My Dart Swinger Project!

[dartfreak75]

Hey guys I wanted to start a thread of my build just a place to post pictures and discuss what I'm doing and where im at I think it will be cool to document my progress. Feel free to share advice or suggestions and pics of your build as well I'm gonna start with a short back story of the car and how it got to where it is today. I bought the car a 1975 dodge dart swinger slant 6 in 2000 when I was 15 I fixed it up some..new tires leaf springs shocks radiator breaks stuff like that. When I turned 16 it was road worthy I got my license and drove it for 3years in 2004 I made a huge rookie mistake. The valve cover was leaking (Slant 6) so I decided to replace it being young and dumb and not knowing what I was doing I set my torque wrench to 40 ft lbs instead of in lbs thus breaking off a bolt in the block. Once again being young and not knowing what i was doing instead of easy outing it out and fixing it I left it broke. Then over the next several weeks I had s severe oil leak eventually causing a spun bearing and locking the engine up. I still kick myself for that. Well then I bought a 360 to put in the dart and in the process of building it I bought another 318 that was running and slapped on the 360 heads and put it in the dart. Shortly after I purchased a 1972 barracuda and pulled the 318 and put it in the barracuda with the plans to put the 360 in the dart by this time is was around summer of 2005. Then life happened I was 20 yrs old I got married had a baby new job new house new car etc the projects got put on the back burner in 2009 I sold the barracuda and the dart just sat until now! I pulled it out of its lonely hole and decided now is the time! My son is 12 he is interested in cars and is wanting to help so the timing couldn't get any better. I will post some pics and update my progress as i go. I think this thread will be alot of fun please join me!!

 

[dartfreak75]

Suspension and steering is out now.
Prepping the control arms for paint

 

[dartfreak75]

Control arms

 

[dartfreak75]

My original steel wheels with my new used ebay poverty dog dish caps my dog finds them amusing!

 

[dartfreak75]

Got some work done this week finally got all the suspension stripped out time to start striping the paint ! If any of yall saw my other thread you know of the trouble I had with my torsion bar on the driver side i finally got it out but found more problems in the process!! More to come later

 

[dartfreak75]

I finally got the torsion bar out unfortunately i have to buy new ones here is some pics of my progress this is where im at.

 

[dartfreak75]

Here are some before pics I wanted to post them here so we have a before current and after pic.

 

[dartfreak75]

I got my 15x7 rims for the rear! I'm gonna use the original 14 for the front.

 

[dartfreak75]

Got some work done this week got my control arms sanded and cleaned and ready for paint. In the pic it's just one finished kind of a before and after I haven't got a pic of both of them cleaned I will tho.

 

[prican_2000]

WOW!!!!!! I admire your drive on getting the Dart back on the road. I'm along for the ride. I don't think you identified what power plant you plan on stabbing in there??

Where in VA are you located?

Good Luck and Remember - Slow and Steady progress (no matter how small) > No progress.

 

[PST]

The progress looks great on your project so far. The only thing that I wanted to ask was in picture #5 that you posted of the passengers side frame rail it look as though the frame rail had been plated or reinforced at some point. The upper control arm( lower shock tower area) mounting points tend to be a spot that is prone to rusting. So before taking all that time installing all that newly restored suspension. You may want to check that frame rail closely ensure it is structurally sound.

Thanks
James From
PST Marketing

 

[dartfreak75]

WOW!!!!!! I admire your drive on getting the Dart back on the road. I'm along for the ride. I don't think you identified what power plant you plan on stabbing in there??

Where in VA are you located?

Good Luck and Remember - Slow and Steady progress (no matter how small) > No progress.

Thanks for following my hopes are by documenting my build as I go one will keep me motivated and two will give me a visual of my progress and three let you guys (the pros) help me along the way do this right I have learned alot from this site. I am from southwest va. You in va also? My engine is a 318 I have a 360 for later it needs to be completely rebuilt tho and I just don't have the money. This 318 cam out of an old dodge 2wd truck I bought for parts for my 4x4 it ran strong I actually drove it some. But I'm gonna do a home port job on my heads new valve springs cam 4bbl carb and headers. All the parts other than the cam I have laying around from years ago. Thanks again I'm always open to suggestions and I'm here to learn .

The progress looks great on your project so far. The only thing that I wanted to ask was in picture #5 that you posted of the passengers side frame rail it look as though the frame rail had been plated or reinforced at some point. The upper control arm( lower shock tower area) mounting points tend to be a spot that is prone to rusting. So before taking all that time installing all that newly restored suspension. You may want to check that frame rail closely ensure it is structurally sound.

Thanks
James From
PST Marketing

Thanks James yea I had some rust there in that spot years ago and I cut it out and welded a plate in there it's been there for 16 years or better I would like to cut out and replace the whole rail but it's just not affordable for me right now. I plan on trying to dress that spot up some to make it look better but I feel that is is structurally ok. I can take some more pictures of that area if you would like a closer look. Thank you so much for your time and support.

