#this used to be one the CDs i always kept in the six disc deck of my first car and like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nataliedanovelist · 4 years

Text

GF - All Star

Summary: A deep, dark secret about Ford is slowly revealed to his family, and he’s not ready.

For Skaleigh, wherever she may be...

~~~~~~~~~~

A few days after Weirdmegeddon, Ford was exiting the basement, taking a break from cleaning it out today. Stan had been recovering from his memory loss beautifully and so Ford decided to get a certain chore done on this rainy day. He could hear something, however, that made him freeze as a shiver ran down his spine and his race turned as red as his sweater.

“... start coming and they don't stop coming,

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun.

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.”

Recognizing who’s voice that was, Ford began to relax. The sweet smell of vanilla and sugar graced his schnoz and he followed the music to the kitchen. There, Mabel was in her little pink apron over her sprinkle-sweater, dancing around the kitchen as she mixed icing with food coloring in little bowls. The radio was playing on the kitchen table, a little dirty with flour, and the whole kitchen was a mess, but Ford couldn't help but smile at his beautiful niece as her hair flew everywhere as she danced and sang her heart out. When the chorus came, she banged her head and put the bowl of light-blue icing on the counter to dance more freely.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

At the words “shooting stars”, Mabel attempted a flip and fell on her face, just like she did at the dance party at the beginning of summer. Ford winced and made a move towards her, slightly emerging from his hiding spot at the doorway, but stopped when Mabel sprung up, unhurt, and declared to herself and the kitchen, “I’m okay!” Her eyes landed on her uncle and she grinned. “Grunkle Ford! Whatcha doin’?”

“I thought I would take a break from cleaning.” Ford explained casually with a shrug while Mabel turned down the radio a little so they could talk better. “Having fun?”

“Yeah!” Mabel pointed to the twelve cupcakes that were cooling on the stove and said, “I’m making everyone a snack. Want one?”

“I would love one, my dear. Thank you.”

“Ah, ah.” Mabel wiggled a finger at him. “You have to do something for it, first.”

Ford raised an eyebrow at her and held his cleft chin. “Oh?”

Mabel opened the drawer she knew Ford kept his apron in and pulled out his old My Other Oven is a Bunsen apron. “You have to decorate the cupcakes with me.”

Ford grinned and happily accepted the protective clothing against stains. “Well, I suppose it’s only fair that I help you if I’m going to have one. Do we have to share with Stanley and Dipper?”

“Nope!” Mabel giggled. “We can eat them all ourselves! Six each!”

Ford laughed alongside her and she gave him a small bowl of white icing to color however he wanted. He carefully added a few drops of green, seeing how Mabel had already made blue and red and was working on yellow, and she began to dance a little again and she jumped into song.

“Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas?

I need to get myself away from this place.

I said ‘Yep what a concept,

I could use a little fuel myself,

And we could all use a little change.’”

Ford chuckled, mixing the icing, and he couldn’t help himself; he made himself jump in.

“Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming,

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun.

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.”

Mabel gasped in shock for a number of reasons. A) She had never heard Grunkle Ford sing before. 2) She didn’t think he would know this song, let alone the words. And D) His voice was actually very pretty. Mabel grinned and they happily sang together until the song changed to a commercial for Cam’s Camshafts and they began to decorate the cupcakes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stan yawned as he stretched his tired limbs. He had been sitting out on the deck of the Stan O’ War II, watching the sun set, and he was now in a sleepy trance. Time to put on some warm, fuzzy pajamas and turn on the little TV in the kitchen.

Stan went into his shared bedroom and stopped when he accidentally walked in on Ford in a towel, his back to the entrance and unaware of the intruder as he dug through his drawer for new clothes. Stan was careful to be quiet and give his jumpy brother some space, planning on leaving him alone, but something caught his eye.

