1965 Dart Crewcab daily driver
- Thread starter BKCowGod
- Start date
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BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
1966-74 Dodge Dart Mopar A-Body Front Disc Brake Conversion Kit for 5x4 Bolt Pattern & Manual Brakes
They also have them for big bolt pattern, and kits with more and fewer extras.
Does this still work on the 65?
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Yes, I called and confirmed.
My 14x6 wheels are absolutely the smallest that will fit - officially they don't and I may end up having to grind some for clearance but otherwise I am told to expect smooth sailing.
Thank you
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Well, been a fun month. My Land Rover needed new cats right before an offroad camping trip, and while it was there someone drlled the gas tank... so that took up most of my time. Parked the Dart at my buddy's shop when I went to pick up the Rover and managed to crack the oil pump housing at the pressure sender. Left it there to deal with when I got back. Came back to a beautifully tig welded housing and no leaks. Lucky break there. Camping was awesome too.
New mirror arrived, so I moved the floppy one to the passenger side. That door doesn't get slammed as often so hopefully it will hold up.
The cooling system is still holding up. Temps got up to 107 and I was blasting the a/c the whole time. Engine temp creeps up a bit at long stoplights with the a/c going, but I am not surprised. Just an engine driven fan and sitting with no airflow and 900 degree condenser will be hard on anybody. Oh, and we are back to the "temporary" old upper thermostat housing bolt...
Smooth sailing though, it's still my primary daily driver
New mirror arrived, so I moved the floppy one to the passenger side. That door doesn't get slammed as often so hopefully it will hold up.
The cooling system is still holding up. Temps got up to 107 and I was blasting the a/c the whole time. Engine temp creeps up a bit at long stoplights with the a/c going, but I am not surprised. Just an engine driven fan and sitting with no airflow and 900 degree condenser will be hard on anybody. Oh, and we are back to the "temporary" old upper thermostat housing bolt...
Smooth sailing though, it's still my primary daily driver
I sure hope that upper thermostat housing bolt doesn't shake loose. It'd tear up all hell when it hit the fan.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
It is held on with zipties as well. Redneck, for sure but every time I go to properly helicoil it something else comes up and it gets back burnered.
I'd drill the threads out, get a longer bolt and just put a nut on the other side.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Considered it - the shape of the other side doesn't allow a nut. I even tried grinding one down to fit. I even considered sticking some threaded rod in there with JB Weld and creating a stud. May still try this, but didn't want to permanently butcher the head.
Me too Don!
How about one of those specialty threaded inserts??
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
That is the correct answer, and what I will be doing if I resist the urge to butcher it. I am in project overload right now - the '73 Land Rover, the '73 MG, and the '91 RX7 are both engine-out right now, the '77 GMC is getting a new exhaust system... That leaves just the Dart and my slighty more modern Land Rover for daily driver status, so I don't want to tempt fate quite yet.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Oh happy day! The center console I ordered in June finally arrived! About as close to stock looking as I could imagine (of course plenty of non-stock in my interior, but it fits nicely)
Man, that Crew Cab keeps getting sweeter everytime i see it. Looking good
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Gets sweeter every time I see it too - little by little. Just glad to finally move the Mexican blanket arm rest to the backseat and have some real cup holders.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
@RustyRatRod you will be pleased to know the vice grips are gone. Managed to just barely slide in a bolt one size smaller and all seems well for now. Still slightly redneck, but not likely to fall off and destroy the car.
Nothing redneck about that. Perfectly acceptable, IMO.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Oh I'm more than fine with it. The car show purists have enough to hate about my Dart that I doubt they'd even notice this.
Piss on um.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Not all voltage regulators are created equal!
A while back my voltage regulator died and I replaced it with a solid state unit sold on eBay. I won't put the name of the seller because their description of the item makes it clear they are VERY active in the Mopar community, but I definitely had bouncing voltage. It charged the battery and I couldn't be sure it was just the regulator so I left it in and worried about other things for a while. Recently decided to address it by buying another from a different vendor. They're cheap and I figured it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have a spare. The new one (sold by starting-n-charging) was cheaper by $3, heavier, and used composite instead of cardboard on the back. I installed it and my gauge is now rock solid. Turn on the lights (85w H4) and it drops briefly then right to the same spot as before. Crank the A/C fan, music, and high beams and I get a very small drop but still rock solid and above 12 at idle.
