Project 440DD

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Holy schnikes! D.B, what that conversion kit,set you back? That's beautiful!
 
Abodybomber said:
Holy schnikes! D.B, what that conversion kit,set you back? That's beautiful!
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Kit is from Gerst Tubular Suspensions. Built 100 % in the USA, Iowa matter of fact. Carl Gerst makes them, everything is Tig welded and really, over built for strength. Everything is boxed, gussetted where needed. I compared it to the Hemidenny(which is another nice setup btw) and the RMS Alterkation in personal, I must say, unibiasedly as possible. This one is a tad heavier and again, really built stoutly.

Every kit is custom built per order. a Kit like mine, around 3 grand, give or take a couple hundred. He's got several different brake options and that's a lot of where the money comes in.

I didn't pay near that, I got one as a hellava deal, basically I had something he needed and I threw a little cash ontop of that. Was gonna get one of hemidenny's factory spindle coil over kits, but the deal on this was waaaaaaaaay too good to pass up.
 
dukeboy_318 said:
Kit is from Gerst Tubular Suspensions. Built 100 % in the USA, Iowa matter of fact. Carl Gerst makes them, everything is Tig welded and really, over built for strength. Everything is boxed, gussetted where needed. I compared it to the Hemidenny(which is another nice setup btw) and the RMS Alterkation in personal, I must say, unibiasedly as possible. This one is a tad heavier and again, really built stoutly.

Every kit is custom built per order. a Kit like mine, around 3 grand, give or take a couple hundred. He's got several different brake options and that's a lot of where the money comes in.

I didn't pay near that, I got one as a hellava deal, basically I had something he needed and I threw a little cash ontop of that. Was gonna get one of hemidenny's factory spindle coil over kits, but the deal on this was waaaaaaaaay too good to pass up.
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3k, is not bad at all, to set up the basic foundation for a big inch wedge( with room,for improvement to boot..) , without the K member/torsion bar/header clearance fiasco. Torsion bars, 3 bills., Schumacher kit ,200+ mods, headers -1000-1500, plus the fight of installation & stress..) Not bad, all things considered, to boot : good suspension..
 
Abodybomber said:
3k, is not bad at all, to set up the basic foundation for a big inch wedge( with room,for improvement to boot..) , without the K member/torsion bar/header clearance fiasco. Torsion bars, 3 bills., Schumacher kit ,200+ mods, headers -1000-1500, plus the fight of installation & stress..) Not bad, all things considered, to boot : good suspension..
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yeah, I added it up, it was gonna cost me close to 2600 to completely rebuild and slightly upgrade my factory suspension (shocks and tubular uppers only being over 1000 of it), still using factory style parts. Plus his motor mounts....built by Schumacher.

That 3k includes the rack as well. Bolts right in.
 
Just talked to Gerst. The k frame is made from 1/4 inch wall tubing. In comparison, RMS alterkation is 1/8in...
 
Well, finally got around to trying to mock up the new front suspension and k frame. Finally got the stock uppers off and low and behold, the frame under where the upper cam bolt mount is, is well rusted out on the drivers side. Looks like more work..........
 
Another beaker creeping back to life. Build it like you want it. Was checking out your grill ideas....any progress?
 
Dartn440 said:
Another beaker creeping back to life. Build it like you want it. Was checking out your grill ideas....any progress?
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a little bit. changed it up some, i'll get some pictures tonight. Looks a lot better, a few tweaks and it'll be ready to use to make my mold so I can make a fiberglass one
 
BIG-B-Barracuda said:
tough one. but interested in seeing a "finished" product
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it'll be quite come time before this is fully done, sadly. I did finally get the GTS fully mocked up, just need to upload the pics. I'm waiting on new upper control arm mounts to come in as well, that is the only spot on the frame thats bad so I think I'll get away with not having to replace it, though for added strength, I may cap it. Also, decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and replace the inner fenders, I'm afraid of what lays under that under coating.
 
Very cool project, I especially like the ideas on the grill and swapping to a '70-'73 tail.
:happy1:
 
small update, didn't get a chance to do much. Spent the awesome weekend weather catching up on outdoor house work(i hate living under trees, my gutters were a clogged mess)

anyway, someone had asked about my grille idea/design, I've changed it up, a little better mock up this time out of foam.


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I also put the finishing touches on the mock up install of the GTS kframe kit. This thing was a super easy install, maybe 30 minutes of work. Granted, nothing is aligned fully yet, I mainly got this in simply to see what it looked like, it'll come back out in a couple weeks.

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IMG_20150912_132523_zpsd8f24362.jpg
 
Finally got my new upper control arm mounts and man are these thing stout. Just need to cut the old out and weld these in.

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I can relate. Seeing the rust on your Dart I was thinking,"wow,this reminds me of my Dart"! I love the front end set up,admit I am kinda jealous. But hey,we all do what we can afford. Kudo's on a great deal!
 
needsaresto said:
I can relate. Seeing the rust on your Dart I was thinking,"wow,this reminds me of my Dart"! I love the front end set up,admit I am kinda jealous. But hey,we all do what we can afford. Kudo's on a great deal!
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Yeah, this honestly wasn't in the budget. A deal fell in place and it worked out, for both parties. With a new baby on the way, I doubt I'll be buying anything else big for a while. but I've got enough parts I can still make progress, looking forward to the coming weekends. :glasses7:
 
The same happened for me,but on a pair of stage vi max wedge port heads. Could not turn it down,bought em and caught flak from the wife,lol. My budget is very limited like yours,but a recent deal for a free Dana 60 surfaced. I have to go get it,but wouldn't you know it my truck needs lots of repair first. Sigh..
 
needsaresto said:
I have to go get it,but wouldn't you know it my truck needs lots of repair first. Sigh..
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I know that feeling. seems like everytime I get free time to work on the dart, my wife's car breaks...or my Jeep needs something....its a never ending cycle..
 
Especially if it's a frigging GMC. I actually made some headway on it today. Have brake light and turn sigs out back,but no running lights anywhere.Almost ready...
 
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