After owning several full-size Mopars, I wanted something a little smaller. A Bodies have always been intriguing so I began my search. Found a Dart Sport that looked like someone had started restomodding - the most obvious thing was the front end - it's from a 75 Duster! Aside from the Jeep ZJ door handles, a black gas cap and other 'improvements,' it looked solid - a prerequisite living in the rust belt - and it already had a V8 swap and some other mods. So, paid the money and it began it's trek from West to East.
1974 Dart Sport
- Thread starter QMopar
- Start date
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We checked over the mechanicals and it looks decent. 340 exhaust manifolds, supposedly a 318 with 340 internals and 360 heads & a 727. Seems to run ok but needs more work to be roadworthy. We went through and bled the brakes, changed fluids, and other basic stuff. Was originally a slant 6 and now has the small block. The other head-scratcher is that it was originally red, repainted white, but had the front end swapped to a green Duster. Inside, the seats are some late-model buckets with a rear green vinyl/velour bench. Dash was covered with carpeting, headliner & carpet look newer. Someone was trying to go restomod but lost interest for whatever reason
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well that quickly turned into - "we already have it taped, what if we just did some quick bodywork and hide the rest of the flaws with a quick shot of white single-stage?"
It did have some body flaws - many appeared to be self-induced from 36-grit or grinding marks in crazy places. And, at whatever repaint along its 4 decades, much of the stainless trim have pretty remarkable DA marks. Hey, it's going to be a driver so I can improve/replace whatever as I drive it.
It did have some body flaws - many appeared to be self-induced from 36-grit or grinding marks in crazy places. And, at whatever repaint along its 4 decades, much of the stainless trim have pretty remarkable DA marks. Hey, it's going to be a driver so I can improve/replace whatever as I drive it.
So, we had one day to finish bodywork and squirt it. My brother has done some pretty high end restorations so I had some great help from him. The worst was probably this quarter:
Again, we only had 6-7 hours to make this entire car straight but, overall, it didn't turn out too badly. Here's the quarter just before paint:
Again, we only had 6-7 hours to make this entire car straight but, overall, it didn't turn out too badly. Here's the quarter just before paint:
a couple others just before he laid down the 2014 Viper White urethane
Again, this isn't a restoration. It's just to get this thing on the road. Maybe I'll do something more intense down the road, but I'd rather drive than blow it all apart and do a nut & bolt on it. Plus, who has time for that??!!
Again, this isn't a restoration. It's just to get this thing on the road. Maybe I'll do something more intense down the road, but I'd rather drive than blow it all apart and do a nut & bolt on it. Plus, who has time for that??!!
It went on pretty well. No paint booth and there are imperfections but this is a driver.
Note how the seat covers made perfect tire covers.
The 18' sidewalls look a little small to me but that's what I'll run for now. For those keeping track at home...
Front 225/40ZR-18
Rear 245/35ZR-18
It'll be fine for me.
Note how the seat covers made perfect tire covers.
The 18' sidewalls look a little small to me but that's what I'll run for now. For those keeping track at home...
Front 225/40ZR-18
Rear 245/35ZR-18
With the paint work almost done, we still thought we could make it to Carlisle and I went to work on the dash cluster. Whomever was working on this beast previously did their best to fix the crumbling plastic but it was pretty thrashed. My buddy had two extra A body clusters so I started over and made one good one out of three.
The printed circuit boards - I used the one from my Dart. You can see dry climate (top) vs. the not-so-dry climate (bottom)
The above were the finalists for "Best Looking 40-year A body Dash Gauges I Have Access To"
So got some craft paint and painted the needles.
Meguiar's to the rescue for the clear plastic. There were some pretty gnarly scratches in the speedo cover...looks great now! It really does seem to be an improved formula - thanks Barry!
Repainted the cluster housing with SEM trim black paint and threw in some LED 194 bulbs and lit it up...
The printed circuit boards - I used the one from my Dart. You can see dry climate (top) vs. the not-so-dry climate (bottom)
The above were the finalists for "Best Looking 40-year A body Dash Gauges I Have Access To"
So got some craft paint and painted the needles.
Meguiar's to the rescue for the clear plastic. There were some pretty gnarly scratches in the speedo cover...looks great now! It really does seem to be an improved formula - thanks Barry!
Repainted the cluster housing with SEM trim black paint and threw in some LED 194 bulbs and lit it up...
Eliminated the ammeter and installed a voltmeter. Found a thread here about someone using a Sunpro CP8215 so I found one on Amazon and installed that.
Had a an extra LED and put it in my Super Tach II - it's going be great to look at these at night.
Had a an extra LED and put it in my Super Tach II - it's going be great to look at these at night.
Looks like a lot of work in a short time! I'd love to see some post paint pics.
Cley
Cley
Working on it - wet sanding and need to re-shoot the hood. About a week away
It is solid. One of the main reasons I got it. Spent a little time on wiring today but am jammed the rest of the week. Maybe I can play with it Friday.
Getting closer. “New” turn signal switch was bad. When I turned key to run, both rear turn signals flashed. Pulled a t/s switch from another column I got in Carlisle and it all works fine now. Nothing like a MaMopar part! Previous owner had a relay installed behind kick panel. I thought it was for the H4 headlights, but it was wired to the radio. That relay also powered a dash switch to the dome light as well as the aftermarket temp gauge backlight. I get the theory but it was some major backyard hackery complete with enough Scotchloks to fill the glovebox. Ripped out the offending copper and tried to wire it right with soldering. Tach and voltmeter are wired. Need to get some more things buttoned up and I can drive this beast. Getting closer!
Been away for awhile taking care of my dad. He passed away in August so this stuff has taken a back seat. Between dealing with that and work I've been pretty busy. Hoping to have a little time to finish this and drive it...for the first time! Here are some pics from last week...
I went to replace my license plate light bulb and found the housing was cracked. I unbolted it and it's cracked in two.
I tried to find one but they're not readily available and the ones that are available are expensive. So, instead of just supergluing it together, I decided to get in the 21st century and made my own! I measured and created one in cad (with a lot of help) and 3D printed it!
It's not perfect but works pretty well.
I tried to find one but they're not readily available and the ones that are available are expensive. So, instead of just supergluing it together, I decided to get in the 21st century and made my own! I measured and created one in cad (with a lot of help) and 3D printed it!
It's not perfect but works pretty well.
DionR
Well-Known Member
Very cool! Keep it up.
Love the white, always liked white cars. My wife doesn't understand why, she like red/orange/etc.
Stripes really pop on the white!
Love the white, always liked white cars. My wife doesn't understand why, she like red/orange/etc.
Stripes really pop on the white!
Thanks! I will keep moving - I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s not a train
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