During the Stanswitch, Ford insisted on Stan turning away, uncomfortable with what his twin might see. Despite Stan’s insistence that it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, Ford practically begged him not to look, so Stan went along with it until he had shed his suit, leaving only his dark pants and undershirt, and he turned to switch clothes, but he found Ford bent over, his back littered with dozens of ugly cars, trophies for surviving out in the Multiverse for thirty years. Stan had thought that this was the reason for Ford’s modesty and thick sweaters (and okay, sure, the guy had always been a little chilly), but maybe there was another reason.

Stan grinned. No. Way. He slipped away, deciding he would enjoy making fun of Ford when he would least expect it, and he immediately left for the kitchen silently and quickly texted Dipper and Mabel.

A few weeks past since Stan knew Ford’s secret and he had pocketed it away as his “secret weapon”; of course, Dipper and Mabel knew and Stan wished he could have seen the looks on their faces or heard them laugh, but oh well. The kids swore to keep it between the two of them, but Stan wouldn’t be surprised if all of Gravity Falls kenw at this point. Something to look forward to this summer.

Stan had half-forgotten about Ford’s secret until they were at a small shop in Liverpool, England and something jogged the old conman’s memory. A CD was sitting in a 50% off bucket and Stan could have sworn a beam of light from Heaven was shining on the little box. Stan snatched it and hid it in his jacket for later.

The next day Stan couldn’t wait any longer. They were gently coasting on the Irish Sea, the spring weather being warm and calm and pleasant. Ford was out on the deck, reading a map, and Stan sat their radio down, the disc already in place. “Hey Sixer,” It took everything in Stan to hide his snicker. “Mind if I play some music?”

Ford hardly looked up from the map. “Huh? Oh sure, Stanley. Go ahead.”

With the biggest grin Stan had probably ever made in his life, he pressed play.

SomeBODY once told me the world is gonna roll me,

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Ford’s polydactyl hands clenched the map so tightly it nearly destroyed the papered material. He lowered it as his face blushed so furiously it matched his maroon sweater perfectly. Sweat was dripping from his forehead profoundly, his eyebrows were nearly hidden in his fluffy hair, they were so high, and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Stan snorted, trying to contain his laughter just a little bit longer. “You like this song, don't you? Oh man, here comes my FAVORITE part!” And to make sure he could embarrass his brother as much as he could, Stan sang along.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold! (I like gold.)

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

And then Stan couldn’t hold it any longer. He busted into a huge fit of laughter, holding his ribs and wheezing as Ford sheepishly lowered his head into the map and hid in shame. When the song was over and Stan was slowing down in his laughing, Ford snapped and spun around, crumpling the map down and scowling.

“How did you find out?!” He demanded, still incredibly red in the face, even his ears were pink.

“I’m your twin, Genius,” Stan huffed, whipping his eyes dry of tears. “I’m bound to notice a couple of things when stuck on a boat with you. I gotta ask, though, why in Moses’ name…”

“It wasn’t intentional, I can assure you of that.” Ford said to try to preserve his dignity. “I had fought a battle alongside a tribe of octopus-armed warrior piglets since they shared their food and water with me. They were quite friendly, unlike the gang of penguin-finned lizards we encountered. It is customary for their tribe to have a grand party after a battle is won in which they all get tattoos. I had misjudged how… erm, intoxicated their drinks would make me, and when it was my turn to get a tattoo of my choosing, I had a certain song stuck in my head and sung it out loud, so the artist delivered my drunken request."

Stan burst into another fit of laughter, one that oddly sounded friendlier than the last one. Like, Ford was supposed to laugh with him. Ford, despite still being very red and embarrassed, couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, man! That’s gotta be your best story from out in the Multiverse yet!”

Ford saw that as a challenge and sat in one of the chairs to get comfortable. “I can think of at least five better stories.”

Stan quickly sat in the other chair like an excited child for a new movie and Ford dove into telling of some of the more fun-filled adventures he had experienced.

~~~~~~~~~~

Summer of 2014 was upon them and the Pines couldn’t be happier. The kids were joyous to be where they felt at home, and even though the old sailors were living the dream, it would be nice to take a three-month break and see their favorite pair of twins.

