hi;ive been lurking for a long time trying to get a little less stupid before i start talking about what i want to do.

i have a gutted dart sport with the following stuff already installed-

car:

cordoba brakes
longer wheel studs
dakota 3.55 open 8 1/4
rebuild stock 727
mustang svo 17" wheels
318 torsion bars
manual steering

motor:

383 40 over cast rebuilder pistons
street hemi cam
hammer-to-fit under chassi headers
weind intake
have several carbs to choose from

me:

i am poor and have a blackbelt in oldschool mopar-junkyards ,swapmeet,craigslist,ect.i used to be a chevy guy and one of the things that made me switch was mopar guys tended to use brains,hard work and creativity before credit cards.i miss the days when there wasnt thirty different aftermarket bigblock heads.money for me puts a stink on a car,i dont like driving money even if its fast.car must be streetable-ish.car will be light,i mean really light.

things my car will NOT have:

shocks that cost more than my car(billstiens ect)
manhole cover size brakes
tranny that costs more than my car (viper ,ferrari,ect)
fuel injection
smallblock
nice paint

so there it is ,please any help would be cool.this car is intended to run at shelton wa and seattle wa raceway.

If you have a welder, start with the K member and any seam in the body you feel comfortable welding. I have an iron headed B motor A body with a glass hood and it isnt as nose heavy as people think but aluminum heads are on the want list.

firm feel is in your neighborhood, you should check them out!as for on the cheap, even used mopar parts are getting harder to find in junkyards, its almost cheaper to buy aftermarket now unfortunatly. But you can make your own subframe braces, inner fender braces, lower rad brace, engine brace, roll cage ect if you have a welder handy

thanks guys .i have an awesome welder-his name is Donnie!
gusseting/seem welding is on the to do list.
what can firm feel do for me?

How much road tace track do you s a driver currently have under your nelt?

My next suggestion is kinda based on the answer, but you will have a lot more fun, spend a lot less mpney, learn a lot more faster imo if you store that 383 under the bench and just get a decent free stock 318 and beat it to death while sort everything else and driver gets his chops. I know you don't want to hear this, but.......

ZERO

already swapped my v8 k frame to a buddy for his slant six frame-will be using homeade elephant ears for motor mounts so theres not a real likelyhood of a 318,besides they cost money too.

i built the 383 mild so i can get lots of street time and durabillity.slow piston speed,forged crank,valvetrain not working hard at all.should be pretty solid.im comfotable with cruising around the track untill i can sort of actually drive.

i do think i will need a real oil pan tho.

i have a 489 case with 3.23 gears and a b body housing i can work with later on-dont trust the 8 1/4 dakota rear so much.

so is a spool a nono?

A spool is great in a drag race application and in the dirt. For cornering? Uhhh, not so much.
The 318 spec .85 torsion bars with the additional weight of the 383 will give you a wallowing front end, especially with low dollar shocks. If you want high performance, you'll have to step it up a little. A .92 T bar should be a minimum with a 383. They can be found used. Check out my thread on the C H E A P front sway bar too. It is a huge money saver. Good luck with the car.

On the right track with a good driver, a spool is fine. Probably not recommended for a beginner though. On the SCCA GT1 car I used to gopher for, he ran a spool at Sears Point/Infineon.

r.

So, I guess when building a dedicated track car, I'd have to ask about the specific application. Is this used in a specific racing class that has a rule set we need to be congizant of or is it simply being run in open track days for seat time and fun?

If class specific, rules will dictate pretty heavily what you need to do to be competitive. If open track days, then absolute time is inmaterial and horsepower isn't a factor. Suspension always will be a factor, but road courses tend to be flatter with more transitional response requirements, so unfortuantly to your obejectives, shock performace will be paramount to driving enjoyment and may drive the cost up.

If you really don't want to spring for expensive shocks, I'd recommend looking at how you can adapt GM F,A, or G body dampners to you mopar locations. This will open up the selection of used, low cost dampners as the oval track guys tend to swap out shocks pretty regularly and resell them very cheaply. I used to pick up used Pro and Carrera steel body fixed rate shocks for around $15-20 each at swap meets. But, will rules allow this?

For cheap, it only costs labor mods, welding up seams and fabrication of stiffening components will go a long, long way to making everything else work well together. Emphasis on the front third of the car is where the most gains come from. But again, is this within the rule set if its a competition car?

id like this to be an open track street car.lots of time in the seat on the street but lighter and more spartan than most would consider a street car.

i was thinking along the lines myself about pirateing some used circle track parts.id like to try coilovers to get away from having super thick torsion bars.i like the idea of using t bars from another
make -dakota bars are about 47 inches -is that close?

i really feel like if i cant keep a 350 horsepower 383 together while im learning to drive i should be fishing or playing golf instead,but corners stresses a motor different so maybe you are right.anyway the free 318s are extinct around herebut it might be more likely to get my hands on a stock 383 to beat on.the one i rebuilt was free and it came with alot of cool stuff.i also cant say this thing will see the track more than ten times in a year.

to be honest i was thinking the 383 would be th learner motor and later on go for a lodeck stroker

so is a spool less safe than an open rear?

Dart bars are 37", so maybe, if there is enough meat in the Dak bar, you could cut it short and machine new hexes.

I think you engine choice is fine. Oil control will be a big deal, both in the engine and driveline. You don't want 90 weight leaking out past the axle seals anymore than you want engine oil climbing the walls of the block.

For the short list agree bigger T bars are top of the list. Also agree weld and gusset the K, especially the steering mount. Next up would be frame connectors. 2"x2" steel tube works great. After that a decent sway bar. With factory upper control arms, install Moog offset bushings to help get a performance alignment.

Shocks depend partly on T bars. With the .92 T bars, a good set of parts store gas shocks would be OK. As the bar gets bigger, better shocks are needed to control it.