Back to where it all began! My first car was a 1972 Chevelle and I’ve wanted another ever since.
This one was built in Van Nuys, California and spent its life between California and Texas (El Paso) where I bought it in February of 2019. Since that time
she’s undergone a major “Pro Touring” conversion in preparation for this year's Hot Rod Power Tour (June 6-14, 2019).
These photos are of it now!
The following picts are in decending order from May 1, 2019 to February 28, 2019. This was amongst my quickest and most expensive builds.
Completely tearing it down and sanding to the base proved this desert car not only had zero rust but zero body repairs as well.
It’s taken many months to spec the drivetrain and source the parts and finally, the block and rotating assembly have arrived from machine.
After deburring it was soap and water time to get all those shavings out of the motor, then it was a quick blow-dry, masking and on with the war paint.
Assembly Day(s)!
Day 1 of assembly was slow and arduous as it took several hours to work out the tight machining on those main caps. Assemble, measure, dissassemble, modify, assemble, measure...we finally have a crankshaft in the Dart SHP block. This is a purpose manufactured 400 SBC block we’ve bored and stroked to give us 427 cu. in. of fury!
Next up is my most and least favorite tasks, piston assembly and installation preceeded by hours of filing rings to fit
In with the solid roller camshaft. But first we're going to double down on safety!
Finding the right index on the crank gear was a real challenge,as was figuring out Lunati grinds their cams with 4 degrees of advance. When all said and done, she'd degreed in with 3 1/2 degrees of advance.
A Melling standard pressure high-volume pump spun by an ARP driveshaft and fixed in place with an ARP stud was added along with a Milodon Windage Tray.
Finding an 80-85 GM, RH Dipstick, 2-Piece Rear Seal Pan was a challenge. This is one area Dart could have provided a Fel-Pro part number.
Heads are AFR Race Prepped w/Full CNC Porting--torqued in place w/ARP Bolts.
The plan is a 600+hp NA motor plus two, 250hp stages of nitrous oxide. Enter the Ford 9 Inch Differential!
Losing the mix-matched white/black and going traditional black with some updated goodies like bolstered seats and red oak wheel. Oh, and check
out the SS Shifter setup for a 4-Speed Automatic!
Anyone who’s ever driven an old muscle car can attest, handling is so bad it borders dangerous. The entire suspension was discarded and replaced
with a custom pro-touring design.
After upgrading the drums to discs we still had a horribly designed parking brake cable setup so a Wilwood Universal Parking Brake Cable Kit was
used to reroute the old tech A-Body cables into a very nice and neat pair connecting to the E-Brake Pedal by means of the plate and rig fabbed up
late one evening.
Maximum tire contact is the game so we're fitting the biggest possible wheel/tire combo without rubbing. Rears are 18x10 wrapped in 305/45-18
Drag Radials and the fronts are 18x8 wrapped in 255/45-18 Extrememe Sport Radials.
The first attempt to drive resulted in several stalls due to faulty wiring, so the better part of a day was spent rewiring the doghouse.
Here she is in El Paso Texas; an abandoned project just waiting to be resurrected.