About two weeks after an emotional reunion, the kids were gently reminded of something they had on their Summer bucket-list.

Much like Stan, they planned their little attack carefully so they may truly enjoy their uncle’s misery. The gift shop was open, but slow. Wendy was behind the counter, Soos was reading a comic book and sitting on a closed barrel, and Dipper and Mabel were grinning like crazy on the porch, the screen door wide open. Mabel popped the CD in the radio and turned up the volume.

SomeBODY once told me the world is gonna roll me,

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead.

Mabel immediately jumped into rap-like singing, dancing around the porch. Dipper chuckled, hands in his pocket and tapping his foot, but Soos laughed, put down the comic, and took Mabel’s hands to dance. They giggled as they tried to sing along, and at the chorus they stopped dancing so they could sing the lyrics as loud as they could.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

Wendy was banging her head, red hair flying everywhere. Stan suddenly showed up in his boxers and slippers, grinning, and said over the music, “I was awoken by the sound of mockery through pop music! I want in!” He bumped his hips against Dipper to make him move and he danced obnoxiously, making his nephew laugh and dance a little more enthusiastically.

A little later, at the halfway point of the song, Ford stood at the screen door with a puzzled look. “What’s going on…?”

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold! (I like gold.)

Only shooting stars…”

Ford looked like he had a sunburn on his entire face. He swallowed, making his Adam’s Apple bobble, and his jaw was tight. Stan laughed at his face and hollered, “THERE’S the man of the hour!”

“Come on, Stan Two, you love this song, right?” Wendy teased.

“Oh no…”

“C’mon, Dr. Pines, wanna dance?” Soos asked, still dancing with Mabel.

“Oh, here comes my favorite part…” Mabel chimed in.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

Ford slammed the door shut. The five were as still as statues, wincing a little. “Did we take it too far?” Dipper asked.

“Ah, let the big baby be mad for a minute if he wants to.” Stan said, ruffing up his hat. “I’ll go talk to him in a minute…”

But then the door was kicked open by Ford’s boot and his friends and family were startled to find him heavily armed with water guns. “ONLY SHOOTING STARS BREAK THE MOLD!” He sang, and then shot everyone with water.

Everyone broke into hefty laughter and ran for it. The old scientist was hot on their tails, but Mabel managed to slip away to the closet filled with emergency water-guns and balloons. She hurried back to the battle and tossed everyone some weapons, and soon it was a confused mess of soaked clothes, loud laughter, and exploding balloons.

At one point during the fun fight, he paused to take off his glasses and wipe the water from them. Mabel accidentally bumped into his leg and smiled sheepishly at him, expecting to be sprayed without mercy, but Ford hoisted her up in his shoulders and they worked together. Up three feet higher than she was used to being, Mabel could see things she normally couldn’t. Like a certain tattoo barely poking out of the turtleneck, only visible because Mabel’s weight was pulling the sweater down enough.

She smiled at it, finding it very pretty, and in the midst of the chaos, considered the idea of one day getting one herself.

#GF #gravity falls #ford pines #stan pines #Mabel and Ford bonding #mabel pines #dipper pines #wendy corduroy #soos ramirez #fanfiction #all star #smash mouth #tattoos #legit i laughed for 3 days straight when I found out #now i cant listen to the song without thinking about it #a huge thanks to skaleigh for inpsiring me and making me laugh #love you!#hope you're doing okay

124 notes · View notes

annakie · 7 years

Text

In Cars, Part II

When last we left our person, she was unable to remember much about a Kia.

I was closing in on paying the Kia Spectra off when I got a huge bug in my brain in 2005 or so about getting a new, better car because I’d gotten a big raise at work and could afford it. I didn’t need a new car, but I wanted one. I spent a long time looking at cars when Stephen suggested that I look at the Acura RSX, as he was a mechanic at the time and really liked that car.

