Road Race / AutoX Project 1964 Dart Grüne Hölle

2/27/25:

After adding the shifter handle and reinstalling the carpet, gas pedal, and drivers' seat back into the car, I was able to fire up the engine last night. It started up in 2 or 3 seconds thanks to the electric pusher fuel pump. It was un-eventful and fired right off which is good.

I was able to warm it up twice and throw a quick hot lash on the valves. It went with 0.020" and 0.026" as I could not remember where my "happy lash" setting was from 2-3 years ago.   
I uncovered it in my notes this morning as  0.024" / 0.028" So I am close.
I still need to take care of some little fiddly bits, double check the timing, as well as likely a clutch rod adjustment and when it stops raining and potholing 'round these parts, I will be ready for a drive. :D  :D  :D

Know your lash, 'bro!

2/28/25:

I took the car for an unexpected maiden voyage yesterday.

Back in November, I took the Hood and Front Valence to a local body man and longtime MoPar fan, Ray at AVS near my house.
I need a van or other large vehicle to move the hood for this car as it is a super flyweight part at ~10#.  nearly 40# lighter than a stock hood! I do not trust it being precariously perched in the back of a pickup, so I like to move it in my van. Well, when I got the hood back from being painted in November, I found it had a bug in the paint.  at that point my van was in storage and difficult to retrieve.. so I waited until yesterday.. as The roads were fairly de-salted and surprisingly dry.

I bolted the hood on the car and drove it to the body shop, then we removed the hood at the body shop for a respray and de bugging.  Since it is satin, we could not polish it out like a base / clear job possibly.

Everything seemed fine, and I did not even adjust the clutch yet - I might futz with a few turns soon.

3/3/25:

I got some fiddly things accomplished:
- Installed a new headlight / parking light / turn signal assembly, as the left side unit had a rock chip in it that cracked the glass housing.
- Reinstalled the headlight trim ring - I love how these (when not smashed up) clean up the front look on a '63-'64 Dart.
- Made much progress on my custom valve cover - I have 2 small areas with pinholes to reinforce, but it is now mostly sorted and metal finished.

I still need to put the interior back together, screw down the carpet trim plates, shifter boot, trim ring  and the crotch belt, as well as the shifter ball. All that is easy stuff to do.

3/11/25:

I did some (re)engineering this weekend.

I bought an NRG Hub adapter for the steering wheel, I Also bought one of those steering wheel disconnects and a new wheel as the old one was well, big, old, grody and cracked. It would turn my hands black from the eroding Black Plastic on the surface.

I am not sure if I have any good pictures of the old wheel, I probably do somewhere. It was a well used Stock '64 Dart Wheel.
Here is a cute one from a while ago:

Well the hub did not have any provisons for the Horn ring / wheel contact also no way to cancel the Turn signal cam which are both super annoying and non starters for me in a street driven car. No dumbass horn button under the dash for me on this build.

I built a horn ring wheel/  donut contact from an existing part that was pulled out of a 1981 Chrysler Lebaron Station Wagon.  I found that the Copper donut was really Copper plated Steel, so that made the fabrication much easier. I built a mounting ring to bolt to the back side of the NRG adapter, and welded the old MoPar Lebaron Part to it. The assembly got bolted inside the NRG adapter with plastic isolation washers on the top and bottom to keep it from grounding back against the Hub adapter / Steering shaft which is common with the chassis ground.

I also did some careful measurements of the existing turn signal cancellation nub on the factory wheel and was able to spotface and Drill the hub for a 3/16" roll pin.

It has worked well so far, but I have yet to drive the car until I get the Hood back from paint again.

Backside of the NRG 170H Hub adapter:
No Provisions for horn etc except for a wire pass-thru.

OE style wheel with Horn donut contact and a turn signal cancel pin:

1981 Chrysler Horn Donut contact: copper Plated steel. (sorry for the bad picture)

NRG hub with Soptface and drilled for 3/16" Roll pin for turn signal cancel function.

NRG Hub adapter adapter and contact donut complete.

Comparison between OE and Not OE, sorta made by me.

