1975 Dodge Dart Sport - Making "Cheap" Look Cool

With the upper control arms...        read full caption With the upper control arms removed, we needed the proper tools to remove the ball joints and bushings. Since our home garage doesn't have a press, we got a complete set of tools from American Muscle Tools.

After the control arm was...        read full caption After the control arm was rebuilt, it was reinstalled in the car. Remember to place the caster/camber bolts in position close to the way you removed them for alignment.

With the upper control arms...        read full caption With the upper control arms removed, we needed the proper tools to remove the ball joints and bushings. Since our home garage doesn't have a press, we got a complete set of tools from American Muscle Tools.

After we pulled and rebuilt...        read full caption After we pulled and rebuilt the lower control arms, we placed them back in the car with new lower ball joints. The lower ball joint on the passenger side had a 11/44-inch of play. That's why we ordered the kit from PST instead of making trips to the auto parts store each time we needed something.

With the suspension and the wheel/tire package handled, we could have called it finished and drove the new tires off it. But it still needed something to give it that musclecar look. Trust us, while just painting the wheels, adding dog dish hubcaps, and new tires made a world of difference, more could be done. We have always liked the look of an A-Body with a rear spoiler and a T/A-style hoodscoop, but a '75 Sport never came with those options. Who cares, we're in a build-it-the-way-you-like-it mode. The only problem was finding an original rear wing and scoop to put on the car. First Place Auto Products (FPAP), an aftermarket company, builds factory appearing wings and spoilers so unmistakably correct it's amazing. But let's face it, this is a '75 Dart Sport and is it worth a concours-correct Go-Wing? Fortunately, FPAP also has a more economical version that made it a viable option. For $190, we were able to get the trunk addition that brought the car to life.

Now we needed only one more piece of the puzzle-a factory style hoodscoop. Dusters and Demons were available with two very different hoodscoop options: the twin scoops with one mounted on each side of the hood, and the T/A-style mounted directly in the center. In 1975, neither scoop was available, but thanks to AAR Quality Fiberglass, the T/A-style scoop we wanted is an option now. AAR makes all sorts of fiberglass parts for A-, B-, and E-Body cars. we had AAR ship one to the house for $245. The install was easy; the scoop comes complete with mounting studs already installed. All you need to do is drill the holes to make it functional and mount it.

So for a grand total of $1,062, we bolted on enough "cool factor" parts to make our small investment look right at home at any cruise night or burger joint. All it takes is a little time looking for the right car, and anything is possible.