If I have to sell my beloved car – a 1962 Dodge Dart 440 – due to unfortunate circumstances, who would I sell it to? The answer is obvious: the person who helped me buy the car in the first place. The fact that Jouni “Jonta” Hänninen partially fulfills the vision I had for the Dart is a huge bonus in the middle of all this mess. And yes, the Dart has turned out great. Fantastic! So there’s no problem feeling happy for Hänninen. But this isn’t my story, it’s Hänninen’s.
“What do I find interesting about the early Mopar B-body cars? The design, first of all. The design is outstanding. Secondly, the fact that already in 1962, you could walk into a dealership and buy a car with 400 horsepower and then head to the drag strip to race it. And people did exactly that,” says Hänninen.
Almost 40 years ago, he saw the movie It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where no fewer than three 1962 Dodge Darts play fairly significant roles, which greatly influenced his taste in cars. The red Dart 440 convertible and the black, no-frills four-door Dart, made a particularly big impression on young Hänninen.
“Ever since that movie, I’ve wanted an early B-body. I’ve been actively searching for 15-20 years, but it’s not easy to find the right one. I’ve been looking for a two-door hardtop, not a four-door or a post car. It wasn’t until yours was up for sale that everything fell into place,” says Hänninen.
Yes, he admits it. The 1962 and 1963 cars are pretty quirky. And Hänninen wouldn’t say no to a ’63 either. Especially not a 1963 Plymouth, like a Savoy, for example. Hänninen has looked at a few of those.
Back to Hänninen’s 1962 Dart. Finding a nearly rust-free example is no easy task. But this Dodge was in good condition when purchased. Hänninen has filled two small holes in the driver’s side floor pan with lead. He also repaired a minor rust hole above the brake booster under the windshield, in a triple-layered panel.
The rustiest part, the trunk floor, had already been replaced with brand-new, hand-shaped sheet metal identical to the original. This work was done by automotive sheet metal artist Henrik Larsson Customizing from Nyköping in southern Sweden and was already completed when Hänninen bought the Dodge.
“The previous owner, which is you, had already started gathering a bunch of parts and had a plan. I wanted to continue that plan. My goal was to finish the project quickly, just the way I wanted the car. But it took a little longer than I expected,” says Hänninen with a short laugh.
One reason it took a bit longer than Hänninen planned was the restoration of the engine bay and the underside of the car’s floor. Hänninen quickly realized he wanted to fix up these parts of the car, and the Dodge put up a bit of a fight. Fortunately, Hänninen has great friends.
“It took two people with air-powered tools and another guy with a manual scraper a day and a half just to scrape off the majority of the undercoating. Then it took an additional six hours for the same three people to remove the rest using rotating wire brushes. Yes, we looked like chimney sweeps afterward. We ended up removing 23 kilos (50 pounds) of undercoating in total,” says Hänninen.
Once the rust repairs and scraping were done, it was time for paint. Since Hänninen is friends with a paint dealer from his hometown of Eskilstuna in southern Sweden, things got a little easier.
“I’ve been buying paint from the dealer for probably 40 years, and he’s good. The Dart’s color is what we call ‘hearing-aid pink’ here in Sweden, named after how hearing aids traditionally looked in this country. In Dodge language, the color is simply called ‘Buff’ for 1962. Yes, it’s beige-pink. I asked the paint dealer to mix two versions. One regular car paint for the engine bay, which was first primed with filler primer, and a much more durable, tough industrial paint for the underside of the car’s floor. Both are two-component paints. This winter’s project will be to paint the trunk in the same way,” Hänninen explains.
So, how tricky is it to fit a 413-cubic-inch V8 into the engine bay of a 1962 Dodge Dart? Not at all, says Hänninen. And indeed, from the factory, the car came with a 318 (the V8 with polyspherical combustion chambers), and Dodge was already selling 1962 models with 413 Max Wedge V8s. However, the 413 was introduced later in 1962, and Hänninen’s Dodge was built early in the year. It should also be noted that the first-year B-body cars reportedly came with two different front subframes, called K-members, concerning the design of the motor mount areas. This is okay, but you have to keep track
of whether the motor mounts should be the low or high tab type, depending on the engine choice.