Install complete:

Removable as well - Will help with those pesky under dash projects!

Now that it is not so cold, snowy and deary out I cant wait to get the hood back from paint!

Nice work, that wheel looks like it could have been a factory option.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Thanks, Cohesion is 🔑key I suppose.

3/17/25:

No painted hood back from the body shop yet.

So I did a few other things:

Finished the Valve cover - lots of little welds and some metal finishing, then painting.

Installed on the car:


Good thing I was able to finish that project as the Valve cover that I put on there temporarily was getting nicked by the rocker arm adjustment screw:

I Had ordered variable rate rear springs and then installed them.
The 4 link kit originally came with 175#/Inch Springs which I felt were too soft.
Then I ordered 200#/Inch which were great, but still saggy when loaded with the tongue weight of the trailer, and a trunk full of stuff and a full fuel tank.

So I am going to try these - 175#/300# Inch Rate Springs. The rate is supposed to increase as load is applied, so maybe I will not have to futz around with changing spring heights so often when towing etc.

200 Rate on the Right: - Constant Coil wind Distance
175/300 Rate on the Left: -  Coil winds get closer toward the top and more open on the bottom.

The removal / install was easy with the lift.
I put some silver anti-seize on the adjusting bits, but I should look into those spring seat bearings.

4/6/25:

I finally got the hood back from paint. It was a bit of an ordeal, but it got done. No bugs in it this time, and it looks great. I suppose satin is the most difficult 'cause your shop has to be super clean and there is no second chance, and no cut/ buff.  It has to be dead nuts on correct the first time.

After I got the hood assembled, realigned, etc (nice and easy to fit a 10# hood by yourself.) I was then able to start driving the car and sort out all of the little things that need sorted when you upgrade or change things, like valve lash, oil pressure adjustments, Steering wheel centering, reaching turn siginal stalk, setting the Idle Speed etc.

Adjusted turn signal stalk compared to a stock stalk:

Now I can reach it as easily as I was able to with the stock steering wheel.

I also Had some new gauges to fit, so that they would all match. I had AEM before, but the O2 gauge and Oil pressure gauge were from a different series so they did not match.
I got 3 matching gauges from the X series  for Oil Pressure, O2, and Voltage. Of course the new Oil pressure gauge used a different harness so I had to do some rewiring and then tidy things up as well as add a gauge pod for 3 gauges.

Old Gauges:

New Gauges:

I also confirmed that my roof Bike rack will work (too rainy to go anywhere with it yet) But I did get some driving in today (maybe 30 Miles) while running errands and dodging the rain. It has been raining everyday here for about 10 days straight.

Now just a little more sorting and then an oil change, and It will be ready for spring trips and such!

4/15/25:
Taxes are done, no worries from the IRS People.

Sunday was finally a sunny day here for more than 2 hours after 10-12 days of straight April Showers.
I took the car for a shakedown run to the bike trail  for a 20 mile bike ride and then to the the "Pitt Maneuver" 24h of LeMons Race at Pitt Race (the Road Course Track here near Pittsburgh, PA)

Here it is is parked on the top of spectator hill at pittrace - If you zoom in and squint you can see some lemony cars in the background on track.

The car ran well. Some fiddly bits to take car of:
 - loosen the Valve Lash to 0.024" / 0.028" from 0.020" and 0.026" It makes a difference you can feel andv a difference  in the idle quality.
- recheck the timing
- found a slow leaker in the LR Tire... pulled the wheel last nite and found I picked up a nail. No time to dismount and patch or put a plug in it, so I took it to the local shop where I get my state inspections done and got it repaired today.

3 Cordobas (2 of the B body flavor, One was a J Body/Mirada; I have no pictures of the mirada shaped one) were on track at the same time at the Lemons Race.
I don't believe I witnessed any slanted 6 powered entries at the event. I was there on Sunday, as Saturday so very doomy and gloomy ' round these parts.

I also Enjoyed this Corvair among the many Front Drivers and Seemingly endless sea of BMW 3 series cars.

Ready for More adventure.

