1963 Dodge Dart !!! Wahoo!

Don't go there! lol, but I'll be happy with a nice looking sbm, but I do admire the experts in the field of building the slant 6 or any engine into something wild!
dne'

 

In the meantime, took a little time to remove the old bushing from the lower control arms. I found a How to in removal:

Here, I supported a large nut by a bolt to weld the nut into place(looks like a washer but is a large nut upside down). Others have welded a thick washer to the lip of the old metal bushing housing. I tried but just broke the lip when pressed.



here the beefy nut is deeper into the old bushing and sloppily welded into place.


Then with a couple of sockets to meet the needs, pressed the old metal thing out.


Now, just need to haul these over the be blasted, but not until I'm ready to take a bunch of stuff over. But with the temps still stupid high, I'll wait, I have plenty to do

 

Go there, go there, go there, go there, go there.

TURBO!!!

 

Turbo 318...
Everyones happy

 

You might be onto something there…

Especially with a big lumpy camshaft.

 

He's an old article on pulling horsepower out of a 318: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mopp-0311-318-engine-buildup-and-dyno-test/

326hp out of stock heads would make that little Dart pretty quick.

 

Ford 9"?
Simple, strong, readily available parts, and easy to set up. You get the extra bonus of 3rd member swaps for various applications.

 

Well, there’s a ford 8” out of a 68 mustang 20 minutes from me, has new brakes, I told the seller that I’d like to come by just for measurements, he’ll be back in town tomorrow, no harm there to look only 100 bucks. If it’s too wide, I’ll pass on it

 

IMHO, pass.

 

But why? I have a 67 mustang with obviously a ford 8”, Posi, looks nice, “easy” to work on, I don’t race it. Besides it’s cheap and close by. If its too wide that will end my search, but same goes for a 9”

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with an 8" for a pure street car. Hell, my hotrod's had an 8" in it since I built it, and it's got close to 450HP, and it's never given me a lick of trouble.

 

Day to day the 8 will do good service. Not as strong or plentiful as the 9 and the ratio's aren't as varied, but still a good unit.
As for the "posi", the stock trac lok in any of the factory ford offerings is absolute crap. The housings were machined thin to accommodate the clutch pack and are a common fail point.
The two piece axle gear on the drivers side has a bad tendency to wipe out the inner axle splines under hard acceleration, poor traction, or when the clutch packs wear out.
I worked in a Bronco specialty shop for many years in a former life and saw a LOT of Ford 9" diffs. Replacing axles with bad splines and whole diffs when the carrier split was not an uncommon repair.

 

Kind of funny, I had the builder make my 67 stang a posi, but I never have once tried to "smoke" the tires~ I really didn't need a posi other than just wanting it. If this diff in question was to work, I'd probably just leave it in its stock form, probably a 2:79? We do more driving to car shows that are on the freeway than around town. I'd pull the chunk out to inspect, new axle bearings, etc., If it even came to that. Won't be able to see the axle until tomorrow afternoon,
but I'm thinking to go ahead and order the leaf spring relocation brackets and fab them into place.

https://www.manciniracing.com/uscartosprek2.html

the next two pictures are not mine, but shows the relocation to gain more room for a little wider tire/s.

 

Yeah, the trac-lok is garbage. Always has been, they worked *ok* when they were new, but they're not worth repairing/rebuilding, or if you're pushing any horsepower. If it's already in there, for a street car, just run it, and if/when it goes, replace it with something else (locker, truetrac, whatever.) the breadth of choices aren't there for the 8" like they are for the 9" but they're not exactly rare either.

 

Finally got to install (temporarily) the motor supports for my 318 "conversion". They put the engine up a little higher which I will have to address recessing the area where the distributor goes. Otherwise, I've pulled the engine/trans back out, engine back on the engine stand, back to 102 and climbing and I'm back in the house! lol

https://www.engine-swaps.com/collections/all

 

@Dne007 what are your thoughts for body rust removal? Blasting, dipping, something else?

 

Stakebed, when I did my Triumph TR6 at our previous home, I didn't have a means to get to a blaster, so I bought a very large pop up tent with sides, piped my fresh air with a fairly decent respirator. My compressor didn't not keep up very well, but got the bad places, let's not mention the mess it made with sand everywhere! I had used one of those bucket blasters from HF, holds about 4olbs? Hated that darned thing!

When we lost our house due to Harvey, we moved out further and we have a nice place,(understatement) but just around the corner from us is Cyfair coatings and blasting! Less than a mile away! They have blasted everything since we've been here. The large bodies always are on a rotisserie, for the blasters sakes and for them to do a jam up job. I really don't have much of a choice, so it's always blasting due to convenience. I've never had any other means performed. I see dustless blasting on FB, but can't imagine that being done here at our home.
https://www.cy-faircoatings.com/

They say they charge more if not on a rotisserie! I think they do odds n ends stuff like I and other people have for side money~ the large things, and I'm talking large is where the money is at.


http://www.classiccarsandtools.com/2023/01/20/uses-of-a-rotisserie/

I hope this answers your question~ seems like everything I've restored, needed blasting, I couldn't just scuff the paint and re-shoot Won't be too long when I take the Dart parts over, but not until the heat subsides

 

Yep, that answers my query.