Project 440DD

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grumpuscreature said:
Sorry, my bad. Just went back and took a good look at the block. Forget the '18 reference, thought you were putting one in to get mobile for some reason (CRS moment). I will say this however. Having been involved with one clutch explosion, I will never have a car that is expected to see more than 5000 RPM on even a semi regular basis that does not have an SFI approved flywheel, clutch, and bellhousing...
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Yeah, after looking around and seeing how much people want for factory housings, I'm just gonna save up the extra 100-150 bucks and go with a Lakewood scatterproof housing.
 
Well, been cold and slow here. Ended up doing a couple shop improvements over the winter and not much on the car. Built a 2nd story loft to store parts and working on insulating the shop for HVAC finally.

However, the big 440 is currently at the machine shop, waiting for the indy event to try to get me some quarter panels without paying 2 arms and a leg for shipping.
 
Finally got moving on the dart again, ditching the heavy rear bumper.


Anyone ever converted a 74 swinger rear to a 73 or 72 swinger rear?

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You seriously need to invest in a broom and sweep that shop floor.
There is no way I could work with a floor like that.
 
sireland67 said:
You seriously need to invest in a broom and sweep that shop floor.
There is no way I could work with a floor like that.
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Yes yes I do. I moved the dart into the corner over the winter and did a massive add on to the shop. haven't gotten around to cleaning up the mess yet. But yeah, I should probably do that before I trip and break my neck
 
Uploading pics again
 
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Fitting in the new(used) buckets....

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So I got a little bored one day at work while our computer system was down and came up with an idea to change the look of the 74 grille. I've always hated how the grille looked and thought it needed something different.

So over the weekend, I got out the duct tape, cardboard and went to town cutting up one of my many spare grilles.

Now this is just a rough cardboard mock up to see how it looks before I commit to a full fiberglass rendering so it's not perfect but here are a couple pics. Let me know what you all think...... I have two versions, one with turn signals, one without

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I dig the look, but would look at larger more square-ish signals recessed behind the grile and then blacked out or would look at an LED strip center-mounted in the outboard of the center bar... but I'm weird.

dukeboy_318 said:
Now this is just a rough cardboard mock up to see how it looks before I commit to a full fiberglass rendering so it's not perfect but here are a couple pics. Let me know what you all think...... I have two versions, one with turn signals, one without
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Phreakish said:
I dig the look, but would look at larger more square-ish signals recessed behind the grile and then blacked out or would look at an LED strip center-mounted in the outboard of the center bar... but I'm weird.
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I was debating frenching in some round T- signals, maybe similar to the size on the new jeep wranglers.
 
Thank you, for taking the time to by forged pistons. Waiting to see more D B.
 
I've got to get the pics uploaded but the car is finally stripped o a shell entirely and finally up on the body cart I made.

But I've suffered a big set back to my engine build. Went down Saturday to the engine shop that has my 440. Took him a set of rods I'd picked up at a local swap meet for 20 bucks to be checked out.

Well come to find out, my pistons and rods that were taken to him when i took the engine there are now MISSING! We spent 3.5 hours tearing through that guy's shop trying to find them. They have walked away........

But I'm not too mad about it because before I could even say anything, the owner made it right on the spot. Wrote me a check to cover the cost of replacing the pistons and rods and the labor/machine work will be free. This guy is pretty tore up about it. He's been in business since 1971 and says he's never lost a customer's parts before. He's called me now twice since Saturday apologizing. The only thing we can conclude is that another customer grabbed them by mistake. or out of spite. This guy is considered one of the best engine shops in the state. So he's taking it to heart more than I am.
 
dukeboy_318 said:
I've got to get the pics uploaded but the car is finally stripped o a shell entirely and finally up on the body cart I made.

But I've suffered a big set back to my engine build. Went down Saturday to the engine shop that has my 440. Took him a set of rods I'd picked up at a local swap meet for 20 bucks to be checked out.

Well come to find out, my pistons and rods that were taken to him when i took the engine there are now MISSING! We spent 3.5 hours tearing through that guy's shop trying to find them. They have walked away........

But I'm not too mad about it because before I could even say anything, the owner made it right on the spot. Wrote me a check to cover the cost of replacing the pistons and rods and the labor/machine work will be free. This guy is pretty tore up about it. He's been in business since 1971 and says he's never lost a customer's parts before. He's called me now twice since Saturday apologizing. The only thing we can conclude is that another customer grabbed them by mistake. or out of spite. This guy is considered one of the best engine shops in the state. So he's taking it to heart more than I am.
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D.B., I am impressed.. You did enough homework, to find an honest machinist... And he responded with actual phone calls, searching & actual commitment to responsibilities... Just,wow....
 
Abodybomber said:
D.B., I am impressed.. You did enough homework, to find an honest machinist... And he responded with actual phone calls, searching & actual commitment to responsibilities... Just,wow....
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Yeah. I hunted around and took recommendations from several professional dirt racers, drag racers and truck pullers, his name was usually the first one mentioned. Guy knows his stuff. He even let me help him go through every square inch of that building. We moved boxes and stuff that had dust on them 1/2 in thick. He's upset about it for sure. But its really no big deal, stuff can be replaced and I'm not in any hurry for the engine to be done anyway.
 
dukeboy_318 said:
Yeah. I hunted around and took recommendations from several professional dirt racers, drag racers and truck pullers, his name was usually the first one mentioned. Guy knows his stuff. He even let me help him go through every square inch of that building. We moved boxes and stuff that had dust on them 1/2 in thick. He's upset about it for sure. But its really no big deal, stuff can be replaced and I'm not in any hurry for the engine to be done anyway.
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That's honesty, absolutely run with it...Lol, on the nonchalantce ..
 
Anyone ever converted their 74 to a 73 rear?
 
About the rear, you have to change the steel plate, I have not done it, but there is one fella in here at least that has swapped front and back from a 74 down to a 70. Alot of work.
 
Norway-dart said:
About the rear, you have to change the steel plate, I have not done it, but there is one fella in here at least that has swapped front and back from a 74 down to a 70. Alot of work.
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Yeah. I've got to replace my tail panel anyway so it's not gonna add too much I don't think.


I figure I need the

Rear valence
tail panel
bumper
tail lights.
 
72blunblu, not sure if that's spelled correctly. Did it. There's a build thread here somewhere.
 
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