My latest project: 1970 Dodge Dart 512 C.I. Bracket Racer

Some of you may remember that I used to have a 1972 Dodge Dart which I drag raced.

Well, I got the itch to get back into racing Our new house is only 3 miles from the Speedworld racetrack and I can faintly hear them running the cars from our house. It was just too much for me to bare I haven't been doing much in the way of local fourwheeling, so I thought drag racing would give me something to do on the weekends.

A couple weeks ago I bought a 1970 Dodge Dart off of E-bay. The car was located in New Jersey, a mere 2500 miles from home I decided this was the right car for me mainly because I really needed to get out of the house on my own for a couple weeks and this was just the excuse I needed

The car is going to be stripped and repainted. It will get new quarter panels, at least one rocker, one floorpan, new door hinges, fiberglass hood, bumpers, and most likely trunk lid as well.

The new color will most likely be orange, but it just may end up being red, like my old one. Plans for it include a 650HP, 512 CI, big block Mopar and an automatic transmission. I'm just not sure if it will be from BB or SB or whether or not it will even be a Mopar I plan on ditching the torsion bar front suspension for an aftermarket K member which gives you rack and pinion steering, upgraded brakes, and the choice of coilover shocks or airbag suspension.

The rear end in the car right now is a trussed Mopar 8 3/4", with a three link suspension and coilovers.

 

[Rick]

Fuel cell and pump are back in, fuel lines are routed, and tranny lines are routed to the cooler. I'm stuck waiting for parts to finish up the electrical system.

It's gettin'' there

 

[rookieshooter]

Here's a pic of the shut off.

Flaming River...good stuff.

 

[Rick]

Time for more show and tell...

I need to get my engine back before I can finalize the harnesses. The machinist is supposedly going to get to it next week.

I'm running Autometer Elite series gauges. They will be able to send data to the AFR logger so I can match RPM, water temp and fuel pressure with the AFR graph. The gauges also have "pro-control". Pro-control switches external devices on and off when the gauge reaches a pre-set max and min, pressure, voltage, or temperature. I'm using it to automatically switch on the transmission cooler fan. For now I'll be doing the engine fan manually until I see what kind of temp the engine likes to run at.

I decided to change master cylinders. I had been getting some bad reports about the one I had having problems with leaks. That was my excuse to get some more bling, a nice Wilwood master cylinder.

It's really coming along. I can almost hear her now

 

[Rick]

..

 

[IZwack]

Fuel lines ran, electrical and ignition in - time to fire it up!

 

[Rick]

Just need an engine to connect it all to

 

[IZwack]

Ahaha oh, I forgot it was sent out for some work.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Very nice, but don't you think the Pumpkin needs a little TLC before Moab?

 

[techieman33]

It's looking great, I think the diff cover needs some paint or powdercoat though. Jon just did a cover like that for vroomzoomboom and it looks great.

 

[Rick]

..

 

[offroader_69_me]

Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:d

 

[Rick]

The machine shop called. They've replaced the cam bearings and milled the heads. Compression is now at 13.5:1. We're just waiting on a new set of pushrods. Should be back in my hands within a week or so

 

[explorerguy89]

=o''''

 

[Rick]

Still waiting on the engine... The pushrods they ordered came in too long They've been sent back and we're waiting on another set.

 

[RangerX]

Video gives a different perspective from the pics. Good blues on it, I didn't know you were a blues guy too. :smoke:
You must be getting antsy being so close and having delays.

 

[Rick]

Yeah, not having the engine has held me back a bit. Since I haven't been able to finalize the wiring I can't install the dash, or windshield.

 

[Rick]

Bled the brakes today and all is well... Pheew! I was worried about all the double flares I made being leak free, but there were no problems at all: I also filled the rear diff with gear oil.



She's got her first fluids in her!! A noteworthy event, kind of like first feeding time for a baby

 

[BrooklynBay]

What brand are you using for the fluids? Is everything synthetic?

 

[Rick]

My Strange S60 came with Lucas 85-140w so I'm using that. I'm using Wilwood 600+ Dot 4 in the brake system.

 

[Rick]

Here's a link to the Wilwood fluid: http://www.wilwood.com/PDF/Flyers/fl214.pdf