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.

 

[cybergasm]

Man that is a long ride back to the timing hut for your time slip.

 

[Turdle]

That was fun. Can we do it again?

 

[Rick]

That was fun. Can we do it again?

Sure, in two weeks

 

[gmanpaint]

That was great! Being able to share that entire deal from start to finish was a treat! Thanks for posting that and letting us live vicariously through you

I never saw what was in the lane next to you, obviously you smoked it's doors off...lol

 

[Rick]

I only came up against one quick car during test and tune, and he broke at the starting line Other than that I ran against a new 'vette a new Charger and a couple others which I don't remember. The 'vette and Charger were no competition at all

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Very nice

 

[BKennedy]

Want to go for a ride?

YES..............Yes I do!!!!

Now I really wish I lived closer. I would be your pit crew chief (when Chief Fakawee wasn't around of course).

 

[ncranchero]

Rick, you and my buddy would get along " like peas and carrots" (Gump)

 

[Rick]

Photos taken by the track photographer last weekend...

 

[ncranchero]

 

[olskool reddevil]

Thank You

Rick, thank you very much for letting me ride along with you . I haven't been down the 1320 in quite some time and it brought back memories. Beautiful just beautiful! keep the vids comming and good luck in the brackets

 

[GJarrett]

I see air under the front tires in that second photo!

 

[Rick]

WOW!! Talk about a stand up company...

I sent my first converter back to PTC. They called today and asked if I wanted a full refund, or a new converter. Since I now have a converter which works great, from a different manufacturer, I took them up on the full refund

 

[techieman33]

That's great news

 

[Anime]

That's unfortunate the PTC converter didn't work out for you, and you spent all that time pulling and replacing the engine and tranny because of it, but on the plus side, that's not bad it only took a few tries and switching to a different one from another company to get it working the way you wanted, not to mention getting that refund so you weren't stuck with something you couldn't use and would have to sell at a loss. You also got to improve your skills and the time it takes you to take it apart and put back together. Really though, it's not a bad thing so much of it was checked that thoroughly because of it. The peace of mind that everything is working perfectly should let you get into it that much more behind the wheel.

Did you ever get a dry or curb weight on the car? I'm curious to know since that and the timeslips might give a clue as to the power and torque the beast is making.

Overall from the vids it seems pretty balanced, enough power to spin 'em on demand, but enough grip to hook up and do wheelies! You made some really good choices for setup and equipment to have it doing so well. Mid 10's should make for a fun bracket racer for sure, but I do think with more tuning you'll go even lower, maybe even just under the 10 second mark with enough tweaking, under the right conditions...

 

[Rick]

Ran a new personal best today!

10.42 @ 126.55

Todays runs were dedicated to John Johnstone... RIP Aquaman...

 

[BigRondo]

Congrats.

 

[Rick]

Shots from Sunday's outing...

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Why don't they make drag cars with more front wheel travel so you never lose steering?

 

[Rick]

No wheelies? What fun would that be??

Seriously... I would say it's because of class rules and expense. The fastest cars with full tube chassis and custom suspensions don't do wheelies, they just scoot forward.