Previously the bounce was so bad that headlights would pulsate visibly at idle.
I am pleased.
A while back my voltage regulator died and I replaced it with a solid state unit sold on eBay. I won't put the name of the seller because their description of the item makes it clear they are VERY active in the Mopar community, but I definitely had bouncing voltage. It charged the battery and I couldn't be sure it was just the regulator so I left it in and worried about other things for a while. Recently decided to address it by buying another from a different vendor. They're cheap and I figured it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have a spare. The new one (sold by starting-n-charging) was cheaper by $3, heavier, and used composite instead of cardboard on the back. I installed it and my gauge is now rock solid. Turn on the lights (85w H4) and it drops briefly then right to the same spot as before. Crank the A/C fan, music, and high beams and I get a very small drop but still rock solid and above 12 at idle.
Previously the bounce was so bad that headlights would pulsate visibly at idle.
I am pleased.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
The wheel drama is finally over! After verifying with Wheel Vintiques that the backorder was 6 weeks, I ordered 14x6 Rallyes through Summit in July. End of August, no wheels. Middle of September, I call Summit and Vintiques and ask about an updated ETA, they say mid-October. Called Vintiques last week and things got interesting. They said Summit orders would be delayed until the end of December at the earliest, but they conveniently had a set of two of the exact wheels I ordered, brand new and they would be happy to sell them to me right now for only $150 more than I had paid Summit. Each.
I called Summit and relayed this and they were surprised, to say the least. They kindly agreed to sell me four 15x6 wheels and honor the price from back in July. Arrived Thursday, slapped them on today, and all is well with the world.
Now I just need to decide if I want beauty rings. I am leaning no.
I called Summit and relayed this and they were surprised, to say the least. They kindly agreed to sell me four 15x6 wheels and honor the price from back in July. Arrived Thursday, slapped them on today, and all is well with the world.
Now I just need to decide if I want beauty rings. I am leaning no.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Not sure how I managed to make a 3 day/week job take up all seven, but here we are...
Played around a bit with carbs, rebuilt the BBS I got from @Hyper_pak and drove on it for a few days while I did a proper fix of the Holley (turns out you actually do need to set the float level!)
The Carter was nice and definitely woke things up but it required 5 pumps to start cold so it came back off for now since the Holley is dialed in. Turns out you can actually spin 205s with a stock slant! So much more power.
Next things to deal with are an intermittent grounding issue that causes one high beam to flash when the turn signal is activated at night. The engine-body ground wire is visibly trashed, so probably time to go through all of them starting there.
Then probably the heater core. Avoiding that one.
Played around a bit with carbs, rebuilt the BBS I got from @Hyper_pak and drove on it for a few days while I did a proper fix of the Holley (turns out you actually do need to set the float level!)
The Carter was nice and definitely woke things up but it required 5 pumps to start cold so it came back off for now since the Holley is dialed in. Turns out you can actually spin 205s with a stock slant! So much more power.
Next things to deal with are an intermittent grounding issue that causes one high beam to flash when the turn signal is activated at night. The engine-body ground wire is visibly trashed, so probably time to go through all of them starting there.
Then probably the heater core. Avoiding that one.
BKCowGod
Well-Known Member
Woohoo, finally some updates. Installed the Pirate Jack disc brake kit, as well as a few new suspension components scored from @tubbedamx and a bunch of new bushings. Car is at the old school alignment place getting a proper alignment, and tomorrow I get back on the road.
Still deciding what I will do on my summer road trip - North to Alaska in my 4x4 or East on Route 66 in the Dart. Leaning on the latter, though the Squarebody does have cruise control which is nice.
Now I just need to figure out if there is any market for some lightly used brake components.
Still deciding what I will do on my summer road trip - North to Alaska in my 4x4 or East on Route 66 in the Dart. Leaning on the latter, though the Squarebody does have cruise control which is nice.
Now I just need to figure out if there is any market for some lightly used brake components.
Love the disc conversion! This is turning into a nice little car!
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