Joined: Mon Jan 16 2006, 02:52AM
Location: Vantaa,Finland
Posts: 379
Hi from Finland! We have played with mopar A-body BB streetcars for over 20 years, but our roots are deep in the C-bodies, and when we got a chance to buy a '67 plymouth VIP we deciced to build a little different street racer.
We bought the car almost two years ago, and it has been sitting outside ever since. It's one of two '67 VIPs imported to Finland new, and hasn't been registered since late 80's. Before that, it was equipped with the original 318 equipped with twin turbos, but never really worked too spectacularily.
Finally in last november we took the pretty rough car under work, brought it inside and tore it apart. At this point, the plans were not too clear about the outcome, but they are now. We want a streetcar that has got enough power, and will most liekly finally reach the goal, but will do it in stages.
The body will remain as stock as possible externally, have to stretch the wheelwells a little, and the hood & bumpers will be fiberglass. Otherwise the exterior will remain stock. The interior will be stock too, except for the seats. There will most likely not be a rear seat at all, and front seats will be racing buckets. But the stock door panels, glass and dash will remain, only minor mods are done because of the rollcage and there will be no carpet. The car will meet NHRA safety rules when ready.
The rear axle is a Dana 60, 40 spline axles and spool with 4.10 gears. The transmission will be a JW ultraglide, SFI approved without any shields. Car is backhalved now, and has a qurtermax four link with double adjustable Strange coil overs. Weld pro star wheels all around, and 17.5/32/15" M/T ET Streets in the rear.
The engine will be a 3.75 stroke, 4.5" bore RB, Indy aluminum block and fully ported Indy 440-1 heads. The CR will be between 8 and 8.5:1, EFI with Autronic box and it will have small turbis + intercooler for now. We expect it to make around 1300 hp with about 1 bar of boost. The car will propably weigh around 4000 lbs, and nobody knows how it will behave at the track once ready. The goal is to get it ready next summer, and it will be publically ahown in April at our annual American car show.
We'll see how it turns out....meanwhile we have a picture page that is updated every now and then if you are interested (although the server was down when I wrote this): http://kuvablogi.com/blog/745/0/
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 02:31PM
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 18
That is a very, very cool project ! ! ! I have a good friend of mine who has a '67 V.I.P. that's been sitting behind his garage for a decade or so since it got wrecked. Maybe these photos will help get him motivated to get going on it again. - If not, maybe I can talk him out of it (like I need ANOTHER project!)
Keep us updated on your progress on your Flyin Finnish Fury!
Joined: Mon Jan 16 2006, 02:52AM
Location: Vantaa,Finland
Posts: 379
Update. Our national American Car show is on next weekend, and the VIP is going to be shown at Finnish Mopar Associations booth. They asked if they could get the project there, and we had no problem with that, except that we had no idea of the state of the car at the time of the show. We have only built the car on saturdays and on one evening during the week, so it has taken some time, but I shot the paint on it on sunday morning. So, I think we can get the body to look pretty much as "ready" for the show. Some project pics: http://kuvablogi.com/blog/745/1