69 Dart GT Conv. 340-6pak

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Well, got a little done on the vert this weekend. The rear view mirror was in bad shape. The glass was yellowed, the chrome parts were rusted, the alloy parts were pitted, and someone had sealed the original windshield at some point and got sealer on the shaft and base. It was a mess! I disassembled the entire mirror assembly. I then glass beaded the alloy shaft and base. Then came the several hours of sanding to remove the pits and imperfections. After that, I prepped all the OEM parts with Bulldog Adhesion Spray and painted them Silver and Cleared them afterwards. I purchased a repo HT mirror set and disassembled it and installed the vert shaft and base on the repo mirror. All n All, it turned out great. The interior guy, has the top close (not quite finished) now, and the carpet and sound deadener is in. Each week brings us a little closer....

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This week has produced a huge change in the appearance of my Dart, this is one of the big moments I've been waiting for. The trunk finish panel, and all the GT side moldings are now on the car, and I think they are a stunning change to its persona. With the satin finish black in the trim it would merely separated top from bottom of the Go Green. With the trim now being Gloss Black, it not only separates the color, but it also POPS it in the process. Since my car is modified, and not original, i think it was a good choice. The new Magnum 500 wheels from Coker Tire came in yesterday and I'm going to change the semigloss black on them to gloss also. I think it will further pop the body color. It now seems that after so many years of restoring individual part after part, finally each time we ad a part to the car, it becomes more real to me that one day it might be finished....

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OK Guys,
I've gone and done it now. I have pre-rregistered my Dart for the Nats, in the judged modified class. Now the push is really on! I ordered new Magnum 500's from Specialty Wheel (Coker Tire) and the plating looks awesome, but the semi-gloss black just didn't get it for the rest of the car, so we stripped them, and painted them gloss black, and its night and day for this car. For the die hard 69 Dart GT guys, we put the DartGT emblems on each side with just a little twist. Both of my GT's had the emblems on, with the lower part of the emblem hanging just over the body line, so we moved these up 1/8" to fit on the body line with no gap below the emblem, where it would hang over the body line. Just today, I painted most of the spare mounting hardware and the jack parts. I'm still up in the air on how to paint the jack ratchet and the jack bar. I can't figure how to take the ratchet off the bar without grinding one of the tits off either end of the bar. Any Ideas? Hopefully tomorrow will be a big day for us. Were going to try to fire it up, for the first time since the swap has been done. Wish me luck...

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OK Guys,
I've gone and done it now. I have pre-rregistered my Dart for the Nats, in the judged modified class. Now the push is really on! I ordered new Magnum 500's from Specialty Wheel (Coker Tire) and the plating looks awesome, but the semi-gloss black just didn't get it for the rest of the car, so we stripped them, and painted them gloss black, and its night and day for this car. For the die hard 69 Dart GT guys, we put the DartGT emblems on each side with just a little twist. Both of my GT's had the emblems on, with the lower part of the emblem hanging just over the body line, so we moved these up 1/8" to fit on the body line with no gap below the emblem, where it would hang over the body line. Just today, I painted most of the spare mounting hardware and the jack parts. I'm still up in the air on how to paint the jack ratchet and the jack bar. I can't figure how to take the ratchet off the bar without grinding one of the tits off either end of the bar. Any Ideas? Hopefully tomorrow will be a big day for us. Were going to try to fire it up, for the first time since the swap has been done. Wish me luck...

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To paint my jack I taped up as much of the bar as I could and just sprayed away on the ratchet. I sprayed it with the ratchet in the center of the bar where it would be when stored in the trunk. I ended up with a little bit of overspray on the bar, but I keep the ratchet in that place so it isn't obvious when mounted. I couldn't find a workable solution to get the ratchet off the bar either.

By the way, that shoulder trim on your car really does look good. I ended up not putting it back on mine but it works great with that green.
 
To paint my jack I taped up as much of the bar as I could and just sprayed away on the ratchet. I sprayed it with the ratchet in the center of the bar where it would be when stored in the trunk.
I really appreciate the information. Would it be possible for you to send me or post a pic of yours mounted in the trunk? I'd like to see what it looks like since Im leaning towards the way you did yours.
Thanks
Martin
 
As you know, the jacks these cars came with are pretty dangerous. They should be used for show only IMO. On my Challenger jack, I was able to spread the mechanism open just enough to get it slid past the end nub of the mast. This is the only way to do it if you are going to send the mast out for replating.(if you have the hollow mast it should be zinc dichromate...yellow zinc) Then, once the mast is finished, you can slide the mechanism back on. I think I masked one end of the mast and slid the mechanism down over that section to paint it. That way I didn't risk chipping the paint while trying to reinstall the mechanism onto the mast.
 
