USCT Level 2 kit for Early As!!!

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vntned

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So long story short, USCarTool recently moved practically right across the street from my friends tire shop.

Decided I'd let them add their Level 1 kit, which consists of weld in subframe connectors and torque boxes, to my '64 Dart. Currently they only offer the Level 1 kit for the Early As.

I mentioned that I'd love to have the Level 2 kit as well, and they said they'd be glad to hook me up if I'd let them use my car as a template and give them the car long enough to do it. The Level 2 kit adds front inner fender braces and a front core support brace.

They're also gonna replace my trunk pan and fab some new lower rear quarters.

These guys are super talented and do amazing work!
Hopefully I'll have the car back by the end of January! As I get pictures of their progress I'll try an post them here.

Check them out!

Us Car Tool | Restorations, Unibody Stiffening, Body in White, Restoration Tools


The car in question...

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Nice stance on your 64. Hoping for same with my 65 eventually. Love the way she sits.
What wheels are those and is she mini tubed?
Thanks.
 
The wheels are Cragar Eliminator 500 in a 17x8 with I believe a 4.5" back space. The fronts are 17x7s. I put them on my dart a few years back. Since then I've seen a few other early darts show up with these wheels here on the forums. I'd like to think I started a trend. ;)

The car has not been minitubbed, mainly because I wanted to keep the leafs as far out on the axle as possible for stability as well as being able to run my big adjustable Hellwig sway bar in the back.

I intend on running 255/45s in the back once it's back on the road. Before I was running 245/40s ad they just looked to short.
 
Thanks for info. Those wheels really look nice. My 65 dart has a non a body 8 3/4 that needs to be replaced or narrowed to get stance I want eventually.

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I will be right behind you ordering the Stage 2 kit if they finally start producing the extra pieces for the early A's, I have everything else they offer, very good quality all around!
 
Yes, sounds exciting...Man, they could have toyed with mine too, it hasn't been out of the garage in a year...:-( I tell you having a 2 year old and a Hobby does not mix well.
 
Well I got a chance to go by USCT and check on my Dart today. So far they've got the trunk floor an extensions cut out, new/used extensions in, and the bad part of frame rail cut out. They've got the lower quarter templates in progress.

FYI, USCT is having a free seminar deal this Saturday, 1/14/17, from 9am-1pm. It's on basic body repair patching etc.. If you're any where near Burlington NC, 27249, I'd recommend you come check them out.

Anyways, here are some pics I snapped real quick.

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That's more rust than I was expecting. Did you get the car from Ohio? :)
But you're in good hands. I bought both lower quarter panels (Valiant) from Classic Industries when they had a sale.
 
man so lucky... i have always loved your car. it was my back ground for so ping on my work computer. yes your car helped me decide on those wheels. purchased for my 64 but since have been installed on my 65. one day i will have my rear axle in the car.

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Got to go by USCT today as they had somewhat of an open house and John taught a seminar on hand forming patch panels! It was a lot of fun and super informative. It's really neat to learn how they do what they do, and it just shows the amount of talent and skill it takes to body work the right way. I'm really tempted to try my hand at maybe making a few patch panels for some spare fenders I have.

They also gave us a full showing of their machine shop and demonstrated how their laser table works by cutting and engraving some custom bottle openers for all of us that attended. I look forward to future seminars!


I also managed to sneak over to the dart and check out the progress. The rear frame is officially repaired, and the replacement trunk floor extensions are in. Won't be long!

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Looking good!
Any progress on the inner fender and lower rad supports?
Thanks to your thread I have called a couple times to see if they have them for sale yet, I hope it will be soon
 
They've got a lot of cars under the knife right now, including my car. I'm sure they'll be starting on the Level 2 kit soon, as they are about halfway done with the metal repair they're doing for me.
 
you can be our USCT liason....tell them to sign up as a vendor.
 
I swung by USCT this morning to check on the dart, as well as drop off a little more work for them! I'm sure they are staring to get tired of seeing my face every few days, but I'm just so excited to see the progress on my car that I can't help myself.

Anyways, I dropped off a pair of front fenders that have the trim holes in the wrong places for my dart. They're gonna fill those holes for me. Easy work for those guys I'm sure. I probably would've done more damage than good if I tried it myself.

Also got to see the progress on my car. The trunk floor is now in and was being finished up, and the rear torque boxes had been welded in. They said they were gonna try and get the frame connectors and front torque boxes welded in today. After that, they've gotta fab my lower rear quarters. Then they start on designing the fender braces and front core support.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I was to busy talking to do anything productive...

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Even though USCT's Level 1 kit isn't advertised as fitting a '62 Valiant, I decided I'd take the chance of buying one to see if it would. It did. Spoke to USCT and let them know. They were quite interested and said the only reason they didn't advertise the product as fitting the "early early" A bodies was because they'd never had the opportunity to try installing one on such an early model. However, it might not fit a '60 or '61 Valiant or Lancer, not sure. The '62s were more like the larger cars than the '60-'61 models were.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the early Lancer/Valiant used the same or similar pan as the '63-'66 As. It would've been easier in manufacturing I would think.
 
vntned said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the early Lancer/Valiant used the same or similar pan as the '63-'66 As. It would've been easier in manufacturing I would think.
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So vntned, I guess I don't need to worry about hijacking your thread since you were the OP!

I can tell you that the '63-'66 Valiant/Dart pan is about 3" wider than the '60-'62 Valiant/Lancer pan but seemed identical otherwise. I installed a '63-'66 pan on my '62 (couldn't find one specifically for the '62) by cutting off about 1-1/2" on each side. But the difference in pan width didn't seem to cause any problems when I installed the USCT Level 1 kit.
 
It would Be nice to Have all the Strengthening sheet metal avail for these - I am building mine to be a corner carver. I need Rear Trunk Floor Extensions.


Best of Luck!


Greg
 
Swung by and took some pics of the darts progress. The frame connectors and torque boxes are all in. Chris was starting on the quarter panels and he said that they were making progress on the fender supports.

Getting close.

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