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Project Phoenix: Custom '61 Dodge Dart resurrection: The Wall, March 29


Ace-Garageguy

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Whatever you do, please don't lose the "forward lean" of the front end. It would be cool to incorporate some sharper peaks into the headrest blisters, to tie them in with the quarter panel peaks.

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Again, thanks for the interest in saving this little car. It was such an oddball, I really didn't expect it to be very popular.

Casey, I'm definitely keeping the forward lean of the front fenders, but I'll probably stay with a more rounded look for the tonneau to harmonize with the door tops.

Rick (pharr7226), I'll definitely have it far enough along to bring to the next ACME meeting. Hope to see you there.

Steve (route66modeler) The glass cloth is something I've had on hand for a while. It's not really scale, but it's the finest weave I've seen yet. We use it to repair control surfaces on sailplanes where weight is absolutely critical. I'll contact my associate in Arizona and get a supplier name for you. OR, I have enough to last me a lifetime, and I'll be glad to send you some if you want.

I've got progress shots, but my last camera battery died just moments ago. I'm sure the tail-lights will not be to everyone's liking.

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Again, thanks for the interest in saving this little car. It was such an oddball, I really didn't expect it to be very popular.

It's such a bizarre car, styling wise, as there is so much going on at every corner, and along every edge. You'd never think it all works together, but somehow, it does. :)

Keep up the nice work. I have a feeling this is going to be one of the nicest builds of 2012 here on the forum. ^_^

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Thank you Casey. That's quite a compliment.

A bunch of chassis work.....had to c-notch the frame so much to get the stance I wanted that the frame rails needed extending upwards over the notch. Here they're beginning to get roughed in. There are also holes that need to be dealt with and the iinner fenders need to be extended upwards to clear the tires.

DSCN6276.jpg

New panel to go up-and-over the new rails and clear the pumpkin and new raised tunnel. Inner fenders have been extended .100" with styrene strip, and pockets for the coil springs are fabbed in.

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Semi-complete rear suspension with the new "sheetmetal" in place, and springs living happily in pockets.

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Top of the chassis showing the rear mods and the new front tubular crossmember. It was necessary to fab this type in order to clear the new front pan. The revised front suspension shown much earlier will work with this setup. Also, the firewall has been opened up more, allowing additional engine setback. I think I may need all the room I can get ahead of the engine. The piece of angle stuck to the block is just for temporary setup.

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This is pretty much the final mockup of the new nose treatment.

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....and here's a better shot of the rough tail design, which mimics some elements from the front.

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....and the taillights. I decided to go with the kind of rocket-ship look that this car seems to want, but with a little restraint to keep from becoming cartoonish. The lights, 4 of them to echo the quad headlights, are vintage Revell Parts Pack pieces I've been saving for something special. The peaks in the center of the pans will be softened slightly to better match the curves of the hood and rear deck. They won't be eliminated though, because I like the tension the slight mis-match of some of the design elements creates in the overall theme.

DSCN6355.jpg

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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whats the rear end set upfrom?

If you look halfway down page 2 of this thread, there's a shot of the rear-end setup before modifications. It's a generic Nascar truck-arm style rig with a reinforced Ford 9", available sometimes as part of a donor kit from GMS Customs on ebay. One of the reasons I decided to use it was to give me room to route the exhaust system after the severe lowering job. The leaf springs would have been in the way, and it would have taken a LOT more chassis mods to make that setup work.

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