We promised dumb summer fun when we went out looking for a new project car, and here is the payoff. This abandoned '71 Dodge Demon race car has the goodies like aluminum tubs, a four-link, and a full 'cage already installed. Our vision is to put it back on the street in Pro Street splendor without destroying too much of its gritty, back-halved, track-only influence.
Take it from us-now is the time to prowl the classifieds for economic detritus in the form of project cars. This series of build articles will cover all the steps needed to hunt, catch, and transform a forgotten car back to glory. To make sure you don't get stuck with a POS, we will include what to look for, what traps to avoid, and in CC tradition, we will publish our mistakes so you don't have to make them.
We scored this after Hot Rod Editor-In-Chief David Freiburger forwarded us a link from Craigslist. What seemed like 10 minutes later, we were standing in front of a guy who was in over his head and bailing for Florida. The asking price was $5,000, but we ended up trading it for a stroked small-block.
If you're a Chevy guy who is worried about too much Mopar edit (or the other way around), don't worry-we're going to put a motor plate in the thing so we can plug in our latest engine concoction. We don't care what the brand-just how much power it makes and whether we can get the TH400 to bolt up. This will be the place to learn about how to dial in a four-link with too many adjustment holes, how to install virtually any engine in any car, and what really happens when you put 1,000 hp down on the street.
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Yes, it still has the Slant Six in it. No, we are not going to build it.
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Even though the interior was gutted, we scored most of the original cardboard and vinyl. O
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On the way to making this a race car, the interior was replaced with sheet aluminum. Our p
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The Demon has a rollcage instead of a rollbar. If it can pass tech, it should be legal to
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The decklid is steel, but the hinges are gone, so we will replace it with fiberglass-same
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The four-link is the crown jewel of the car. It's attached to a Chris Alston 3x2 rectangle
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The trunk was made completely out of sheet aluminum with braces for two batteries and a fu
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The car came with a set of early Weld Ultralite wheels with drilled and screwed beads. The
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Inside the pumpkin, we were happy to discover a spool and a 3.90:1 gearset. With a 30-inch
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In addition to the spool, the differential had a set of 35-spline Strange S/T or street/st
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We're thinking of adding a front clip that tilts or can be removed completely. Expect this