Road Race / AutoX Project 1964 Dart Grüne Hölle

12/4/16

Hi Guys, This is the first Post about my Road Race / AutoX Project 1964 Dart GT Named Grüne Hölle.

If you get the title of he car and then you get it. The thing is ugly and green.  I intend to fix major rust and keep it ugly and green but with purpose. Its also an Homage' to the nickname of one of the most famous track know the world over.

Looking around, I dont see too many other posts about this style of car, other than this one:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/64-dodge-dart-what-should-i-do-with-it/17829/page1/

I have Owned this car for almost a year and a Half.

It is an Honest Running and Driving Bone Stock Slant 6 car with who Knows how many Miles on it, as the Speedometer / Odometer does not work.

To The best of my knowledge the car has spent most of it's life in southern Georgia.

I bought it off of a fourm sight unseen in August 2015 and Took Delivery of it October 2015.

I hauled it Back To PA and was doing some small safety additions  / repairs as well as cleaning the car up a bit. - This is what it looked Like when it arrived: - Car is worse than it looks in Pictures - it's a 50 Footer.

Currently it's 225  with a 3 on the tree and Runs and drives well.
I have been gathering parts for about a year and have just really gotten started on getting this car ready for the track.

As this will be a street and Track car, It will need to have all legal Lights wipers etc.. So I will have to figure out some creative ways to Lighten up the car.

It will also need to be water tight which right now it's anything but.
New front and rear Windshield gaskets as well as a new windshield have been ordered and plan to be installed after welding and Headliner are complete.

The Rear Window Channel was trashed, as well as the Trunk Floor extensions and many of the areas behind the bumper.

I Began some cutting and welding this past week.

Here are some pics:

Enjoy!

Greg

Woah... Holes

Some Progress.......

Lots of Welding and Grinding..

Ear Protection also works well for ignoring wife and kid.

neat project and Welcome! 

Dart build thread! Can't wait to see where it goes.

Thanks Guys,

12/8/16 Progress:

Lots of Welding and Grinding to go, but the rear Window Channel Is Mostly Done, Just some more grinding and finish welding and smoothing - No More Holes back there which should be nice!

The big areas that i needed to cut out the rust are filled in with metal now, especially the L/R sides where the Rear Window Channel Meets the 1/4 Panel and the Trunk Area - Most of that was trash and Had to get cut out.

I began to work on the RF windshield channel / cowl area. I should be able to get it into shape.

Pics:

Both Rear Window Corners are Done:

THe Bottom Lip to the Trunk Area is Full of metal now - Still Lots of Grinding and smoothing to do.

Starting to Work on the RF Cowl / Windshield Metal:

THe More I Grind, the More holey the car gets :-0

Adding Metal again to the Front:

Making Progress!,

Thanks, Greg

Funny, I saw this pop up on the "latest topics" this morning, and thought of that '64 I had a while back...and you linked to the topic I started!

I sold that car many years ago, having done nothing with it.  I wonder what ever happened to it.  Hope your project gains more traction than mine did.  

Welcome! Theres a few of us mopar guys here. Dont know the early a bodies well, so i cant help much. But ill offer wherr i can!

Welcome to the group.

I'll wait until you catch up with nearly 3 years of updates before I jump in with any advice. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

Funny, I saw this pop up on the "latest topics" this morning, and thought of that '64 I had a while back...and you linked to the topic I started!

I sold that car many years ago, having done nothing with it.  I wonder what ever happened to it.  Hope your project gains more traction than mine did. 

Thanks all!  Yes I have more updates to bring the thread up to present day... I will maybe post 1 or 2 a day as to not inundate you.

@volvoclearing house - you are not all that far from me - Wesmister MD is about ~3 Hours from me in Irwin PA. I do / did quite a bit of drag racing with other slant six projects at Mason Dixon Dragway - Now I am trying to go a different direction literally 9 left and right witth the Grüne Hölle Dart - When Time Permits I will update my garage with all of the other mopar Junk that I own.

Cheers!

