It was April 1992, and 14-year-old Greg Jasinski of Marysville, Ohio, was searching the local paper's classified ads for a Mopar to call his very own. His older brother, who was then 19, got his '70 Charger when he was 14. this precedent gave Greg the desire to find something to spend all his hard-earned, grass-cutting money on. As chance would have it, the Youngstown Vindicator had just what he was looking for-a '74 Dart Sport owned by an elderly couple. Greg coerced his mom into taking him to look at it. The elderly couple had owned the Dart for years. It originally came to Ohio by way of California, compliments of their son. It was green with a green vinyl roof, pop-riveted molding down the side of the car, a coffee-stained carpet, and a slight oil leak. The standard '74 hubcaps and whitewall tires tried their best to hide the car's potential attitude. Thankfully, there was no rust, but it did have about forty dents and huge bumper guards. Despite its outward "senior" appearance, Greg fell in love with the 318-powered Dart that ran like a champ. (Keep in mind, 14-year-old Greg couldn't legally drive yet.) When the deal was finalized, the minor Mopar-maven had acquired his first car for the sum of $1,200. That's a lot of cut grass.
During the 11 years Greg has owned the car, the green vinyl top was removed, and it has received a new Deep Sherwood Green slathering of paint by John Phanta of Youngstown, Ohio. A reproduction side stripe and American Racing five-spoke wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber round out the outward appearance. The interior was refurbished using Jade green pieces from Legendary Auto Interiors, including the folding rear seat that allows access to the trunk.
Now for the good stuff. When it was time to consider motorvational responsibility, the 318 was removed in favor of a 340. The engine received all the required goodies and was mated to a 904 tranny with a TCI Converter. Rounding out the package is a 489 casting 831/44 rear filled with 4.10 gears and KTRE axles.
Now that the car is finished, what are Greg's plans? To drive it, of course. All this because a 14-year-old boy just had to buy a car.
| TECH SPECS |
| ENGINE |
| Block: | 340, bored .030 over |
| Pistons: | TRW with 10.5:1 compression |
| Crank and Rods: | stock |
| Cam:. | Mopar Performance 484/284 Purple Shaft hydraulic flat-tappet |
| Heads: | X castings with simple valve job |
| | and porting |
| Induction:. | Edelbrock Performer intake with a Holley 750-cfm carb |
| Ignition: | MSD Blaster coil and Mopar |
| | electronic distributor |
| Exhaust: | tti headers with 21¼2-inch pipes |
| | and mufflers by Best Muffler |
| Engine built by Benzen Hoefer in North Lima, Ohio. |
| TRANSMISSION |
| Type: | 904 automatic |
| Converter: | 10-inch TCI; 3,500 stall |
| Valvebody: | Modified Rossler |
| Street/Strip |
| Transmission built by Rossler transmission in Girard, Ohio. |
| REAREND |
| Type: | Mopar 831/44 Sure Grip |
| Center Section: | 489 case |
| Gears: | Richmond 4.10 |