Some adventure was had:

In reply to slantsix :

Lots of nice, attention-to-detail work on this project. Impressive!

Great car to start with.

In reply to OzRaceFan :

Thank you, I am glad you appreciate it.

Some more adventure was had today:
It seems with the correct finagling and the proper dingus ends I can likely fit 3 bikes on the roof bars or one bike and a canoe.

4/21/25:

All Packed up for a trip with the Grüne Hölle '64 Dart.

The weather forecast was improving as the days got closer, but when I left it was not totally dry on my entire route.(more on that later.)
The trip Took me to Blacksburg, VA and instead of taking the Highways or Interstate (I79/US19/I77/US460) I rerouted through the middle of West Virginia, pretty much straight south, taking US119 / US250/ WV92 and finally US219. The travel time is of course longer but the drive is more interesting, as I get to see snippets of small and medium sized villages and towns on the route.

After I rolled the car out of the Garage, I hoisted my trusty Vintage Cannondale MTB on the roof rack, tightened the fork mount as well as cinched down the rear tire strap.

I left before dawn, preparing for a quiet drive south over the state border to cross into West Virginia.

On a good day it will take me exactly 1 hour to get over the state line, this time was fairly good at 58 minutes. Once in WV, I stopped for some fuel and a sandwich.

South of Elkins, WV on US Route 250, I remember looking east toward the cloud filtered sunrise over the mountain ridge, and thinking it "looks white and snowy up there."

As US 250 Wound up to ~4000' in the Monongahela National Forest, Sure enough ~3"-5" of fresh, wet snow fell over night. It was a winter wonderland with much of the Spring's wet snow still adhering to the trees

State Plow trucks had been through the area, plowing, and putting down cinders and sand. I did not detect much salt, thankfully. The Drive up elevation was fine, but after cresting the high point, the way back down was much more icy and snow packed. A normal car with All seasons and ABS would have been fine, but this thing with the UHP Summer tires does not provide a lot of confidence in the snow, so it is time to put the camearfone down and drive it to Green Bank with out putting it over a cliff or into the Armco.

I did not realize it at the time, but I was following some vehicles a bit close and many sections of the road had cinders on them. (too early for street sweeping in the mountain regions of WV.) One of the Headlights got a got hit and was destroyed. The glass on these headlights is thin and prone to crack or chip when encountered with road debris.

No Worries, I ordered a replacement and had it overnight shipped to my location for installation the next day.

Why did I route through all the back roads and snow covered roads? To encounter the NRQZ, the GBO and the Radio Telescopes housed there. Pocahontas County, WV is quiet and there is some pretty neat stuff if you look around besides the Radio Telescopes. If you cant live without your WiFi or cell phone or shopping plazas and Starbucks then this place is not for you. But if you are a bit of a science nerd and like to see one of 3 places like this in the world then the highlands of WV is where to find it.

(I will Edit and toss in some more / better pictures when the disposable camera is developed).
At the Observatory there are no Cell phones or digital cameras allowed inside the Restricted area, and all maintenance vehicles are diesel powered. No Spark ignition internal combustion engines allowed due to the radio interference.

Here are some Pictures on an instant camera of the Robert C Byrd Radio Telescope (the largest one at the GBO) as well as Some Old Diesel International Harvester Trucks and Scout in the maintenance shop yard.

After I arrived and got settled in I went for a bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg, VA.
The next morning, my friend Lou and I Had an errand to run before getting to the McAfee Knob trailhead Area on the AT.

The Errand involved swapping his daily driver vehicles for inspection at Oliver's Garage. Oliver has some cool Automotive Treasures lying about to spy at, here are a few:

An Oldsmobile 442:

A 1957 Chrysler Saratoga:
 

A late 1940's or early 50's Dodge Truck:

After we swapped vehicles for the state inspection business, then we got to the Hike.
The hike contains elevation gain for the first 2 hours from the trailhead parking area to the knob. ~4 Hours of total hiking from the trailhead to the knob and back.


Some people say the Knob is the most photographed spot on the AT.
It has great views of the valley below and the mountains and the rippled landscape.

