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  #1  
Old 01-14-2000, 02:53 AM
ncarnes ncarnes is offline
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Well i'm finally able to get back to work on my car, been a while, and I seem to have forgotten a few contacts. I have a 1974 Duster, orig /6, now 383 w/tunnelram. I spoke to mucsle motors again recently to get the last few specs on the stroker, and they say with my new Indy cylinder heads that with their stroker 625hp isn't out of reason. So here we go.....
This car won't be race only, its gonna be a show car, and more than anything a cruise car. I need a set of front fenders, hood and bumpers. I was gonna just sand my fenders down, and have the bumpers rechromed, but i'm lazy, and with the prospect of 10sec 1/4's it wouldn't hurt to shed a few pounds, so i'm going glass. Anyway, wheres the best place to find glass mopar parts, and I want them to be for a 73-74 Duster, and not the 70-72 version. Also, what Torque Converter company should I go with, and no one better say GER cause they ripped me off, and I wouldn't go back their, if they sponsored me........
Thanks,
Nick
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  #2  
Old 01-14-2000, 04:56 AM
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Christopher Christopher is offline
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Glad to see you back Nick. On fiberglass,I've been looking also as I'm going to put my Demon on a diet too(along with the driver)I've found VFN fiberglass in Addison Ill. has good pieces as does U.S. Body Source in Florida.Muscle Motors will recommend Coan as that is what they sell.I use Turbo Action,although Dynamic,ATI,JW,are all good converters too.
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  #3  
Old 01-14-2000, 05:26 AM
hemivaliant hemivaliant is offline
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Cool

Doesn't anyone build cars anymore that are all steel? I'm running an all steel '68 A-body that runs 11.70s at 117 with a mildly built 360. It even has the full interior in it. But I guess if you want to run in the 10s, a diet would help a lot.

Christopher recommended a good place for fiberglass parts. A friend of mine bought several fiberglass pieces for his car from VFN. All the pieces were very well done.

I'm using a 10" Continental Torque Converter in the car. It has been in it since '95 and have never had a problem with it. Give 'em a call at 310-674-1072. A-1 converters are pretty good too, have never heard anything bad about them. Their no. is 818-884-6222.


HV
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  #4  
Old 01-14-2000, 05:30 AM
Challenger Challenger is offline
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Nick
As far as fiberglass I agree wit hwhat Christopher said on VFN in Addison,IL. I saw some of there stuff at the Mopar show and race in Chicago at Route 66 dragway. Nice stuff. Also Glasstek also from Northern Illinois makes some really nice stuff. As far as convertors stay with the more prominant convertor companies. Money here is well worth spent in the long run. Examples: Turbo Action, Dynamic, Coan, ATI, A-1, and JW.
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  #5  
Old 01-14-2000, 05:38 AM
ncarnes ncarnes is offline
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HV,
Has nothing to do with cheap speed, really, just have a crappy fender, and the other is covered with years of paint, and replacing them for $150 each seems more resonable than buying expensive nos steel ones, or taking the time to fix them.And the weight savings will help too. :-) Plus I mean the thing will really be building enough HP to run 10's pretty easy, barring the traction will be there.

Christopher,
Haven't seen VFN before, looking at Unlimited, as their selection is great, but I think I remember hearing bad things bout them before. Also, while I got your wisdome here, what stall you think is appropriate. I'm not out here to race everyweek, I wanna drive this thing, so 4500+ stall is a bit steep, and I'm intending on 4.10's and 29x15.5 mickeys for street, maybe a swap to 4.33's and 28" slicks for race. Considering, the car will be 431/451 stroker, Indy heads, .586 cam and Tunnel Ram.......
Thanks for the help,
Nick
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  #6  
Old 01-14-2000, 08:26 AM
carl carl is offline
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your steel fenders aren't as heavy as think they are.
both our race cars have lift off front ends and doors and they are steel fenders and steel doors.
we've built lift off front ends and doors out of the steel fenders and steel doors and from glass fenders and doors also.

and diff in wiegth isn't as much as you think it is.
if you go to this page theres a pic(last pic on the page) there that shows the front end of my car sitting in front of the car. it,s not the best pic but it might give you an idea.
carl
http://members.xoom.com/dustermocar/front.htm



