1963 Dodge Dart !!! Wahoo!

I haven't had much exciting things going on~ I finally got the pressure plate which was modified by Carolina Clutch and Kentucky clutch. The pressure plate is a diaphragm type, the first was incorrect, but this time it is correct. I installed it and using my portapower as previously works fine.
A while back, I had ordered what I thought was the correct shorter clutch fork, but was incorrect , another item for my shelf. I had two clutch forks and shortened one as seen below. I have re-enforced it from the back side too. I wish I had a way to measure poundage when pushing. IT seems to push easily with my portapower, but that's kind of dumb thinkin. lol

I was informed by a person on the ForAbodies that this clutch fork was for a truck and that I should find one for a car.


I wound up cutting a second one that I had and seems to work fine.



I wound up re-enforcing the shorter one later on.




However, once I've figured how to mount the slave cylinder and test it, then I can re-install the engine/trans, now that would be progress!

 

Hi again I got my front bumper today, used of course, of course it's used !!! It just need a little attention then will be painted matt black, luckily I have the front brackets. I wish my rear bumper had been in this good of shape!
This was on ebay and asking price was 250 with 90ish s/h. There was no make a bid, so I was watching this bumper for a week or so and it had a bunch of "lookers" or whatever they're called. I took a chance, wrote the guy (paul) and told him my story that my dad said, "it doesn't hurt to ask", so I made an offer of 175. Though it still cost right at 300 because of shipping, I just wasn't having any luck finding a bumper!!!

Paul the seller wrote back: "Hi. Your dad was right. is the 175 an offer? I would end the listing if that is the case. Thanks Paul. Great job on the Dart"

 

Hi guys, been working on the slave cylinder, I should be able to re-install the engine/trans later today, it's been taking up so much room, be nice to get that where it belongs
Cutting and drilling 5/16 plate is a pain. The pink/fushia slave is from speedway and had very good reviews. It's 7/8" bore, the other one one is I'd say 3/4" bore. I made the bracket to work with both just in case
one doesn't travel as far as need be. I'm waiting on a couple 11/16 spacers, the 3/4" nuts were just around and really need to be 11/16. I don't know what length hose I need until I re-install the engine/trans later today. I'm anxiously nervous to test my fabrication and choice in hydraulics. If not, back to the drawing board, hopefully not. I hope the pink one works best. The bore of the clutch master is 7/8, so I've read.

oh, the ardvark depression where the rod goes through, I could not find that concave washer so I bought a chevrolet rocker arm pivot and fits really good


This is from Speedway, had good ratings and was only 60 bucks! It has the 7/8 i.d.





this slave was on, I really bought it for the pushrod, but now it could be used if necessary.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002EP10X0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

I think I've done enough for today~ I can say I can put a slant 6(mine anyway) in record time. I had to install the exhaust to make sure all is well coming down from the clutch master.

this seemed like the logical direction for the slave inlet



Racetune makes a 90 degree fitting AN-4 which (I will order in a few minutes), just ordered it along with two different length AN-4 hoses



I will be wrapping the exhaust eventually or some sort of heat shield for the slave



I'd say it looks pretty beefy I'll soon remove it all and paint the parts, Allen screws are coming to mount the 5/16 bracket to the bell housing and of course the correct spacers.



When it comes time, I think I can take the slave and master and bench bleed them, then re-install and just bolt up and push the pedal.

 

G'day maties

Now the dart will be on the 4 post lift for a while. I only put the hood on to fit up the hydraulic lift things~ however ran low on screws.

Come Monday I hope to put the order in for the driveshaft
C








If it weren't for Mineallmine on the ForAbodies forum, I don't think I would have ever found these clips/retainers ! Finally got the over the rear glass trim installedJust nice to have that out of the way! Back to the garage

DMPS-9704-270271 Mopar 1967-69 Dodge Dart Rocker Molding Clips - dantesparts.com
Find DMPS-9704-270271 Mopar 1967-69 Dodge Dart 1971-73 Dodge Charger Rocker Molding Clips and other parts you need at dantesparts.com, Mullica Hill, NJ.
dantesparts.com









Other stuff: got the wiring harness and trunk battery kit(includes cables). I'm moving too quickly now, need to slow it down a bit!!!

 

Nope, nope, nope.
Cut it all apart. Altered wheelbase with injected Hemi.

Nice work Dené. I like your gray underside (the car's, not yours ).

 

Thank Joe oo yeah, a hemi!

I've been moving rather slowly lately, but making progress a little at a time.
I got Gary and my brother to put the hood on as I wanted to install hydraulic lift props, which worked out really well.




A friend on the ForAbodies gave me these door panels, they were originally white. I cleaned them and sprayed with SEM satin black. I know there's a few holidays that I need to take care off.


Right now I'm working on wiring the car, kind of slow as the temps have gone up a bit and Dne' don't like the heat! lol

 

Here's my figurin on the struts

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C56P22XJ?tag=fabo03-20

the orange is an existing hole which I tried first and I could barely bring the hood down.
then smart me, drilled the purple hole and made very little difference.
So, the yellow hole was there already and I thought, well, better to try it than drill another hole~ and it worked great, I can put the hood at any height and it stays put, but I don't know how these
struts work, or how long they last. So I need to figure a way to be able to remove the lower part when the fenders are in place when the struts go bad. The last color is just the pivot point, this would make a great physics question!



The sides are different, I am going to put a spacer in, I ordered a 1/2 spacer to bring the bottom out a tad. Don't really have to.
Drivers side



passenger side

 

Good work ma’am it’s coming together nicely.