I fell in love instantly. This was the car I’d been looking for. Beautiful design, sleek interior, really speedy, especially in the RSX-S model, which only came in standard. I knew I had to have one.

So for months I waited for an RSX-S to go on the market, that I could afford (so, a few years old) in the color that I wanted (Pearl white with tan interior).

A couple of times I found one I could afford, in a color I could compromise on, only for it to be gone before I could get to the dealer, or contact the seller. Someone in the building that I worked in already had one (though not a -S, and in the wrong color), and every day I walked past it on my way into work, and took a moment to linger, and sigh.

I lost out on like the third near-perfect car in the last six months, and was close to giving up when mom had a brilliant idea, as she often does.

“Why don’t you look in San Antonio, and Houston, and, I don’t know, a five hundred mile radius, instead of just in Dallas?”

An hour later, I was e-mailing with a guy selling his 2003 pearl white RSX-S, with under 20k miles, and tan interior in Houston.

We settled on a price, pending inspection, I got the financing together, and bought a plane ticket on Wednesday. On Saturday, a friend drove me to the airport.

That plane ride was terrible. It was, by far, the worst turbulence I’ve ever witnessed. And there was a Southwest Photographer onboard who was supposed to take pictures for their in-flight magazine, who I doubt got anything good because a good 1/3rd of the cabin ended up using their doggie bags. The guy sitting in the middle seat next to me and I ended up making a pact.

“If you don’t barf, I won’t barf.”

He agreed. After a particularly gut-wrenching drop we clasped hands, for most of the rest of the 45-minute plane ride. When we got off the plane, we laughed, hugged and said goodbye. Sadly, he didn’t ask for my number.

But that’s ok. Acura guy, who was sad to let his RSX-S go but he and his wife were having another kid, met me at the airport, we went to the bank, I gave him money, he gave me keys and a car title, and I had a six hour drive back home, which is one of my fondest memories of many.

It had not only AC, but a tape deck and a 6-disc CD player and a sport-tuned suspension that put everything I’d ever driven in my life up to that point to shame.

That car was my baby. My precious. I named her Pearl. Not a thing did it need that I didn’t provide. I parked it in the back row of the parking lot at work where it was an unspoken but very strict rule that you always leave a space in between yourself and the next car over (there was an entire double row that was always sparsely populated ahead of us.) Every bit of scheduled maintenance was performed like clockwork.

Best memory: Aside from the initial drive home, I took several other trips in it around the state. Oh, and the several times dudes 10 years younger than me would stop me to talk about my car, and how much they wanted one, and ask to look at it, sit in it, etc. Every day I drove that car it brought me joy. It’s hard to pick just a thing or two.

I got my RSX-S in March of 2005. I paid it off by March of 2009.

If not for October 29th, 2009, I think I would have driven that car at least a full 10 years. Maybe I’d still be driving it today.

So there I was, a day like any other day, on the way to work. I was driving north up the 3-lanes each way major street near my house. At the second light, I always have a choice, to turn left or go straight. It takes roughly the same amount of time to get to the freeway I’m headed to either way. I usually split it about 50/50 with whether or not I turn, depending on what the cars in the left lane are doing, and if I’ll have to sit through the light an extra time.

That day, a lady in an old beater cut across 2 lanes, nearly hit me, and got in the left turn lane just in front of me.

I could have made the left turn if she hadn’t done that, but I was mad, and didn’t want to deal with her, and could make the light if I didn’t turn, so I didn’t. I went straight.

About a block later, a gigantic white mass appeared in front of me. A Dodge Ram. Who’s owner was talking on his cell phone, didn’t check for oncoming traffic properly, and pulled out of the residential neighborhood he’d been in, directly in front of me.

I had a split second to react, not nearly enough time, it happened really fast. I tried to head into the oncoming lane’s left turn lane, as it was clear, but the Ram couldn’t stop in time, and I ended up smashing the front-left side of my car into the driver’s side front tire area of his car.