The weather for the rest of the trip was clear and beautiful. No snow here.

The Next Day we decided to go canoeing. The Roof Racks can handle probably up to 3 bikes or one canoe and one bike.

This Canoe Just happened to match the car well!

Later that Evening We went to a local car cruise in Radford, VA.
Lou Brought his Slant 6 equipped '34 Dodge 5 Window Cope with rumble seat.
To no one's suprise we had the only slant 6 vehicles there and also the only '64 Dart and '34 Dodge.

The Next Morning we got up early, hit the waffle house for breakfast, then pointed SW toward Marion VA for a drive on the "Back of the Dragon" a section of VA Route 16 from Marion, VA to Tazewell, Va which is claimed to have 438 Curves and ~3500' Elevation Change in 32 Miles.
Lou Brought his Well equipped for the task '62 Valiant V-100 2 door sedan, we joined up with Mark from Chilhowie, VA. He is another slant 6 die hard buddy and early A body fan. He brought along his '61 Valiant 4 door Sedan.

We ran the "back of the Dragon both ways. First north, and we were there early enough to avoid any traffic which was nice.
We hung out at the Back of the Dragon Brewery for a few hours before taking Route 16 South Back to Hungry Mother State Park.

On the North Route we did not encounter much traffic going the other direction. On the South Route, opposite traffic started to pick up with many motorcycles and about 70 Porsches running in Groups of 5-10 for their tour of the route.

As always we stop at the big overlook for some glamor shots.

After that we Stopped at Mark's place to check out some Slanted projects and to hang out and chat.

On the way back to Blacksburg for my final day of the trip we stopped at Pycone Creamery, which is owned by Ken, a car guy at heart.
This was our second stop at Pycone in as many days for the Fresh Homemade Ice Cream.

On the way back I took WV Route 20 From US 460 to Interstate 79. It bypasses about ~200 Miles of Interstate and Highway Routes - I77/US19/I79.  It is slower, but much more interesting.
I made it home for an Easter visit with the family and In-laws, and was able to get one more ride on the bike trail before the Easter get together began.

It was a good trip, and put just over 1050 miles on the  Grüne Hölle Dart. It will be ready for more adventure this summer.

Greenback is one of my happy places. 

I love this thread and I need to get more adventuresome with my car and you're inspiring me to do so

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Thanks Michael!

More adventure means more dirt and Rock Chips. It's Just a car right?

How Many SPG are you getting now? Probably a lot, but the more you drive it the SPG's go up.

SPG = Smiles per Gallon

Sounds like an epic road trip with some great pictures!

I had heard the radio telescope area specifically maintained a fleet of late '60s or early '70s Chevy Suburbans for their all mechanical Diesel engines; is that still true? I guess the electric start can't be helped unless they use something like a pneumatic starter.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

I am not sure on that Matt. - 

Maybe yes at one time, or maybe it is just GBO Lore?  I am not sure.

It is possible that those vehicles could be parked in a storage facility and not outside, so that I could not see them.

I also witnessed the current maintenance vehicle on the day I was there as a ~94-92 Dodge 2500 Likley a 12 valve (not common rail) Cummins 6BT diesel. 

Not sure on the starter. ( I did hear it start up from a distance on my walk back, but was not keen on the sound) The truck was clattery and loud, like the big over hyped dude's trucks commonly found at Wal*Mart and the highways 'round here. My guess is they are started outside the Restricted zone and then left on running / idling inside the Zone then shut off when they are outside the gates again. I often wonder about the fuel pumps. I am no Diesel Mechanic - I know that they have a mechanical injection pump but is the lift pump mechanical as well? Maybe some of do not have a lift pump?

Anyway there is also a Relic parked out front of the visitors center - an old tour vehicle that is likely a diesel Checker Cab - All used to be painted power blue it seems.

6BT Cummins do have mechanical lift pumps.

SpeedAddict502 said:

6BT Cummins do have mechanical lift pumps.

Great, Thanks for clarifying! I am diesel uneducated.

Some documentation of last Saturday's events: