1968 Dodge Dart "Nikki"

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Andre68

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I decided to begin the build thread to document this restoration. The car is a 68 Dodge Dart (post car), it came with a 318 and 4 speed with a hurst shifter, out of the factory it had a straight 6 170 and I believe some type of manual transmission, I was having trouble figuring that one out. None the less, I picked her up for $1,100, everything was there, I didnt put up any of the photos but the guy included alot of trim, bezels, extra bumper, etc... She had some rust here and there, wasn't running... but hey, it was all there!

So I got her towed home, and this thing was filthy! It sat in this guys yard for like 10 years! So first things first, I washed this car, then I vacuumed out this car. I then began the process!

I want to do a very nice restoration on this car, paying attention to small details and what not, so I decided I wanted to give this thing a great body from the get go! So me and some buddies of mine started breaking this thing down! Pulled interior, pulled motor and trans, body panels, everything but the glass really. Suspension is still on there as Im pushing the car around here and there, but as soon as the body is ready for paint Im going to buy some pinch weld car dollies so I can move the car around in the garage and be able to paint it fully.



here's the car getting towed home!



Washed and parked outside of my house






The beginning, gutting the car



More of the gutting process, removing the side fender panels, hood, doors, trunk, seeing this is the first time I will be tackling body work and paint I believe I made things harder for my self then I had too, but then again there's only one way to learn right? haha plus having the parts removed allows me to take care of the backsides and it makes the hammer and dolly process a little easier!





back to me making things harder haha, for some reason I had in mind that I needed to take this whole car down to bare metal, not just when fixing areas and what not, so I spent money on buying sanding products to take this thing down to bare metal. and countless hours sanding. As of now I have sanded the fender panels, hood, trunk, and both doors, and got started on the engine bay. Not saying its bad to strip the car down, but I was just like, dude there has to be an easier way of doing this! and thats when I got those Paintucation vids and was like "oh man I didnt have to take this whole entire car down to bare metal! Regardless I did it, I was able to find places with poorly applied filler, and more places to tackle with the hammer and dolly.

So my next step is to try and hammer and dolly anything that needs it, body filler, and prime it. Then fixing any rusty areas, and dealing with that.
After that I will sand the whole car down with a da sander and 220 grit paper, then hand sand any places I missed. Lay down primer, and let that whole thing start.

Im currently just gathering info on products right now and making a list of purchases!

I had some time today to mess around with the motor. Found out its a LA 318 66-75, havent messed with the tranny yet. The plan is to rebuild both myself, so if anyone knows of any good kits, let me know!



it looks good, just dirty.
 
Andre68 Looks like you have the motive, Keep going you are doing great!
Just think after all the work that YOU did when this is done, which makes it
the more special.
Keep us updated

Darryl
 
Nikki's looking good. Does it have disc brakes up front? I see it has a later model k-member. It's a nice start.

Ian
 
Talk to RustyRatRod about building your lil 318 and tranny. He knows a buttload and built a pretty mean 'teen not so long ago
 
Looks like a great project. As a fellow San Diegan, can't wait to see this thing out on the streets!
 
thanks guys! i will have to talk to RustyRatRod!

Yes it does have disc brakes up front. There a bit dirty, so hopefully There still usable after all the gunk and stuff is taken off!
 
Love the Post Darts!! stripping a car down to bare metal does sound like a good idea till you have been doing it for a year LOL
 
yea i hear you on that one! Im just gonna sand to bare metal on what needs it, then scuff up the good stuff, epoxy and 2k and then be on my way hahah
 
Update on the Dart! It has been a while but, I have been working on her!

Well What I ended up doing was using paint stripper on the engine bay and it removed alot of the "crap" paint. That was the issue with this car. It was Yellow out of the factory, and the someone primered it, and rattle canned some stuff yellow. So the rattle can products came off right away, but the stuff out of the factory was still there.



I also removed the steering box, column, and brake cylinder, as well as the wiper motor, and the heater cover, brake lines.

Now, i'm just gonna go at it again with some 220grit paper, and then give it another excellent cleaning hahaha

I also started sanding down the car with 220 grit, and my new black and decker random orbital sander (I love that thing!), as stated all other paints came off easily, but the main base paint. Its funny to see this car go from grey to yellow hahaha



I also busted out the grinder and strip pads and anywhere I saw rustish looking parts on the body I took down to bare metal.

I also began to cut out some of the rust that was on the car, seeing I just got my new Mig Welder from Eastwood! I know the floor pan looks bad but, aside from that 1 rust hole that I cannot cut out because it seems to be on top of the frame, I cut out the hole next to it, and after grinding next to the cut, it seems like I will have a clean enough surface to weld too.





So thats that as of now, I have pretty much sanded the whole exterior of the car to where I would like it to be, aside from the bare metal panels, which I will never do again unless necessary! hahaha I have stripped it from everything I feel would get in the way of the painting process.

Whats next on the list is, scrubbing and stripping the floor plan/inside, sanding inside where necassary, possibly removing dash, some inside trunk sanding, another go at the engine bay, and then im gonna wash that sucker good!!

During all this I shall be practicing my welding before going at the car! But by the time im done with the above, Im sure I will feel confident enough to begin the floor pan welding, lap welds.
 
I would open up the top of the frame rail. Since you have rust there on top I would at least clean it out and get some treatment/paint in the frame. Its just spot welds. If you don't have one, get a spot weld cutter. It's like a mini hole saw that cuts around the weld, Harbor Freight ones work pretty well and only a few bucks. You could (carefully) make a cut down the center of the left side of the rail top. That way you can support both the old pan and new patch. Just dont cut too deep. Do you have air? small cutoff tool is great for this. Also, HF has a fairly cheep flange tool (air)that makes a nice offset in the metal to lay patches in.

Andre68 said:
I know the floor pan looks bad but, aside from that 1 rust hole that I cannot cut out because it seems to be on top of the frame, I cut out the hole next to it, and after grinding next to the cut, it seems like I will have a clean enough surface to weld too.





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