Learn Me Dodge Darts

Ha! I've been asking the better half if I could get one... I learned to drive on a 70 Swinger slant 6. Thought it might be a nice father/ daughter project. I've got a 94 b350 1 ton van. Thought I'd swap the 360 + 727 trans (it's got OD) into it. Now I really want to get a Dart. Might make a nice tow car and AX car.

B and RB engines will go in to 67 and up A bodies too. So if you have a 440 laying around...

poopshovel wrote: Oh great. Now I'm desperately craving a 4 door slant six Valiant sleeper. Thanks guys.

One of the worst car-crimes in cinema history, in my opinion:

I've had a few darts my two favs were 70 swinger with a 383 i put in still ran the 273 rear end gear. It was fast. Not the quickest but it was a speed demon... Got many a ticket in it. Awsume smoke shows too as once you broke the rear wheels loose thed fly up to speed. Bright Orange with black cagar band on the trunk and twin scoops on the hood that i made funtional cause they keeped blowing off at 120mph....the studs would pull out of the plastic / fiberglass mopar used. aftermarket bars to make it corner better.

67 sport special 2 door post that i made in to a drag car. Had full 8 point cage (cage not roll bar) and had back half framed with 2x4 steel tubed it to take up to 18inch wide tires. Ran a 440 and a 383 in it. Bright green with blacked out chrome and hood. ran a "BOSTON GLOBE" green newpaper mail box as a functional hood scope. Used aire cleaner base and a wheel barow inner tube to seal the hood to the air cleaner base. it worked great worth .002 at the strip. I ran a ford 9" in it as gears are cheap and easy to find with moser axles. slant 6 bar for lanching

44

IIRC, about 1976, the fastest American sedan was the Dart Sport 360, per one of the magazines of the time.

I took my driving test in a '74 Valiant with a 318 - a pretty zippy combination.

As far as rust goes, an old mopar guy once told me if the turn signal indicators (out on the fender) work then it is salvagable!

I just sold my 74 scamp, loved that car, but it began to set more than it did drive so I ler her go...

In reply to slantvaliant:

Yea! I remember that test - Car and Driver. It toasted the Corvette in the Quarter by like a full second and was almost half the price!

The Quarter time was somewhere in the high 15s low 16s. quite a difference from just four years prior with the big block Chevelles and Hemi 'Cudas.

Mopar still coulda put an Imperial motor 400M or optional 440 in a Dart and had a smog legal 13 second car with little engineering investment. Too bad the insurance business was too powerful at the time as well as the EPA.

Pontiac still had the 403 OLDS powered Firebird.

slantvaliant wrote: IIRC, about 1976, the fastest American sedan was the Dart Sport 360, per one of the magazines of the time. I took my driving test in a '74 Valiant with a 318 - a pretty zippy combination.

I believe a 74 Dart Sport 360 would go a 14.6 1/4 mile. But I don't think it was a '76, that was 1st year for Volare/Aspen. The Dart Sport was nice then, the big bumpers were the only thing that sucked. (Except for the low compression.)

I like the Demon better, supposedly they had to change the name for the Bible Belt states, that's why I want one.

I believe a 74 Dart Sport 360 would go a 14.6 1/4 mile. But I don't think it was a '76, that was 1st year for Volare/Aspen. The Dart Sport was nice then, the big bumpers were the only thing that sucked. (Except for the low compression.) I like the Demon better, supposedly they had to change the name for the Bible Belt states, that's why I want one.

'76 was an overlap year. The end of the line for the A-bodies and the introduction of the F-body Aspen/Volare. I doubt the '76 Dart Sport or Duster got much press with the new kids on the block needing to get attention.

Yes a B or RB motor will fit in a '67-up A-body. The B (383/400 just skip the 361 for these purposes) fits much better. With aluminum heads/intake/water pump & housing the weight on the nose isn't too bad.

-Rob

4Msfam wrote: Ha! I've been asking the better half if I could get one... I learned to drive on a 70 Swinger slant 6. Thought it might be a nice father/ daughter project. I've got a 94 b350 1 ton van. Thought I'd swap the 360 + 727 trans (it's got OD) into it. Now I really want to get a Dart. Might make a nice tow car and AX car.

That '94 360 should be the Magnum motor I was talking about earlier. There are aftermarket motor mounts available to bolt that 360 in with your /6 K-member.

The trans is a 518. Like you said an overdrive version of the 727. The OD unit replaces the long skinny tail shaft of the 727. It won't clear the stock A-body transmission crossmember. That crossmember doubles as the torsion bar anchor.

It's possible to cut the trans tunnel out over that area and widen it, just be sure to reinforce the area to support the trans & torsion bars. You'll need to adapt a different trans mount too. The truck/van one is big. I think the 2nd gen Camaro mount is the one most commonly used for this kind of swap.

-Rob

Not that I'd read ANOTHER SPORTY CAR MAG now, but in '76 ...

Kind of a thread-jack, but if anybody wants a 1975 Duster A body slant six with only 41,000 miles on the clock, give me a ping. Floorpans are rusted due to the aforementioned cowl drainage problem, and the wiper motor is shot, but in most respects, it's original.

