Hello everyone,my name is Adan and a teenager which is new to slant 6 engines.My dad got me this 1964 dodge dart about 2 years ago as a project car. When we got the car it didn't turn on. After a few months of owning the car we got the car running.The interior was gutted already when we got it. The engine and automatic transmission is still there. Was wondering how I could make this car built for autocross?

Hey Adan! Welcome to the Slanted Family! You are in the right place!! There are several of us that enjoy building these cars to handle. You will find lots of good information here and folks willing to help.

Is the car already running well overall? It probably still has the little 9" drum brakes, right? That could be an issue with autocrossing, but we can work around that.

For better handling:

Good brakes
Good tires
Thicker torsion bars
Front swaybar

Lots more coming as other folks see your post.

Share more about your car! Where are you located?

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Yes it still has drum brakes. Runs well but got to change the fuel tank because its dirty. Has new fuel pump, water pump, spark plug wires, spark plug, fuel pump,oil filter, and coil. Was in California but moved to Wisconsin. Car is located in Texas with my cousin because was not able to afford to transport it to Wisconsin. Planning to move to Texas in about 3 to 4 years.

Welcome Adan,

I am attempting a similar Build. Be ready to buy the good parts and get methodical about what parts to buy for the goals you want to accomplish.


Autocross is not about all out Horsepower but a well rounded car. start small and work on things as you get time and ca$h.


Brakes / suspension / wheels / tires. would be first on my list -

Follow that with Oil Control. - If at a very minimum if you don't do anything with oil control, but still have the itch to Autox the dart fill it with 7.5- 8 qts engine oil to keep the pickup covered.

Here are some Ideas to follow... Not all will apply to your build.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=60536

Sorry that Photo**cket blurs my posts.. you can check the gallery link below as well.
https://s299.photobucket.com/user/hyper ... t=3&page=1


Good Luck!

Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Okay Thanks

Nice points from Greg and Rob above. Here are pics of a two of my cars - 64 Dart and 66 Valiant. I have autocrossed and road course'd them.

https://flickr.com/photos/16910097@N06/ ... 7013976355

https://flickr.com/photos/16910097@N06/ ... 3977022478

Happy building!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

Is it necessary to run that much extra oil to keep the pick up covered?

I am pretty sure with 7-8 quarts in my stock 65 pan the crank would be running in the oil on number 5 and 6 cylinders??

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

over filled does not loose engines.

underfilled on autox does.. I have hearsay data.

Hasn't happened to me on the 1x I autox'd the 69 dart.. but I run 7 qts all of the time for that build. No oil control on it 'cept for a windage tray.


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Any recommendations to get small horsepower gains after doing the brakes,suspension,wheels, and tires. Also any good transmission rebuild kits?
Thanks

Get an Offy 4bbl intake and put a Holley 350 or 500 CFM 2bbl carb on it, and get Dutra Duals exh manifolds OR Clifford Shorty headers and run 2X2" head pipes down to 4" behind the transmission crossmember then "Y" them into one 2.5" pipe. Use a Flowmaster Y pipe and a Jones Exhaust Quiet Tone/Full Boar muffler or Walker Super Turbo.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

What size should the tires be??

Yes, overfilling about 2-3 qts above the "full" line on the dipstick should protect the engine on cornering and braking.

You really want to convert to front discs and 4.5" bolt circle on each hub. If you do this you will have a huge number of options for tires and wheels. There is almost nothing good available for 4" bolt circle, which is almost certainly what you have now. Wilwood does make conversion disc kits that will fit your front spindles (steering knuckles) and give 11" or 12.2" brakes and 4.5" bolt circle. Scarebird is another place that has disc upgrades for your spindles, but I think you keep 4" bolt circle.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

Thanks for the recommendations.

I'm going to give it to you straight and you may not like what I have to say. I used to road race, and occasionally autocross, a '66 Dart. From my experiences I can say: You will have brake trouble, but not nearly as bad as in road racing. You will spend many hundreds on suspension parts (torsion bars, sway bar, shocks, bushings, etc). You will spend many hundreds on the largest wheel and tire package that will fit under the car. Then you will have trouble keeping oil in the bearings in longer turns and under braking. You will have trouble keeping up with steering inputs. You will have trouble staying in a stock seat. You can spend thousands of dollars and over 100 hours to fix all these things and I can clean your clock in a stock $3000 Miata I bought the day before.

P.S. You will have trouble autocrossing a Dart due to the car's length and there is no fix for this.

If you like the car and want to enjoy it there's plenty you can do to make it more enjoyable, but to set decent autocross time you're far better starting somewhere else.

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Joshua

The above can be said for any old car that you want to modify. Why "hot rod" an old car when a new one is bigger, better, faster and has a warranty?

You do it because it makes you think and it is a challenge. Just how much time will it take to get that old Dodge around the track. You won't know, until you try.