'75 Swinger, The Dartness!

Hi all, I just thought I'd post a few pictures of my car and the work I've done to it. When I got it it looked more or less like it does now, but it was (barely) running on 5 cylinders. So I took it down, rebuilt it (In a parking lot, without an engine stand, on the ground.) And put it in with a new Torque converter. It still needs a carb rebuild, (I have to put the idle air screw all the way in for it to run, I've been told it shouldn't run at all in this situation.) Nonetheless, I'm driving it now, and I got some pictures.









I'm really happy with how the hubcaps came out. I wanted the dog dish hubcap look, but I was only able to acquire three of the requisite caps. So I masked the centers of the regular caps, sandblasted, sanded, and painted the outer rim black. I honestly think it looks far better than even the poverty caps would.

I'm going to black the bumpers too, I'm going to try and fabricate nice looking police-style push bars, and install driving lights a lot like this hang-10 dart's. Meanwhile, there's also body work to do. Good bit of bondo and painted-over-rust in those rockers and fenders. I'll probably have it resprayed Sunburst Orange Perl once I'm done with it.

The slant probably won't stay in it forever. I'm specing parts to build a 400-425 horse 5.9 magnum. Looking also to put the late model overdrive tranny and rear end out of a Dakota or Durango under it. I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.

Great looking car:thumleft:

tight

Nice! A push bar has been crossing my mind for several years now on my '72; although I have never put it on.

i like it.

Interesting I'm considering doing my 74 Scamp somewhat like your dart.It appears to have a vinyl top but can't really tell does not look like it's under the rear window or is it just painted.What hubcaps did you use?

dodge71demon said:

Interesting I'm considering doing my 74 Scamp somewhat like your dart.It appears to have a vinyl top but can't really tell does not look like it's under the rear window or is it just painted.What hubcaps did you use?

Click to expand...

Yea, it does have a vinyl top.

The caps I used were these: (though less dirty)

Great job..don't listen to the naysayers that you cannot do this or that..

You could you the chrome paint that keeps the shiny but you can have it any colour you want...trying to convince the kids

ian.

Great looking ride, one of the years you don't see all that often.

Well, Alright. I rebuilt the carb, and the dartness' been running great, gets 20mpg with what I'm certain is still a hurt transmission. Starts, runs, drives, happy.

Then, out of nowhere, on the way to work, it decided to eat either the #3 or #4 Rod bearing. :angry3: Limped it home, huffed and puffed for a bit, all angry-like, and then calmed down again. I KNEW I should've put bearings in it while I had it apart!!!!

And so it looks like my 318 build is going to be bumped up in its schedule :thumblef: Found a 318/727 combo out of a 67 belvedere and k-member out of a valiant on craigslist. Auto part store should have most everything else I'll need. only thing I'm not sure about is getting nickel and dimed to death on this... :|

Really want to avoid that.

Okay, went ahead and got my motor!! and it's quite a haul. Complete 318, carb to pan, long case 727 with torque converter. All for $300.





The motor only had 41,000 miles on it too, so I think its rings, bearings, carb rebuild, assembly and paint before it's all ready to go in.

I'm pulling the slant soon as well, and I'll give everything a very thorough cleaning, maybe even paint the engine bay. I expect it'll be much more pleasant installing this motor with everything in the engine bay clean. :glasses8:

Very good looking ride you have there.

Great project you have there!
Keep the pics coming!

Well, okay, took the motor apart, and discovered a few things I really should have known already... first, the motor is a forged crank motor, second it has floating pins with the lightweight rods. The heads are the small valve 920 heads, I think I'm going to pocket port and gasket match them and call it a day. I've already started cleaning and prepping parts to put together.

Some pics:


Before cleaning and paint, and after.


Aluminum paint makes even stock stuff look cool.


I can assure you, when I got that it was rusty, full of rats nests and acorns, and caked in over an inch in some places of dirt/roadgrime/oil nastiness

For now I'm just going to be pulling the slant, and cleaning up parts. Money is the current sticking point.

Funny thing: I've called my local exhaust shops, and it seems that to get an exhaust done from scratch on this engine, from manifolds to dumps at the tires, would actually be more expensive than a set of hedman headers and a pair of purple hornies. Three guesses on which one I'm going for.

Also, anyone know where I can get a good deal on a rebuild kit for the old 2bbl stromberg carb? My local parts places don't carry 'em.

Been quite a while since I last posted any progress, but rest assured, progress has been made.

Took the block to the machine shop to check everything, found the crank needed to be turned and the block had to be bored. I was keen to get the engine done so I had them order a crank kit, bore the block, Hot tank everything, put in the freeze plugs, and whatnot.

