Super happy to see Ryan come around on an OT forum. I've always thought it would be fun. My side project and daily driver has been for a couple years now this '71 Dart. I've snuck in a little chatter about this car here and there and it's been in the background of some of my on topic hot rod posts but I've never been able to show it directly. 1971. Never restored. Mileage higher than Willie Nelson. LO23 ******* Special package... which sounds potentially exciting, but it's not. Slant 6, 904 auto, 7.25" rear, small bolt pattern, manual drums, no A/C, no radio. But it's been a dead reliable car. I overpaid for it, but you can't buy a reliable car for that today, let alone one that turns heads, so I'm good with it. At the end of last year I swapped the tired old 320,000 mile original motor for a pretty tight rebuilt slant courtesy of local HAMBer @Lone Star Mopar. It came with a two barrel intake so I fabricated the super six linkages and went with a bigger carb. It boogies pretty good in around-town traffic... not really fast or anything but it's fun & I can beat most Priuses across an intersection. With long tubes and no muffler, it has a pretty good hot rod sound. This was pretty much right after dropping the new motor in... it moves a lot quicker these days and will do one wheel peels on demand. It actually makes enough power to spin 'em both from time to time... Currently it's a little quicker than my coworker's '02 325i. I'm chest-deep in projects right now, but for the long run, I'm using the old block to figure out a turbo setup... One day it might get a 340... that's the only V8 I'd bother with in this car. No real interest in computer ****. I gotta say... Chrysler had a hell of a car in the A-body platform. Tough as nails and built to last.
I had a 73 Dart ******* that had the slant six a like yours it was reliable and got the looks. It was all original low mileage car including the paint and interior and was loaded for a 6 cylinder. A/C, power everything, and yes the small bolt pattern factory rally wheels. Dropped it an 1” in the back and 3” in the front so it had a good stance. The car was driven every day between my girlfriend and I for years and never had any issues
Nice!! The beak noses are coming back around to cool again. I'd love to get a set of rally wheels for mine but I'm torn on switching away from the turbines. A complete set of those small bolt pattern turbines is hard to come by!
Hope the house is going well. I posted the Demon pics over in the 70s style post. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/70s-style-street-machines.1316166/ I'll warn you, I destroyed both a 904 and a 7.25 in my 70 cuda that's also over there doing the one leg burnouts. The Dart is lighter, but you are still going to break stuff.
My great aunt had a slant six four door with over 300k when she traded it for like a dodge shadow. It still looked like a new car.
I have two more 904s and another 7.25 rear waiting in the stable if I happen to break anything. Still keeping an eye out for beefier stuff. I know once I go forced induction the 7.25 for sure won't be happy.
Those 7.25's would break a spider gear on a hard turn. lol but back then the dealer had gears on the shelf.
Yeah, I snapped mine going down an alley with water in the middle. Gunned it and when the tires both got traction, BOOM! I'll also mention that when you swap from a 7.25 to an 8.75, the driveshaft and u-joint are different (shorter, bigger), same when swapping from a 904 to 727 (bigger slip joint and u-joint). So if the plan is to move up to HD stuff, do it all at once and skip the fitment steps doing one at a time.
I saw this thread earlier in the week and couldn’t comment yet as I was about to go to purchase my Dart . I’m really happy with it,,,it’s pretty slick I think ,,,,it’s a 73 ******* close to Lostn51 machine in the pic . Tommy
A local guy wanted a Road Runner like he had in high school, but prices turned him off. Instead, he bought a nice Dart ******* like that with a 340 or 360 automatic in it.
Nice... really kool with the white top & paint matched wheels!! You're gonna love driving it. I see you have the nifty fender mounted indicators.
Yes,,,,they work too,,,,I was loving driving it home . Made me think back to when I was a kid ! I really believe I’m going to enjoy this machine,,,,,I’ve been smiling more already,,,lol . Tommy
Been a while but I've got the car back on the road again after a complete front suspension overhaul with QA1 dropped control arms. It rides like a ****ing dream now.
I had a lot of fun with a 71 or 72 Dart ******* with a 318. Duel exhaust (with manifolds), a small cam, 4bbl carb, and 3:23 gears in the 8 1/4 rear end made it pretty fun. Sure caught a lot of guys in their supposed big block performance cars by surprise. As an added bonus, it really made them mad to get beat by a 318.
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