1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife

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Not qualified for this but I am going to give it a go...... All taped up with fender covers and blankets for protection. I marked which holes were for the snap screws and which ones where for the pinch strip... I am sure I will thank myself later. Also the backseat separator was crumbling but all there. I marked it out on a piece of masonite then cut where it bends. I used a piece of the old well vinyl as a hinge and glued it in place. A bit of rattle can primer and satin black paint and it will disappear into the front of the trunk once everything is together. The correct material is that brown cardboard but since it is not the right texture no reason bringing attention to it by trying to faux paint it that color. The satin black will make it vanish from sight. The new well liner will be here tomorrow. It is black but that is fine no one will care and again it will just disappear since it is black.


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Holy crap! Are you doing the whole top, or just the nitpicky stuff like chrome and well liner, etc? If you're doing the top, you are much braver than I am!
 
I'm not going for it.. the well liner I got fits like crap and the buzz from the early Dart ragtop guru is only Legendary make liners and covers that fit right. And again the '63 is unique in both of these soft goods.... That says wait 5-6 months for Legendary to make them or take it all to Baca and have him make custom one with him putting the top on... Probably go with the later.
 
I just put the top back on that came with the car and had previously been done. I was a pain and it was on there before! I have a brand new top and liner for one of my other verts It was going to attempt to install myself, but after this I am taking somewhere to get done!
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I just put the top back on that came with the car and had previously been done. I was a pain and it was on there before! I have a brand new top and liner for one of my other verts It was going to attempt to install myself, but after this I am taking somewhere to get done!
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I am not afraid to try most anything and I wanted to give it a go... what is the worse that could happen, need to buy another top? Now that I realize these are not "get it in a week" sort of parts it is changing my philosophy a bit because I want to drive this dang thing....
 
Your going to be driving it with the top down and the boot on anyway, so who needs the fabric on the top!?
 
Bottom end done! Make sure to degree the cam from Oregon Cams. Called them and it was clear they don’t try to get the alignment pin too close to the grind! Got lucky and only had to jump a tooth (which did not line up correctly to start with) to get it to within 1 degree of the spec sheet sent with the cam. If we had left it at the "best alignment by eye" it would have been 13 degrees advanced! The second photo is the performance hit I would have seen.

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Was there any head port work done? The /6 heads are horrible for casting flash, core shift, and sharp edges.
 
Its very simple. You can go crazy but just making the throat the same size as the valve seat is all you need for the biggest bang for the buck. When the milling machine setup to to hog out a bigger valve you get it for free by just going deeper...

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Really looking forward to this part of your build. Seeing a super clean 6 in a super clean engine compartment all done up to perfection isn't an everyday experience! It's been a pleasure living vicariously through you.
Steve

Not as much as I am!
 
And away we go!.. Just mocked up as new bolts are coming from AMK Tuesday. Unfortunately the Dutra Duals don't clear the starter
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Jim, this is coming along GREAT! Just an FYI, the 07 "or so" Ram 5.7 hemi starter is even smaller than the dakota starter. You need the appropriate one for your transmission though. Looks great!
 
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