Street Shaker - 1963 Dodge Dart

Mike Toupin's '63 Dodge Dart GT Shakes it Hemi Style

Every person who's into hot rods has a particular story on what led them into the hobby. In the case of Mike Toupin of Fall River, Massachusetts, it was motivation to get perfect scores on tests at school from a very young age that sparked his inner magneto to life. See, for every flawless 100 test score he came home with, his dad would take him to the local hobby shop and let him pick out a new Matchbox car. As Mike tells it, then when Hot Wheels came out, he was really motivated to be at the top of his class. Of course having a dad who was a proverbial car guy didn't hurt either since he owned the local body shop as well as a hopped-up red '67 Mustang Fastback.

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Wanting his own street scorcher, it was a maxed-out '73 Mach 1 packed with a speed shop full of go-fast goods. As years passed he started a family but never forgot the adrenalin rush he got from the early muscle cars. Wanting to take on something a bit off the grid, he began a search for interesting body styles that would look wicked with the right injection of venom. After looking at everything from Ramblers to Pontiac Tempests, and even an early El Camino, he came across an ad on the web for a '63 Dodge Dart GT. It was an original unmolested rust-free car from Arizona that was in a private collection in Michigan.

Upon arrival Mike wasted no time in tearing the car down in his home garage. The first area to tackle was in the suspension department. Mike wanted the car to be cranked down and handle like it was on 'rails so his research led him to get started by first adding subframe connectors of his own design followed by moving the rear leaf springs inboard to accommodate a larger rear tire combination. With that completed he then upgraded the rearend to a 9-inch from Currie Enterprises packed with 3.50:1 gears linked to 31-spline axles. To get the rear low, a set of fresh stock leaf springs were de-arched and complemented with a Hellwig Motorsports sway bar and KYB gas shocks. Up front for the ultimate in performance handling a Reilly Motorsports AlterKation front suspension was added, including their exclusive crossmember, spindles, sway bar, upper and lower tubular control arms, and QA1 coilover shocks. When the need for speed becomes the need to stop, fluid pushes through a Dodge Dakota master via steel lines to Wilwood 12.2-inch drilled and vented rotors with matching Dynalite four-piston calipers. To finalize the handling, a set of 18-inch rear and 17-inch front Billet Specialties Apex G wheels were capped with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW tires.

For massive amounts of power and torque Mike chose an '05 Mopar 5.7L Hemi crate V-8 that came loaded with all the right parts right from the factory, including a fully balanced nodular iron crankshaft, roller cam, aluminum dual-plug cylinder heads, and sequential multi-port electronic fuel injection. Mike added Jeep SRT8 headers to a custom 2-1/2-inch stainless exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers along with a few other tricks to bump the power to 380 hp and let the bark be heard. Power moves rearward through a massaged Mopar 545RFE overdrive trans to a custom 'shaft from Dynotech.

When it came time to prep the body, Mike started by first replacing the beat-up front floorpans and followed by installing mini-tubs to accommodate the larger rear rubber. He continued by shaving the body clean, modifying and installing a '67 Camaro front bumper, and replaced the front marker lights with recessed driving lights. The original sheetmetal was then massaged to perfection by Mike who also laid down the seductive PPG Sage Green metallic vibe accented by satin black trim and a carbon-fiber rear spoiler. Inside a custom aluminum dash insert is filled with Auto Meter dials to monitor the vitals while a MOMO steering wheel plots the course and shifts move through a Hurst stick. Loads of comfort come from adapted Cadillac CTS-V front and rear seats in black leather and suede while tunes flow through Alpine. This is one Street Shaker with plenty of hard-edge power and handling to take on any rival.

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Tech Tips
COMP Performance Group COMP Cams
How do you properly break in a camshaft?
Properly breaking in a camshaft is extremely important for both the camshaft and the engine you put it in. When installing a new camshaft, always use a high-zinc oil (such as the COMP Cams Break-In Oil) or a break-in additive package. Once the cam is installed, turn on the engine and vary the rpm between 2,000-2,500 for about 25 minutes. Never continually try to start the engine if you cannot get it to fire with the new cam in it.
FAST
Why am I losing 12V switch power when cranking?
This is a common problem with a simple solution. In most cases, the problem is that the power wire has been attached to an area that does not supply power when cranking. Simply use a voltmeter to ensure you are hooking the power wire up to an area that does maintain voltage during the cranking process.
Inglese

Perfect Syncing
A Weber carburetion system will not be right unless it's synchronized to ensure that each carburetor is performing exactly as the next. This procedure can either be a breeze or a nightmare, depending on your linkage system. The secret to a good linkage setup is that it must allow independent adjustment of each carburetor. The final idle mixture adjustment on each barrel is a simple adjustment that can be performed by ear. It's done the same way you do a single four-barrel, except in this case you listen to each cylinder separately. It may take you four times longer, but it's no more difficult. Each mixture screw, as it is turned, will have a noticeable effect on engine rpm, and the wrong setting will cause the cylinder to "go away"—it's just like pulling a plug wire.