reviving my dads old 65 dart drag car!

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MOPARCODY

MOPARCODY

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my dad purchased his 1965 dodge dart gt in september of 1979 from an old farmer for $75, over the years the car has had 12 big blocks ranging from a 383 to the 496 thats in it now.

the car hasnt seen the road or a track since 96. about 10 years ago he got a wild hair up his *** and decided to yank it apart do all the body work and repaint it black from its origonal color of white. after about 200 hours of body work and a base coat he gave up and it sat until yesterday when i got a wild hair up my *** and decided we need to finish it and get it to mopars at the strip in march.

the plan is to finish the paint work and re assemble it using my drive train from my 65 gt which currently has a mild 360/904 8 3/4. my car has gone 11.99 on motor but we plan on spraying a 150 shot through it in vegas. while my car is apart well do the paint and body work and build a new motor for my dads.

today i yanked the interior wiring harness dash glass and cleaned every thing up.
tomorrow im yanking the big block motor and trans and spot welding the core support and inner fender wells in. hopefully i can get some primer and maybe a base coat shot.

here the pics from today



















 
I like it! Hope your dad catches that wild hair again and helps you out.
 
got a bunch more done on the dart today. it was a bear pulling a big block out of an early a body with custom chassis headers. no idea why anyone would want to put a small block in an early body lol









 
Looks like your in for a great build. Good luck, can't wait to see how it runs @ the track. Be sure and post your progress! I can't help but notice the "GT" sitting along side of your project Dart. It also looks nice! Small block car??? I also have a '65 Dart GT. Like your father, I have owned this car since 1969. It started as a /6 GT car and has evolved into a small block on steroids...The top is original, the chrome is original and the tires are "fat"! The car runs well, consistent 9.60's @ 138 all day long. Love to see more of these @ the track. Keep up the good work!
 

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Rob Eppler said:
Looks like your in for a great build. Good luck, can't wait to see how it runs @ the track. Be sure and post your progress! I can't help but notice the "GT" sitting along side of your project Dart. It also looks nice! Small block car??? I also have a '65 Dart GT. Like your father, I have owned this car since 1969. It started as a /6 GT car and has evolved into a small block on steroids...The top is original, the chrome is original and the tires are "fat"! The car runs well, consistent 9.60's @ 138 all day long. Love to see more of these @ the track. Keep up the good work!
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SWEET looking car Rob!
 
Rob Eppler said:
Looks like your in for a great build. Good luck, can't wait to see how it runs @ the track. Be sure and post your progress! I can't help but notice the "GT" sitting along side of your project Dart. It also looks nice! Small block car??? I also have a '65 Dart GT. Like your father, I have owned this car since 1969. It started as a /6 GT car and has evolved into a small block on steroids...The top is original, the chrome is original and the tires are "fat"! The car runs well, consistent 9.60's @ 138 all day long. Love to see more of these @ the track. Keep up the good work!
Click to expand...

wow your dart is super clean! and ill def post my progress. the gt next to it is my car. its just a 360 crate motor. its our donor car to get this one going. while its apart it will be getting painted and rebuilt. what motor is in your car?
 
Nice car! What size are the rear tires? Looks like the stock wheel wells.
 
WRB426 said:
Nice car! What size are the rear tires? Looks like the stock wheel wells.
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it will fit a 295 60 drag radial but currently we run a 275 60 15, the car is quarter tubbed and the springs have been moved in
 
Awesome! I love the story, hopefully once your Dad see's his old Dart running he'll have a smile on his face you won't be wiping off.

I love the early Darts.
 
I envy your Dad, my son never took an interest in my racing. Looking good, and It ought to be a blast with a mild setup like you have planned
 
Keith Mopar said:
Awesome! I love the story, hopefully once your Dad see's his old Dart running he'll have a smile on his face you won't be wiping off.

I have him running te sand blaster as we speak. I'm trying to yank the guts out of the doors so we can blast them. He's starting to get motivated!

I love the early Darts.
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gregsdart said:
I envy your Dad, my son never took an interest in my racing. Looking good, and It ought to be a blast with a mild setup like you have planned
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I've been turning wrenches with him since I was 7, on the weekends all the other kids we riding bikes and playing while I helped with the cars. It's safe to say that I have more fun than he does these days. He told me if I paint the car and re do the interior that we would go to mopars at the strip in March. I work from 4-midnight Monday-Friday and have been here every day for the past week at 7am prying him out of bed.

I'll post more progress pics later!
 
Got any pics of the car from when your dad raced it? Sounds like a fun time working with your dad, I would love to restore a car with my dad like that someday :glasses7:
 
here are the pics from today, did a lot of sandblasting and fitted the new apron and core supports











 
sandblasting will be the death of me. even with a resperator im coughing crap up. i guess thats price to pay for clean metal haha.

here are some pics after we aligned all the fenders and hood to get proper fitment for the inner fenders and core support so we can start welding.



 
That is going to be one "kickass" Dart! Your dad should be very proud. Continue to show us your progress.
 
took the weekend off for my 1 year with my girlfriend. shes taking me to the russian river brewery in santa rosa tomorrow for a beer tour, but ill be back at it on monday. so theres definitely more to come!
 
Sure looks like a solid project Cody, I sure would like to find one reasonably priced to build.
 
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