“I called and spoke with 440 Source, who gave me good advice on the front suspension design, early or late version. I believe I used motor mounts with the high tabs. Then I added 6 mm shims on the V8’s right side so that the exhaust manifold wouldn’t press against the inner fender. It works perfectly,” says Hänninen.
Speaking of exhaust manifolds, Hänninen has installed a pair of Brodix B1 cylinder heads on his 413. The Doug’s Headers that came with the car caused issues with the B1s. According to others who have done similar conversions from the slant-six or 318 poly to a 440 (or other B/RB engine blocks), Doug’s headers usually fit nicely in the somewhat cramped engine bay.
“I had to buy a pair of TTI headers instead. They’re specific to early B-bodies and V8s with Brodix B1s. Doug’s headers hit everywhere they could. On the other hand, the TTI headers had an outstanding fit.”
When asked if anything has been particularly tricky to solve, Hänninen initially says no. After a moment, though, he remembers a little 10-centimeter piece of trim that’s missing from the car’s right side, almost impossible to find.
“It’s that little piece that connects the rocker panel trim to the rear wheel arch trim. I’ve asked the most knowledgeable people about early B-bodies in the U.S. The experts who know all the other experts. No one knows. Someone finally said, ‘It’s pure luck if you ever find that trim piece.’ And it’s not that surprising. The trim is held on with a few clips and falls off easily. And only the 440 model has it,” says Hänninen.
He then takes a deep breath and becomes excited.
“Now you’ll hear a funny anecdote. About a month ago, I was at the last drag racing event of the year at Kjula, just outside Eskilstuna. There I met Ronny, who drives a white Dodge Dart 440 with burgundy flames. It’s a pretty fast car that runs high 11s over the quarter-mile. Ronny told me he was missing various chrome trim pieces around the grille and the Dodge letters on the hood. I replied with the little trim piece I’m missing. Then he said, ‘But I have that.’ I was floored! I asked if I could borrow it at a good time later, in the winter. So I could make a hard epoxy mold and shape a new stainless-steel trim piece around it. ‘You can borrow it right now,’ said Ronny, and he went over to his Dart and removed the trim piece,” Hänninen says.
Mm, talk about pure luck, as the experts said. Finding a solution just a few miles from home.
“Ronny is a cool guy. Of course, we should help each other out,” says Hänninen.
Cool guys indeed. One of them, mainly responsible for the appearance of Hänninen’s Dodge, is the Finnish artist Pekka “Wizzzard” Mannermaa. What a way to end this story by talking about Mannermaa’s creation.
“I contacted Mannermaa right after I bought the Dart from you last year. He was fired up because he likes early B-bodies. ‘What’s the car’s name?’ he asked straight away. When I replied ‘Dodgy Dart,’ it didn’t take long for him to say, ‘Damn, why didn’t I come up with such a good name? That’s what the car will be called!’ A few months later, in April last year, my wife and I went to Finland to check out his sketches. They were amazing. So I gave Mannermaa free rein,” says Hänninen.
No sooner said than done. What Mannermaa needed for the job was a workspace and three working days. Then it would be finished. In the summer of 2024, he got to work, and exactly three days later, Mannermaa was done – just as promised. “There was one thing that was really important to me: to honor my old friend and mentor Nicke Lawrienco with the help of the Dart. He was the one who taught me how to build and tune V8s. Nicke is an incredibly talented engine builder, and few, if any, can get as much power out of a Pontiac engine as he can. He was so good that Pontiac invited him to their development
department in the mid-1970s. A legend, who also raced at the First Go at Anderstorp in 1968*. We worked together at Classic Garage, and I still remember his stern words: ‘There are no shortcuts, and nothing breaks in. If you say that, you’ve worked your last day here,'” Hänninen says with a smile.
He adds that Lawrienco has probably softened a bit over the years, and he was moved to tears when he saw the Dart with the text “Lawrienco Speed Academy” painted by Mannermaa.
Moved to tears, indeed. In fact, there’s another who’s shed a tear. Because although this is Jonta’s story and car, I can’t help but get a tear of joy in my eye over what Jonta has achieved with the car. It’s almost like the vision I had when I once bought this Dodge. But life is a rollercoaster, and things don’t always turn out the way you expect. But in the end, it turned out great. A really cool and tough Dart!
*Note: The First Go at Anderstorp in 1968 was Sweden’s first organized drag racing event.
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