A BIG Steaming Pile of...

[smitty72]

looking good
I wish the ups girl would pay me a visit with those kind of gifts!
the wife would have a serious cow if I spent that much on the car at 1 time

[flyboy01]

some more progress pics
The new axles arrive on Monday and now I have my back against the wall...tires and wheels are priority 1.  Does a 235 40 18 fit the front?  How about a 285 40 18 for the rear?  Anyone know?
Thx, J

You should get one of those wheel measuring jigs.

[MOPAR70]

  at any time during ur build you get sick of that "big pile of crap" let me know. ill come take it off ur hands and aleve the headache.  i think i could force my self to run junk like that in my pile.

[68GTconvert]

Wow that looks great.

[golferjohn]

looking good
I wish the ups girl would pay me a visit with those kind of gifts!
the wife would have a serious cow if I spent that much on the car at 1 time

 

you mean her?

[smitty72]

yep! she's always a welcome sight
how many other women come baring gifts of car parts and not expect anything in return from ya?

[golferjohn]

waiting on the new axles and then the rear discs can be installed, the transmission went in w/a little persuasion, and the engine fired

[CudaSRT8]

IT'S ALIVE ! huh John?   Congrats!   

Couple of questions:   What did you end up doing for fuel pump, regulator and return.   Mounted at the back or toward the front?   
Also, are you getting the TTI's?
O.J.

[golferjohn]

The TTI's should arrive next week, the fuel pump is from Summit and mounted it toward the rear, the return line was fabbed through the existing pick-up and should look pretty stock.
One set-back was the sheet metal for the trans hump, it was necessary to make a new one
Tires and wheels http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150230823174&rd=1 will be arriving on Monday, the instrument cluster will be here next week w/recallibrated speedometer, factory looking oil pressure gauge replacing the idiot light, volt meter and spit/polish.
Rollin' in a few short weeks

[Dartsport]

 

[golferjohn]

getting closer, the front tires are a tad too big, so that's a minor set-back but I think they look pretty cool just might be burning rubber by the end of the month

[Think3205]

looks good!

[CudaSRT8]

John,
What / where is the problem with the front wheels/ tires.   Too wide?   Inner part of tire rubbing front edge of fender opening when turning outward? 
I ask this because my mock-up 17" /235s wheels/tires do that.  I certainly wouldn't be able to go with what you have.

Are you keeping those wheels/tires?  If so, what the remedy going to be. 

By the way, the "application" for your AC compressor, alternator and PS pump would be 2005 Dodge Ram 1500.

[golferjohn]

I'm going to have to put the 245 40 18's that I thought would work on the front and move them to the rear because the 275 40 18's don't quite work.  I just ordered a set of 17's w/225 50's and that should fit just fine.  Now I need to figue-out what to do with the 275's.
On a more positive note, the clutch and brake pedals came back from powder coat and went in without a hitch
Thanks for all the positive responses, I'll keep the photos coming

[68_Val_Sedan]

Looking good John,  thansk for keeping us updated with all the pics

[golferjohn]

Rear tires fit perfectly 245 40 18's with @ 1" clearence on both the wheel well lip and 4 link lower control arm
Transmission hump is done

[golferjohn]

I found these seats on ebay, they're from a late model Pontiac GTO or G6 and they're also heated the passenger seat is the only one that's installed, but I think they sit inside the car low enough to not look too odd

[IL.DART340- 4SP]

  a lot of the 68 Dart GTS cars had bucket seats with headrest. Your way past a original restore so why not have some extra comfort and heated also. They look good in there IMO.

[CudaSRT8]

John, those seats look real nice.  The side profile with the door shut looks real good.    As for the rear tires, you'd better get some an inch wider with an inch taller sidewalls.   That Hemi is gonna SMOKE those little things mercilessly...   

[golferjohn]

factory looking amp to volt meter, factory looking oil pressure guage where the idiot light is

Tell me more about this! Sounds great!

