Resurrected Junk
At some point I knew I had to say I was "done". We all know better because there's always something we could do a little better or improvement we could make. On the other hand, being able to say done means I can celebrate my accomplishment. It means that I can show my work off. That's what I did yesterday.
The MAACO guy I had worked with said when I was done, I should bring it by for him to see. He was curious. That's what I did. I also showed him a problem area with the paint job. Besides being impressed with the car, he agreed to fix the problem area for free. I like people who stand behind their work and make good on defects.
I've avoided pictures of the rear of the car for two reasons. 1. The bumper photographed better than it really was (no chrome around the tail light openings). 2. I had a plan to make an improvement.
I always thought the six tail lights on some Vette's, 61 & 62 Plymouths were cool. It was the sort of thing the manufacturers avoided because it cost more. With the tail lights on the Dart mounted in the bumper and the width of the light, there was no way I could go for six. But I could go for four.
In doing this, I cut up two sets of Dart tail light housings. The reason for it is that the backup light mounts from the side and the tail light mounts at the bottom. Mounting a two filament socket in the backup light housing illuminates differently than the tail light housing. BTW: Each light and lens is unique. Left and right sides do not interchange.
My sockets were all fouled up, so I got new ones meant for GM cars from Auto Zone. I trimmed the round sides off so they would fit in the tail light housing trough and enlarged the hole so the socket would fit. I made new tail light wiring harnesses using the existing Dart connectors and new wire to handle the new function.
Since most backup lamps are kind of wimpy, I mounted a pair of 55 watt driving lamps on the rear valence. The wires just barely connect on the passenger side. On a dark night, they light things up nicely.
There are some other projects like disk brakes, /6 power upgrades, suspension upgrade, and an interior makeover that remain. The car is driveable. On a trip last weekend, the old girl hummed along at 80-85 mph and turned in 22 mpg over the 200 miles one way. Slowing down on the way back ran things up to 26 mpg @ 70 mph.
Enough talk. Here are the pix.
At some point I knew I had to say I was "done". We all know better because there's always something we could do a little better or improvement we could make. On the other hand, being able to say done means I can celebrate my accomplishment. It means that I can show my work off. That's what I did yesterday.
The MAACO guy I had worked with said when I was done, I should bring it by for him to see. He was curious. That's what I did. I also showed him a problem area with the paint job. Besides being impressed with the car, he agreed to fix the problem area for free. I like people who stand behind their work and make good on defects.
I've avoided pictures of the rear of the car for two reasons. 1. The bumper photographed better than it really was (no chrome around the tail light openings). 2. I had a plan to make an improvement.
I always thought the six tail lights on some Vette's, 61 & 62 Plymouths were cool. It was the sort of thing the manufacturers avoided because it cost more. With the tail lights on the Dart mounted in the bumper and the width of the light, there was no way I could go for six. But I could go for four.
In doing this, I cut up two sets of Dart tail light housings. The reason for it is that the backup light mounts from the side and the tail light mounts at the bottom. Mounting a two filament socket in the backup light housing illuminates differently than the tail light housing. BTW: Each light and lens is unique. Left and right sides do not interchange.
My sockets were all fouled up, so I got new ones meant for GM cars from Auto Zone. I trimmed the round sides off so they would fit in the tail light housing trough and enlarged the hole so the socket would fit. I made new tail light wiring harnesses using the existing Dart connectors and new wire to handle the new function.
Since most backup lamps are kind of wimpy, I mounted a pair of 55 watt driving lamps on the rear valence. The wires just barely connect on the passenger side. On a dark night, they light things up nicely.
There are some other projects like disk brakes, /6 power upgrades, suspension upgrade, and an interior makeover that remain. The car is driveable. On a trip last weekend, the old girl hummed along at 80-85 mph and turned in 22 mpg over the 200 miles one way. Slowing down on the way back ran things up to 26 mpg @ 70 mph.
Enough talk. Here are the pix.