1970 Dart Swinger

[rnaz]

Hi everyone! I have been a member here for a while now, but I don't post much. I just like to read and lurk LOL!

I have always been a fan of a-bodies, and in October, I finally found a suitable body for the stroker motor that I had in my old Dakota. I found this car a mere 3 miles from me, and I have always loved the style of the '70-72 Darts.

I am building a nice street/strip combo out of it, and in the end, it will be driven as much as I dare to drive it in Michigan. (That could be only 3 months some years! LOL!)

Ok..enough talk...here's some pics and progress of the build so far.

The day I brought it home.

This is the original 318 from 1970.

Floor pan. There's nothing but surface rust there. I was amazed!

The interior needs some TLC, but I don't care. I plan on replacing most everything there anyway.

The car was at a body shop to be painted, and the shop caught on fire. The owner of the car took it home, and was going to fix everything himself, but he's a young guy, and his girlfriend was pregnant, so he had to give up the car. He was nearly in tears when I came to pick it up, but he was happy that the car went to someone who intended to make something nice out of it.

 

[rnaz]

I'm putting a Magnum 390 ( 4" stroked 318 ) into it.

Out with the old:

The next step is to prep and paint the engine bay. Pics of that in the next post.

 

[jomoper]

Nice Dart,Looks like a good start and your allready making Great progress.Keep us updated.I'm also a fan of the '70-'72 Darts I'm on My third one LOL !

 

[rnaz]

Starting to prep the engine bay here. It needs to be sanded, filled, and painted before I even think about putting that motor in there.

Firewall after a good blasting and a little filler, then some 2k urethane primer/surfacer.

K-Member with Summit Chassis black paint drying on it:

After Friday's progress on the RH inner fender:

I'll try to keep you guys updated if there's any interest in it. My current plan is to paint it Plum Crazy, but I don't plan on getting all the body work done for a while. I may drop it off at a body shop over the winter to have them do it. (Hopefully it doesn't burn down like the last one!)

 

[rnaz]

Nice Dart,Looks like a good start and your allready making Great progress.Keep us updated.I'm also a fan of the '70-'72 Darts I'm on My third one LOL !

Thanks!

I have wanted to build a Dart for a long time, and now that my wife is done with school, and working full time, it's finally possible to do it.

 

[Saetun]

Nice work!!! Looks like your making great progress!

 

[rnaz]

Nice work!!! Looks like your making great progress!

Thanks! I'm trying pretty hard to get it running and driving for the Dream Cruise this year. I'm not sure if it will happen or not, but that's the current goal. It won't be finished by any means, but I would like to drive it around some.

 

[mopardrt]

looking good man hope to see you around the cruises

 

[rnaz]

looking good man hope to see you around the cruises

Thanks!

If mother nature will cut the crap, and let me work on the car, I'll be there with it! LOL!

 

[rnaz]

Ok, I have some updates from tonight.

Enjoy!

I got the inner fenders finished, and I started on the radiator support.

Again, still using Summit brand 2k Urethane primer surfacer to prime things.

RH inner fender after some filling and sanding:

After a few coats of primer:

 

[Gag_Halfront]

Wow! You're making me feel bad, man. I just painted mine. I didn't work it over at all.

Great looking car. Love the motor!

 

[rnaz]

Wow! You're making me feel bad, man. I just painted mine. I didn't work it over at all.

Great looking car. Love the motor!

LOL! Thanks!
I just can't bring myself to leave it alone. I had to paint the bay the right way, because it's the last opportunity for a long time that I'm going to have with the engine out.

 

[mopardude318]

you definitly turned that engine bay around...i have to do the same thing to my 68 cuda...im ready to install the engine, but my engine compartment is awful! all rusted by the battery, flaking, chipped loose paint over old paint and dirt....its just a huge mess...i dont wanna deal with it! :/

 

[rnaz]

I understand how you feel about that one. I had to force myself to just bite the bullet and do it right.

The car was in a body shop fire when the PO had it, so it was covered with soot and other crap in there.

 

[Gag_Halfront]

Thanks!

If mother nature will cut the crap, and let me work on the car, I'll be there with it! LOL!

No doubt! I'm getting pretty tired of this rain and cold weather crap. It's globally warmed to about 20F below average and just won't bloody quit raining!

 

[rnaz]

No doubt! I'm getting pretty tired of this rain and cold weather crap. It's globally warmed to about 20F below average and just won't bloody quit raining!

Yeah, same here.
I get about 1-2 days a week that I can think about working on the car, and sometimes I'm just exhausted after work and can't muster up the courage to do it.

 

[oneway71]

Congrats on the new project; nice work!

 

[340_dart_power]

Really nice progress on your engine compartment.
Keep plugging away @ it, it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[rnaz]

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the compliments on it!

I am hoping to get some paint laid down on there this weekend.

 

[1972DusterPaul]

Looking good.

I am painting my engine bay also.

I think Saturday will be the best day with the weather...that's the day I am shooting for.

Keep up the good work.
Paul

 

[rnaz]

Thanks, Paul!

I'm cautiously optimistic about getting some paint down in the bay this weekend. I'm pretty close. I just have to fill a couple more spots, and wet sand the primer, then prime it once more, then wet sand, then paint. LOL!

Should only take a couple of days at this point.

 

[SonofaHatchet]

Looks like its going good. Keep it up!

 

[rnaz]

Here's a little more eye candy for you all.

I removed the cross member to get at some of the engine bay a little easier to sand and prime it. I fixed a little bit of the metal on this and sanded it down.

Bombed it with a few coats of urethane 2k.

This is Summit "Plum Pearl Metallic" paint. I love this paint. It goes on really nice, and doesn't cost a fortune.

 

[rnaz]

Ok, I got the engine bay finished and ready for paint yesterday. I ordered my paint late last week, and it should be here tomorrow according to UPS.

This is what I started with:

Sanded, filled, and primed:

I plan on painting it this week, then I can start the reassembly process up front.

 

[rnaz]

Little peek of how the color will look in the sunlight.

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