Mopar Muscle Association UK

First off, the subject title is not of my doing but simply an attention grabber from Mrs Demon James

So here's the thing.

We have a great 71 Dodge Demon 340 (was a base model slant 6 Demon but yadda yada yada, I'm not a purist and I love the car to bits) however, after many runs up the strip at Santa Pod and an insatiable desire to go that little bit quicker, I had a notable itch to scratch. Yes I know there may be creams available but this was a big itch

So, after numerous comments suggesting that I should resist cutting the Demon about too much or losing the daily "driveability" I should maybe consider a strip car.

We looked at a complete replacement of the Demon that would provide the thrill of of the track and still go out and about on summer days for fun. In short, timing was perfect, a car came up unexpectedly and a decision was made, what could possibly go wrong?....................imediate and costly house repairs, thats flippin what!!


So that dream faded

Some time later another oppertunity rose and life is too short so we took it.......

What I've been trying to say is Wendy and I have now bought a 68 Dart post car, I'm sure many of you will know it from previous ownership and hard work from GuyPapworth.

There is a lot about this car that I don't know and am learning so please feel free to fill me in or correct me at any time

So what have we done so far? Well, the first job was to align the replaced enigine with the diff so after some light fabrication of the motor plate and bodywork welding we had a straight line of transmission.

I think it was after this that the nerves tingled as I had a chance to step back and digest what I was doing. Going from a car that has sketches done of it, rather that photo's up the drag strip to a so far unknown machine to me.....I felt I had a lot to learn.

It is thanks to this club that I have learned so much about these cars that I'm able to work on and maintain a race car.

We collected the Dart in the spring and with work permitting, got on with the jobs needed in order to get to Santa Pod before the season ended. Fitting a dizzy, carb rebuild, rear innertube, fuel pump and filter replacement

Time was running out

We made it to a RWYB at the end of September (if you didnt see it, my first ever time will remain a mystery ) but man O man did we have fun I cant believe we made it to 5 almost back to back RWYB weekends to try the Dart out and learn how to drive it. My family pit crew have been without doubt absolutley brilliant and tell me they love it, for which I am truley gratefull.

If you are still reading and I haven't gone on too much I do have some pictures to follow Along with some questions but I will post them in the relivant sections

I dont quite need the induction cowl (yet) so I bought an MW Scoop from Pete and made the required mods so that it can be swapped instantly without changing hood fixings.

I bought some Aerocatch fixings and set about fitting them to the fibreglass hood. I haven't used fibre glass before, or filler and painbt for that matter but gave it a go as its a track car, not a show car

I strung lines accross the existing hood pins and tape marked them on the car. I then transfered this string with the tape marks onto the MW hood and marked the pin points.

After carefull drilling and cutting I fixed the new catches and hey presto, it only blinking fits!

Hood finished

First go at fibre glassing.....

The family pit crew, a crash course (not literally I hope ) in learning drag racing, that's me learning too

As im currently on treaded tyres it was rather handy having the kids line me up and stop me just after the dip in the burnout box.It's also been interesting watching them signal when the tyres are actually spinning so I can learn the sounds and feel from in the driving seat

just PLAIN BAD ASS,love it

That looks COOL

Looks familiar

68 Post Dart... what's not to like!
Is the cowl hood in need of a new home????

Keeping the induction cowl hood in case I venture into the tunnel ram experience in the future but that's not for now.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey........ well, quickly quickly actually catches the monkey, especially when it comes to racing

Great stuff

Enjoy your hobby!

Nice one James, really liked that car as Guy built it. Should be an absolute blast!

It's a cool car, good to see it out again. Thats the old Brisbane Taxi hood isn't it?

Thanks for the encouraging comments, chaps.

It's no secret that I was a bit apprehensive taking on a car that's known to many but I've soon got over that by having five late season days at the track pretty much back to back. People have been great with advice and help both from this club and track side, without being intimidating or judgmental.

Pretty much all the hard work has been completed by others and I am truely gratefull to be able to drive and work on a car this ready to run.

Since the spring I have modified the motor plate, rebuilt a carb, made a bunch of aluminium brackets for various parts, fabricated two adjustable turnbuckles from the trans case to the chassis, replaced a tube in one of those monster tyres, installed a fuel pump and filter, replaced the catches on the hood, minor bodywork to cut out some rust (the car is tip top underneath with no rust) and a bunch of other stuff. When I sit back and look it, with the help of Wendy and the kids, we've acomplished quite a lot and I'm certainly more confident finding my way round the car.

Oh and yes Blue, it is the Brisbane Taxi hood

So far I have had an imense amount of fun, along with one or two twitchy moments on that steep learning curve jumping from the gentle Demon to the Dart up the track.