i have a 70 4 door dart...i got it for $150.00 from my next door neighbor....i got it running.. i have $500.00 in to it...i am going to paint it and fix up the interior.....i want to make it look kind of beefy....as in look kool.....but i dont know what to do to it to make it look like that ....i have a 225 slant six in it....if you could give me some ideas to make it look beefy please tell me.....

joe

grimsk8ter69@aol.com

If you don't have the money to paint it now, I think cars look tough in just black primer (although some people hate this look). The other thing that really affects the car's look is the suspension. If you have the coin, consider rebuiding both the front and rear suspension, and get the heavy duty rear springs. Does your Dart have 13" or 14" wheels?

Pat


pwd22@drexel.edu

i dont have the money for the paint just yet..it is white right now....i have 14" wheels on it right now..my friend told me about puting a shackle kit or something in the rear end to lift it up just a bit and then put wider tires on it...what do you think about that...the bigest problem for me is that it is a 4 door...i want it to look good for a 4 door........

joe


grimsk8ter69@aol.com

White is a good color. At least your car isn't beige (I've grown to like it over the years [see the photo of my car in my profile]). I've heard nothing but bad things about shackle kits, but I've never used one, so I'll let the others on here answer that.


pwd22@drexel.edu

Joe,

Here's my .02 worth for getting a cool street machine look for minimal cash. When it comes to getting your car to have "the look", there are two things that will do more than anything:

1. The stance... you want to get your car to "sit right". Virtually all of the cool street machines sit low with a slight rake to the front.
If your car is like most older Darts, the rear springs have settled over the years and it probably sits a little lower in the back than the front. This is not really such a bad thing... it's very easy to adjust the front torsion bars to lower the front end and make it lower than the rear to give it a nice rake. This will get you a cool stance and will cost you nothing. Whatever you do, don't put extended shackles on the rear springs... they look like crap and will make your springs sag even worse.

2. The second thing that will make the biggest impact is tires & wheels. If you have the coin to spring for some custom wheels, they will make a huge difference. There aren't a ton of choices for your Dart 'cause of the small bolt pattern but there are a few nice styles to choose from. My personal favorites are the factory rally style wheels or Cragar S/S wheels. However, a low-buck alternative that also looks great is to paint your stock wheels with a good coat of gloss black paint and find some factory "dog dish" style hubcaps (if you don't already have them). Then, put the widest 60 series white letter tires you can fit on them. I would recommend 235/60 x 14 on the rear and 215/60 x 14 or 225/60 x 14 on the front. With your stock wheels, you should have no trouble with fender clearance.

In my opinion, these changes would give your car a "beefy" street machine look and could be done for minimal cash. The only real expense would be the tires... probably around $250 - $300. You would also want to have an alignment done if you change the front end height... this will save those new tires from uneven and premature wear.

Hope these ideas help... good luck with your project and most of all, have fun!

Ron

rheying@pacifier.com

get some police car wheels on it.

Lower the car, put some wide tires & steel wheels with "dog dish" hub caps on it.
Using a loud muffler will also give it a "beef" sound to go with the look. Too bad it's a 4 door, that's why the "cop car look" will be a good angle.
DD