I remember the crunch, and then white, then black, then screaming. Who’s annoying screaming is that? Oh it’s my screaming. Why am I screaming? Because pain. Also, because I don’t want to open my eyes. Because if I open my eyes, all of this becomes reality and then I have to face the damage that this idiot caused my car.

The second I opened my eyes, I knew it was a total loss. Like there was no doubt. Both the airbags had gone off. The windshield was a spider’s web. The car didn’t even have power anymore. I have pictures, it still pains me to look at them.

I still kept screaming, as the guy who hit me jumped out of his Ram (I didn’t hit his door at all) and, panicking, started asking me if I was all right.

I yelled at him that I didn’t know, furious, and also, because I just didn’t know. All I knew was I was going to be late for work and I didn’t have a car anymore.

Pearl was dead.

The ambulance arrived, and I was checked out, and after the adrenaline wore off I was not seriously hurt (except for a shoulder injury that sidelined me for a year, and still acts up.)

I’d almost always driven with the sunroof open, I loved a sunroof. Sadly, for me, as the battery was pretty much squished and kaput, my car was without power, the sunroof was open and it rained a good chunk of that day. The next day when I went to get my stuff out of my car, most of what had been left in it was ruined.

The other guy’s insurance accepted responsibility right away. I got a check for $12.5k (the adjustor said that she’d never seen such a perfect looking 6 year old car, except for you know, all the damage), and I had 7 days of rental car left.

I was in a daze, and in a lot of pain, and couldn’t find a damn RSX-S in Dallas, and was in no condition to do the fly-and-drive thing since, after trying it out in a friends car, realized I couldn’t even shift anyway with my injured shoulder.

I sobbed for a good ten minutes when I realized that I had to get an automatic.

I didn’t know what to get. I wanted to research and test drive and compare and find something I could love as much as I loved my RSX-S. But there wasn’t time.

“I love our Honda Accord,” Dad said. “It’s affordable and safe and speedy if you get the six cylinder and they have a sport model.”

In too much pain to argue or put much thought into it, I searched online for some nice Honda Accords with a V6 and a sporty look, and found a couple. I basically stumbled out of a Honda dealership with a gray 2007 Accord EX-L wth a spoiler and all the bells and whistles of that year on it.

That car was... okay. It was fine. It was whatever. I liked the V6, the leather trim. I hated the size. It felt huge. And then I’d soon realized that I got a 2 door and with my friends all in their 30′s nobody wanted to get in and out of that thing, with the seats being so low to the ground anyway. It was a huge car that only I ever rode in. I could probably count the number of times I had other people in that car with me on my fingers and toes. By far, my most frequent passenger would be Cebu. And when he started declining over the last year, it started to be a real problem for him to get in and out of, too.

All the bells and whistles in 2007 did not include Bluetooth. Nor any other way to easily connect it to say, a phone. I was OK with it, the 6-disc CD changer was fine, for awhile. And then I got really into podcasts, so in like 2014 I put in a cheapo after-market stereo system that had both a USB port for phone charging and bluetooth.

Two or three years ago, on my way home from work, a lady in a lane that was stopped / slow wanted into my much faster lane, didn’t properly check her mirrors, and sideswiped me. It was cosmetic damage, and it sucked, but wasn’t too hard to deal with.

Within a year or two after getting that Accord I started dreaming of getting rid of it and getting back into an Acura. Or at least something better, and smaller. Especially once I became unhappy with the stereo system and it started showing signs of wear. I had to put a new starter motor in it.

Every year or so, for about a month, for the last half-dozen years, I’d swear to myself it was time to get a new car. For various reasons, I never pulled the trigger, sighing and resigning myself to continue in a car who’s dark gray exterior felt like it influenced how I felt about it. Meh.

I had that car for eight years.

Since not long after I started my current job, my co-workers have been teasing me about getting a new car. Poking and prodding me about it. We work within a mile of an Acura dealership and several times they’ve joked about dropping me off there, and a couple times drove me through the parking lot. I always explained to them how financially, it wasn’t the right thing to do at the time. I had to be practical.

