1969 Swinger 340

[ralphie361]

Hello all, this is my 69 Swinger project. This is my first a body, and thanks for all the help already! This started as a pretty rusty no drivetrain 340 auto car with the quarters semi fitted and the trunk pan in when I got it. Its kind of nice because it gives me a clean slate. I probably will be going with an EFI 5.9 magnum and ax15 5 speed for drivetrain, with an autocross/road race vibe. Thats the plan at least!

 

[78kitcar]

Welcome to the site ralphie.Lots of great info at your finger tips. Where abouts in ohio are ya?

 

[dodgeboy]

good luck on your build,it looks like it has good bones to start with

 

[ralphie361]

here are some progress pics, I have stripped most of the body and repaired some rust, finished welding the quarters and added subframe connectors.

 

[ralphie361]

Thanks guys, I am near the Dayton area. Here is the hotchkiss rear leaves, bbp axles in, pst 1.03 bars and disc brake spindles. I also made some adjustable strut rods, we will see how they work out!

 

[Divenut]

Looking great! :thumblef:

 

[eccentricMagpies]

wow.. fast progress Ralphie! Great work.

 

[ralphie361]

Thanks guys, I got the car in October, so its not moving as fast as the pictures make it seem There were a lot of little rust patches to make, but as soon as that was done it was easier to move forward.

 

[eccentricMagpies]

cool plans for your car!
what color are you going with when it's ready for paint?
Also, do you plan to go with disk in the rear as well? Are you tubbing?

It'll be nice watching your build here.

 

[muddacres]

Lookin good. Can I ask where you get those strut rods?
Jim

 

[rrvolare]

T5 exterior paint ? Keep it that color .. i was talking to a guy at Autorama a year ago with a T5 ext and black interior .... i heard declined to sell it at a price well in the 30's

 

[ralphie361]

I plan on keeping it T5 copper, with the black interior and vinyl top like original. I love that combo, and lucked out that this one was optioned that way. As far as the brakes, I have c body 11X2.5 drums on the back because I am trying to use up some of the stuff in the garage. The strut rods were pieced together by me, I used Speedway motors for the pre threaded tubing and heim joints. The clevis at the K was left over box tubing from the subframe connectors. I might have to upgrade these to thicker if I have problems. The bushings were out of the poly frontend kit. I thought I would try it for $50 worth of parts!

 

[cwatts]

Good luck with the build, love seeing 69 swingers being saved

 

[K.O. SWINGER]

I commend your true hot rod spirit ...its a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!! nice work.

 

[ralphie361]

No real progress in the last few weeks, installed 3 inch front wheel studs and made one inner fender patch. The real news is the engine plans have changed, it is going 5.7 hemi. A good friend hooked me up with one, so I have to use it for something!

 

[4spdragtop]

Nice work going on there Ralphie! Love the T5 copper, cant wait to see more progress

 

[68GTconvert]

Cool project.

 

[ralphie361]

Finally got the argon bottle refilled today, so hopefully I will get off of my arse and back at it! The last few weeks I have been working on my first love, 70 belvedere 4 door. Was on the road for the first time in ten years. On the Swinger, I did get the oil pan, pickup, and tti mounts and the flywheel and exhaust manifolds should be in my hands by the end of the week.

 

[ralphie361]

Got the engine torn down for diagnosis and it definately had a rod knock! I will need a crank, but thats what I expected. I also got the transmission this week, so I might start bolting it together and drop the engine/trans in for trans crossmember and tunnel mock up this weekend. I am digging this warm weather!

 

[ralphie361]

Got the engine and trans down in the car today! I am going to have to rework the torsion bar crossmember a little to fit the ax15, but it is in there. I haven't gotten the exhaust manifolds or the oil filter adapter yet, so I can't see how those will fit. With the trans hanging down the engine is blocking the steering column, so I will wait to fit that.

 

[ralphie361]

Finally got a chance to work on the Dart for the first time in about a month. Dropped the trans out and modified the torsion bar x member, finished welding the trans tunnel, layed down heat mat, reinstalled the trans, fit the rubber mat, and installed the pedals. I wish I could work eight hours on this thing all the time, but my job would probably suffer

 

[ralphie361]

Well I am slacking on my project here, but I did manage to build the lower crossmember for the AX-15 last weekend. After next friday my summer classes will be over, and I will hopefully get back in gear for a few months!

 

[ralphie361]

A little bit of progress on the Dart, I modified the steering column to clear the head, and fitted the exhaust manifolds. The coupler on the steering box had to be trimmed to clear, and I will be using solid mounts to try and keep the engine off of the steering. I trimmed the tti mount to fit the 45 degree adaptor for the oil filter. I went through the wix filter book and found that a chevy truck oil filter has approximately the same gasket dimension with the same thread, but the OD is a lot smaller to give more clearance. I only had to clearance the k member a little to clear the oil filter, I will weld a depression in it the next time I pull the engine. This hemi is a really tight fit, especially when I am too cheap to buy the tti headers!

 

[ralphie361]

Its been a long while since I've updated here, unfortunately its because the progress has slowed quite a bit. Things should pick up soon, I just sold my house and bought one with a shop, so it should be easier to move forward now. The hemi got a garage hone and used, polished crank, along with a used 6.1 cam. I had it apart in my garage, and then sold my house and had 45 days to move, so it was the kick in the *** I needed!

 

[4spdragtop]

Hey congrats on the new digs..having the garage will help make the progress move a little quicker!
Nice row of mopars there by the way!