'75 Swinger, The Dartness!

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.) :D