d.b.
Member
I don't see no Welsh dragon icon!! ;-)
So my Mopar story, I started looking to build a pro-street style car around 10 years ago. My shortlist was very short- Early Firebird/ Camaro, Roadrunner, Chally.
Then I saw a tiny side-on shot of a black '66 Belvedere on some random internet site. I was hooked in that instant!
I joined the UK MMA and with a lot of help and advice, bought a project car from a member about 9 years ago. It came to me with full cage, 2x3" chassis rails, tubbed, coilovers all round, rack steering, etc.
A picked up a nice 360 motor from another member, this had not long been built with Barton ported Indy heads, lumpy Ultradyne cam, M1 inlet and a few other goodies.. 400+hp.
I had a 9" built for the car by S&W with a 4-link & Panhard rod setup and sourced a locker & 4.50 gears, etc. from good ol' Ebay . I replaced the rear shocks with QA1.
I was going auto, then I decided as the car was originally a 4-speed I should go for that. I bought a sound 18-spline box from another MMA mate, gave this a rebuild and slowly built the car up as time and money allowed. I've moved house (A long and painful process in the UK!) and had a couple of kids so the car only made it onto the road last year.
For the last year it's been bare metal and thanks to Gibbs is still virtually rust-free. Most recent change was to a 750dp Holley, a clutch disc upgrade and a set of 16.5 x 31 M/T Street ET's.
This was to get it ready for it's (and my) first run down a dragstrip at the Mopar Nats.
We drove the 180 miles to Santa Pod, bust a couple of pushrods on the way (while cruising at 65mph!???!) and made it the last 30 miles on 7 pots.
I tracked down a used set there and replaced them and got my run on the track!
Due to lack of experience, lack of rev-limiter and lack of clutch grip... revs hit 7500 according to the tell-tale-tach and I got a bit of valve float...
Busted 5 spring retainers, one of which let go of the valve which had a slight disagreement with a piston :boxing:
Luckily it only bent the valve and the guide...
Now the car's out of action I've decided to prep it for painting. I need to replace the drivers rear arch and the bottom 4" of the passenger lower 1/4.
I'm hoping for a little advice on the motor rebuild and the body repairs :icon_thumright:
So my Mopar story, I started looking to build a pro-street style car around 10 years ago. My shortlist was very short- Early Firebird/ Camaro, Roadrunner, Chally.
Then I saw a tiny side-on shot of a black '66 Belvedere on some random internet site. I was hooked in that instant!
I joined the UK MMA and with a lot of help and advice, bought a project car from a member about 9 years ago. It came to me with full cage, 2x3" chassis rails, tubbed, coilovers all round, rack steering, etc.
A picked up a nice 360 motor from another member, this had not long been built with Barton ported Indy heads, lumpy Ultradyne cam, M1 inlet and a few other goodies.. 400+hp.
I had a 9" built for the car by S&W with a 4-link & Panhard rod setup and sourced a locker & 4.50 gears, etc. from good ol' Ebay . I replaced the rear shocks with QA1.
I was going auto, then I decided as the car was originally a 4-speed I should go for that. I bought a sound 18-spline box from another MMA mate, gave this a rebuild and slowly built the car up as time and money allowed. I've moved house (A long and painful process in the UK!) and had a couple of kids so the car only made it onto the road last year.
For the last year it's been bare metal and thanks to Gibbs is still virtually rust-free. Most recent change was to a 750dp Holley, a clutch disc upgrade and a set of 16.5 x 31 M/T Street ET's.
This was to get it ready for it's (and my) first run down a dragstrip at the Mopar Nats.
We drove the 180 miles to Santa Pod, bust a couple of pushrods on the way (while cruising at 65mph!???!) and made it the last 30 miles on 7 pots.
I tracked down a used set there and replaced them and got my run on the track!
Due to lack of experience, lack of rev-limiter and lack of clutch grip... revs hit 7500 according to the tell-tale-tach and I got a bit of valve float...
Busted 5 spring retainers, one of which let go of the valve which had a slight disagreement with a piston :boxing:
Luckily it only bent the valve and the guide...
Now the car's out of action I've decided to prep it for painting. I need to replace the drivers rear arch and the bottom 4" of the passenger lower 1/4.
I'm hoping for a little advice on the motor rebuild and the body repairs :icon_thumright:
