Dart sport dart swinger quarters

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87bluebird

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The dart sports like mine are basically just a duster with a dart front clip. Because of that the front wheel wells are shaped differently than the rear wheel wells. Has anyone welded the lower half of a 2 door dart quarter panel into a sport? Pretty much whole quarter below the center body line. That would also change the lower body line to be straight like a dart. My 76 needs lower quarters replaced and I am considering doing that. Couple questions.
Has it been done?
Would the internal stuff like wheel wells, inner rockers, trunk sides match up or would those have to be changed to dart also?
Darts have a 111 inch wheelbase sports, dusters, demons have a 108 inch wheelbase how would that affect doing this? Just shorten the front edge 3 inches?
How much would this affect the cost of replacing the lower quarter panels?

these 2 pictures are old ones of my dart.
FB_IMG_1570141955345.jpg
spirit-of-76-dodge-dart-lite-2.jpg
this last pic is a rough photoshop of what I want to do.
1570141178929.png
 
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The outer wheelhouse is of course, a bit different. If you're good at fabricating a bit, I'm sure it could be done. As long as you like it.... (might be a tough sell one day)
 
I don't think it would look particularly good. BTW, if you take a Dart front fender and turn it around you get the profile of a Hemi Dart rear wheelwell...
 
I had wondered about the same thing but keeping the Sport bumper and tail lights.
 
Not really worried about resale value. A 76 dart isn't really a high value car to begin with. And this one has rust and stuff that needs repaired anyway. I can do some fabrication but not good at welding sheet metal so I would hire someone to do it.

What do you mean by hemi dart wheel well?

I want to convert it to a 71 front end and demon tail panel and rear bumper. I hate the huge 76 bumpers almost as much as as the mismatched wheel wells
 
The mismatched wheel wells never really bothered me. The pointy front end does though. Your photoshopped pic looks pretty cool. I like cars that are different. It gets old looking at all the restored cars at carlisle.
 
I hate the pointed nose too. That and the bumpers are why I want to convert it to a 71 front end. I like cars that are different but look like they could have came that way.
 
Your Photoshop has a Hurst 300 vibe, I kind of like it!

2-1512052940963@2x.jpg
 
The dart sports like mine are basically just a duster with a dart front clip. Because of that the front wheel wells are shaped differently than the rear wheel wells. Has anyone welded the lower half of a 2 door dart quarter panel into a sport? Pretty much whole quarter below the center body line. That would also change the lower body line to be straight like a dart. My 76 needs lower quarters replaced and I am considering doing that. Couple questions.
Has it been done?
Would the internal stuff like wheel wells, inner rockers, trunk sides match up or would those have to be changed to dart also?
Darts have a 111 inch wheelbase sports, dusters, demons have a 108 inch wheelbase how would that affect doing this? Just shorten the front edge 3 inches?
How much would this affect the cost of replacing the lower quarter panels?

these 2 pictures are old ones of my dart. View attachment 1715402869 View attachment 1715402870 this last pic is a rough photoshop of what I want to do.
View attachment 1715402871

That is an interesting concept, I do like it, having just done the full 1/4 panel on my 75 Dart Sport, I believe the outer wheelhouse is the same on all Darts and Dusters, the trunk floor drop off or extension is where the difference is in that area, however, unless you are very skilled in metalwork, or can afford to spend lots of $$ for someone else to do the fabrication, I foresee a lot of time and work in making the photo a reality, not looking to discourage you, but that is a lot of custom work to achieve the end result of the photo. I do think it would be a really cool car in the end though, and would really like to see someone build it, as I too find the 70 to 73 Dart rear end styling much cleaner and more attractive than the Dart Sport, yes I am biased as I owned a couple 70's.
 
The part that looks the most difficult to line up and look right would be the rear end of the lower body line that is what looks to be the most different and would take the most fabrication to line up.
 
View attachment 1715403078 Boring night so spent little bit photoshoping the pic of my actual car.
I think you might be opening a can of worms. Dart 1/4's, rear body panel and deck lid all different. The Dutchman panels are different as well as the aforementioned
rear wheel houses. But if you are a custom fabricator, go for it. The difference in wheel base between Dodge and Plymouth is in the main floor.
 
