No offense taken, and I think you have a cool car there. I'm just not a "true" AFX fan (no offense). More on that below.
The 51" bars are correct for an AFX build and have the correct spring rate, hex dimensions, etc, but I didn't have a set, so the C-body Imperial bars, which are 5" shorter then TRUE AFX bars (with much larger/stiffer bar dia's) were used - and I understand that others have used them as well. However, the 51" bars do not require receiver tube/cross-member modifications, whereas the shorter C-body Imperial bars require cutting down the hex to fit the B-body receivers, and the receivers must be removed from the cross member; cleaned up; relocated 5" forward; re-welding; and considerable bracing added. Or, you can simply custom build your own cross-member and drop the bars to replicate the AFX stuff. Either way, it's a lot of work.
Again, it's a good/fair question. I didn't move the rears because I was shooting for a "stretched" dragster look, and I was not really interested in replicating the AFX setup using a station wagon. In truth, I (personally) don't like the look of the AFX'ers with rear wheels moved up and their nose-high stance, though I love that era of cars. I like any car that has the front wheels pushed forward netting a positive weight bias with engine setback - and a slight nose-down stance. It just scream "dragster" to me...
For that reason, I simply moved the K-member; shock towers; all sheet metal; firewall pushed back and flat; suspension; and receiver tubes to move the wheels fwd 10" - while maintaining the clean rake of a late model pro-street car. The 10-71 blown Hemi is just icing on the cake. One other thing of importance: At 10", half of the K-member modifications are "solved" using existing holes, leaving only the other 2 hard mounts to be installed. It requires opening up the frame; welding; and sealing it back up. Those of you who've done the mods know what I'm talking about - and it's also the reason Chrysler Engineers settled on 10"...
And, Steve, I never said I moved my cross-member: I stated the receiver tubes have to be flipped with a C-body bar and rewelded - unless you choose to drop and custom build a crossmember.
So, in summary, I modified the front suspension to achieve the "look" I wanted. That's all. Thanks for asking.
Southernman
PS
Listen, here's another bit of trivia for those out there who still seem confused about bars:
If the stock B-body torsion bars are 41" and you move the suspension forward 10", a true AFX 51" bar fits perfectly - with NO modification "required" to the rear cross-member - and the ONLY company out there that makes 'em is FirmFeel @ $500/set.
If the C-body cars came with a 46" bar SIGNIFICANT MODS WILL BE REQUIRED to fit them to the B-body cars, and the spring rate will not be the same as the AFX'ers. Stiffer bars, worked for me given the weight of blower, hemi, etc...
Rule changes impacting "through the hood" engine setups in the 60's resulted in racers spacing the K-members down to keep their engine combinations compliant, which is also the reason torsion bars were spaced down. This was due to Ramchargers showing up with roots blowers and destroying the competition with such set ups. Hence the rule change. This also affected NA setups using crossrams etc, and the Dart SS is another setup caught up in these rules. A true Dart SS will have the K-member spaced down to meet the "under the hood" rule changes of the day.
There is NO requirement to do such mods on a street driven altered, and you CAN tuck everything up under the car to arrive at the nose-down, low, rake of a modern day pro-street car.
