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Lou Madsen's "Project V"
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Author:  Dart270 [ Thu May 20, 2004 8:13 am ]
Post subject:  Lou Madsen's "Project V"
Well, I've been working on this car for about 8 months, and finally got it together last week. Took it to the Farmington Slant Six race (1/8 mile) on 5/8/04 and made 8 passes. Didn't win anything, but nothing broke or leaked and we had fun. Best time 10.77 @63.4MPH. Not too bad for stock motor, but needs tuning.

The car started as a '66 Valiant 100 2dr (post). It now has '65 Dart front fenders and valance, and a '63/4 fiberglass hood. Turned out pretty cool IMHO. We call it the "Vart" or the "Plodge" or just "V". Needs paint, of course. It will get a custom grille that covers most of the "mouth" opening with sheet metal and expanded mesh. BTW, this is my first non-Dodge product, and my first Plymouth.

My friend Marc Ter Horst has been a big help with garage space, labor, and some monetary contributions. Other helpers include Nathan Swanson and my wife Christine.

We have set out to build a /6-powered road racer with upgrades from my '64 Dart experiences in terms of handling, braking, and power. See this link for the Dart stories - http://www.slantsix.com/UBB/Forum4/HTML/000051.html

Andy Finkbeiner at www.AREngineering.com (andyf) was a big help with a custom brake setup that we have yet to fully test. Works great so far!

Motor came from Bobby Rogers (hope you're feeling better Bobby!) and is stock except for the 2X1 Offy setup and the Clifford street rod headers into single 2" exhaust.

Brief rundown on front suspension:

- Stock LCAs and UCAs, but with MOOG offset UCA bushings (Thanks Dartvader!)
- Welded box tubing sway bar tabs onto LCAs for heim-joint-mounted 1.25" sway bar (Quickor-custom bar, links/tabs-Lou). Need to complete install and adjustments on that.
- KYB shocks all around (for now)
- 0.890" MP torsion bars
- Strut rod heim joint ends from Bill Reilly at bigblockdart.com
- Custom brake system using 13 X 1.1" rotors from '94-up Mustang Cobra, Wilwood Dynalite calipers and D pads, aluminum hubs and caliper adapters, and '73-up A body drum spindles. Thanks again to arengineering.com!

Other features:

- ATL 12 gallon fuel cell inside trunk
- Battery in trunk w/cutoff switch
- All Lexan windows except for windshield
- Still stock 7.25" axle, but soon to be replaced...
- Lightwt alternator and starter
- AFCO aluminum radiator (afcoracing.com) universal Chevy 21" wide style
- 12" electric fan
- '80s Dodge truck aluminum master cyl (large bore) w/arengineering adapter plate
- 4 point SCCA Solo I/II legal roll bar (0.120" DOM tubing)
- RCI poly seat and Simpson 5pt harness
- Oblong trailer/truck LED taillights that fit into grooves for stock taillight assys that are pretty beat up. Saves 5 lbs too!

Check out the pics:

Here's what we started with, thanks to the Drakes!
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Here's our Farmington outing.

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Below are front suspension and related pics.

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More to come...

Lou
Author:  Tom Drake [ Thu May 20, 2004 8:37 am ]
Post subject: 
Lou - You guys have done a great job with this car. Can't wait to see you run it in the Qtr!!


Congrats on all your hard work paying off!


Tom Drake
Author:  sixinthehead [ Fri May 21, 2004 2:31 pm ]
Post subject: 
Who makes the 'glass hood? How much?
Author:  Dart270 [ Sun May 23, 2004 12:22 pm ]
Post subject: 
Got the hood from Meril Bruner. He is getting one or two more made for me. Let's just say it was not very expensive, less than any standard place like US body or VFN. Nice piece too. 14lbs actual weight.

Lou
Author:  sixinthehead [ Mon May 24, 2004 4:30 am ]
Post subject: 
I wouldn't mind having one for my convert; are they available to the rest of us or do I have to steal one of yours? :lol:
Author:  Dart270 [ Mon May 24, 2004 1:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
Talk to Meril at the next Slant race, and I'll mention it to him too. Bristol this weekend - see you there!

Lou
Author:  sixinthehead [ Mon May 24, 2004 1:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
Not going to make Bristol :( .
It's my anniversary... :)
Wilkesboro is the first race I'll be able to make. Actually, I almost made it to the Wilkesboro race last year, but no one told me there was a drag strip there. All I heard was that the slants would be in town, so I went to the old NASCAR track! :oops:
Cool facility though; I'd like to see your sedan humming around that oval! :wink:
Author:  andyf [ Sun May 30, 2004 1:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
Lou, looks pretty good. (except for those wimpy calipers! I'm telling you, the Porsche Big Reds would really look good on there!)

What is the square tubing the that you have welded onto the LCA do?

Also, are you interested in some tubular upper a-arms and maybe a anti-sway bar? I've been doing some prototype development work for Dick Ross at www.firmfeel.com on some parts so maybe I can hook you up with some stuff. Want a big old Firm Feel decal on that race car?
Author:  Dart270 [ Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
Andy,

I am sure those calipers will work fine on this light car, considering how well they work on the '64 Dart (2-300 lbs heavier) with 11.75" rotors.

