It only took 37 years....

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peteyg

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Well, it's time to start the build thread for my '73 Swinger.

But first, a little back story....

I fell in love with Darts when I was 9 years old. My older cousin Holly got a Swinger for her 16th birthday, and I remember visiting the family in California and seeing that car for the first time. It was powder blue, and I thought it was the neatest car I'd ever seen. Over the years I became a car nut, and while I never did get a Dart, it would always pop into my head.

Throughout the years, I have owned a LOT of cars....way too many to list here, but some that stand out as my favorites:

My first car that was really all mine: 1977 VW Bug.
My first car that I bought myself: 1983 Toyota Pickup (I've owned 4, and I'm about to get my '03 Double-cab Taco back from the ex....I have missed that truck)
My first FUN car....believe it or not....1973 Volvo 164e - That car had a Fuel Injected straight 6 and was fast, handled great, and yes, it was safe. I got a first hand demonstration of just how safe when I plowed it into the back of a 3/4 Ton Chevy pickup doing about 35...nobody in the car was wearing seatbelts...everyone walked away.

My First FAST car: 1979 Trans Am 6.6...'nuf said. I loved that car, and miss it to this day.

My first infatuation: 1973 Gran Torino Wagon....I have been looking for another one for about 10 years....surprisingly hard to find.

My first vehicle that was STRICTLY a toy: 1986 Jeep CJ-7, built for wheeling

The first vehicle that I can say I built myself: 2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ Rock Crawler...I have LOTS and LOTS of stories to tell about this Jeep, and I'll post some pics of it later....sadly, it went to it's new home last week...

Other vehicles I've had that are worth mentioning:

'72 Ford E100 Van with a 302 and a 3-on-the-tree.
'90 Ford Mustang LX 5.0
'78 Ford Bronco on 37's
'84 Ford Bronco II on 32's
'90 Ford Bronco on 35's
'78 Lincoln Mark V

(yes, I was a Ford guy for a long time....don't shoot me):toothy2:

I currently own a 2001 Suburban LT 1500 with 206K miles still going strong (and which I've owned since it was brand new), a 1995 Lincoln Continental (got it from my mom when she couldn't drive anymore...scary fast car for a FWD),

And now....my beautiful (to me) 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger!

All that time, and all those cars, that Swinger of my cousin's was never far from my mind.

Already, I know I'm going to have a love affair with this car. I haven't even picked it up yet, but already I've started gathering parts. The very first thing I got for it was new plates! All my fun cars have had personalized plates, and this is no exception. I thought it was perfect for my new car, and I truly can't believe I got it, especially here in CA where most good plate combos are gone:

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Next up, new tires and wheels are already ordered: American Racing Torque thrusts in a 15x7 flavor and 245/60R15 BFG Radial TA's for the rear and 225/60R15 for the front. Also on its way is a MagnaFlow Tru-X x-pipe kit with some nice stainless 14" Magnaflow mufflers. These will be nice with the (brand unknown) 318 headers that came with the car (uninstalled...yes, I know, it will be a ***** getting them on the car...nothing I can't handle)

I'm going junkyarding on Saturday to find some stuff for the interior, and an AC setup. A couple weeks ago I saw a 4-door Valiant almost untouched in the pick-a-part with a 318 and all the AC. Hopefully it's still there.

That's all I have for now...more updates to come when I get my car....58 hours and counting.....
 
congrats on the new addition! 73 swinger can be a nice driving machine.
I am assuming it has the factory disc brake setup. Probably not much rust work to do if it is a Calif. car. Keep us posted.
 
congrats on the new addition! 73 swinger can be a nice driving machine.
I am assuming it has the factory disc brake setup. Probably not much rust work to do if it is a Calif. car. Keep us posted.

Disk brakes, power steering, used to be an AC car but some distant DSPO took all that off.

ZERO (read: zip, nada, nil, nothing) rust. I know I'm spoiled living out here :glasses1:
 
It's about time you got yourself a good car, lol. Got any pictures of it?

No pics yet (just a couple of crappy craigslist pics...posted in the Welcome Wagon). Believe me, I'll have pics starting from picking it up and putting it on the trailer all the way to driving it to my first meet. 49 hours and counting...

Here's some Jeep **** for you....this was my bitchin' rock crawler that I built on for almost 11 years:
 

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I got it!!!!

I picked it up yesterday morning and then we drug it over to my buddy's shop. But before I could work on the Dart, I had to fix my Lincoln that my daughter thoughfully wrecked for me while getting her 2nd DUI. That's a whole other story, but before I get into the dart....what's wrong with this picture:
 

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ok, so I fixed the Lincoln, and then it was time to dig into the Dart. The first thing we noticed, other than the HORRIBLE miss, was the rediculously loud exhaust. They PO had put on some ricer can muffler that was really just a straight pipe through a can. We replaced it with a 40-series Flowmaster we had laying around and it was an instant improvement, although it still had a bad miss, obviously not firing on all cylinders.

Once I got it home, we decided to pop the hood and look for anything obvious. Immediately my friend sees a boken rubber cap on a large vacuum port. At about the same time, I notice that the 1 and 3 spark plug wires are laying on the exhaust manifold. hmmmm....

So we fixed the vacuum leak and pulled the wires off the manifold, and what do you know...firing on all 8 and running nicely. There's still the issue of the vaccum advance line running to straigh manifold vacuum. Somebody did a VERY bad smog delete on this thing. I think I'm going to fix that and get it back to stock, and then go through it and do the job right....

More to come.
 

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I got it!!!!