I really appreciate the information. Would it be possible for you to send me or post a pic of yours mounted in the trunk? I'd like to see what it looks like since Im leaning towards the way you did yours.
Thanks
Martin

This is the best picture I have. You can clearly see the overspray. You can use a fine sand paper or dremel to get the overspray off.

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This is the best picture I have. You can clearly see the overspray. You can use a fine sand paper or dremel to get the overspray off.
Thanks VDART
I needed to know how it mounted also. Pretty sure I'm going to go about the same way you did.
Thanks again
 
Today I managed to finish what I hope is the last of the stainless trim buffing. These are the trim pieces that go around the vert top at the rear. Pictured also are the pot metal pieces that go with it, I had those plated a while back. Hope to get these on by the end of the weekend...

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That looks great. Maybe I will get to talk to ya at Carlisle. I want to ask you question, the screws that hold the snaps and molding are you using old ones or new? If you are using new, where did you buy them?
Jim
 
That looks great. Maybe I will get to talk to ya at Carlisle. I want to ask you question, the screws that hold the snaps and molding are you using old ones or new? If you are using new, where did you buy them?
Jim

PM Sent Jim
PS I want be at Carlisle this year, but I will be at the Nats.
 
Did you make it to the Nats? I didn't see your car in the judged field. I was looking forward to seeing it.
 
Did you make it to the Nats? I didn't see your car in the judged field. I was looking forward to seeing it.
Hey Darren
No I didn't make it. Can down to the last minute stuff and just couldn't pull it off. Not the first money I've ever wasted though. Hope to be finished soon...
 
Well last week I had the exhaust installed on the Dart. The cut outs didn't make the cut (no pun intended). I had decided that I wanted to put them directly behind the collector and high enough not to be seen or I was not going to use them, they couldn't put them there because I have 3.5" collectors and in order to mount them there, they would have to be turned down and you could see the solenoid hanging below the headers and that looked like crap. The exhaust looks and sounds awesome. Stainless Dynaflow Mufflers and Stainless tips with an equalizer tube to balance it. Performance Muffler in Wilson N.C. did the job and it looks Great! Now for the bad, since I had never heard it with capped headers I couldn't hear a noise. It was loud and nasty! The transmission dust shield was hitting the converter bolts and it sounded like it was going to fly apart any minute. I got it home, jacked it up and pulled the cover off an sure enough it had almost wore long hole in the cover. I scrounged around my stash and found one with smaller indentions in it, glass beaded it, painted and reinstalled it. Problem solved. I then had time to start on the interior trim around the windshield. Got it all installed with the visor/top latch brackets on and it looks great. I now have to install the visors and that part is a rap. If I can find time, I'll try to video the exhaust sound and post it to youtube.

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What paint did you use for the windshield trim? Got a paint name/number? Are you leaving the top of the doors green?
 
What paint did you use for the windshield trim? Got a paint name/number? Are you leaving the top of the doors green?
Hey Darren,
The paint I used for the windshield trim is a GM color that matches the #200 Legendary color of my Dash pad. Now its not an exact match, because plastic, vinyl, and metal parts will appear different when painted, but it does go together and I used acrylic enamel with hardner for these. Let me know if you want that color and I'll send you the paint code. I actually had the local NAPA store shoot the seat material with their color match gun and it threw out this GM color. I am going to keep the tops and bottoms of the inner doors green. I flowed the color onto the rear vert panels as well, by painting the top of the panels green and the lower green to flow with the door. The center color is #200 Lengendary.

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On Thursday I finally got the rear interior panel chrome back from the plater. It looks awesome. I had a chance today to reassemble both panels and now they are ready to be put on. I didn't put the interior lights or the top boot cover snaps on yet because Im going to modify the snaps to accept a machine nut instead of threading into fiberglass/plastic. The interior light lens will go on when I put the panels in since the wiring is only so long. Since these are repo panels the holes for the ash trays had to be opened up just a little for my taste, but all is good.

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