Original hemi dart information

[davezinn]

very cool pics! thank you for posting them.

anyone have any color pictures of the Private Enterprize car? i'm curious too if it was prepared by Sox&Martin if it had a blue painted Hemi built by Jake King.

the Fink's Used Cars Dart is exactly the kind of thing i'm looking for over in the "life after Super Stock" thread i started. very cool picture and very interesting, at least to me.

on the Playmate Dart, did it have a vinyl top or was the roof painted white? i think the El Toro Dart had a tan vinyl top?


Dave

[Liteweight]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

Dave Zinn,
A good start for Friday viewing.

Daryl,
I think it was in one of the Charlie Castaldo articles (his first car)
about some steering issues (control arm modifications from the factory, that they shipped out new components to the existing owners).

pc

Paul
You are correct with that. Jim B from this forum who used to work at a Chrysler dealer then, informed me they had a new LO car delivered to them, & shortly after, Chrysler sent them a set of modified spindles to correct the geometry. The mod was relocating the outer tie rod location by heating the arm & bending it up to get it back to it's original height because of the dropped k member. Later on, some of the racers started to cut the upper control arm just back of the ball joint & install a section to lengthen it. This allowed for better camber control thruout it's suspension travel.
Liteweight
Daryl

[Liteweight]

Hi guys. The LO-23 BO29 info here is just...like...WOW
I hope you all do not mine and Daryl, I hope you do not mind if I ask this question. It really has nothing to do with your car, but this thread has taken on a life of it's own as being the PLACE for getting the info on these race cars.

Matt Conte

Hi Matt
No, I do not mind at all. Your right, this thread has taken off in a direction that I never would have imagined. And because of that, it is keeping it alive & fresh for my quest to find the history on my unknown soldier. There is a huge amount of info & pictures that have been shared on here that normally would not have been. Thankyou all.
Keep it coming, as the next generation needs this to keep this very important chapter of drag racing history alive.

Liteweight
Daryl

[Paul Ceasrine]

Daryl,

Your original question "Original Hemi Dart Information".
It has turned into one of the most informative threads.

On the Finks Used Cars' Super/Gas Dart.
Looks like a mid-70's photo.
Fink's (out of Zainesville, Ohio) picked up many factory
Super/Stock cars from the original owners.
Wonder if that Dart was Mary Ann Foss original 'Go Hummer II".
Zainesville only about an hour away from Bellville, Ohio.
Or possibly, from Dependable Dodge out of Mansfield, Ohio.

Paul

[Liteweight]

Paul
A friend of mine purchased a 66 Hemi Coronet from Carrol Fink several years back, & when he picked it up he was fortunate enough for Carrol to give him a tour of his car collection which included this same Dart in it's "as raced" condition from the 80's . The 71 hemicuda convert. was in there too. This car built from a 340 car.

Liteweight
Daryl

[Paul Ceasrine]

Dave Z,
On the Chuck McJury Dart.
No vinyl tops for original LO-23 cars.
Chuck from upstate New York. Also raced a 65' Dodge A-990
S/S car, and then converted it to an AWB-car.
His car was originally a 4-speed (SS/B). Was reddish/brown with
silver center section. White roof with a black painted "C" pillar with
SS/B lettering. That car was lettered with "Playmate II".
Keystones on the front and white steel rims for the slicks.
Sponsored by 'Cicero Dodge', just outside of Syracuse, New York.
Also, co-sponsored by Stevenson Garage, out of East Syracuse, the same guys who were affiliated with Ed Miller's SS/B Cuda.
Ran the 4-speed in 1968 and 1969.
Changed paint in 1970, and went into SS/AA.

Paul

[Paul Ceasrine]

Rocket,
Chuck McJury re-painted his Dart for the 1970 season.
Kampney Auto Body out of Cortland, New York did the custom paint job.
Car was painted blue, with a black roof.
The car was lettered as "Playmate".
Ron Mancini did the prep work.
Chuck was no longer affiliated with Cicero Dodge and Stevensons Garage.
The black roof was later re-painted white, which made the car stand out better. Keystones all-around.
Went from SS/B to SS/AA.
His 1965 AWB-A/FX car also was painted with a white roof. It had a maroon body. Was lettere 'McJury's Fury'.
The 65' car was the AHRA Champion in 1967.
Paul

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

M68,
You always come through with the rare/lost photo's.
Great stuff.

Thanks Paul, I try. Glad you like it.

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

On the Finks Used Cars' Super/Gas Dart.
Looks like a mid-70's photo.

Yes, it could pass for that time period; however, if you recall, Super Gas wasn't an Eiminator until the early 1980s. Also, notice whose name is right below the Rod Shop Dodge lettering on the front fender. From what I understand, Butch Leal teamed up with Rod Shop in 1983, so if he had a hand in building the car (from the start), it was no earlier than this date.

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

Fink's (out of Zainesville, Ohio) picked up many factory
Super/Stock cars from the original owners.
Wonder if that Dart was Mary Ann Foss original 'Go Hummer II".
Zainesville only about an hour away from Bellville, Ohio.
Or possibly, from Dependable Dodge out of Mansfield, Ohio.

Paul

You never know. Speaking of which, check out his web site:

http://www.finksqualityautos.com/

M68

[mopar68]

One of my all-time favorite paint schemes and Mopar Super Stock car.

M68

[68hemiss]

There were 2 yellow Mancini Darts - the only Hurst car that Ron had was the brown/blue later painted red/silver. One of the yellow cars was built from a 69 and the other from a 70 body-in-white converted to a 68.
Mark J