The square tubing is to mount the front sway bar. I currently have a 1.25" bar from Quickor with Heim ends (their custom bar, my linkages), that I didn't have on for those pics. I may very well be interested in an 3-piece adjustable or tubular bar (lighter) though.

I am definitely interested in tubular UCAs - just have the stockers on there for initial cost (Dartvader had a set w/good bjs and offset bushings for cheap).

Lou
Author:  Dart270 [ Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:33 am ]
Post subject: 
Image

Project V motor as of Spring/Summer 2004.

Lou
Author:  JohnnyDees [ Sun Jun 13, 2004 4:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
Is that the linkage that came with the offy or did you make that?
Author:  Dart270 [ Sun Jun 13, 2004 5:49 pm ]
Post subject: 
That's the Offy supplied linkage. All I did was cut the throttle/pedal rod to length.

Lou
Author:  Dart270 [ Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:02 am ]
Post subject: 
Updates...
Took the car to the N Wilkesboro Slant 6 race on 8/21 and had a blast. Tuned it up a little (retarded timing mostly) for consistent 10.80s in the 1/8th. Not bad for an almost stock motor and stock trans/rear. This car is pretty light but I haven't weighed it yet.

Installed and zeroed out a 1.25" front sway bar from Quickcor with 7/16" heim joint (rod end) endlinks and LCA tabs of my own devising. MAN did that make a difference. The car is tight as a tiger now in the corners.

Had alignment done in Chapel Hill (Lloyd Tire & Alignment) to these specs:

Ride height (set by me): 0.7" (corrected 9/5 when remeasured)
Caster: +3.0 deg
Camber: -1.2 deg
Toe: 0"

They also read the rear end alignment and it was spot on (0.04 deg from perfectly straight). This is about the limit of their machine.

I may dial in a skosh of toe myself (fronts of tires inward), like 0.05-0.1", after a track test. I also note that my initial "eyeball" alignment allowed for +4-6 deg caster with -2 deg camber, all this with the MOOG offset UCA bushings. So, I think getting tubular UCAs is pretty much not needed, unless you want huge caster (power steering?).

The car goes on its first road course outing on 9/11-12 at VIR (Patriot course). Second outing will be 10/23 at Carolina Motorsports Park. The car is all teched in and legal to run today (9/2/04). I'm getting pumped up!

Near future mods will include a Ford 8" rear axle (BBP, with custom discs) and 245/45-17s on the rear, poly spring bushings, and a 20:1 manual steering gear.

Lou
Author:  Dart270 [ Sat Sep 04, 2004 11:07 am ]
Post subject: 
Road tested the car a little this morning - everything feels good. Understeers a bit, but not terribly.

Also, weighed the car at the local landfill. I pulled my Van+trailer+car onto the scales and got 9000 lbs even. Dropped the car off and got 6440 with just the Van+trailer.

Car weight is 2560 lbs (+/-20lbs) with 9 gals of gas and no driver. This is with a passenger seat and 5pt belt as well.

Pretty close to what I thought. Hopefully we can strip some more weight so that when the rest of the rollcage goes in we are still 2600 lbs or less. The 8" rear axle and 17" wheels/tires will add probably 40lbs.

Lou
Author:  Dart270 [ Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Road Racing at VIR-Patriot
Well, we had a great weekend at VIR-Patriot course (1.1 mile, 14 turns) last weekend (9/11-12).

The V stood the tests and was SWEET to drive on track, as I had hoped. Neutral balance, limited body roll, but not enough power for me. The track was very busy, with lots of turns and not much straight. I reached about 78-80 MPH on the two straights. Some of the faster guys were over 100. I'm sure the '64 would have hit 85-90 at least.

I ran it every session (3 X 20min on Sat and Sun), and in the Time Trials on both days (5 laps each). The car had no mechanical problems or issues at all. People were really psyched about the car and there were lots of head scratchers asking questions and commenting on how fun it was to watch the V drift and squeal around the course.

Time trials netted 1:02:097 on Saturday (best of 3 laps) and with some driving improvement I got down to 1:01:041 on Sunday. I ran with an instructor all Saturday, so had to adjust driving for his weight loss for the TT. On Sunday, I ran alone all day, so could practice without him. These were my first "competitive" time trials with official clocking and it was fun to get a clear course and really let it hang out.

The fastest non-tube-chassis cars were around 53-54 sec, and most of the modded BMWs with slicks were around 56-59 sec. There were several people slower than me, including some people with racing tires. My feeling is that I would have been in the 57-59 sec range with slicks. I'm still very underpowered compared to most cars (high 16s in 1/4, 115 RWHP), but plan on some motor mods for another 10-30 HP before the next outing on 10/23.

My buddy and I ran the same run group, so didn't get many pics, but I may be able to post something if he got some.

Immediate mods:
- upgrade T-bars from 0.890 to 0.990"
- relocate fuel cell below trunk floor (about 10-12" lower)
- install 20:1 steering worm/ballnut
- better head and/or cam for another 10-30 HP
- Ford 8" rear with BBP to mount 16" or 17" wheels/tires
- PolyU rear spring bushings and 1" lowering blocks/Ubolts
- more weight reduction
- RACING TIRES!!! (those may wait 'til Spring/'Summer)

Hope to see some spectators at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) on 10/23-24!

Check this link for a few pics of the car and all the others out there:

http://kevinmallen.home.att.net/patriot_09_04.htm

Lou
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