I ordered the master rebuild kit, sans the main and rod bearings (which came with the crank kit.) Upgraded it to a fancy double roller timing set (on the advice of a friend.)

After a bit of waiting, during which I pulled the slant, sanded and primed the engine compartment, bought my paint, and made a few cosmetic changes, My kit was here and my machine work was done.

I also made a trip to the junkyard and got quite a haul off an old dodge truck. 360 smog heads, 4bbl intake, electronic ignition distributor, module and wiring harness, alternator, starter, power steering pump, gauges, a bunch of brackets, and a bunch of extra bolts. The distributor, module, starter and alternator looked like new or remanufactured units, and the motor itself was a low-mile machine.

So now I have a fully assembled and primed short block, I'm finishing up the heads now with a gasket match and a pocket port before I assemble them. I still need to swap the k-member and paint under the hood, but I expect to get on that tonight once it's too late to be using power tools.

The big 360 heads are at the machine shop getting cleaned up. Those are going to be given the whole treatment, port, polish, valve job. I'm still debating on whether to get big valves or not. Most people I've talked to say it's not worth it on a small bore motor like a 318, maybe good for a tenth or two in the 1/4, and definitely not worth it in a daily driver. I also have to decide whether or not to cut the head, Since 87 octane sounds mighty friendly these days, and I'm not entirely opposed to force-feeding this beast someday later on.

I'll probably also hog out the intake to match the 360 gasket, mostly so I don't have to do it when I put my big heads on it.

I still need to get the driveshaft done , but I won't be able to do that until I get the motor in the car, and I won't be able to start and break in the motor in the car until I get the driveshaft done. SO It's back to the junkyard to go hunting for a 727 with a 30-spline output shaft. I'll also be eyeing the 1" solid sway bar I saw under that truck. ,
Though for now I need to cool off, this 90-100 degree weather is killer working outside in the middle of a parking lot.

Well, Now I finally have something to show for all my time. After having given up on getting a chance to paint under the hood of my car, I GOT THE CHANCE TO PAINT UNDER THE HOOD OF MY CAR!!!! HOOOORAY!!!!

*ahem*

Also, having used up almost all of my paint, except for perhaps most of a cup I said to myself, "Y'know, I'd originally planned to paint the motor body color, and I have just enough paint to paint the motor body color, so y'know what? I'm going to paint the motor body color."

And so I did. And here's the pics to go with it.









I decided on a different orange than originally, and I'm glad I did. It's Tangerine/Go-Mango Perl (It's cross referenced under both names) It's actually alot redder in person. There's also a couple of spots you can't see where I couldn't get to, and a big run where I tried to fix where a big moth got stuck in it. But hey, it's under the hood of a daily driver, who cares?.

The valve covers are crinkle black, and all the brackets and other things are going to be black. Intake's been switched for the 4bbl intake I pulled from the junkyard truck (painted cast coat aluminum) I'm going to be getting a cheapie chrome air cleaner and hit it with the crinkle black too. I'm not a fan of chrome, and there will be very little of it on this car.

Speaking of chrome, I masked alot of things under the hood with aluminum foil, and the overspray turns the aluminum the sickest red-gold I've ever seen. I must experiment with this.

one last note, I took off the masking tape from the turn signals like that you see in the picture, but I think I like it like that, and if I still like it when I light up the marker lights, I'm remasking and painting it like that. And yes, the license plate it STAYING!!

been a very, very long time since I've posted any progress, and indeed I've been busy as all get out. For the short list:

Motor & tranny're in,
Front end is assembled,
Headers are installed,
Intake and carb are installed,
Igniton is put together.
Motor is running,
Driveshaft is connected,

The long list:
This stage in assembling the car has been infuriating every step of the way. For starters, I had no idea motor mounts were so incredibly difficult to find. I had been told by a local mopar guy that the belvedere mounts that came with my motor would work. well... not so much. So, I was stuck waiting and looking for mounts. Next, I talked to another mopar guy, who had some '74 spool mounts which he insisted would work. I pointed out repeatedly that I had biscuits, but he said the spool mounts have provisions in them to still be used with an earlier k-member. So, I went ahead and gave them a shot, after all I got the three-groove pulley I needed along with it. Well, go figure, they don't work. Finally, fed up with taking advice from everybody else, I put a want ad on craigslist. I sorted through about four people trying to sell me the wrong mounts before I finally found a set out of a 67 barracuda. Mounts on, bolted right in, and I had a breif moment of happiness.

It's also worth mentioning I think, that it is impossible to install a-body headers without the right motor mounts in place. It just doesn't work. While I was fighting with these mounts, I was also fighting with a set of hedman hedders, which fit nicely with the exception of a tiny bit of suspension interference now that I've got the right mounts.