 

Are you leaving the salve sexy purple? I like the color

 

I will definitely leave it if it works I'm still waiting on a 90 degree fitting, it won't arrived until Saturday!! It's just a little fitting, why so long! lol After I test it and it works, then I'll remove it, paint the raw metal, pretty it up Still waiting on the driveshaft shop to contact me~ I've used them for two other driveshafts. ONce the driveshaft is installed, I can fill the trans, and can start the engine by means of Hotwiring I guess, then take the transmission through the gears and make sure the rear axle does what it's supposed to do. Lot's going on, keeps me thinkin
Today, work on wiring, ugh, I need to get out there before the heat sets in

 

Finally got this thing working regarding my hydraulic clutch system~ just need to get some hardened bolts and also bolt from behind the slave cylinder. Plus I have new spacers for the slave cylinder.
I was all by myself regarding bleeding the system, I was able to reach in through the steering column hole with my left arm and bleed with my right, took a while, then suddenly it firmed up!
Time for lunch~

 

Hi gang, I moved the dart into the AC garage, just getting a little too warm for me. I didn't see much reason not to install the fenders and valance~ I need to see where I'll run the front wiring. The fenders are being held on by next to nothin, but aren't going anywhere. I'll leave the hood on for now, kind of hard to store anyways. I pretty much figured out the hydraulic hood props~ I'll post a pic later. I'm happy to see there's plenty of room for the condensor(whenever I get one), even an electric fan would fit it seems, but I'm hoping my large fan with the my fabricated fan shroud will pull enough air. I just put the grill in held by some vice grips for a glamour shot

 

Hi~ I have some cool news, but first a brief history Many of you might remember, but I'll go over it anyway.

I don't recall why I found this car, this 1976 Plymouth Valiant of FB. In the ad it was on wheels, actually looked pretty good. I called in advance and Gary n I drove across town to view it.
When we got there, Cindy, my contact said she'd take me out to where it is. It had rained and the salvage yard was pretty nasty.

One of the workers took over for her and led me through a maze of crushed cars. When we got to the Valiant, it wasn't what I was expecting at all. It's was as you see
in this picture! The fella said in his best english, what do I want. I pointed at the spindles for disc brakes, uca's, then I pointed at the rear axle, and said, that too. I felt bad, but the fella
and a couple workers used primitive means of lifting the back of the car. An hour later they brought it up and loaded it. omg it was gruesome.
Then I asked Cindy, do you still have the wheels that were on it. She said yes, and I got all 4 for 20 bucks each. The axle was 200.

It had a 4 speed of which they had no clue where it was.


Jumping forward, I was anxious to pull the cover and I was amazed how well it looked.


After a lot of elbow grease, got it looking pretty nice.




this is what has bothered me since I got it~ a 2.47 gear, gag




I was talking to a friend of mine as I'm wanting to get tires, but he asked me what diff I have and I cringed when I told him it was a 2.47 gear, "oh".

When I got off the phone, I emailed Dr.Diff.com and asked the question, what can I do to up the ratio?? he responded, "are you sure it's a 2.47?" it looks rather beefy to be a 2.47. So I asked how do I check it to see what it is without removing the cover.

Most of you probably know, but turn one of the rear wheels, watch the yoke. etc. I came out to being 3.55, I checked it 3 times. I wrote Cass at Dr. Diff and he said,

"Yes. You have 3.55 gears and a Track-Lock sure-grip"

That is the good news!!! I'm so excited that I don't have a lame differential! Just hope that it's ok internally. so now I just need to figure tires. I was led to a site: Wallace Racing and they have a calculator that I've been playing with~
So that's it my dear friends
dne007

 

Cool.
Ya know, I looked at that diff and thought "trac-lock."
As you confirm, it is indeed a Dana trac-lock.
Not the strongest posi - they break.
Lots of history in Jeeps that has been discussed here.
They wear out, but you can replace the clutch plates.
There is an article on the Randy's Ring and Pinion site.
Should be fine behind the 225.
No burnouts allowed.

 

I've been gone for a bit...
Ms. Dene this rig is looking good!!!

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Hi, was a little depressed a couple days ago, I got my driveshaft, it was made by a company on ebay, that's all they handle. However my driveshaft had to be made and they had to locate a slip yoke.
I went to install it and it would only go in about 1/2” at best. Just something seemed wrong with the inside of the yoke, like someone machined it poorly and the wide spline looks suspicious.






I contacted the company and they said they would make good on it, but I don't how "good" that means?


Got the new yoke today from Brewers Performance:

wahoo!! All is well, the new yoke slid right in! I'll pull it back off tomorrow and paint my desired color. I sent the seller the invoice for 132.oo (yoke, u-joint(didn't use) and of course shiping and tax~ let's see how that goes!!














didn't bother to bolt it in~ going to paint it!

 

IT's a great day! started off with a full refund on the yoke (140 bucks) that I purchased to replace the poor yoke. Locally would be the best way to go from now on, but I feel the company made good and I would buy fromt them again. However, what if I was a goomba and had to send the driveshaft back to them for them to "fix, repair, replace", and time wasted. eek
dne'

Their site on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/str/transaxledriveshaftdistributors

 

Now that the driveshaft is out of the way (thank goodness), played with the shifter, IT'S OH SOOOO NICE!! I was going to go look at tires, but got distracted by other things. Still have wiring to contend with, but making progress. I have a few days before leaving for Philly again
going to sit back now, drink my coffee and ponder



That looks so cool!





the shifter hump is just sitting there~ It'll be a little while before it becomes permanent


I hope tomorrow to wrap up the wiring, that's the least favorite of my builds, just part of the program