Restoring a 1974 Dart Swinger.

74DartSwinger360 · Jun 5, 2012

This is my 1974 Dart Swinger that my father and I are restoring for me. It is mostly restored just odds and ends need to be finished plus the engine and tranny need a rebuild. It currently has a 360 backed by a 727. The rearend is an 8 3/4 with 3.23's and suregrip but will soon have 3.55's. The only rust in the car now is the trunk. I am currently removing the fuel line and brake line with stainless. The fuel line will be changed to 5/16 or 3/8. Once the trunk is finished I will be running the exhaust from the TTI headers with a jegs 2.5 inch exhaust kit with either Walker Dynomax Supper Turbos or the supplied muffler topped of by stainless b body tips. I will be cutting a hole in the dash for a Pioneer unit. I have already installed Pioneer 6x9's in the package tray. I am ordering some kick panels with pioneers molded in and purchasing a mount so I can mount 2 3.5 inch pioneers in the dash. I will be mounting two 8 or 10 inch subs right behind the rear seat. The front end will be rebuilt using many parts from firm feel such as reinforcement plates, sway bars, steering box and linkage. It will soon have the factory buckets in it. I will also be installing a Go Wing and a Dual Snorkel Scoop.

I am eventually wanting to get a rocky mountain style dash, Full TTI exhaust out the back, and maybe a 4 speed.

What size should the vapor line be?

74DartSwinger360 · Jun 5, 2012

Here is all the rust we will have to repair.

Sully1190 · Jun 5, 2012

Good luck man! At least most all's just in the trunk. Maybe it won't be too bad.

74DartSwinger360 · Jun 5, 2012

Sully1190 said:
Good luck man! At least most all's just in the trunk. Maybe it won't be too bad.

Already got most of the patch panels cut from a dart 4 door I had Just got to get it back from the junk yard to cut more out of it.

ike61 · Jun 5, 2012

looks to be a very good start. like the color and stance

74DartSwinger360 · Jun 5, 2012

Thanks the front will be a little lower but since I got most of the engine apart it took out alot of weight.

74DartSwinger360 · Feb 7, 2013

Havent updated in awhile so time for an update
After a wet sanding on 10/1/12 to get rid of the overspray and some light sctratches from being used as a shelf

74DartSwinger360 · Apr 14, 2013

Got the K frame, steering box, and steering linkage all painted with some gloss black engine paint.
But now gonna take it all out and use a factory V8 K frame instead of the Shumacher mounts

74DartSwinger360 · Apr 14, 2013

Put my Silver Grille in for the first time after getting it at Mopars with Big Daddy 2 yrs ago.
Looks much better than the all black grille that was in there
I have since hand buffed and polish it and a couple coats of wax to finish it off and just waitin for a nice sunny day to grab some pics of it.

Also finishing up installing my engine wire harness and reinstalling all the other things in the engine compartment.

And just need to find a better lookin bumper and 1973 Dart bumper brackets to tuck it in to the body

Also need to find a passenger side mirror to put on as i dont like the look of sport mirrors on these they only look good on Dusters
Hope to get some new pics soon:burnout:

65dartcharger · Apr 14, 2013

Great work on your car. Love the color too!

:burnout:

txstang84 · Apr 14, 2013

Lookin' sharp-I'd be happy to drive that!

74DartSwinger360 · Apr 15, 2013

65dartcharger said:
Great work on your car. Love the color too!

:burnout:

Thanks It has grown on me didnt really like it at first but think its awesome now. Plus aint seen another car with it.

txstang84 said:
Lookin' sharp-I'd be happy to drive that!

Thanks cant wait to drive it been 5 yrs now that it hasnt run

1975Scamp · Apr 15, 2013

Great Lookin' Project!

txstang84 · Apr 15, 2013

Thanks cant wait to drive it been 5 yrs now that it hasn't run

Sadly enough I'll be able to say 4 years after I get back from Hawaii...hopefully my Dad will crank mine up and drive it every couple weeks.

Saetun · Apr 16, 2013

74DartSwinger360 said:
Also need to find a passenger side mirror to put on as i dont like the look of sport mirrors on these they only look good on Dusters

THIS!!!! I literally just had this conversation with another member just a few days ago.

