1968 Dodge Dart Hemi 2-n-1
USACC 2025 Group Build

This photo shows the Box Art for the 1968 Dodge Dart Hemi 2-n-1 being used for the 2024/2025 USACC build. Information on this kit can be found on Scalemates.

As I stated in the lead-in to this project, my plan is to build my version of a vintage late model stock car that would have been seen on a dirt track in the late 1970's. Some of my buddies at the time had cars that they ran at the 1/2 mile dirt track in Nazareth, PA, in Middletown, NY at the Orange County Fair Grounds, at Flemington, NJ and in Reading (pronounced 'Redding'), PA; Jack Zeiner and his brother Tom, both late model champions at Nazareth and the Metzger brothers, Gary and Sterling (pugsly), although never won a championship, were competitive and a track favorite.

Only one of these cars is a Dodge Dart and that is picture '4'. Pictures 1, 2 and 3 are random photos found on the web. Photos 5 through 8 are from the Nazareth Speedway Facebook Page. The 1/2 mile dirt track is no longer in existence; what a loss!

The following numbered list corresponds to the numbered tiles in the photo below. Photos 5 through 8 are cars and drivers from Nazareth, PA:

1. #S-3
2. #68
3. #17
4. #93
5. The #8 of Jack Zeiner. One of Nazareth's champions
6. The #15 of Tom Zeiner. I graduated from H.S. with Tom
7. The #2 of Gary Metzger. Gary and I grew up together
8. The #00 of Dale Reutimann. Younger brother of Buzzie.
   Buzzie raced big block modified's at Nazareth and
   and other tracks.

The numbers on each tile of the following photo refer to the above numbered list. Click a number in the above numbered list to open a larger image of any of the associated tiles in the tiled photo below.

Decal sheet from the kit. If you want and/or need a copy of this sheet, simply:

• On a PC, right-click on the image and select Save Image As... from the context specific menu (pop-up). Then select a location to save the file.
• On a Mac, Control-click and select the option to save the image.
• On a cellphone long tap and select Download from the menu.

Open the image in a photo editor and to keep the proper scale, the image should be: 8.147 inch x 5.147 inch (206.934mm x 130.734mm), with a resolution of 300px x 300px. The size of the image in pixels should be: 2,444px x 1,544px.

I always like trying something new with the USACC build. I've never used a 3D printed engine and although I like the hemi that comes with the kit, I thought I'd like to put some kind of high performance Mopar Slant 6 under the hood. I had a 225 Slant 6 in my 1966 Plymouth Valiant 200 and I loved it. You couldn't kill it.

I found a Slant 6 HyperPak at VCG Resins and bought it thinking this is the engine I'd be using. Then, a few days later, while looking for racing seats I saw the slant 6 Hemi Turbo, also at VCG Resins. I immediately placed an order knowing this would be the engine of choice for this build.

These images are from the VCG Resin website. The HyperPak is on the left and the hemi turbo is shown in two views on the right.

These are the parts that come with the VCG Resin Slant 6 HyperPak engine. Since I'm not going to use this engine in this build, and I've never built a 3D printed engine before, I thought I would start by building this version. Some of the parts are very small and I already lost the oil filler cap to the Bermuda Triangle under my bench. It will be easy to make one.

These are the parts that come with the VCG Resin Slant 6 Hemi Turbo engine. This is the engine I'm planning to use in the build. I didn't know there was such a thing as a Hemi Turbo Slant 6, so I did some research. The performance specifications of this engine are fabulous and I think it would/will give most 8-cylinder engines a run for their money.

The parts for the Slant 6 HyperPak engine are in primer.

The parts for the Slant 6 Hemi Turbo engine are in primer.

This photo was 'super enhanced' to show the body detail.

I'll be removing some of the body detail. This photo shows some of the body detail I'll be removing such as the front and rear side marker lights, the emblems and the door locks. I'll also be filling the location for the door handle.

This photo was 'super enhanced' to show the body detail.

The right side of the body with body details removed and filled.

I'll be removing the gas tank and the spare tire well and replacing it with a flat bottom floor for mounting the fuel cell.

The molded-in gas tank and spare tire well has been cut out of the frame.

The hole left in the frame has been closed with a piece of sheet styrene.

The trunk lid has been cut open and hinges will be added. I'm opening the trunk so the fuel cell can be seen, but also, in street stocks, some teams did not pipe the fuel cell to the outside of the body and would lift the trunk lid and put the fuel directly into the cell.