I picked it up yesterday morning and then we drug it over to my buddy's shop. But before I could work on the Dart, I had to fix my Lincoln that my daughter thoughfully wrecked for me while getting her 2nd DUI. That's a whole other story, but before I get into the dart....what's wrong with this picture:


Me first :iconbigg:
 

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Cool find and a cool story !

Did this car have its original blue & yellow plates on it when you got it ? If so , please keep 'em .

Whereabouts in Corona are you ? I live down the 15 in Murrieta ; I have all of the a/c parts that I removed from my '72 Coronet ( compressor , receiver-drier , condenser )
a year and a half ago . I'll trade what I have to you for those stock 14x5.5" steel wheels or other parts that will fit my Coronet . PM me if you're interested .
 
Me first :iconbigg:

Close.....:grin:

She hit a parked trailer doing about 35 - 40 mph. Took out the lower control arm, sway bar link, steering link, and broke the axle. Also wasted the lower ball joint, and popped the tire and broke the wheel.

Fun stuff.
 
Cool find and a cool story !

Did this car have its original blue & yellow plates on it when you got it ? If so , please keep 'em .

Whereabouts in Corona are you ? I live down the 15 in Murrieta ; I have all of the a/c parts that I removed from my '72 Coronet ( compressor , receiver-drier , condenser )
a year and a half ago . I'll trade what I have to you for those stock 14x5.5" steel wheels or other parts that will fit my Coronet . PM me if you're interested .

Deal, but I have to tell you, the tires are good for rollers only. The car sat in the desert for a long time, and the tires have dry rot.
 
Great story ...........Nice car too!.........Its taken me along time for my Dart as well.Good things to those who waits...........Right. cant wait to get it done................All the best..Mainly ENJOY
 
Ok, so a slight hiccup....was playing around with it last night, and found gas in the oil, and at least the #2 and #4 plugs are wet with gas. I don't think its fatal (and yes, I know to be careful of spun bearings), but it does need to be addressed, immediately.

The things that come to mind first are a bad float base gasket, bad fuel pump diaphragm, and possibly even weak spark.

Stay tuned...
 
Ok, so a slight hiccup....was playing around with it last night, and found gas in the oil, and at least the #2 and #4 plugs are wet with gas. I don't think its fatal (and yes, I know to be careful of spun bearings), but it does need to be addressed, immediately.

The things that come to mind first are a bad float base gasket, bad fuel pump diaphragm, and possibly even weak spark.

Stay tuned...

Sounds like you should start with a carb rebuild, and change the oil!
 
My first infatuation: 1973 Gran Torino Wagon....I have been looking for another one for about 10 years....surprisingly hard to find.

This is the car that I came home from the hospital in. '73 Gran Torino Squire Wagon, 429 cid, woodgrain and all. Mom was in an accident in it in '79 where an 18 wheeler cut her off, sent the car up a snow bank (I'm a Midwestern boy) and back down into the semi and back all the way over the snow bank. Aside from a bruise from the seat belt, she was fine. I have a pic of me sitting on the wrecked fender of the car in the tow lot. I was 2. :grin:

One of the cars I wish we still had was the '79 Fairmont wagon with the 5.0L. That car would be fun to build into a sleeper with Fox body suspension and a T5. We were a Ford family for generations with several of my relatives working for Ford in MI. But this thread is supposed to be about Darts, not FoMoCo's, right?
Welcome! :burnout:
 
"...We were a Ford family for generations with several of my relatives working for Ford in MI. But this thread is supposed to be about Darts, not FoMoCo's, right?"

If not for the Dodge brothers , Ford wouldn't have done as well :grin: .
 
Some progress. Its hard to get stuff done during the week because of work and all, but I still managed to get a couple things done. First up, registration.The car hasn't been registered since '96, and as I thought, it has dropped out of the system. However, the car has changed hands a couple times sine the last time it was reg'd and the guy I bought it from did not have a bill of sale from the guy HE bought it from, so there is a break in the chain of ownership. Not insurmountable, but I do have to jump through some extra hoops now. But I was able to get a 30 day permit for it, and they will issue me tags while I'm sorting out the paperwork mess. A friend recommended to me before I started that I get a AAA membership, and it was worth it. I never would have gotten this far with a dmv flunkie...

Anyway, now that that ball is rolling, I got some bling for the car!

Chrome American Racing Torque Thrust D's. I'm lovin it!
 

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ok, so it's been a while. I have basically been in the parts gathering stage of the project.

I have found almost all of the interior parts, and am getting ready to do ball joints and bushings. Once I start taking stuff apart I'll post more pics. But there's other news...

Along the way I sold my Suburban, and then this happened....Really, honest...I don't know where it came from...it just appeared. (and what is that hiding under the hood? A Power Pack 383? ....I LOVE Wagons....) :toothy10::snakeman:
 

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Sounds like you are a truly sick individual ! Owned and loved a heck of a lot of cars/ trucks. Welcome to a-body world. your 73 looks like a nice solid project. Good luck Brother. P.S Hope your wife is as enthusiastic as you. Been there . Done that. Still bear the scars. Blaaaaa ha ha.
 
Sounds like you are a truly sick individual ! Owned and loved a heck of a lot of cars/ trucks. Welcome to a-body world. your 73 looks like a nice solid project. Good luck Brother. P.S Hope your wife is as enthusiastic as you. Been there . Done that. Still bear the scars. Blaaaaa ha ha.

Wife is NOT as enthusiastic....hence one of the reasons why she is now the EX-wife.
 
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