I have owned the Dart since July of 1989 but 2002 was the first time the car was at the track.  This is the first action photo of the Dart, 8/3/2002 at Southeastern Dragway, Dallas, GA.  The Dart ran a 7.760et at 89.100mph.  The converter was way too tight.  Note the steel rear wheels; the car still had the factory driveshaft in the picture.  I had yet to win a single round of competition; I was doing plenty of testing and tuning at this time.  My first run was 3/17/2002 at the same track and I ran an 8.195et at 83.600mph; the Dart had improved but was still not consistent or was it that the driver was not consistent.  I also drove the Dart on the street occasionally but the street tires could not handle the power.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                               This picture was taken on 10/12/2002.  Notice I have an NHRA competition number: D249, I wanted to have my own number instead of the shoe polish number assigned to me each week.  This run the Dart ran 7.509et at 89.820mph with a 1.581 60ft time.  I see air under the front tires; now this thing is leaving hard.  I went 6 rounds the week earlier at a track in north GA.  This week I went 3 rounds before I took a nap.  The Dart now had an aluminum driveshaft, a new torque converter, and two new quarter panels.  A guy had run into the Dart in the pits damaging the left quarter panel, I replaced both quarters due to a little rust.  The Dart at this time weighed 3055lbs race ready with me in it.  Note in the background was a student of mine from North Metro Technical College, Jonathon and his dad; both of them worked at the track.

 
 

This picture was taken on 3/27/2004 at Beaver Springs Dragway.  After two years in Georgia on 1/8th mile tracks, I came north to run ¼-mile tracks.  I had the car set up for the 1/8th so except for a gear change 4.88s to 4.10s I did nothing else to the car.  I figured I would be in the 11.70s but the first day was frustrating, I only managed a 12.005et at 111.85mph.  After a late night thrash, the car ran an 11.739et at 114.64mph, 3/10s and almost 3mph over night.  I, also, went three round in my ¼-mile debut.   I have magnetic stickers on the Dart for the contingency money awarded for a win or runner up. 

 

 

These pictures were on 4/10/2004 at Beaver Springs.  I had won before but this was the best win so far.  I was the Modified class and then eliminated the Bike finalist and then the Super Pro finalist.  I was the only person to go home that day undefeated; I whipped them all.  It was a special Easter Saturday race and I was really on, I ran on my dial five of seven rounds, dumping on the other two rounds.  I had the better reaction time compared to my competitor every round even time trials.  The light looked like a big yellow beach ball that day; it was good.  My best package was round five, .001 off the dial with a .006 reaction time, a nice .007 package.  In round seven, I had a low 8-second dragster going 168mph, hard to judge at only 114mph.  I actually dumped on him and he broke out by .02.

 

Vehicle Stats (5/18/2006)

1969 Dodge Dart Custom

Owned since 7/20/1989

All work except paint is/was done by me

 

Exterior:

 

US Body Source fiberglass fenders, hood, bumpers, and front bumper brackets

Both rear quarters replaced in July 2002

1985 Corvette White (Base coat/Clear coat)

Curb weight: 2870lbs

Competition weight: 3045lbs

NHRA/IHRA competition number: D158

 

Interior:

 

Factory original front bench seat

Full blue interior

B&M shifter

Autometer Tachometer

Autometer Water Temperature gauge

Autometer Oil Pressure gauge

B&M Transmission Temperature gauge

Electric water pump switch

Electric fans switch

 

Engine:

 

’68 Dodge 340

  • Rebuilt first time 1992
    • .030 over TRW pistons
    • ‘ 68 factory steel crank and rods
    • .557 MP Cam
    • X heads then 65cc Edelbrock aluminum heads
    • Crane Rockers
    • Custom Pushrods from the Pushrod Factory
    • Melling HV oil pump
    • Milodon 7qt pan
    • MSD distributor with MP chrome box ignition module
    • Hedman headers 1 5/8” primary to a 3” collector
    • Holley 830 carburetor on an Edelbrock Torquer II intake
    • 1995 Dodge Ram alternator (diesel)
    • Solid motor mounts
      • Street driven
      • 661 drag strip passes
      • Best 60ft.:  1.549 seconds
      • Best 1/8th:  7.233 seconds
      • Best ¼:    11.486 seconds
      • Best MPH: 114.98 mph
  • Rebuilt second time 2006
    • .040 over TRW pistons
    • ‘ 68 factory steel crank
    • Eagle H-beam rods
    • .557 MP Cam
    • 65cc Edelbrock aluminum heads
    • Crane Rockers
    • Custom Pushrods from the Pushrod Factory
    • Melling HV oil pump
    • Milodon 7qt pan
    • MSD distributor with MP chrome box ignition module
    • Hedman headers 1 5/8” primary to a 3” collector
    • Holley 830 carburetor on an Edelbrock Torquer II intake
    • 1995 Dodge Ram alternator (diesel)
    • Solid motor mounts
      • Best 60ft.:  1.526 seconds
      • Best 1/8th:  7.156 seconds
      • Best ¼:    11.381 seconds
      • Best MPH: 117.01 mph
      • Have to add weight to slow the car to 11.50 (no roll bar)

 

Transmission:

 

904 Torqueflight

  • Standard gears 2.45/1.45/1.00
  • Reverse manual
    • 1992-2006 cheetah valve body
    • 2006-date A&A valve body with Low Band apply
  • Rebestos friction disks
  • Ceelon steels
  • PCT torque converter
    • Freshened in 2006
  • B&M trans cooler
  • External filter
  • Deep pan

 

Rear End:

 

Chrysler 8 ¾”

4.10 gears or 4.88 gears

30 spline Moser axles

26” X 9” Hoosier slicks on 7” Weld wheels

 

 

 

 

 

 

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