Thanks for the info guys! On to the search.. and the sell job to the wife.

ok, having spent the last 14 years doing a-body's, i have some tips.

all 87-76 mechanical bits interchange. k members, suspension pieces, rear ends, brake parts, etc.

since this is grm, ill focus on the performance aspects more than the resto aspects.

first step is to build subframe connectors. ive got some on my duster that i built from a guide at www.bigblockdart.com they really stiffened the car and made it handle better. reduced the number of creaks and rattles as well.

for suspension, assuming a small block, id get the 1 inch torsion bars and springs from firmfeel.com if money isn't that much of a concern, bill reilly has a setup for a 4 link rear, tubular upper and lower control arms, coil overs, and rack and pinion. really great setup, but it costs money.

for the money a good suspension setup would be

the previously mentioned springs boxed lower control arms volare/diplomat spindles and brakes tubular uppers (i like the cap pieces) adjustable strut rods rubber bushings, mood problem solvers preferable addco big ass sway bars koni shocks 17 inch wheels. 8 1/4 rear from a later dart or duster subframe connectors firm feel stage 3 steering box 17 inch wheels from a bullit mustang with spacers to fit

id also go with either a stock magnum motor from a late 90's truck, with efi, or an aluminum headed small block. t5 from a mustang will fit with a lakewood bellhousing, different clutch disc, and some welding on the t-bar crossmemember.

rear discs from a jeep grand cherokee are rumored to fit.

the seats suck. toss them and use summit sport seats. your back will thank you.

use an aluminum radiator. the factory Chrysler units were adequate for stock, but are overstressed for a hot motor.

www.forabodiesonly.com

hope that helps.

and for my credentials, i present this: http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36043

michael

Great looking car. I also found out how important the clutch linkage return spring was on my 67 Barracuda. It was a basket case when I bought it and I had to dig for the smaller hardware. I got real good at changing throwout bearings until I realized what was missing. But that was in 1975 so I don't remember how I found out, lol. Not too much later I swapped in a 413 and 727 with fenderwell headers. Which ruined a good Formula S car. But that's what we did back then...

I had a friend in high school that had a late 60s or early 70s something 4 door Valiant with a 318 and a three on the tree. That little bastage would light 'em up at will and frankly was down right scary with drum brakes and some old antique suspension underneath. Loved it.

In reply to curtis73:

A 318 (which will fit into any dart, even the narrower models provided you aren't swapping a poly block) isn't too shabby in that department either. Those things last.

The slant 6 is a totally solid motor, but for a smog exempt car there are much better platforms (318,340,etc) if you want a significant build-up.

Thanks for all the help. And I don't have to worry about smog stuff, I live in Alabama.

I like the 318 as an option as well. Forget the 340 as its to expensive to come across. 383 and 440's are fun but 7mpg's isn't. The 360 is not really a great motor unless its EFI. 318's aren't speed demons but are peppy and one of the most durable beat into the ground yet keeps running motor available.

I would like to respectfully disagree over the 360. If you have a set of, IIRC 360 or 9?? casting heads, those are the best flowing non magnum factory iron heads. A simple valve job, new pistons and rings with an aprox. 9:1 cr, moderate street cam and an air-gap style manifold and you have a pretty strong engine good for high 300s low 400s, IIRC. It is close to what Car Craft built in a 3 way budget small block shoot out back in '03.

johndbuilder wrote: ... 440's are fun but 7mpg's isn't.

That reminds me of an experience I had back in high school, circa 1971. I used to ride to school with a guy who had a 440 Charger. He drove it nice and easy all the time, but eventually, a friend and I asked him to show us what it would do. He said if we would buy some gas for it, he would burn it out.

We put a dollars worth of premium in it (about 3 gallons at the time), and headed out to a stretch of road we used to race on. He stopped and tourqed up the engine (it was an automatic); standing on the brakes until the tires lit up.

Holy Cow! When he came off the brakes, that thing took off like a scared mule! Ran about a half a mile at WOT, top speed likely around 130, and backed off. This was like 20 seconds or so.

I said to him, " I thought we were going to burn the whole 3 gallons of gas."

He replied, "We just did."

The suspension won't know what engine is in the bay. Upgrade the brakes, replace the bushings, get some heavier torsion bars, shocks from this century, and a front sway bar. Then get more rubber on the road. Drive it, then think about a rear sway bar.

How not to do it. A friend put a Max Wedge Stage III in a 64 Cuda. He cut the shock towers out and cranked up the torsion bars. We were drag racers so we didn't care about turning. 2 weeks later the subframe was cracked. Aside from the fact the headers were heating up the master cylinder.

He then found a 67 Dart in a yard and paid $30 for it. We switched everything over and he was able to run front shocks. He terrorized the streets in our area for a while after that. I used to drive that car all of the time. Everything has felt slow since. Again this was the mid-70s.

You should have seen that thing going down the 1/4 mile with radials up front and bias ply slicks on the rear. How he kept it on the track, we'll never know.

How hard is it to get a Magnum EFI engine to fit in the dart?

I believe the engine will go right in, the EFI support is another thing.