I will be attempting to use the roll cage from #####. I'm planning to cut the side out as shown in this photo.

After cutting off the sides of the roll cage, to get the roll cage side to fit in the Dodge body, the bottom strip of the roll cage must also be cut off.

One side of the roll cage has been cut to what I "think" will fit in the '68 Dodge Dart body? I dry fitted the parts and they seem to be fine; however, we all know that sometimes things don't work out the way we want them.

Both sides of the roll cage are cut to the proposed size to have them fit in the '68 Dodge Dart body. I will be doing a final test fit using some white glue to hold everything together.

This is a back view of my scratch built roll cage. I made a small helper to keep the top rails at the same height. All I did was took a piece of thin cardboard, measured the height from the floor to the bottom of the top roll cage bar and then made a fold, making a 'V-shaped' cardboard 'work horse'. This kept the upper parts of the roll cage the same height and also held them in place until the glue setup.

The is the scratch built roll cage from the side with the helper still in place.

I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.

This photo is of the right side as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.

The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.

I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.

This photo is looking at the front as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.

The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.

I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.

This photo is looking at the left side as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.

The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.

I scratch built a roll cage. I had tried to use the premade roll cage from the Tim Richmond Folgers Chevy Monte Carlo NASCAR; however, it just didn't fit. And, it was an overkill for the late model dirt track series. I used the roll bar that came with the kit and built on to it using Evergreen 212 0.080"/2.0mm rod.

This photo is looking from the back as it was built on the frame and floor pan. The joints will be filled and made to look like welds.

The next couple of pictures are of the roll cage from different angles.

The differential and the rear leaf springs are installed. I installed them because at the time I thought they were going to be the same color as the floor pan and frame; however, since, I've changed my mind and will be making the differential, Steel color and the leaf springs Magnesium color.

The left side of the chassis with roll cage and tires mounted showning the stance.

The right side of the chassis with roll cage and tires mounted showning the stance.

Front view of frame showing the stagger for short track dirt racing. The inset is a brief method for calculating the stagger based on track corner radius and size. There is much more to consider, but I though this inset would give viewers who are interested a tickler to do more research on this topic.

Left side with body dry fitted showing what the stance will look like.

Right side with body dry fitted showing what the stance will look like.

Rear view with body dry fitted.

Front view with body dry fitted.

Some of the parts have been primed using Vallejo 74.615 USN Light Ghost Grey Primer. I find this primer works great with Vallejo paints and with Tamiya acrylic paints; therefore the parts shown will be painted with either Vallejo and/or Tamyia.

The spoons in the photo have been primed with Mission Models MMS-001 Black primer and Mission Models MMS-003 Grey primer, and I already used too much thinner. [I] find Mission paints to be very 'touchy'. The reason I'm planning to use Mission paint is because I would like to paint the body, Burgundy and the interior, Beige. The only water based, acrylic, Burgundy paint I could find was Mission Model Paint MMRC013. I also didn't want to mix the burgundy color so I thought I'd use the Mission paint, even though [I] think it's very touchy to use. I want to see the finished colors on the different color primers. I didn't have Mission Models white primer, but that's Okay. I think the gray is light enough to give me a good idea of the look.

NOTE:
I've used Mission Models Paint before and when it works, it works really well, and when it don't, it don't. According to their website, the paint chemistry is such that their thinner/reducer, their primer, and their polyurethane mix additive, add to the chemistry of the paint to make it work. So...we'll see what happens.

Unlike the previous photo, this photo shows all the parts in Vallejo primer. After attempting to use the Mission Model beige and burgundy, it confirmed my dislike of Mission Model Paints. For more information on my decision to scrap using Mission Model paint see my Build Information Page.

I spent quite-a-bit of time determining how to mount the Slant 6 Hemi Head Turbo engine, (AKA - The Leaning Tower of Power). What I thought was going to be a challenge, turned out to be quite easy.

I didn't think I'd be able to use the engine frame supports that are molded in as part of the frame, therefore, I mocked up the front end of the car and positioned the engine in the engine bay. When I had the engine in position, I noticed that the frame mounts lined up with a part of the engine I could easily install some sort of motor mount. I measured the distance from the engine to the frame mounts letting me know the length that the engine mounts would need to be to catch hold of the frame mounts. I then marked the engine using a sharpie as to where the mounts should be installed. Now...what will I use for the mounts?