The car is lookin good!

Evildart · Apr 16, 2013

Looks great. Car is coming along nice.

74DartSwinger360 · Sep 2, 2013

Well got bored over the summer so decided to polish it all again and this time using a buffer not just my hand.

And wow the paint looks a hundred times better now. Cleared up a lot of the haziness. and the parts of the hood I thought the primer was showing through disappeared and now look great.

I did a round of buffing with Meguiar's "Ultimate Compound" removed a lot of the crappy in the paint that I didn't get by hand polishing.
After takin my time (about and hr) I finally had completely buffed the car and it looked better than before even when it had the 2 coats of wax.

Next step I polished the whole thing with Meguiar's "Ultimate Polish" and was amazed at how much the color popped now and how smooth it was.

For the Third Round of polishing I put 1 coat of "Liquid Glass" on her and the paint was so smooth and shiny. could toss a rag across the hood and trunk and it would just slide right across where as before it would stop immediately.
I then even though didn't need to after putting on the "Liquid Glass" followed it all up with 2 coats of Meguiar's "NXT Tech Wax 2.0"
Here are some pictures:

74DartSwinger360 · Sep 2, 2013

Here are some other pics with and without my Go Wing Layin on the deck lid.
Not sure if I like it with the Go Wing though... What do you guys think?

74DartSwinger360 · Sep 2, 2013

Plans are to finish the prep work on my other hood and spray it with bed liner and install the Dual Snorkel scoop I picked up for it.
Get My tires taken off remounted on my CMX wheels
And finish up the install of my radio system. I am usin this bad boy: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1378162805&sr=1-1&keywords=lepai+mini+amp"]Amazon.com: LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply: Electronics[/ame]

I am gonna be runnin 6x9 Pioneers in the package tray and 3 1/2 or 4 inchers up front in stock location with my adapter bracket

Dartn440 · Sep 2, 2013

Nice job. Diggin the color! You asked about the wing? I think it looks better without. That front end doesn't scream stick a fin on me. I put a hood scoop on mine instead of a wing. Love the wheels.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=238858

Princess Valiant · Sep 2, 2013

wow this is a sweet looking ride ....im very impressed with the progress and result. :shock:

great job. :thumblef:

this is proof that the later darts can be totally sweet, like I been telling people. makes me want to find a 75 again. :thumblef::thumblef:

see ya in chat sometime :hello2:

74DartSwinger360 · Sep 3, 2013

Dartn440 said:
Nice job. Diggin the color! You asked about the wing? I think it looks better without. That front end doesn't scream stick a fin on me. I put a hood scoop on mine instead of a wing. Love the wheels.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=238858

LOL it sure don't.
I do like it much better without cause I think it kinda looks too crowded with my CB Antenna and looks cleaner.
Cant wait to get my other hood with dual snorkel on her.
Just need to find a place to hang the green hood first so it don't get damaged and can always switch back to no scoop.

That's a clean 74 you have. Cant wait to see that bad boy out of paint. Sounds like a killer color combo.

RaniDart70 said:
wow this is a sweet looking ride ....im very impressed with the progress and result. :shock:

great job. :thumblef:

this is proof that the later darts can be totally sweet, like I been telling people. makes me want to find a 75 again. :thumblef::thumblef:

see ya in chat sometime :hello2:

Thanks Rani
I actually prefer the 73 up A bodies over the 72 down A bodies.
^(You can tell by my sig that 4 of 5 Mopars we have are 73-74 A Bodies

)

txstang84 · Sep 3, 2013

That looks pretty good! I gotta agree though, that it looks better without the wing.

Princess Valiant · Sep 3, 2013

txstang84 said:
That looks pretty good! I gotta agree though, that it looks better without the wing.

Xs2 ...wings seem to be more of a "29" body style thing

74DartSwinger360 · Sep 3, 2013

txstang84 said:
That looks pretty good! I gotta agree though, that it looks better without the wing.

Thanks Yea I definitely like it better. Just need to sell the Go Wing.

RaniDart70 said:
Xs2 ...wings seem to be more of a "29" body style thing

They look way worse on them.

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