 

[dartfreak75]

Well I haven't posted any updates in a couple weeks so I figured I should. I haven't got much done since my last post I have been working on my frame rail as mentioned it was rusted out and I patched it 16 years ago but I found some more rust on the inside of the rail so I stripped it out and started reinforcing it. In the process I ran out of welding wire and had to order more so I ordered more just got it. I used 1/2 steel I cut from an I beam. I will get it finished up this week Hopefully. I got stalled a little bit last week I ruptured a brake line on my every day driver truck and spent about 6 days replacing all the brake line hoses on it. So Hopefully this week I can get back to the dart!

 

[dartfreak75]

Also I'm trying to decide on a color. I'm having trouble making the final decision. Lol some of y'all saw my thread on the colors. But I'm trying for something similar close to k5 burnt orange. Here are the ones I'm between. The darker color is summit single stage burnt copper the lighter is bc/cc sunburst orange! I think the lighter will be the closest but I'm having trouble pulling the trigger. I wish I could find a pic of the exact paint on a car but so far no luck.

 

[dartfreak75]

Ok got my suspension parts and brake calipers primed today gonna try to paint them tomorrow if we get a break from this rain!

 

[dartfreak75]

Well it's been a crazy past couple weeks I have got a little work done I finished the disassembly of the 318 found bad news. I have a shot cam bearing and rusty bores. So I have to get that taken car of. On a good note I did catch a break from the rain and I got my control arms and brake parts painted. I'm gonna do another coat because there is some thin spots that didnt cover well. But all in all it turned out nice I think it looks good.

 

[dartnlo]

***EDIT*** nevermind, I see you chose a color

Also I'm trying to decide on a color. I'm having trouble making the final decision. Lol some of y'all saw my thread on the colors. But I'm trying for something similar close to k5 burnt orange. Here are the ones I'm between. The darker color is summit single stage burnt copper the lighter is bc/cc sunburst orange! I think the lighter will be the closest but I'm having trouble pulling the trigger. I wish I could find a pic of the exact paint on a car but so far no luck.

View attachment 1715224465

View attachment 1715224466

When I rUstored my old honda motorcycle a factory candy paint job was too expensive but I found a basecoat clearcoat color from late model Mopars that looks nice. It's called Mango Tango Pearl. It has burnt orange tones in the shade, but really lights up in the sun.

Here it is on a Challenger

Fresh Paint on my tank under paint booth lights

And on my assembled bike in the partial sun.

And in the sunlight

 

[dartfreak75]

***EDIT*** nevermind, I see you chose a color



When I rUstored my old honda motorcycle a factory candy paint job was too expensive but I found a basecoat clearcoat color from late model Mopars that looks nice. It's called Mango Tango Pearl. It has burnt orange tones in the shade, but really lights up in the sun.

Here it is on a Challenger
View attachment 1715234647

Fresh Paint on my tank under paint booth lights
View attachment 1715234646

And on my assembled bike in the partial sun.
View attachment 1715234645

And in the sunlight
View attachment 1715234648

Man that is a beautiful color ! I really like that that is what I want I hope the one i chose will be close to that.

 

[dartfreak75]

This is the one I am buying it's called sunburst orange.

 

[dartnlo]

This is the one I am buying it's called sunburst orange.

View attachment 1715234684

Thanks, I was happy with it too. It's very iridescent and pearly without needing to use a three stage paint.

Is that a custom PPG color or off a particular Make/model?

 

[dartfreak75]

Thanks, I was happy with it too. It's very iridescent and pearly without needing to use a three stage paint.

Is that a custom PPG color or off a particular Make/model?

That is a trinity 1945 brand color aka paintforcars.com I bought their primer and getting their bc/cc paint.

 

[dartfreak75]

Acrylic Urethane Basecoat + 5-Star Clearcoat (best) : PaintForCars.com
Here is a link.

 

[dartfreak75]

Got some more of the puzzle pieces today!!
Hopefully I will finish getting my suspension brake parts finished up this week. I did forget something tho I havent done anything with my spinals. I have to clean them up I'm not real sure about painting them tho.

 

[dartfreak75]

***EDIT*** nevermind, I see you chose a color



When I rUstored my old honda motorcycle a factory candy paint job was too expensive but I found a basecoat clearcoat color from late model Mopars that looks nice. It's called Mango Tango Pearl. It has burnt orange tones in the shade, but really lights up in the sun.

Here it is on a Challenger
View attachment 1715234647

Fresh Paint on my tank under paint booth lights
View attachment 1715234646

And on my assembled bike in the partial sun.
View attachment 1715234645

And in the sunlight
View attachment 1715234648

Where did you get that color from? What paint brand and store?

 

[dartnlo]

Where did you get that color from? What paint brand and store?

It is PPG paint. I got it at the local autobody supply store.