71 Dart Swinger

MoparNutt

MoparNutt

STARTING OVER
I finally have all my parts to do my exhaust system.........
Ceramic coat headers from Summit....check
2.5" Flowmaster 40 series muffs....check
2.5" electronic cutouts from QTP....check
Couple lengths of 2.5" polished stainless pipe....check

The fun started last weekend. I had no idea how much bs it was going to be to changer from power to manual steering, but I managed to get it done. Then the headers went on without too much cussing. However, doing the pass side was fun........ Drained the oil, then slid the bucket over under the filter. Removed the filter so I could get the header up in there, but its on a 90 degree adapter....:doh:... I cleaned off the filter and put it aside. As I'm reaching up loosening the bolt, the adapter drops right into the bucket of oil, soaking the floor, my shoulder, the tire.......
I get around the front of the car to clean up the mess and soon as I grab the bucket..... swoosh, it was cracked in half. The oil spread everywhere. [smilie=f:So I run across town to NAPA to get a bag of floor dry. My buddy was working so had to shoot the breeze for 20min. By the time I got back home the 4 ft oil spot had spread out to about a 12ft spill. After 2 hrs of down time for a clean up it took about 20 min to put the header on, install a filter & new oil and drop her down.

So I fire it up to back into the shop. I notice the fans not moving. :hmmm: I guess I overlooked that part. Once the power steering was out I had nothing running the fan and water pump. I was searching all over in my parts for a double pulley so I could run it off the A/C belt, no luck...........
After leaving it alone for a couple days I got to thinking about it while I was working today and thought maybe the other single pulleys I have could be a different offset. Soon as I got home I grabbed one out and sure enough, it was what I needed. When I tried to put it on, its bigger so it was hitting the crank pulley. Back to digging in boxes again and in a few minutes came up with the matching crank pulley to go with it.
She's back togeather again but no belt on the A/C. I figured I will leave that issue til later, as long as the fans working I'm good to go. So now I have to get some cutting and bending done then the exhaust will be going on.........

I will post some pics of the before and after once the work is done
 
Cheap kitty litter works good for floor dry and oil spills. It also works as a traction aid when stuck on icey lane ways or roads.
 
Oil-dry and kitty litter are the same thing: Fuller's earth. NAPA, however sells a non-Fuller's-earth oil dry that I'm told is freakin' amazing. And, in my experience, the Fuller's-earth oil dry is a lot cheaper than kitty litter. I used oil dry in my ferret's litter pan because it was less expensive.
 
I keep 2-3 old blue jeans laying around to soak up oil spills. Cheaper yet, and no dust. :cool:
 
we used to use ground up corn cobs .... but now we no longer have the corn husker and everyone shells on the combines now. so we are now on kitty litter
 
Personally, I wouldn't even consider running them. I'd rather cut the floor and have effective connectors. Give me a couple of chunks of 2"x3" box-section tubing.
 
ive done something similar to what they sell..i made up a C channel the same width as the rear rails well it snugged over the rear rails..but i "slit" the floor for the sides of the C to slip up into as well as bent over tabs up front to weld to the tbar rails..in the end it looks like a factory peice..inside on the floor the trick was then to tack weld it in and then cut and grind the whole thing flush with the floor and then flat weld it in.....reason being is having STOCK carpet fit...while i agree with doc about just using some square stock..you cant get stock carpet to ever fit
 
if i was to do the subframe connectors again i would go with the 2x4 steel tube and weld them solid. (make my own)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4286868/media/images
dcc-4286868.jpg
 
I put the US Car Tool connectors in DCF's Charger. It had had sooo much metal work done, it was more of a "let's make it as strong as we can" kind of thing.
They fit pretty good, considering the floors were replaced before the connectors were even thought of by someone who didn't take the time to make sure everything was tight in place before welding began.
They sure look good under there, and his carpet should fit perfectly.
Unless your engine is a high horse engine and you're pulling holeshots at 4500rpm with sticky tires, the US Car Tool connectors should be fine.
 
