What is the Lightest factory A body? I am building a /6 set up for drag racing and want to put it in a light A body. I own a 63 Valiant that I want to put it in but want to know if I would be better off putting it in a 70 Dart with all of the fiberglass made for it.

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Raymond Flynn
Registered Six Offender!!!!

You are better off in my opinion to build the '63 valiant. On the '70 dart , the biggest gain or weight loss I could say would be the hood (as far as front end fiberglass parts go). The stock fenders really are not that heavy at all. And even worse, often times the fiberglass fenders have a terrible fit. You'd be miles ahead to start with your valiant, as it's a lighter car to begin with. If you went the fiberglass route, about the only thing that would get lighter is your wallet- or rather for the money spent you would not see a noticeable difference in weight loss.

I used to run a '71 duster and it was just to nose heavy- Getting it light seemed like an uphill battle. After I gutted it to the max, I figure it still weighed about 2800. I figure a '70 dart would be pretty similar -my guess.

You could get the '63 to around 2400ish without to much hassle (including the roll cage) etc.

Of course Im not telling you not build the dart- Im just trying to save you a few dollars in the long run.

The valiant's from about '63-66 are about as light are you are gonna get.
The really low optioned valiant 100's make a good drag platform.

I will be doing a '66 barracuda that's a little heavier than a valiant, but after Im done with it- No longer an issue. The 64-66 b'cuda's back glass does weigh pretty close to '60 pounds

I had even thought at one time to do something weird, like a '60 fiat with the suicide doors. But by the time you add the cage and the safety equipment and make the car sturdy enough to handle the additional hp and torque, you are right on par with the weight of a basic a body. Then of course the slant six bolts right in. No fabrication headaches, even though I do like to fabricate

Good luck with your choice

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Michael Glass. Mopar stuff and some rusty Mopar stuff!
1965 Dodge Dart with 66 Valiant front clip. Other stuff...

Great info Demon thank you very much. Now I need to upgrade everything in my valiant to handel the power and stop it. What gears should I go with in the rear? I will be putting a 8 3/4 under it and running a 904 tranny.

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Raymond Flynn
Registered Six Offender!!!!

You are quite welcome ..Somebody may chime in with some different facts, but Im speaking on the behalf of going down that road before.

Keep us updated on the progress

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Michael Glass. Mopar stuff and some rusty Mopar stuff!
1965 Dodge Dart with 66 Valiant front clip. Other stuff...

If you are running 1/8 mile, I'd go with a 4.56 rear end gear and also the 2.74 low gear set in your 904 trans. Thats the way I'd do it.

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Michael Glass. Mopar stuff and some rusty Mopar stuff!
1965 Dodge Dart with 66 Valiant front clip. Other stuff...

I will keep you guys updated. I will be running 1/4 mile at my local track here in Spokane Washington. They just redid everything and I am looking forward to running my Valiant down it.

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Raymond Flynn
Registered Six Offender!!!!

I guess you are gonna use the 225 right? a 4.30 gear set would work just
as well for running the 1/4 mile. Some of the guys running the 170's are using way low gear sets, sometimes you will hear of 5.13's

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Michael Glass. Mopar stuff and some rusty Mopar stuff!
1965 Dodge Dart with 66 Valiant front clip. Other stuff...

I will be running a 225 so it will not r as high as a 198 or 170. I know Steve Magnantes Duster had 4.30 in it but he was running a A833 with overdrive with a 0.76 top gear so that would make his 4.30 a 3.26 to 1 in high gear. I will take your advice and use the 4.30s and if I have to change it I will.

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Raymond Flynn
Registered Six Offender!!!!

4.30 at sea level, 4.56 at your altitude would be better.

For 1/4 mile work, I use 4.88 when the combo ETs at 90 mph or less.
4.56 for ET's in the 90-100 MPH range and 4.30s for 100 to 110 mph.
These are general numbers... Tire size has a big influance as well as your max. RPM.
As an example, my current combo with 4.30 gearing and 5800 RPM redline is hitting that RPM at 106 MPH. I will have to gear down to 4.10 or get a taller tire under the car if I want it to go faster thru the traps. (more MPH)
DD