My friend was nice enough to put a carb kit in a holley 600 and let me use it, so I bolted it on the 360 4 bbl intake, and topped the motor with it. I installed the Truck's distributor and ignition module, put on the starter and got crankin'

Unfortunately, I had stored the battery on a cardboard box, which collapssed, and although it's a sealed battery, it still leaked out a bunch of electrolyte, so new battery time.

Now, finally, new battery, everything hooked up, and time to get it started right? Wrong. Fuel pump refuses to pump any fuel, not from the fuel tank, and not even if I run a hose right to a gas can on the ground right below the car. I then went and got an electric pump, hooked it up, and then I had fuel. But something else was wrong, I had fuel, I had desire, but I lacked fire. I tried resetting the reluctor, no dice. I switched the module back to the old 6 cylinder unit, still no spark. I swapped the coil, still no go. Finally I got fed up with it and pulled out the old points distributor that came with my motor. Sanded and set the points, and SPARK!!! hooray! Then I spent the next while getting my hair set on fire by backfires as I tried to get the timing set right.

That brings you up approximately where I am now, I got the timing set, and the Motor running. I still need to reinstall the radiator, pulleys, a couple of linkages, dent a tube on the headers, fill up the tranny, break in the motor, and Most importantly, put a couple of mufflers on it, (It's a smidge louder than I expected.)

Love the color,keep us posted,gadget.

here's some pics of the engine compartment, though I had to use my phone camera, which isn't the best thing ever.



I'll get better pics once I get back to work on it.

Really taking shape, very nice progress.

Love it !! Very Impressive. I have been in your shoes on your build....your doing great!

:happy1:

subscribed.

Looks good,keep poundin away.

IT'S ALIVE!!! MUAHAHAHAHAAHHAAAA!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAseb-JEaGE"]Meet: The Dartness - YouTube[/ame]

*ahem*

As I was saying, there's been quite a bit of hooking things up and installing things going on. it is now broken in, and ready to drive with the exception of the tranny. My symptom is that it refuses to change gear in any kind of timely manner, and will very often refuse to shift at all. the linkage and whatnot works, but when taken out of park and put into reverse, it takes a good 10-15 seconds of revving to get it to actually switch into reverse. likewise into drive, and back into park. Talked to a local trans guy, and he said that all I can really do short of pulling the valve body and replacing all the seals is get a bottle of trans-x, and shift it through the gears until it starts shifting properly. (Yes, there is plenty of fluid in the trans.)

anywho, you might notice that viscous fan and the ginormous radiator, and how those are not original to that car. you would be correct. They came out of a 1990 ram van at the local junkyard, and I think it's worth pointing out that it is not possible to put a larger radiator in that car without cutting things. In fact, I had to cut the radiator support, and a corner of the radiator bracket to get that one to fit. But, I do not expect to ever overheat that engine, ever. Not even sitting in traffic at black rock city when it's 115 out.

Anyway, I expect to be taking this thing out tomorrow if I can get the tranny to cooperate, and if I can't, that van I pulled the radiator out of had a mighty nice looking overdive automatic under it,

Well, the dartness is finally driving on the road!! And it's about dammned time!!!

The transmission, as it turns out, was complete and utter ****. I ended up just finding a guy on craigslist who was parting out a church van, and I got a new (to me) transmission, and I ended up pulling a straight 24-hour shift getting it in and in place.

I also took and fixed a bunch of other little gremlins, and Once I got the pan to stop leaking, it's been going like a champ. I've put a few hundred miles on it, and it's probably about time to do my first oil change on the broken in motor.

It's still got some work to be done, though. I've gotta fiddle with the speedo gear, get that set right, gotta adjust the shift linkage, gotta straighten the steering wheel. Gotta get an alignment, But that's all par for the course.

Important thing is, it's done.

The next things to do are body work and rust repair. There's a spring shackle that needs to be welded up. There's rust in the rockers, subframe and fenders I need to fix. And I need to sand, block, and repaint the whole car, because whoever did it before was a ponce.

But like I said, the important thing is, It's done. ;)

NOW! ONTO THE FUTURE!!!!

Speaking of which, I love to rattle off all the vehicles this dart has parts off of. People give me these wierd looks.

The car is a '75 dodge dart,
Front fender and door off a '74 dodge dart
The engine's out of a '67 Belvedere
The trans is out of a '86 Dodge Church Van
The driveshaft yolk is out of a '76 dodge truck,
The intake is off a '78 dodge truck,
as well as the power steering pump and bracket,
The k-member is out of a '72 plymouth valiant,
The motor mounts are out of a '67 plymouth barracuda,
The Crank pulley is out of a '73 dodge dart,
The Water pump pulley, viscous fan, and radiator are all out of a '90 Dodge church van,
and just about everything else is aftermarket or factory replacement. ;)