64 Dodge Dart Gt 5.7 hemi update
 

Havent posted in a long while. A month ago i won a dirt cheap 5.7 hemi out of a 04 ram on ebay. The seller said the engine was locked up, but he didnt know what had happened. He had bought it from another person and was told the truck was in a wreck. I didnt have to drive far to get it, but for $600 bucks i thought it was worth it. I really needed an engine like this to see were things are gonna fit in my engine bay. I also got an alternator, ac compressor and a few other things with it. My though was to use it for mocking up things, then later tare it down and see what was wrong with it.
Well after i got it home, i couldnt resist opening it up. As you can see from the pics, i first found this muddy dried up dirt in the cylinders, then two broken connecting rods. To my surprise the end of the rods would still turn freely on the crank and the bearings didnt look damaged. The only damage to the block was a tiny nick just outside the cylinder and then a very small scratch on the bottom of the cylinder wall. The scratch isnt deep and appears to be just at the bottom edge of the wall. I dont even know if the piston rings would go this far down. Im thinking about taking the block down to a shop and have it looked over. If its rebuildable ill use it. Itll save me 3-5 grand and get my car on the road in less time.
I was really wanting a 6.1, but im thinking a 5.7 will still be fun in a 3000lb convertible 5 speed. Plus getting a 6.1 would set me back a few years, and the most important thing to me is hitting the open road. I should still be able to hang with new mustang GTs and still fend off some turbo'ed up rice, but im not really wanting to build the fastest car on the street anyway, just an updated fun, yet decently fast cruzer.
I also yanked out my front K member. I have the Alterktion for my car and i wanted to clean the enginebay up and the whole under carriage before installing it.It should take a long awhile to do that. I also bought a small MIG Millermatic welder that i need to learn how to use so i can make the modifications i want to do with my enginebay and dash.
Also there is a pic of my "shop buddy". Hes my scotty, his name is Benny. He really likes to hang out with family members. One day i was putting the hemi back together after i got the crank out and he was hanging around the garage. I warned him about the oil in his hair, but he didnt seem to mind. I put the hemi back to gether without the crank,pistons, and cam so later i can put it into my enginebay and see how things will fit. Later i will take it back up to a shop and have it looked at. If i can use it, i will, otherwise ill have to buy another hemi later, but for now its serving its purpose.

Sounds like a nice project. keep us posted!!
What are you going to do for a computer an wiring?

kool project :thumbsup:

I recently found out that the "new" hemis have 2 plugs per cylinder. The 5.7 use a wasted spark from the other side of the engine to fire one of the 2 plugs in each cylinder

What are you using for engine management and will the dual plug system cause any problems for you.

For now, im going to use the factory computer. S&P has them and the engine wiring harness. The factory stuff is cheaper then the others, however, they are limited at 5800rpm, wereas the aftermarket stuff goes up and over the factories rev limiter, and are programable. It all depends on what ya want and how much money your willing to spend. For me the factory stuff is fine for now.
The new hemi is cool. something i thought was interesting was the oil pump is mounted onto front of the crank, which is different then the old LA series blocks.

Haven't posted in awhile. Got the alterktion frame and mounts on and wanted to see how the hemi would fit in. I didn't think my 64 darts hood was gonna clear the truck hemis throttlebody, but it did by an inch. This was the first time ive ever had the hood on, when i bought my car 2 years ago it was off. Almost looks like a car again.
I have to modify the passengerside fenderwell so as to make getting the valve cover off on that side possible without bringing up the motor. Two of the valve cover bolts touch here.

californiacuda, Ill be using a factory ECM, when im ready for it. Its not as nice as some aftermarket stuff, but way cheaper.

alternator and a/c compressor clear, and if ya use the AlterKtion, you wont need a remote oil filter or a center sump pan, the truck hemis rear sump clears very nicely. I put my Flaming River stearing column in to see how it would fit. It doesnt touch the rear corner of the head, the plate i got from Bill at RMS moves the column over abit so i didnt have any problems. The U-joint clears, but ill have to trim up my heat shield a touch.

How much did you have to move the column?

Maybe a half inch, maybe a touch more. Looking at old shots of my enginebay, it looks like the old column was a touch more center. Its not noticable inside the car at all, which was one of my fears.

I haven't posted in a long while. In truth I know alot of people could care less
about a 64 Dodge Dart, but for those of you who like off beat cars, Ill continue to post when i have something worthwhile to post.
Now for the update. I have most of the enginebay sanded down. I removed the 64s upper and lower radiator support and I'm in the process of putting in a 65-66 radiator support. The 65-66 radiator support is wider then the 64s, but even so ill still be opening it up some more so that the radiator im gonna use will fit prefectly. As you can see in the pics, I have the upper rad support welded in, but Im gonna have to modify the lower support a little so that the 97 jeep grand cherokee radiator will fit nicely. The lines on the rad support in the pics are how much im gonna trim off.
I've also made the modifications on the passengerside inner fenderwell so that the hemi's valvecovers can be removed without having to raise the engine (tight fit).
Once i have the radiator support mods done, Im gonna fill in the areas where the shocks used to come up. After that Ill fill in a few small holes around where the windshield weather strip goes. Then, Ill most likely move on to trying to fit the 65 polara dash into my car.