I wanted to be able to afford it. Especially in 2015 there was no way. I chose to travel that year. A lot.

In the last few months, my Accord has started getting worse. Making noises. rattles, suspicious groans. It also hit 100,000 miles. (It had 40k when I got it, I’ve put less than 8 on it every year.)

I’ve watched the KBB value depreciate. And several times in the last few months I’ve taken my car to the mechanic and looked at what was wrong with it.

I don’t know if I got a lemon of an Accord or what, but, tbh, the repairs were starting to stack up, both what I got fixed and what I hadn’t, plus the maintenance. I had enough.

Part three soon. I have some pictures to take.

#personal post tag thingy #cars

2 notes · View notes

itsworn · 5 years

Text

1971 Dodge Dart: Destiny and Determination

After a 22-year journey, Bill Hartman finally has the big-block Dart he’s always wanted.

Bill Hartman grew up immersed in all things Mopar, because his father was the service manager at Springfield Dodge in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in the 1960s and 1970s. The family always had a shiny new loaner car in the driveway so Bill was exposed to a wide variety of different Chrysler products throughout his childhood, but it was actually his brother-in-law, not his dad, who got him hooked on muscle cars. “My father was predominantly a light-footed driver,” he recalls, “so my first hammer-down ride came at age 12 in my brother in-law’s 1968 440-powered GTX. I had helped him install new motor mounts and Lakewood Traction Action bars on the GTX. We stopped by a shop in South Philly to have one of the motor mounts shaved, and I was standing behind the GTX when my brother-in-law moved it in order to let another car exit the garage. He hammered it and black-tracked away from me. That was it! After seeing the GTX rip down the street like that I was hooked!”

Following high school, Bill joined the U.S. Air Force and spent the next 24 years wrenching on KC-135 Stratotankers, C-130 Hercules and B-1B Bombers in support of our nation’s freedom. In the early 1980s, while stationed at Altus Air Force Base in the small farming community of Altus, Oklahoma, he spotted a clean 1971 Buick GS 455 on a used car lot. “While some might consider this a momentary lapse in judgment given my strict Mopar upbringing, I couldn’t walk away from the GS sitting there on the lot just begging to be bought.”

The Buick was fun, but not surprisingly, it was only a detour in Bill’s journey to find the right Chrysler product. Fast-forward to June of 1997 in Abilene, Texas, where he was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base. A small ad in the local paper for a 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger project car caught his attention. “The car was rough,” he recalls, “with just an engine core and transmission sitting in the framerails, driveshaft, and steering column in the trunk, trashed seats, boxes of parts sitting beside it, no exhaust, a ’74ish front bumper, a junk rear end in the car, and so on.”

It took a few visits to look at the car before vivid memories of another Dart from decades earlier compelled him to pull the trigger. “The inspiration that kept calling me back to look at the Dart stemmed not only from my family’s Mopar ties, but a vivid memory from my high school cruising days in the 1970s on MacDade Boulevard in Delaware County, and a revered 1970 B5 Blue Swinger that was upgraded from its former 340 to become a 440 big-block Dart. Those words spoke loudly in terms of street credit in those days, and hearing all the chatter about it has stuck with me to this day.”

The first thing Bill and his wife, Diane, did after getting the Dart home was evict a family of rats living inside it. They then gutted the interior to get rid of the odor the unwanted rodents left behind, and began accumulating parts for the planned resurrection. While deployed to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama in 2000, Bill stumbled across a 1971 Dodge Demon in a salvage yard. “It was literally just the shell and framerails sitting on the ground with only one removable aspect remaining — the perfectly straight front bumper and its mounts that I needed!” He also needed a Dodge emblem for the deck lid, which wasn’t being reproduced at the time, and managed to find that at a salvage yard in Roswell, New Mexico, while there doing some certification at the Bombardier Flight Test Center. He later bought an entire front grille assembly from an internet auction site. “The parts were in Dwight, Kansas, and ironically, at the time of purchase, we had what was to be our final military assignment in hand and were preparing to relocate from Abilene to Wichita, Kansas, so rather than ship the fragile grille and risk breakage, the seller was kind enough to hold on to it for a few months until we moved there, and I could make the 120-mile trek north to fetch the grille.”