The engine mounts on the frame are grooved so that points on the kit engine would slide into the groves. I figured that all I should have to do is add some square stock to the engine that would lay into the slots in the frame. I looked in my stash and found some rectangular rod. The rod is from Plastruct #90745 Cat No. MS-410, 0.040" x 0.10"/1mm x 2.5mm. This will be perfect. I cut two small pieces of the rectangular rod, 4mm long for the right side of the engine and 3mm long for the left side of the engine. I then glued them to the engine block at the locations I previously marked.

This photo and the next several photos show these mounts glued into position. The will be painted Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

Left side of engine showing the left side engine mount installed and before painting.

Right side of engine showing the Right side engine mount installed and before painting.

Top view of the slant 6 HEMI Turbo showing the input side piping from the turbo to the injectors.

The Slant 6 HEMI Turbo concept engine from VCG Resins is a really nice engine; however, it does not come with a fan. I used the fan from the kit engine. I trimmed the mounting shaft of the kit fan so it would fit behind the radiator, painted it with Tamiya X-1 Black, and glued it to the fan pulley.

This view also shows the fuel input piping from the turbo charger to the input injectors.

You can also see that the valve cover by the #1 plug is chipped. I fixed this chip after taking the picture. It always amazes me the multitude of sin that is exposed in a photo.

Most, if not all of the parts have been painted. I'm sure there will be some small parts that still need paint and I'm also sure there will be some touchup here and there.

The interior door panels are painted. I cut the arm rests out because they would have been removed on an actual stock car.

I wasn't going to use the interior side panels; however, the dashboard mounts and without them there wouldn't have been enough support to hold the dashboard in place.

I cut the instrument cluster from the dashboard. I also cut the radio out and drilled the locations for dashboard controls and the glove box latch. These all would have been removed from the stock car. There is no need for instrumentation because for short track dirt racing the car will do less than 50-laps at most events, and the driver wants to go as fast as possible not caring about fuel level, oil pressure and alternator indicators.

The transmission of the slant 6 HEMI turbo is not as long as the HEMI that came with the kit. Therefore, the drive shaft was too short and had to be made longer. This photo shows the process of elongating the shaft.

I cut the driveshaft in half and added a 7mm long piece of Evergreen 2mm Rod in between. I didn't fuss too much. I simply sanded the the joints to make them disappear and then painted the driveshaft with Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. The universals on each end are painted with Vallejo 77.712 Steel.

This photo shows the body after painting. I wanted to make the body burgundy. The only burgundy water based acrylic I could find was from Mission Model Paints MMRC-013. I bought the paint from Ebay and the day it was delivered the outside temperature was 8°F. (We, here in eastern PA were in the middle of a very cold snap.) I left the paint set for several days before using it and then mixed it with Mission thinner and Mission Retarder. I shot some on a test spoon that was primed with Mission Model primer. The paint was redish coming out of the bottle; however, it was almost clear coming out of the airbrush. I tore down my airbrush and thoroughly cleaned it. I then made the correct mixture again and shot another test spoon. The paint was still almost clear with just a slight pink hue. That's when it hit me, I bet the paint had been frozen or, if paint doesn't freeze, the cold might have broke down the paint chemistry.

I'm actually glad that happened. I've never been a big fan of Mission Model Paints. There is nothing wrong with them, [I] just don't like them. I did some research online as to what colors make burgundy and found that a mixture of the three primary paint colors - red, blue and yellow will make burgundy. I used Tamiya X-7 Red, X-4 Blue and X-8 Lemon Yellow. The online recommendation was a ratio of 8 parts red to 4 part blue to 1 part yellow. Using that ratio, the color wasn't what I was looking for. I started playing around with different ratios and found that 10-parts of X-7 Red, to 1-part of X-4 Blue, to 3-parts of X-8 Lemon Yellow gave me the shade of burgundy that I wanted. The final color can be seen on the body in this photo.

At the Nazareth, PA 1/2-mile dirt oval it was required to run Hoosier on the late model class. I found 3D printed Hoosier tires at MCV Products. Full Set 15" Old School Slotted Mags with Strip Tires, MCV-W5. I painted the tires with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black and the wheels are done in the burgundy body color. The tires and wheels are assembled and I'm starting to dirty them using Tamiya Pastels.

This photo shows the racing seat assembly in progress. I bought the seat and the belts from MCV Product. The racing seat is part number MCV-S1 and the Quick Release seat belts is part number MCV-SB1.