Well, I made some brackets to mount my radiator. It was the first time I ever did anything like this and they turned out well. Now all i have to do is weld in my lower radiator support and then drill two holes for the mounting prongs on the bottom of the 97 jeep grand cherokee radiator. After im finished with the radiator set up, im gonna move on to the area where the shocks used to come up through.

Cool build. I know where a absolutely rust free Valiant is that I would like to install a new HEMI in.

Mike

Thanks man. Heres a few pics of some valiants. The new hemi is a tight fit on the passengerside in these little a-bodies, but its doable. The alterktion set up I got made a few things alot easier. No remote oil filter, steering clears real nice, and i got the motor mounts for the new hemi with my alterktion. Just remember that the car 5.7 hemi is different then the truck 5.7 hemi. The car hemis alternator is mounted low on the passenger side, so im not sure it would clear the frame with out either changing up the the area were it mounts to or the frame it self. The truck hemis alternator is mounted high and clears the hood nicely. Im on abit of a budget as you can tell so ill go with the basic replacement engine and intake, but the 5.7 crate motor from Mopar has a traditional style looking intake with the throttle body on top, set up for a round air cleaner, and instead of the flybywire set up like the factory stuff, it is set up for traditional linkage.

Those are pretty slick. I am not a Mopar guy, but this car is hard to resist since it is so clean. I may just have to pick it up before it disappears.

I say go for it. I am a mopar guy, but i like all sorts of other old cars. 50s and 60s cars are by far the coolest cars to travel the roads, and each car maker was making some very cool designed cars back then.

Well, I drilled the hole in the bottom radiator support so that the radiator could sit in its proper place. Im thinking of using some rubber washers so that the radiator will sit on a cushioned surface. I may need to cut a little off each prong to clear my front valance. I Also still need to cut a little notch out for the drain tap, but after that I can weld in the lower support. I put the hood on to see if the filler neck still cleared the hood, and it does, which means all my test fitting paided off.

looks like it will fit in there pretty nicely.:thumbsup: is that the only car you got. I see the one of those valiants has an Iowa plate. do you live close.

No, both of those cars were on ebay at one time or another. I live in Missouri. One of the reasons i have pics of those cars is that i liked the color. I went to a car show in september and there was a satellite with a simular color. The color looks close, but its actully a color off a jaguar. Here are some pics of it and a 64 convertible dart like mine with a simular color.
I only have my 64 convertible dart right now, but id like to someday get a 60s Dodge D100 Sweptline short bed truck. It like the 66-70 models best.

I dig those years to. I plan on going to power tour in Topeka then to linclon Ne and the to Ames Ia :yes:

I think Power Tour is my goal also. I do plan on taking my car on long road trips, like historic highways 66 and 50, but Power Tour would be great to go on because of all the other classic cars on the road.

Im done welding in my radiator support and when the weather gets warmer, Im gonna close up the old shock mount holes. Ive also ordered my rear shock mount plates and rear leaf spring hangers.
I will be ordering my rear shocks from Summit, they have the single adjustable QA1 shocks Ive been looking for. Ill be running QA1 coil overs up front, so i wanted QA1s all around.
Im gonna be changing a few things because of a desire to get my car on the road sooner. Im going with a 833 4 speed instead of the tko 5 speed, and Im gonna go A/C-less. Mopar makes an A/C delete pully that I will use inplace of the A/C compressor. I will also most likey buy a low miled used engine instead of a new one. All three of these changes should cut about $5,000 off the cost of my build, which means i can get my car on the road faster and start enjoying it sooner.

do you think you will have it ready for this year's power tour.

No, no Power Tour for me for a few years. My car is sitting on 4 jack stands, primer grey from the A pillars back, and only has the doors and trunk lid attached. The hemi is sitting on the AlterKtion k member, but i need to clean the bottom of the car up before i start putting suspension parts back on. Even if I had the money in hand, it still would take awhile to get it back together. Im thinking more like 2012, my luck it will be the day the world ends.
I got my spring hangers in today though. Im still waiting for my shock mounts and leaf spring brackets. I also just ordered my QA1 rear shocks today and i still havent decided on de-acrhed springs or 2" lowering blocks. De-arched springs are more then blocks, but sense Ive made some cuts from 5 to 4 speed, I might spend a little more and get the de-arched springs.
OK, so i wont make Power Tour 08, but i might, by years end, have my car sitting on the ground with all new wheels, new tires, new brakes, new brake lines and new suspension. Just waiting for the weather to warm up again, so i can climb under my car and clean it up.

Well I havent updated in awhile. Ive started cleaning up around under the fenderwells. I got some hard to reach places that i need to hit yet as you can see, its around where the suspension bolts up. The area looks rusty, but its really a dirty dusty material. Other areas that turned up nice and clean had this same dirty rusty dust covering.

I also ordered my wheels. I went with Budnik Sapphires. I ordered them through Paradise Road Rod and Custom. They are stand up guys, they even fixed a payment boo boo I made, Thanks guys. Anyway, I went with the Sapphire because I thought it looked good on my 64 dart and it even distantly resembles a stock 64 dart hub cap, which I like.
Someone on another forum photoshoped them onto the light blue 64 dart pictured below and I photoshopped a brochure cover. What do ya guys think?