In 2003, the still-disassembled car and growing parts collection went with them to that new assignment at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. Three years later Bill retired from the Air Force and spent the next several years at GE Engine Services supervising overhaul of CFM-56 and CF-34 TurboFan Jet Engines and at Bombardier’s Flight Test Center as a project engineer, helping facilitate certification tests on newly designed Bombardier aircraft.

Some 10 years after buying the Dart, Bill finally had the time to work on it in earnest. First, the car went to Autobody Connection in Rose Hill, Kansas, where Vern Hammond’s team “transformed its outer appearance from barn find to barn stormer.” Though originally B5 blue, the Dart was painted black early on. Bill knew he wanted to return it to blue, but was indecisive regarding the exact shade. After much debate, he opted for 2003 PT Cruiser Electric Blue Pearl for the body and 2002 PT Cruiser Bright White for the tail stripe. Besides doing a masterful job with the body and paintwork, Autobody Connection also did the work needed to install a full complement of Auto Meter gauges in the dash and an RCI 15-gallon fuel cell.

After getting the car back from Autobody Connection, Bill spent the next four years putting it all back together with mostly stock parts, and in September 2011 he started the newly rebuilt 440 for the first time. It roared to life and put an ear-to-ear grin on Bill’s face, but the joy was short-lived as he discovered the 727 automatic, which had come with the car and was represented to be in excellent working condition, was in fact fried inside. After he and his wife pushed the Dart back into their garage, he removed the transmission and turned it over to friend Mark Wise, who expertly rebuilt it.

Following reinstallation of the 727, the Hartmans enjoyed their reborn Dart very much, driving it to many shows and cruises in the Wichita area. The following year, Bill noticed the engine wasn’t quite as peppy as it used to be and traced the problem to some worn lobes on its Mopar Performance cam. “With problems come opportunities to upgrade,” he reasons, “so a Comp Cams Retrofit Hydraulic Roller Cam, Comp Roller Rockers, and Howard Hydraulic Rollers were installed in place of the stock parts.”

In 2016, Bill made another significant upgrade to his engine’s performance. “I had been closely following Andy Finkbeiner’s finely detailed dyno assessments sorting out a new line of Trick Flow Specialties Aluminum Cylinder Heads at his business, AR Engineering. After concluding these are a great set of heads, Santa, in the form of my wife, Diane, was gracious enough to drop a pair of the Trick Flow Specialties PowerPort 240 heads down the chimney for Christmas, and the Dart’s long-standing breathing problems were eviscerated once and for all. Trick Flow’s new line of aluminum cylinder heads were designed specifically for big-block Mopar’s and hands down were indeed a great power adder!”

With the engine running great and making the level of power he wanted, Bill turned his attention to the car’s brakes. In 2018, he replaced the OEM setup using a Wilwood disc brake conversion kit that put four-piston calipers and 11-inch steel rotors on all four corners. Never one to sit still for long, the next project on his radar screen is installation of a six-point rollbar and RCI five-point harness. Both of these safety upgrades will be done in preparation for some much-anticipated drag racing.

The Hartman’s 22-year odyssey with their Dart Swinger has had many challenges, but the hard work and determination has paid off. The car is a wonderful reminder of Bill’s childhood growing up surrounded by Chryslers, courtesy of his father’s job at Springfield Dodge, and his teenage years hanging with all of his car buddies. They continue driving it to local shows and cruises, and get a great deal of enjoyment from sharing the car with others. “With Darts having sported fairly high production numbers in the early 1970s, the car starts a lot of conversations at car shows with people whose parents had Darts, or it was their first car, and those who had 340 Darts, or Demons, etc. Many key in on the Swinger emblems and the trademark sunflower accenting the “i” and how well that fit the ’70s era. The Dart is a trip to drive and gets its fair share of attention with lots of waves, thumbs up, picture grabs, and gas station conversations.”

