67 Dart (Frame Rails/Inner Fenders/Radiator Support) Replacement
A few months ago my dad was in a car accident in our 67 Dart. Luckily he's okay and nothing serious happened to him, but the car took some pretty hefty damage. I've posted the story here before and explained how we basically considered letting the car go. The damage just seemed too extensive and out of our wheel house to do ourselves or pay to have done. But after some encouragement from members here, we decided to try and save the car and even scored a donor from which we can harvest basically everything needed.
So... that's where we're currently at. We have a crashed 67 Dart, and a perfectly solid 4-door 68 Dart, which we want to take the passenger frame rail, Passenger inner fender, and the entire radiator support and transfer it to the 67. Or maybe it's just easier to transfer the entire front end to the 67 as one complete unit? Our biggest roadblock is where to start? Both my dad and I are pretty mechanically savvy, but body, chassis, and welding work is beyond us. I'm not afraid to give it a shot but I'm looking for honesty, is the something a metal novice can take on or should keep looking for a shop to tackle this? At the very least, I think we should be able to at least remove the donor parts so we have those off and save money from a shop having to do it. Does that sound reasonable? If so, here's some assumptions and questions I have on how to proceed, please school me on if any of this is right! Thanks
For the 68 Dart Donor car
- Remove the hood and fenders
- Remove the engine (currently a /6)
- Remove pretty much any parts that are bolted to the inner fenders and radiator support.
- Remove wheels and suspension pieces bolted to the frame rails.. (Drums, control arms etc)
- How do I stabilize the car with the front end off the ground? I'm assuming jack stands probably not sturdy enough to keep the car from rocking?
- Spot welds... How to find them all and how many should I expect to have to drill out, hundreds or thousands? As I mentioned earlier, is it best to remove the entire front end as one piece or as individual panels? Inner fenders, Rad support, Left Frame Rail and right Frame rail, etc?
A few months ago my dad was in a car accident in our 67 Dart. Luckily he's okay and nothing serious happened to him, but the car took some pretty hefty damage. I've posted the story here before and explained how we basically considered letting the car go. The damage just seemed too extensive and out of our wheel house to do ourselves or pay to have done. But after some encouragement from members here, we decided to try and save the car and even scored a donor from which we can harvest basically everything needed.
So... that's where we're currently at. We have a crashed 67 Dart, and a perfectly solid 4-door 68 Dart, which we want to take the passenger frame rail, Passenger inner fender, and the entire radiator support and transfer it to the 67. Or maybe it's just easier to transfer the entire front end to the 67 as one complete unit? Our biggest roadblock is where to start? Both my dad and I are pretty mechanically savvy, but body, chassis, and welding work is beyond us. I'm not afraid to give it a shot but I'm looking for honesty, is the something a metal novice can take on or should keep looking for a shop to tackle this? At the very least, I think we should be able to at least remove the donor parts so we have those off and save money from a shop having to do it. Does that sound reasonable? If so, here's some assumptions and questions I have on how to proceed, please school me on if any of this is right! Thanks
For the 68 Dart Donor car
- Remove the hood and fenders
- Remove the engine (currently a /6)
- Remove pretty much any parts that are bolted to the inner fenders and radiator support.
- Remove wheels and suspension pieces bolted to the frame rails.. (Drums, control arms etc)
- How do I stabilize the car with the front end off the ground? I'm assuming jack stands probably not sturdy enough to keep the car from rocking?
- Spot welds... How to find them all and how many should I expect to have to drill out, hundreds or thousands? As I mentioned earlier, is it best to remove the entire front end as one piece or as individual panels? Inner fenders, Rad support, Left Frame Rail and right Frame rail, etc?