------------------
mocar or nopar
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  #7  
Old 01-14-2000, 10:05 AM
DartGT66 DartGT66 is offline
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The commercially available fiperglass parts are usually pretty thick and therefore not very light. I have made some fiberglass parts, and actually have even a 2" raised center '73-'76 Valiant hood and front bumper. The hood weighs about 10 lbs, and the Bumper 2 lbs. The hood bolts to stock hinges and is attached sith 6 dzusses. In my Dart there was previously a one piece steel front end with a removable hood. The set up weighed 90 lbs without the hood and lights etc, and the one made from fiberglass weighs 18 lbs. Even though it's big, it can be removed and installed alone. The Darts doors weigh about 90 lbs each, fiberglass doors with fixed lexan glasses would weigh about 10 lbs each. Thin doesn't necessarily mena weak or flexible, if you know what you are doing you can reinforce the parts from correct places, not adding thickness but using other methods. For example the Darts fiberglass frontend is more rigid than the steel front end was with all the lightening done. Of course you can remove a considerable amount of the weight of the stock parts too, but you'll never get to the weight of a good fiberglass part.
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  #8  
Old 01-14-2000, 03:54 PM
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The Dartman The Dartman is offline
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UNlimited glass may not get the best reviews, but they do have the largest selection and great prices. VFN is really the top of the line, though. US Body source made my 73 Dart Sport Hood (hinge type) and it fit so bad I had to cut the entire hinge area away and fab one out of aluminum. This hoods weighs 14 pounds (weighs more becuase its hinge type).

Finerglass fendors for your car (depending upon the vendor) will weight approximately 8 pounds each.

I have driven my TCI 4500 converter quite frequently on the street before, with no noticable problems. I wouldn't attempt it without a good cooler, though (obviously). They only other thing to watch out for is not punching the gas without stalling the converter (AKA flashing the covnerter without brake). I actually drive like a Grandma until I get over 4000 RPM or so.
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  #9  
Old 01-14-2000, 10:31 PM
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AZMOPAR AZMOPAR is offline
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I have fenders for my 68 B body from Unlimited. They required a "lot" of work to be usable and the weight saved was not that great. They do have a large selection. I also have a rear deck lid and bumpers from US Body source. Their stuff was much better but also cost more bones.I am not familiar with VFN but would not hesitate to buy from US Body in the future rather than Unlimited.
On converters - you get what you pay for. I run a Dynamic. They (Frank Lupo) have been in the converter business (they build a converter for me in 1970 that is still being used today in another vehicle) for better than 30 years and lots of NHRA Mopar racers use them.
But they aren't cheap. TA and Coan probably also OK.
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  #10  
Old 01-15-2000, 12:14 AM
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I somewhat agree on the fenders.I don't think there will be a big difference going to 'glass.The doors however will make a difference as will both bumpers and the deck lid.Nick,I'd go with around a 35-3800 stall on the converter.
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  #11  
Old 01-15-2000, 12:53 AM
ncarnes ncarnes is offline
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Thanks all,
Again, the glass fenders are more becuase my existing steel ones are in pretty bad shape, around the mounting holes, and really to much rust to mess with. Its just easier and cheaper to put on the glass ones than new or bone yard steel, and the weight loss won't hurt. The bumper is a done deal theres lots of weight to shed there, decklid i'm not too worried about, mines in great shape, and thats weight over the rear wheels anyway. Also i'd like to keep the back half steel to better protect the fuel cell incase some non-driving idiot slams into the back of me. As for the doors, i'm sure thats a large weight loss, but it also takes away from the cruising side of the car, cause crusing with the windows up(lexan bolt ons) is pretty lame. :-) And as previosly stated this is a cruise-in car, thats gonna seem some strip time too. So I guess i'll do bumper, hood anyway, and see what pans out on the fenders.
Christopher,
Thats right in the area I was thinking too. Had the 3500Stall POS...opps GER, but with this extra cam, I think the 3800 is about right.

Was considering A&A here in Indiana, but they are just ridiculously high in price. So i'll take all your suggestions to heart, and see which one best fits my combo. But still have to put all new wiring, interior, body panels, and get the Trans and Stroker Motor done, not to mention run over to Moser up the road and have them work out the 8 3/4 too. OUCH!! Ever have that hopeless feeling like you won't ever get done? :-) Well i'm off to spend a lonely Friday evening stripping the rest of the Lime Light and Moulan Rouge paint off the doors, what in the heck was I thinking when I painted it like that anyway......
Thanks,
Nick
Oh, one last thing, i'm putting an electric fan in this time, cause I really don't like having my mechanical exposed like it is, and building a shroud onto my Griffin Radiator is just not something I wanna do. So what electric fan setup is gonna be able to keep this monster cool on the street and the track?
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  #12  
Old 01-15-2000, 11:33 PM
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Christopher Christopher is offline
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Another idea on 'glass doors and Lexan windows is to use a strap to pull them up with like on the 68 S/S Cudas and Darts

[This message has been edited by Christopher (edited January 15, 2000).]
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  #13  
Old 01-16-2000, 07:55 AM
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motorhead440 motorhead440 is offline
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Lightbulb

Nick, what part of the state is mooreland located? I'm in michigan city, up north.
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  #14  
Old 01-16-2000, 05:17 PM
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I do want to mention one thing regarding fiberglass.....Make sure whoever you buy from,it's important to buy all of you parts from the same company.Otherwise there is a good chance you'll have gaps between the body panels.A guy I know bought his hood,fenders and doors from 3 different places(he was price shopping) and the gaps were terrible between the panels.Just some FYI.
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