1962 Dodge 440 Project

[Robert Barber]

I saw a post on FCBO about this car a while back and read through the post and I turned out to be the “local yokel” that purchased it. I will say that I absolutely will not put a Chevy engine in it ha! The car is in very good shape and is very complete. I don’t remember his name but I bought from a guy that lives near Milton, FL and I’ve had it for about 2 years now safely stored away in my shop. I have not really done anything with it up until recently. The car was very difficult to roll and it turned out to be swollen, gummy brake shoes. In the process of upgrading the brakes, I decided to throw a Sure-Grip in it and some new axles with Green Bearings. I plan on putting discs on the front brakes, and I’m working on building a 408 Stroker to put in it. Somewhere along the way someone swapped out the steel wheels for some Cragars which tbh I am not a huge fan of. I would like to put steel wheels and hub caps back on it. Also, the wiring under the hood is pretty crispy so I’ll repair some of that also. Other than that, I plan on leaving it exactly how it is. It’s a great car, I will try to make an effort to post updates and pictures as I go through it and get it back on the road.

 

[w.Hudson]

That is a nice looking Dart

 

[khryslerkid]

That will make a great driver!

Lots of information in my build thread. PM me for any questions also. Always good to see another '62 on here.
Taking Up New Residence

 

[T Brashears]

Nice to see another 4 door being saved!

 

[icetech]

That thing is beautiful.. welcome to the 62 world

 

[Robert Barber]

Thank ya'll for your support. I have posted about other projects on here before, but this one I am most excited about. Before I get too far with rear axle assembly, I wanted to post a couple pictures of my wear pattern and see what ya'll thought. This was my first time to ever disassemble and reassembled an 8 3/4" rear end. I did my best, I read a lot about how to do this and this was the end result. I sent some pictures to Doctor Diff to see what an expert had to say/recommend. I was told that at if I had .008" backlash (I was only able to achieve .006), then my pinion depth was .003" too thick. I 1000% believe that; however, I have read in other parts of this forum where people simply go off of, "Does it make noise or is it loud while driving down the road? If not let it roll!" I have disassembled and reassembled this differential about 5 or 6 times now to set pinion depth and preload, I am wondering if it is worth making another adjustment before I throw axles and brakes on it for what amounts to the thickness of a human hair (Once again, I am not questioning Doctor Diff at all, I am hesitant only because I am tired of taking it apart and putting it back together and I am really hoping that this will be sufficient for daily driving). Let me know what ya'll think. The rear end has a Yukon Gear Sure-Grip and I installed 3.55 gears from Doctor Diff.