These are great products; however, I must say that the installation of the belts, buckles and misc. clips is difficult for an old guy like me. A steady hand is required. I struggled with them because I'm a-bit shaky, but it was well worth the time. They work and look great! There will be another photo of the seat when the shoulder straps are installed.

While the glue was drying on the seat and belts, I dry fitted the slant 6 HEMI Turbo into the frame for about the third time. There will not be a lot of room in the engine compartment with this engine installed, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. When zoomed in notice that I have the firing order correct.

Many late model short track stock cars removed all the glass and then replaced the windshield with fencing screen. This photo shows a rough cut piece of the screen I plan to use.

I struggled with what to use for this screen. I search my locale hobby shop; Trains & Lanes Hobbies but couldn't find anything that would work. I was looking for a wire fence with openings in the full size range of 1" to 2"/25.4mm to 50.8mm (in 1:25 scale 0.040" to 0.080"/1mm to 2mm) square or rectangular. Since I couldn't find anything I decided I could make my own. I drew a grid with 2mm x 4mm rectangles and was planning to use 26AWG solid wire to make the screening. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how crazy that would be. I then started searching through Home Depot and Lowes for some ideas and decided to use screen door/window patches. The one shown has openings of 1mm x 1mm. This is equivalent to 0.975" x 0.975" in 1:25 Scale. So...that's what I'll be using for the windshield and most likely in place of the front grill.

I have the racing seat, lap and shoulder belts finished. The seat and belts came from MCV Product. They look great! For an old shakey guy like me, the belts were a tough install. But well worth the effort.

This is a left side view of the interior floor pan. I do have to fix the shifter boot to the floor fit. Since this photo was taken I also think that the battery will need to be installed in the interior. There is just no room in the engine compartment after putting the slant 6 HEMI Turbo on the frame. I might even have to mount the brake master cylinder and booster under the car. We will see.

This is a right side view of the interior floor pan. I do have to fix the shifter boot to the floor fit. Since this photo was taken I also think that the battery will need to be installed in the interior. There is just no room in the engine compartment after putting the slant 6 HEMI Turbo on the frame. I might even have to mount the brake master cylinder and booster under the car. We will see.

This is a front view of the interior floor pan. I do have to fix the shifter boot to the floor fit. Since this photo was taken I also think that the battery will need to be installed in the interior. There is just no room in the engine compartment after putting the slant 6 HEMI Turbo on the frame. I might even have to mount the brake master cylinder and booster under the car. We will see.

The Slant 6 Hemi Turbo Charged concept engine, and drive shaft are installed. There isn't going to be much room in the engine compartment when the body is put in place. It's actually looking like the battery might have to go in the interior and the brake master cylinder might have to be placed under the floor. More about this later.

The fuel cell is also mounted on the trunk floor. The hold down straps are not installed yet and I might build a crash protection around it, but I'm not sure about the protection because I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a rear bumper yet. If I decide to use the rear bumper that came with the kit I'll need crash protection. If I decide to make a tubular front and rear bumper I won't need the fuel cell protection.

I used 26AWG (American Wire Gauge), bare soft drawn wire to make hold-down strapes for the fuel cell. I painted the wire with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum just to take the shine off of the wire.

I added hold-down clamps to the battery. I used two small pieces of Evergreen 262 (0.080"/2mm) channel for the clamp and cut each one approximately 5mm long. I painted the channel with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum. I then used 26AWG (American Wire Gauge) soft drawn titanium plated wire for the hold-down rods (titanium planted because that's what I had). The wire used for the hold-down rods has not been trimmed in this photo.

There is absolutely no room under the hood to mount the battery. At first I thought I would just leave the battery out, but than I decided I'd place it the interior and run the wires through the firewall. I wanted to protect the driver as much as possible, so I mounted the battery under the dash-board on the the passenger side of the car. You won't be able to see the wires when everything is assembled. In fact, once the body is placed on the frame I doubt the battery will be seen.

Closer view of battery mounted under the dashboard.

There is absolutely no room under the hood to mount the battery. At first I thought I would just leave the battery out, but than I decided I'd place it the interior and run the wires through the firewall. I wanted to protect the driver as much as possible, so I mounted the battery under the dash-board on the the passenger side of the car. You won't be able to see the wires when everything is assembled. In fact, once the body is placed on the frame I doubt the battery will be seen.

Front view of the battery mounted under the dashboard. The gap in the dash-board was fixed, but as you can clearly see, opened again. It will be fixed...again.

