So, I cringed a little bit when Hotchkis posted about my car on their Facebook page yesterday morning. This is what they said:

Project Dart is beginning! We are getting ready to pull the motor, clean and prep the engine compartment, and drop the New 360 built by Superior Automotive Engineering ! Stay tuned for more build pictures!

I had to post a comment stating it was a 408 built by IMM Engines. I ended up posting it on my page as well stating the correction too. I definitely don't want to discredit IMM for their hard and awesome work. This isn't the first time they mixed this engine up either. When Shannon Hudson first sold me the engine, they posted about his Valiant twice asking what his new mystery motor may be going in. Both times they said he removed his "Supercharged 318." I replied both times telling them it's a 360 sitting in your shop. Lol.

 

[813Demon340]

Are you going to repaint the engine compartment or just clean it up? Glad to see its getting closer to hitting the road!

 

[MuuMuu101]

Are you going to repaint the engine compartment or just clean it up? Glad to see its getting closer to hitting the road!

Still debating about it as I've been discussing that with them. When I saw the pictures it made me want to repaint it, but whatever paint I choose would set the color for this car pretty much in stone if I want to paint the body. I think I want to find a good, available/common, white color to spray the engine bay with. I've always like the Lotus, Aspen White.

 

[goldduster318]

So, I cringed a little bit when Hotchkis posted about my car on their Facebook page yesterday morning. This is what they said:



I had to post a comment stating it was a 408 built by IMM Engines. I ended up posting it on my page as well stating the correction too. I definitely don't want to discredit IMM for their hard and awesome work. This isn't the first time they mixed this engine up either. When Shannon Hudson first sold me the engine, they posted about his Valiant twice asking what his new mystery motor may be going in. Both times they said he removed his "Supercharged 318." I replied both times telling them it's a 360 sitting in your shop. Lol.

Yeah, even just saying that the project is "beginning" is pretty cringe-worthy. The rest is just bad.

Hopefully it's done soon.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Talking about paints with them. I'm trying to find some paint to match the exterior but the previous owner didn't write the code on the can he gave me after he sprayed the car. All I know is it's a Deltron 2000 Base Coat. I'm trying to get a color to match it otherwise I might have to go bright white. However, they cleaned about 25 lbs of crud from underneath the car and sprayed it in black.

We're also having problems getting a Borgeson box as Borgeson is on back order after they told us they had it in stock. Summit had it in stock on their website but still hasn't sent it yet. We called Jegs and they don't have one.

Magnaflow isn't going to do the exhaust for my car. The build manager decided to go with Flowmaster as he thought it would sorta-kinda fit and I told him to cancel the order and talk to TTi.

There's some small issues that they're sorting out. They found a giant crack in my K-frame they can repair. They're also going to redo my brake lines, etc. So, they care about their quality of work. They're trying to mock up the proper pedal positions and trans position for the engine to go in the car.

Anyway, out with the old and in with the new. Engine and trans is out.