Greg

Very cool project! When it comes to water leaks, don't overlook the cowl vent system; it's also prone to getting rust holes and leaking water all over the front floorboards.

Dump all the updates. This place eats them up like free cake. I promise you wont overwhelm or inundate us.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Tru Dat

MadScientistMatt said:

Very cool project! When it comes to water leaks, don't overlook the cowl vent system; it's also prone to getting rust holes and leaking water all over the front floorboards.

Thanks Matt, I did weld up some of those under the dash when I had it out. I cant remember if it's in the Documentation though

Greg

12/29/16:

Here's What I have accomplished since Last Post..
Rear Window Channel / Pinch weld area is all done with no more holes etc.
Finished with few coats of POR-15 in Satin Black.
Also Removed all of the Paint from the Sheet metal around the Trunk Lid.  Plans include to Put a Tape Line under the top of the quarter Panel Seam and Paint This Area Semi Gloss Black..

I didn't spend as much time making the inside of this area Look Good as when the Window / Gasket and Reveal Molding are installed no one will ever see it.

The area Below the Taillight Buckets and Behind the Bumper trim moldings were gone - Will be rebuilding those from Scratch and burning in some steel - No Bondo for me.

Windshield Pinch Weld area is Rebuilt where needed, but when cleaning up I found an area under the lead where there was no steel and lots of holes in the cowl... so another Patch will go in there.

Plans include taking 2 bumpers to make one good one..The Bumper from the car is twisted and Bent alot - Foreground - The farm fresh one in the back is good for a paint job, but one corner has no steel in it... so I will cut a spot out of the bent one and weld it in the holey one.. The chrome is there but no steel behind it.

That's it for now.
Future plans include a new headliner, sail panel boards, etc, before putting windshields back in.

Then Getting to the metal work in the Rear bumper area and Grafting 2 bumpers into one.

Greg

volvoclearinghouse said:

Hope your project gains more traction than mine did.  

Well put. Hoosiers seem to be a popular solution.

Looking forward to all the updates!

1/7/17:

This thing is getting Less Holey!

Stainless is Polished and New Reveal Clips and Screws replace the rotted Junk:

Less Holes around the LH Rear Tail Light Bucket and Moulding area:

It's Not Restoration Quality but it's one piece and there will no longer be exhaust fumes pulled in the back of the car once it's done :-)

Lots of holes left on this side:

Bumper Bolts getting smoothed:

Next Weekend - Tackle the RH Tail Light Bucket.

Greg

1-30-17:

Most of the Metal Work is done at least for this Winter.

I still Have The Trunk Floor extensions to Cut out and fab and Weld in place, But I think I can wait until next winter or summer on those..

I Tidy'd up the Sheetmetal around the back and Sprayed it with some Semi-gloss Black.

We'll see if it looks okay once the Bumper is Painted and installed.

Soon I will get the Headliner in and glued then I can Put the Windows and Rest of the Trim and interior Back in.

Here are some Pics:

new Rear Trunk Look - Surround in Black with Gnarly 50 Year old 3 resprays of green on the trunk

Taillight openings will look better when I get the Lights back in there.

Inside Shot of the Housings etc..  Not Pretty, but Gets the Job Done.

When I got this car, it was missing the Upper Quater Spear trim and clips on both sides.VW Bug clips can be made to work with some drilling and Rivet Mods as well as rivet trimming.

Lastly, the Inside of the Nasty parts Bumper was cleaned, Treated and Prepped for  a coat of POR-15 Semi Gloss.  Not too bad now.. Just need to get to the Top side with some black as well.

Greg

3-12-17:
Here are Some pictures  - Most of the Winter Work is Done For Now.. Still waiting on a few parts.
Pictures:
Side Profile Still Looks relatively stock...

Nos Valence Painted in Satin Black Cleans up the Front and gets rid of the Smashed up trash that was there before :-o

Indicators Are now in the Headlamp Bulbs and The Old Indicator Holes in the Valence will serve as Possible Brake Cooling Ducts or Air Inlets for the Engine.

New Windshield and Gasket is installed - Old Lockstrip is reused for now - New one arriving soon.