I would keep the sport (duster) decklid, tail panel and rear bumper. would just be changing the wheel well and lowest body line. Just using bellow the center body line of a dart quarter panel and sectioning it in. the front of the quarter panel and along the center line should match up fairly well after cutting 3 inches off the front for the wheelbase difference. the rear of the quarter at the lower line is what will take a little fabrication to line up. And might take fabrication or using dart pieces for either wheel well or trunk extensions.
 
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1570591630763.png

This is what I am talking about the purple part is dart. Everything else is dart sport (duster). By the door and along the top should be close. Notice the difference in the body line at rear of purple section that and the trunk extension are what might need to be modified. The lime green by the headlight is soap sitting on a log from when I washed the car couple of days ago
 
What do you mean Dutchman?

The section below the rear window is called the Dutchman panel.
What if you used only the wheelwell opening? I think trying to align or integrate the different body lines could prove a lot more difficult, still would really like to see it though.
 
If I used just the wheel well then the line going into it between the wheel well and door wouldn't line up because the dusters and sports have that line drop down. And between the wheel wells and doors the bottom couple of inches is what needs replaced on my car. That's why I figured go from the door back. At the rear of the quarter I am wondering if I could move the lowest line up till its even with the dart section and then make a filler panel below it. My trunk extensions are kinda bad were they meet the trunk floor so they will have to get fixed and modified as needed.
 
The dart sports like mine are basically just a duster with a dart front clip. Because of that the front wheel wells are shaped differently than the rear wheel wells. Has anyone welded the lower half of a 2 door dart quarter panel into a sport? Pretty much whole quarter below the center body line. That would also change the lower body line to be straight like a dart. My 76 needs lower quarters replaced and I am considering doing that. Couple questions.
Has it been done?
Would the internal stuff like wheel wells, inner rockers, trunk sides match up or would those have to be changed to dart also?
Darts have a 111 inch wheelbase sports, dusters, demons have a 108 inch wheelbase how would that affect doing this? Just shorten the front edge 3 inches?
How much would this affect the cost of replacing the lower quarter panels?

these 2 pictures are old ones of my dart. View attachment 1715402869 View attachment 1715402870 this last pic is a rough photoshop of what I want to do.
View attachment 1715402871
Interesting how the Swinger emblems, wheel openings, and tail stripe totally changes the look. I like it.
 
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To me, the lowered wheel opening of the Darts and Valiants is a crappy design than limits tire choices. Why would you intentionally limit yourself? The Duster/Demon/Dart Sport rear wheel opening is great...It allows the use of a standard 68-70 B body 8 3/4 axle, the most common one around. This wider rear track fills out the back of the car better and looks much better from every angle.
The guy that is fabricating the '72 style grill in his 2nd gen Barracuda posted several pictures of his work and while I think the style is not good, I applaud him for talking a stab at something different. I'll afford you the same consideration but ask yourself....Are you doing this just for the challenge ? Does this interest you just because nobody else has done it?
Also....The reference to the Hemi Dart: In 1968, the factory made a small run of approximately 50 race cars based on the Dart 2 door hardtop and to fit the B body axle, they had to reshape the rear wheel opening for tire clearance. Some say that the body men made templates from cardboard that they traced around the front wheel opening.
 
Not really interested in it for the challenge or because no one else has done it. More just a what if the designers at dodge had the time and budget to make a new quarter panel for the dart sports with correct wheel opening when they made the sports instead of just slapping a dart front clip on a duster and calling it good.
 
And as far as tires go yes more limited with the smaller wheel wells but it's do able with correct offset and other mods depending how wide a tire you want. when I was 8 or 9 years old my stepdad had a 68 dart with the b body rear axle mini tubs springs moved in under frame rails wheel well lips trimmed. I can't remember what size tires he had on it I just remember working on it and riding in it with him for a few months till mom traded that car for a minivan while he was at work one day and he obviously was extremely pissed when he got home
 
I know the thread is a few months old but I was just thinking about this sort of modification. I'd be super interested in seeing the reverse, actually: a duster, or even better, a valiant wheel opening transferred onto a swinger/scamp. As pointed out, this would seem to open up a lot of tire possibilities while giving the car a more modern look. SEMA seemed to be full of daring GM mods, but radical Mopar builds seem to be limited to B bodies. With the number of cars built, there's so many options for subtly modding A-bodies that would really make them stand out. Check out this chopped 1969 concept:

12-1550848289904@2x.jpg
 
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