dragcarz

I came across this today going through some of my old stuff looking for reference material, I forgot I had this! Back in 1978 I was building a 68 Dodge Dart, it was tubbed had 14 inch slicks tucked under the body, a 6 point roll bar, leaf springs with ladder bars, a 440 RB motor with a Torque flight auto transmission, Hemi Orange paint. King Dodge held a Performance Clinic and my buddy Crash and I attended. It was hosted by Larry Shepherd and Tom Hoover if I remember correctly, lots of information was packed into that clinic, I purchased the Direct Connection catalog and 869 page Race manual there. While paging through it I came a note I wrote noting when I purchased my cam and pistons…. This really took me back today and I thought I would share a memory, thanks for humoring me!

So I just wasn’t satisfied with the fit of the roll cage and spent the day redoing it. I’m much mor satisfied with the fit now compared to my earlier post. It’s tighter against the roof, the front bars are closer to the A pillars and the dash is notched just a little for the forward bars. I also worked on the hood. I cut an opening and added a two piece scoop from the Monogram 69 Camaro street machine kit. I’m leaving the top of the scoop off to make painting easier as the top of the scoop is white with two purple stripes down it. I still have some trimming to do after the glue sets.

Looks beautiful to me Bob!

Beautiful build Robert!

Your build is beautiful by the way!

14X32 slicks were not developed until 1972, about the largest slick you could get for a 15 inch wheel in 1970 was a 12X30.

Thanks Scott, I am too! It’s going slower than I hoped.

Wow Edgar, I don’t think I realized how many cars utilized those high bars. Seems dangerous to me.

Thanks David, hopefully I can get it to sit the same when it’s finished.

Thanks DW, my main hoop is against the roof, it seems as I moved forward it drooped a little. I’m not completely satisfied and may redo some or all of it, I’m replicating the early 72 version of this car and the photos show these bars. Looks dangerous to me.

Thanks Terry! I’m kinda rethinking it, thinking it needs to be wider, I’d like the front bars closer to the A pillar.

I’m using as much of the Duster interior as I can, it’s the same as the Demon in style.

Really cool builds! I love what your doing!

I’m looking forward to seeing these builds.

Looking god Bob, did you get clear on it today?

Just beautiful Terry, great detail, super clean build!

I got some bench time and set about the roll cage. There’s no photos of the interior so a lot of this is my best guess from looking from the outside in. I used .080 round Plastruct Rod. I spent a lot of time bending and re-bending tubes to get as close as match as I could. I also fit it over and over to make sure it was tight against the roof and close to the dash without interference. I worked to get the Hemi as far back as possible as in the photos the hood scoop overlaps the cowl. In 1972, the rules allowed the furthest forward spark plug even with the front spindle, to allow the non V8 cars an engine reference point. Mines not close but it should work.

Super nice work Scott, that’s coming out beautifully!

Looking good Scott! I love early Pro Stocks, things changed quickly, from week to week looking for an advantage. Gives us options to build our favorite version. I love what your doing here!

Impressive work going on here! It goes to show how much we look but don’t really see.

I missed most of your build Dennis, beautiful work on this conversion!

Gonna be away from the bench for a few days, I did get the rear floor pan covered and the chassis primed to see what I’ve missed.

Thanks Trevor.

No criticism intended, I’m a victim of an over sensitive society and I’m trying not to offend anyone. I probably need to relax a little more!