If you don't have a high-horsepower engine and aren't going to pull holeshots on sticky tires, you don't need frame connectors. Box-section tubing, welded in place, is the only way to fly. When you order your carpet, ask for an extra yard (yes, they still sell it as yardage too). Cut to fit and velcro it to the connectors where they intrude into the rear floor. C-channel or the frame connectors shown aren't much more than extra weight on the car from a strength standpoint.

Maybe I'm different, but when I build a car I intend to beat the raging shit out of it at some point or another. I'm not going to skimp on strength for a pretty carpet fit or the convenience of the occasional rear-seat passenger.
 
dodgedifferent2 said:
if i was to do the subframe connectors again i would go with the 2x4 steel tube and weld them solid. (make my own)
dcc-4286868.jpg
Click to expand...



Thats what I did with my last Dart. It just had 2x2 boxed steel welded in. Worked well
but looked like shit. I like the idea of these new ones so under the car still looks clean
 
honestly i don't look under the car too much unless i am working on something under the car. I wonder what the underside of my truck looks like?[smilie=2:
 
New exhaust system installed

I got the new system installed. Ceramic headers from Summit, polished 2.5" electronic cutouts from QTP, Polished 2.5" pipes, and 2.5" Flowmaster 40 series, with turn downs pointing under the rear tires.

I didn't get the sound I was shooting for but it don't sound bad. Very quiet inside the car til you get on it then she gets a bit loud. I have to wire up the electric cutouts so it just has caps on it in the pic



exhaust 1.JPG
exhaust 2.JPG
exhaust 8.JPG
Ceramic Headers 1.jpg
exhaust 15.JPG
exhaust 16.JPG
Safety Check Jan.30,2013.jpg
 
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Looks good! I hate how the long tubes trap the steering linkage, but whaaatevers. Be careful over bumps! Don't want to scratch the pretty finish :)
 
be carefull..thats an understatment...honestly...make yourself a skid plate just for the headers on that side..youll thank me for it later...better to have a sacraficial plate on the header pipes than to be going thru pipes

what did the elec cutouts run you anyway
 
69.5CUDA said:
be carefull..thats an understatment...
Click to expand...

lol the long tubes that were on my car were damn near halfway smashed in. Maybe he's got a bitchin front end suspension? :) ...I know mine is crap ATM.

To the OP, did you run longtubes on your previous Dart?
 
Yes Marc, I had them on my 72.
Scraped them a couple times then I cranked my front end up til the car sat level, never bumped them again after that
I will be raising the front on this car now as well. I like that look better anyway, plus it makes super traction


As for the cutouts, they were $475 shipped on ebay, complete kit with turn downs included. There are cheaper kits available but QTP is the best quality. After I bought them I found that my local NAPA store can order them for pretty close to same price but not polished and no turn downs
 
I would bet the lack of an X pipe or H pipe and no tail pipes has everything to do with you not getting the sound you were looking for. Nice work though.
 
I have been trying to find someone local with experience doing a mini tub on my Dart, but it seams nobody has done it. I have a friend who is able to do it but he is very busy. I started doing online research for the the tub work and spring relocation. After seeing how others have done it, I studied my car and decided to just start cutting. As I was told once here at the Nutthouse, its not hard at all.
I cut out the pass side last night and moved it in flush with the frame. I now have a 2.5" gap down the center of the wheel well...... and I don't even have a welder :doh: LOL....... I have everything screwed in place tho and it fit togeather nicely, now just have to get it welded up.

I will likely start the drivers side today. Should be easier now that I know what to do. I didn't get good pics on the first side so I plan to take lots of pics this time. Once I get the other side in place I can bring it to the shop to get the welding done.

I also know now how the spring relocation kit is done. Quite simple really so I will tackle that next.

I will post some pics when I'm finished the tubs
 
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