There is absolutely no room under the hood to mount the battery. At first I thought I would just leave the battery out, but than I decided I'd place it the interior and run the wires through the firewall. I wanted to protect the driver as much as possible, so I mounted the battery under the dash-board on the the passenger side of the car. You won't be able to see the wires when everything is assembled. In fact, once the body is placed on the frame I doubt the battery will be seen.

When the interior tub is placed in the body, there was a gap between the body and the tub. This gap was approximately 1mm. I glued a strip of Evergreen 148 (0.040" x 0.188" / 1mm x 4.8mm) to each side of the tub to fill the gap.

I have the model mostly built. There are a few things missing, such as:

• Exhaust
• Brake master cylinder/booster
• Front and Rear bumpers
• Trunk trim piece
• Grill (Screen covered)
• Ignition box(es)
• Decals

The last thing will be to dirty the whole car. I'll be using Tamiya pastels for most of the dirt; however, if it ever gets warm enough, here in eastern PA so the ground is not rock solid (Feb. 20, 2025), I'll make some actual mud. I mix actual ground with white glue and brown paint and then just simply "dob" it on in spots.

There are a few chips on the door shown, but I'm leaving them as part of the usage of this car on the track.

This photo shows a front view of the model. I had to use the hood with the air scoop and hole to clear the top of the slant 6 HEMI Turbo charged engine. There is still no bumber or grill in place. I stripped the chrome from the front bumper and painted it with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. I'm currently stripping the chrome from the grill and will be covering that with the same screening I'm using for the windshield.

The engine compartment is almost finished. I still need to install the exahaust pipe onto the Turbo charger exhaust side, mount the brake master cylinder and booster and I'll be adding two electronic boxes, one to the firewall and one to the inside of the right fender. They're all ready, I just haven't glued them in place.

I cut the trunk lid open just to show the fuel cell. I installed the hinges. The trunk lid will slide onto the the hinges. I'll have to mount a small magnet to hold it fully closed. I also stripped the chrome off the rear bumper and painted it with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. The trim panel is painted the body color and it and the bumper will be installed.

I used screen from a roll of screen door repair as the windshield and also as the grill. The screen has a sticky back and on this photo you can see that there is still some residue of the 'sticky stuff' in the screen openings. You will see later that I did remove most of it.

The engine compartment is finished with the exception of applying some dirt. It was a tight fit to place the brake master cylinder, and as I stated earlier, there was no way the battery would fit under the hood. Although it can't be seen, the battery is under the dashboard of the passenger side of the car. I'm not happy with the radiator hose. I think it's too small, but at this point, I'm not going to change it. I might change my mind later, but I doubt it.

I used some wire to add fuel lines to the fuel cell. I'll be adding some grit and grime on and around the cell and the trunk floor.

I'm making my own decals so that I can have local sponsors on the car. Because I'm making my own, I load the images into Gimp - GNU Image Manipulation Program. Gimp is a free photo editor very similar to Adobe Photoshop. I then increase the resolution and size them before placing them on water slide printer paper. Because they are a graphic in Gimp, I can take an image of the car and copy and paste the decal images onto the photo. This gives me an idea how the car will look with the decals in place.

So...this photo IS NOT the car with actual decals on it. It is an image of the car with decal graphics copied to it.

I'm making my own decals so that I can have local sponsors on the car. Because I'm making my own, I load the images into Gimp - GNU Image Manipulation Program. Gimp is a free photo editor very similar to Adobe Photoshop. I then increase the resolution and size them before placing them on water slide printer paper. Because they are a graphic in Gimp, I can take an image of the car and copy and paste the decal images onto the photo. This gives me an idea how the car will look with the decals in place.

So...this photo IS NOT the car with actual decals on it. It is an image of the car with decal graphics copied to it.

These are the decals I'll be using. Only one of each is shown in this photo, but there will be duplicates so both sides of the car will have decals. I wanted to make my own decals so that the sponsors would all be actual local businesses in Nazareth, Pa and surrounding communities.

• My Logo - Will be placed on the rear quarter panels
• Hoosier - Will be used because they are a sponsor of the race track and all cars display their logo
• Nazareth Food Bank - will be placed on the front quarter panel
• The numbers will be used on the doors, roof and trunk
• Nazareth Diner
• ELS - East Lawn Plumbing Supply
• The Key - A local newspaper will be used
• Tuscanna Pizza & Pasta
• Breidinger's Speed Shop
• Birthright Brewing Co.
• Driver signature - Although I didn't actually drive, in the model world I can be the best driver ever