1971 Dodge Dart Swinger Bill Hartman, Wichita, Kansas

ENGINE Type: 440-cid V-8 Bore x stroke: 4.320 (bore) x 3.750 (stroke) inches Block: Stock cast iron Rotating assembly: stock cast crank, stock connecting rods, stock aluminum pistons Compression: 9.0:1 Cylinder heads: Trick Flow Specialties PowerPort 240 aluminum heads Valves: Trick Flow, 2.190-inch intake;1.760-inch exhaust Valve Springs: PAC Racing dual springs Rocker Arms: Comp Cams Ultra Pro Magnum roller rocker arms; 1.5:1 ratio Push Rods: Smith Brothers custom push rods Valve Lifters: Howard’s hydraulic roller lifters Camshaft: Comp Cams Retro-Fit hydraulic roller, duration 283-degrees intake/303-degrees exhaust; 227 degrees intake/241 degrees exhaust at .050-inch lift; lift 0.513-inch intake/0.498-inch exhaust Machine work done by: Ed’s Automotive Machine and Supply (Abilene, Texas) Induction: Edelbrock Victor 440 intake manifold, Holley 850-cfm double pumper with mechanical secondaries Oiling system: stock oil pump and Milodon 7-quart deep oil pan Exhaust: Tube Technologies, Inc. headers with 1.75-inch primaries and 3-inch collectors, Dynomax Ultra Flow mufflers, 2.5-inch pipes with X-pipe Ignition: MSD Pro-Billet distributor, MSD Blaster coil, MSD Digit 6-Plus CD ignition controller, FireCore50 custom fit wires Cooling: Engineered Cooling Products 26-inch HD Cooling II aluminum radiator, 440 Source aluminum water pump housing, aluminum water pump, and billet aluminum water neck Fuel: 15-gallon RCI Racing fuel cell, Holley Blue electric fuel pump, Earl’s Performance Plumbing, Fram fuel filter Engine built by: owner Bill Hartman

DRIVETRAIN Transmission: 727 TorqueFlite three-speed automatic with B&M Transpak manual valvebody, built by Mark Wise in Wichita, Kansas Converter: Turbo Action S800 Series 11-inch torque converter, 3,000-stall Cooler: B&M SuperCooler Shifter: Hurst Pistol-Grip Quarter Stick, B&M shift cable with fire sleeve Driveshaft: Victory custom 3.25x.065 mild steel driveshaft with US Tool bolt-in drive shaft safety loop Rear End: Mopar 8 3/4 limited slip with 3.91:1 Mopar Performance gears Axles: OEM 29-spline

CHASSIS Front suspension: OEM stock, Competition Engineering 3-Way Adjustable Drag Shocks Rear suspension: Competition Engineering subframe connectors, mini-tubs, Mopar Performance leaf spring relocation kit, Mopar Performance super stock springs, Calvert Racing CalTracs, Competition Engineering 3-Way Adjustable Drag Shocks Steering: OEM fast-ratio manual box Front brakes: Wilwood forged Dynalite Pro Series 4-piston calipers, 11x 0.810 rotors Rear brakes: Wilwood forged Dynalite Pro Series 4-piston calipers, 11×0.810 rotors; Wilwood DynaPro low-profile rear parking brake kit Master Cylinder: Mopar Performance lightweight master cylinder, Wilwood proportioning valve, Hurst line lock

WHEELS & TIRES Wheels: 15×6 (front) and 15×10 (rear) Weld Racing Prostar Front Tires: 26×7.5×15 Mickey Thompson Sportsman Rear Tires: M&H Racemaster N50x15 Muscle Car D.O.T. drag

The post 1971 Dodge Dart: Destiny and Determination appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1971-dodge-dart-destiny-determination/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Hot Rod Network

0 notes