George

I just received the instrument panel back from RedLine Gauges and it looks very cool.  Oil Pressure Gauge is spot-on and they restored the entire unit so it's fresh and clean.  On a side note, since I have a new crate engine, new trans, new suspension, new everything, would it be so wrong to roll the odometer back to zero?
 

[Think3205]

i suppose not, i was thinking of doing the same... but hey, where's the pics of the new dash?

[golferjohn]

sorry, I was in such a hurry to drop-off the new drive shaft, surgically altered console, alternator, power steering pump etc. etc. that I forgot to take a picture..I'll get one posted Monday.  Will she do for now?

[golferjohn]

Here is the instrument cluster restored by Red Line Gauges...they replaced the oil pressure warning light with an actual gauge 
They did a very nice job

[johndart]

Looking real good.    I have a question re: the trany swap it looks like you had to cut out some of the  torsion bar cross member in the tunnel area. Is the new cross member strong enough between the the 4  crossmember  bolt holes with out reinforcing? Or did you reinforce it some how?

PS next time the ups girl drops by send her over to my place

[golferjohn]

There really wasn't any cutting except for the transmission tunnel, and that was pretty minor.  Here's what it looks like w/the console and seats installed

[johndart]

Thanks for responding take a close look at your top picture in last post on the right hand side just above the tape saying rear just over top of the bolt that is in all the way in the area that isn't black is probably new sheet metal but the crossmember is suppose to be there. Any one else see it?

[rarefish]

You must live in a warmer climate than me. I work for UPS and none of our girls have that uniform. Actually I'm glad they don't. We have a saying around work, "UPS where the men are men and the women are too". Anyway keep the pics coming, that's one cool car,Joe.

PS some day I hope mine looks as good as yours, Joe

[CudaSRT8]

GolferJohn,
Lookin' real good.   Keep the progress pics coming.   I like what Redline did with the oil light to oil guage.   So, the Amp guage is now a Volt guage?

JohnDart,
The Keisler conversion kit requires you to cut some of the top of the hump sheetmetal out and also to notch a little of the upper trans crossmember that's directly under the sheetmetal.   You have to notch the forward "flange" portion of the crossmember and then the modified portion of the tranny will fit up in there.   With use of the AlterK, I'm seeing more and more people or shops just go ahead and cut out the upper crossmember.  Your'e right, you can see that's what the shop did on John's Dart.   I don't think it's a problem to do so since it no longer needs to anchor the torsion bars.   With the sheet metal all welded back up, it's probably strong enough again.

On my Tremec conversion, I'm using an unmodified Tremec.   Even though I have the AlterKtion, I cut out the stock upper crossmember AND built a new one that clears the Tremec.   I'm a little nutty and overkill about that kind of stuff.   The result is a faily high trans hump, but I just HAD TO do it...

[Bigcube]

Very cool project  Nice work 

[Think3205]

GolferJohn,
Lookin' real good.   Keep the progress pics coming.   I like what Redline did with the oil light to oil guage.   So, the Amp guage is now a Volt guage?

JohnDart,
The Keisler conversion kit requires you to cut some of the top of the hump sheetmetal out and also to notch a little of the upper trans crossmember that's directly under the sheetmetal.   You have to notch the forward "flange" portion of the crossmember and then the modified portion of the tranny will fit up in there.   With use of the AlterK, I'm seeing more and more people or shops just go ahead and cut out the upper crossmember.  Your'e right, you can see that's what the shop did on John's Dart.   I don't think it's a problem to do so since it no longer needs to anchor the torsion bars.   With the sheet metal all welded back up, it's probably strong enough again.

On my Tremec conversion, I'm using an unmodified Tremec.   Even though I have the AlterKtion, I cut out the stock upper crossmember AND built a new one that clears the Tremec.   I'm a little nutty and overkill about that kind of stuff.   The result is a faily high trans hump, but I just HAD TO do it...

hey sounds pretty cool. got any pics of your work?