1965 Dodge Dart Charger convertible

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Ulf, can you post or send a close up of the Mopar Collector’s Guide article? Does it provide any additional info on Joe Sousa (like job?) I live in the area, and might be able to help track him down. Relatively small town, but Sousa is a common name around here—it’ll probably just take asking the right people.
Thank you! That would be great, I can get a better shot on the article tomorrow. I might have his phone number too. I post it tomorrow. Thanks again!
 
After glass beading bolts and nuts it feels closer to the last assembly. Tonight I was able to do the blackout behind the grille.
Love progress!

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Yesterday I hocked up all the air condition stuff under the dash. I even glass beaded the springs holding the fuses so they will contact better. When I started to adjust the a/c cable I found out that I only have two of four spring washers holding the wires in place. (Actually I don't know the name but I hope you can tell by the picture) I need two of those so I can finish the wire and mount the glove box.

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Lots of progress was made today. Left side lower and upper control arm mounted. Front shocks monted as well as the steering column. Left side torsion bar mounted and adjusted. All the heater hoses are in place with factory style corbin clamps including the upper radiator hose. I need to get a factory style battery for it.
Found one wire with no address. It might be to the a/c but I connected two of the prongs together earlier. I might hook it up there. That's the only place I can think of.
I really like how the carpet meets the firewall insulationtoo. No yellow paint from the floor.
Tomorrow the a/c outlet will be added and then restore the left air door. Of cause some one before have opened the door so the hinges broke.
I could have supported the ealier owners since 1965 with WD40! That would have help the door hinges!!

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This electrical check vent ok .
BUT, when I swich the key to ignition the wipers come on. If I ground the outcome prong on the turn signal relay the turn signal works!
I have switched the windshield wiper switch, wiper motor, ignition switch and turn signal relay but nothing helps.

So after 4 hours of reading the blue print for the under dash wiring I decided to ask FABO. Has anyone had this trouble before. I'm suspecting the turn signal switch but not sure!

Any help is very much appriciated.
 
Frond end bolts and nuts tightened, front alignment adjusted, cotter pins mounted, shocks tightened, all vacuum lines hooked up. I even found an nice factory Bendix check valve to mount between rhe brake booster and the intake manifold. As a spare I have an NOS one too!
Next will be to tighten the carb and check all fuel lines and we are ready to take her for a spin!! Can hardly wait!

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When you assemble a car with NOS stuff you get a result like this. Actually the pipe over th rear end is from Accurate it works great.

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This electrical check vent ok .
BUT, when I swich the key to ignition the wipers come on. If I ground the outcome prong on the turn signal relay the turn signal works!
I have switched the windshield wiper switch, wiper motor, ignition switch and turn signal relay but nothing helps.

So after 4 hours of reading the blue print for the under dash wiring I decided to ask FABO. Has anyone had this trouble before. I'm suspecting the turn signal switch but not sure!

Any help is very much appriciated.

I ended up posting my thoughts about you electrical issue in our thread - Meeting in Rovanemi. Guess you missed it.
 
Yesterday I was able to take the convertible for a 10 mile trip. Can wait until next summer. But I was able to get a picture of the two of them.

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That's great Ulf! R eff minds ne of my 64 Valiant convertible. Got it running 3 years ago this month. Just in time for winter.
 
We had a Corona free cruise last night in town. 700 cars drove around for 6 hours. The big thing was that all folks stayed in the car so nothing was spread and it worked!
We had a great time. And for the first time in probably 50 years there were two factory Dart Charger 273s on the same cruise. We had a blast! Me and my wife took the convertible and our buddy Johan took the latest hardtop.

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When you assemble a car with NOS stuff you get a result like this. Actually the pipe over th rear end is from Accurate it works great.

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I wonder why Chrysler placed the resonator notch in the rear valance of 273-4 Bbl Darts and Barracudas. The exhaust doesn't fit tightly into the notch. Maybe it was a miscalculation on the part of the designers and the exhaust extension was originally supposed to fit up into the notch?
 
I wonder why Chrysler placed the resonator notch in the rear valance of 273-4 Bbl Darts and Barracudas. The exhaust doesn't fit tightly into the notch. Maybe it was a miscalculation on the part of the designers and the exhaust extension was originally supposed to fit up into the notch?
Jim! I totally agree with you. But after hours of searching and thinking, the only thing I can come up with is that they used power tools.
They hanged the complete system and then started to tighten the bolts from the back and moved forward. Before that they mounted the rear rubber bracket and the rear steel bracket above the rear end.
The notch needed to be so much open to accomondate a power tool to bolt the resonator to the rubber bracket.
That is the only thing I can come up with.

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Jim! I totally agree with you. But after hours of searching and thinking, the only thing I can come up with is that they used power tools.
They hanged the complete system and then started to tighten the bolts from the back and moved forward. Before that they mounted the rear rubber bracket and the rear steel bracket above the rear end.
The notch needed to be so much open to accomondate a power tool to bolt the resonator to the rubber bracket.
That is the only thing I can come up with.

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You may be right, Ulf but the hanger is the same on the '66 models without the notch and there is a bumper in the way, although the exhaust may have been attached before the bumper. I prefer to think there was a miscommunication between the engineering and design teams. It would have looked much better tucked up into the notch in the rear valance.
When I had my 1st '65 Dart back in 1966 people would ask me why my exhaust tip hung too low. I asked the dealership and they told me that's the way they all came and it was supposed to hang down like that. I just accepted it but didn't think it looked right then and it still doesn't to me, especially when you look at how nicely the Mustang GT exhaust trumpets of the same era fit through their rear valance.

I guess we'll never know... :)
 
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