Another MOPAR pro-touring newby

[moparman1975]

Hello guys. I have a 73 Challenger rally as a daily driver unfortunately it drives like a dump truck & the 3.91 gears get her up to speed fast but keeps me out of the fast lane on long cruises. I also have a rust free 340 / 4spd Dart sport and 70 440 Cuda sitting in a dirt back yard. I never seem to have any money after bills to do anything with the 2 cars so I made a painfull decision last night and sold the Cuda. My thought process was now someone will give the cuda a proper resto and I'll have enough money to put the dart sport back on the road. SOOO....

I'm here to get some good info on making a pro-touring car out of the dart sport. I'm trying to keep the budget around $4000 to begin with. I do all of the engine, electrical, body & paint myself so I can keep costs down to just materials, here's the plan so far. Let me know If I'm in the right direction. The body is a rust free (primered) dart sport with 4 wheel drums, small bolt pattern wheels, 8 3/4 rear with sure-grip, & 3.23's. Interior is missing carpet & headliner and has a mint set of 69" Camaro bucket seats (will be swapped out later if anyone's interested)

Engine & transmission - started once when I brought it home but haven't had time to mess with it since. A good tune up & clutch should be good. ($500 estimated)

Brakes - front disc swap (I have the parts already)
rear disc kit (requires big bolt pattern axles) $900 total

Tires & wheels - 17X7 Mustang Bullit wheels (used) $500

Suspension - bushing kit (poly) $280
front & rear sway bars $300
Fat torsion bars $200
subframe connectors $150

That's less than $3000. I can work on interior & paint as I find any change under the couch cusion. I just painted my wife's 5.0 for about $200 in materials so I can save a bunch. What do you think?

[Bill68fbrd]

Good luck sounds like you have a lot of work-fun in front of you.
Welcome to the site ENJOY your project.



Bill

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Welcome aboard.

[G-TX]

Sounds like a cool project...keep us up on it!

[Bigblue73]

Make that A-Body corner! Welcome to the site. Post some pictures when you get a chance.

[71dusterdan]

moparman, go for the big cop car brakes say 79 st. regis. get an 8 1/4 inch rear and then get the big drum setup off the same st. regis. Ebooger from mopar action basically had that set up on the green brick and it showwed tail lights to alot of serious iron. the only reason for 4 wheel discs is flash. get the good pads from firm feel inc. i have discs all the way big lincoln rears i have to get new axles, if you are hung up on rear discs i'd say the big lincoln stuff from the mid 70's as i did. dump your 8 3/4 it is great and tough but more than you will need and worth some coin, money added back to the budget is a plus. An 8 1/4 out of a dippy cop car late dart duster and rumored even a dakota pick up works , if nothing else the insides will work out of a dak.they can have some good gear ratios also and sure grip are pretty easy to come buy. Dont fall in love with the big dollar mopar stuff, let them pay you big money for it. subframe connectors go to a steel shop and buy yourself some 2x2 11ga or 14 ga or in the middle electric welded. ask for drops or short leftovers. we always have a drop(what is left over when a big dollar customer wants it cut to length) that is the easiest. better would be 2x3 14 or 11 gauge, but you will have to cut through the floorboards about 15 inches ,that is what i have got and it is stiff. i put the jack behind the front wheels and lift the entire side of the car up. skip the poly and buy moog rubber, upgrade your tie rods to c body cop car and sleeves 74 up grand fury. The bullit wheels are great but you will most likely need spacers shouldnt be more than 1/4 inch, the spacers scare me but if you are not seriously racing you"should " be okay. remember your car is very lightweight so this may sound low buck but it works. put your engine money into the oil pan, windage tray and carb. you want a carb that isnt gonna starve around a corner which means some custom work and dough, maybe someone hear can help. the oil system well that is obvious. 300 horse will be a lot of fun until the money catches up. performer intake mild comp cam like a 270 magnum for lack of a better recommendation from the top of my head, dual exhaust. pull the kframe look at the bs welding chrysler gave you. drill 20 to 30 spotwelds around the edge next to the existing spotwelds, just through the top piece of metal not all the way through have them plugwelded by the guy who welds your subframe connectors. also have him go over all of ma mopars welds for the steering and motor mounts etc. box in the steering box mount it will move on you. then wrap it up with the plates available from mancini and others to box in your lower control arms. Man i have ranted let me know if you need anything either here or at [email protected] good luck bro. later, Dan

[High Plains Mopars]

Dusterdan has some good ideas. Sort through those some and see what may work for you. Although I'd probably opt to keep the 8 3/4 rear and just upgrade to big bolt pattern axles.

I'd also agree that the rear discs and mustang wheels are $$ you could probably spend elsewhere.

Balanced braking can be achieved on large rear drums and unless your hitting track days and running multiple laps and need 100mph braking, then drums will work pretty darn good.

The Bullit wheels will require spacers to work properly. There are some decent units out there specifically for this application. I think they run around $300 a set. Salvage yards are full of 15" applications that will work great until you have more money for wheels. Later model Fords and Jeeps will work. You might even get lucky and score some 16" Lincoln wheels. I've got some aftermarket 15x8 wheels I scored off an Explorer that look pretty darn good.

I didn't see rear springs on your list. If you are stepping up the torsion bars, you'll need better leaf springs to balance things out.

Tubular upper control arms may be a good addition to give you additional caster. This will become real obvious if you lower the car much.

No mention of steering, but big tie rods and ends are a nice addition as is a firm feel steering box. DEFINETLY add some welding and gussets to the K frame. Might also gusset the lower control arms while you at it.

Get some pics up when you get things moving, and welcome!

[71dusterdan]

moparman , high plains mentioned you may eventually need tubular upper control arms, i know where you can get them direct from a manufacturer, much cheaper than the big catalog price. I've got 275 in mine with adjustable heim joints. i second the idea on the wheels buy something used and cheap that will work until you have the funds to buy something you like without spacers