While Windshield was out many dash components were polished and rebuilt. It's nice to have working and readable needles in your gauges again.

Rear Window installed / Stainless Trim Buffed to Shine!

Rear Bumper Painted and Installed.

I will be watering the Money Tree again for the Suspension and Brake Work To begin!
Greg

2/26/18:

Not much to update yet.

Rear $uspen$ion has been bought.

$aving some more $ before install.
Making a list... checking it 2x......for front suspension items.

Suspension components  alone will cost 2x what i paid for car... hmmmm...

For now check out the 4 year old helper pics..
Getting ready for a nice spring drive tonight.

Greg

4/23/18:

Well I ordered the Eaton TruTrac  LSD for Grüne Hölle.

I had previously acquired the 3.91 Cogs as well as the 489 Case Rear. A bit of Pressing and cleaning and it will be ready to setup etc. It will be going into a roadrunner Housing so that I can run Modern Mustang '99-'08 17x8 wheels with +33mm or +45mm offset. The road runner  (69 Chrysler corp "B" Body Housing) is something like 4" wider than the equivalent "A" body housing and it will push the wheels out to the fender lips for "the Look" It's also alot cheaper, as the A body 8.75 Chrysler housings are in the $400-$800 range.

New Trutrac.

489 Case to be cleaned and receive Bearings etc.

Rub a dub dub  

Nothing like a fresh set of bearings and seals for a project like this!

Greg

5/6/18:

This morning I put the carrier in the freezer and the ring gear in the oven to get the parts together...
New center section coming along.

Greg

12/30/18:

Did a bit of prep on some grimy junkyard spindles off of an '80 volare.

Hit them with die grinder then sand blast, then metal prep for POR15.

Also got a bunch of front end parts, handling parts, and stuff to convert to big bolt pattern / disc brakes.

Greg

12/31/18:

Got some Christmas gifts for Grüne Hölle...
- Pro forged inner and outer tie rod ends.. 11/16"
- Tie rod sleeves 11/16"
- 16:1 manual box
- PST fat 1.03" torsion bars
- new lower control arm bushings

I plan to try to get the rear susp. and front susp. in sometime soon. I also have other parts that I have been compiling for this project such as rear suspension, upper control arms, volare master cylinder, adjustable prop valve, I think I have strut rods as well.

Things to still get:
- Lower ball joints (forgot to order them with the rest of the front parts)
- FFI front sway bar
- FFI idler arm retrofit kit
- Pitman arm (who makes a good reputable one for 64 dart?)
- USCT level 2 stiffening kit.

Will be putting on mopar slider calipers with small rotors and big bolt rear drums for now.. they are leftovers from another project.

I will be $aving $ome more ca$h for wilwoods or dr diff or something else down the road.

Here are the front uprights after the glamour treatment:

Greg

Love this so far! 

And really reminds me of the 70 duster resto and build...

1/6/19:

Getting the front end prepped for some new parts.

Got all the orig. 9" drums spindles, stamped uca's, wishy and squishy torsion bars, oe bushings, strut rods steering box etc. are coming off.

Only parts to be reused after a good cleaning are the cam bolts, lower control arms, and the center link.

Pictorial:

Even with good tools and a hammer i had to cut this bar out.. on the work bench heatin n beatin was easier.

Greg

1/7/19:

Got some more parts cleaned.

And hafta start organising some of the new bits too :-)

The sway bar I ordered is not here yet, and it is needed to mock up the front end for tabs to be welded to the LCA's.
So in the mean time I was looking at the car and figured that the K frame is all bare except the engine. So i built a fixture to support the engine from the top, and dropped the k frame out to degrease / clean/ paint it.

Pictures:
New pitman arm is ready as well as the centerlink.

FJM spindles with proforged lower ball joints ready for the car. Ma MoPar slider calipers for now.
Rest of the LCA AND UCA hardware is blasted and painted too.

Engine support fixture uses top of shock towers and ratchet strap to hold the slant when K Frame is removed.
 

Look! No K frame  :D

Greg