Gunmetal 72 Dart - Cool cruiser build (no... refurb!)

I love the 72 also.

My original plan for this car was to put on a '70-'71 grille and rear bumper, put in a small block/727/8.75"... you know, the usual tear the guts out. But after living with the car for awhile, I really like it for what it is, so I'm keeping it as a /6 car. At least for now. I'm sure eventually I'll stick a V8 in it, I have almost everything to do that. But the car drives amazingly well.

So, to that end, I've replaced a lot of the usual wear/tune-up items and got it running pretty good. It has HORRIBLE blow-by, but once I get a couple other things worked out, I'm going to get it out on the road and see if the rings will re-seat, and probably replace the valve stem seals to try to make this 127,000 mile /6 last a bit longer. Worst case, I picked up a low-mile 225 from Keith's dad (FishyPete) that has a good bit of carbon in the cylinders, but should clean up fine, turns over smooth.

Over the past year, I've rebuilt the brakes (will convert to Scarebird in front, should have done that right away in hindsight), converted to electronic ignition (Mopar), new tires, and cleaned the whole thing up pretty good.

Now that a lot of the preliminary details are worked out, I've started the heavier lifting.

So this car... yep... Deluxe interior in amazing condition. Just needs a few details (rechrome sticker the stripes on the door panels, I have a new carpet for it, and I already installed some good arm rests. Headliner is perfect, seats are tear-free and cleaned up nice, dash is near perfect except someone drilled a hole in the glovebox door for an extra knob. Otherwise, the interior looks like it's only a few years old.

Underbody/floors are perfectly solid and clean. Trunk has some rust, but not bad, and I have to patch the quarters and a couple other spots, but otherwise, the car is very solid.

This is the main reason I decided to not tear the car apart. Other than having burned off paint, it is very clean, solid, and in great shape. It's in a lot better condition that a lot of the cars you'd see on a used car lot today, and it has been messed with only very minimally.

A keeper for sure. And... "let the car just be itself!".

So that's all of the history, next I'll start on the updates, and what I'm doing to the car now, and as I go.

Thanks for checking out my project! I have a lot of motivation already, but I thought this thread might help with some of those most frustrating moments that always happen too!

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the a/c works. Needs a re-charge, but... it still blows slightly cold air :) Another reason to keep it as-is! :)