straight axle

[400 dart kid]

hey, i was wondering how hard it would be to put a straight axle under my 64. where could i get the axle from?

[GTS225]

Well, the axle could be found in a Dodge van up to about 1970, maybe '72. (Not too sure of the years, here.)  As far as putting it in, anything can happen if your willing to adjust and modify enough.

Roger

[440Ken]

Why would you want to do it???

[Bill_Reilly]

There'd be alot of fab work on the body to get the steering set up, but Speedway sells all that stuff. Axle kits, steering parts, vega boxes, ect,ect.

[WildCat]

Why would you want to do it???

I guess I'm showing my age but I LOVE THE LOOK of a straight axle car. Gives it the old GASSER look. If you don't know what a GASSER is you are not old enough to understand.

There was a picture of a 64 Polara in Hot Rod last year with a straight axle and I loved how it looked.

I don't know if I ever seen a dart straight axle but a guy I worked with at Chrysler in the 70's had a 65 Barracuda with a straight axle. What a cool car until he stood it up and twisted the body so bad it was scraped and a dragster was built to replace it. 383 dual quad on tunnel ram with a 4 speed. Probably should have had a better cage.

Much of what we do is for the LOOK of the car. A straight axle would not make a good street car but would look cool as he*l

[400 dart kid]

thats is the look i wanted, the ol' gasser look. i want alot of lift out of the front without bringing the front wheels off the ground. idk. we will see what happens in the future!

[Steve DeTar]

You need to look in the Vintage Iron forum.  The old Funny Cars had straight axles. 

[sr71mopar]

I think this Dart has a straight axle.

[chryco]

Here`s one for you , good luck with your project !
   Chryco

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[64ragtop]

I think this Dart has a straight axle.

I'm 99 & 1/2 % sure that "Dart" had a full dragster chassis and a flimsy fiberglass replica '66 body shell!!!
If what's left of my memory serves, it was driven for Garlits by a madman from Oklahoma, named Emory Gordy, who also had an Allison aircraft engined dragster that was the noisiest damn thing I ever heard.  Unfortunately, he dragged the bottom of his oil pan off when he hit the hump between the staging lane and the burnout area and went right back on the trailer at the Golden Triangle Dragstrip, Beaumont, Texas, in about 1966.  The '64 sedan above had the sort of straight axle I'm thinking of, and Gene Show's  '65 "Rambunctious" Dart out of Dallas was set up like that

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[hemiorange]

Somewhere down the line I wanna build a car just like "Rambunctious".  After the Duster maybe... then the kids (2 and 4) will be graduated...

Straight axle cars are really cool.  "If I gotta explain it to you, you wouldn't understand."

Jay

[64ragtop]

I love those ol' Hilborn F.I. stacks, but they're tough to fit a hood over!  And the rear overhang could be a small problem comin' out of the Dairy Queen. but who said it had to be practical, huh???

 

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[NitroFixx]

 Brian Kohlmann's '65 Dodge A/FX, Brad Anderson headed Hemi Running a 45% load of nitro
Gotta love it!!



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[64ragtop]

What an incredible picture of the red FXer!  I saw the article in Mopar Collector's Guide (I think) some months ago, and discovered that they're doing gasoline burnouts!!!
In my collection of old dragstrip slides, I have a set of shots of some guy that was featured at the Lake Charles, Louisiana dragstrip's radio ads as the "Fire Burnout King".  He was doing gasoline burnouts in a rail dragster, and they were truly spectacular.  He forgot, though, that the fire inside his engine needed oxygen too!  So, on one of his REALLY BIG fire burnouts, the fire in his engine went out before he cleared the burning gas on the track!!!  Just before he became the fire burnUP king, one of his crew grabbed a front wheel of the dragster and rolled it forward and out of the flames.  All in all, it was quite a show.  The dragster body was a bit scorched and one slick went flat as they got it clear of the flames.  I never heard of that guy again - maybe that was his retirement ROAST!  Wish I could post that sequence, but alas, no film scanner...

[Steve DeTar]

My dad used Ford Econoline straight axles out of a 64 van on B-body's.  For a A-body, you will have to make it work, make the shackle brackets, cut and maybe section the straight axle so you can line up the mounting pads on the axle to be inline with the front stock stub frame.  If you build your own frame, you can put it wherever you want it, then bolt or weld the body to the outriggers. Just be aware, these cars of the past were extremely dangerous going over 150mph.  Air liked getting underneath the car and lift the frontend off the ground!  Do @ your own risk.

[hemiorange]

I love those ol' Hilborn F.I. stacks, but they're tough to fit a hood over!  And the rear overhang could be a small problem comin' out of the Dairy Queen. but who said it had to be practical, huh???

 

Looks like ol Gene has his hands full in that picture... 

Thanks for that one!  someday... (sigh).

Jay