SpeedracerX
Still on this side of the dirt member
Nice car!! The roof looks great, doesnt look like it suffered any of the usual vinyl top rot issues.. good deal...
1970 Swinger Daily Driver
- Thread starter Robj
- Start date
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MoparDemon
Well-Known Member
Nice find it's in great shape! i live in a ford chevy town also..cant wait to bring my Demon out they probly wont even know what it is lol
Robj
Well-Known Member
Nice find it's in great shape! i live in a ford chevy town also..cant wait to bring my Demon out they probly wont even know what it is lol
They'll compliment you on your Charger...that's all they know. Back in the late 70's early 80's I had a hot rod 72 Satellite Sebring. All the Ford people thought it was a Charger and the Chevy people thought it was a Torino.
Good luck gettin' her on the road!
Robj
Well-Known Member
Started pulling all the trim finally. Taking it slow because it's all pristine. Came across a great link on this site to remove the drip rail trim.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...l+Removal+Tool
I'll be do this tomorrow. I'm having my glass guy remove the front and rear glass trim on Friday and then we'll begin on the body this weekend. I'll be gone for a week in April so I'll have the actual glass taken out then so my brother-in-law can clean up the channels before paint.
I was hoping to have it in paint by the time of our biggest cruise/show in town which happens in mid-April but my daughter's car is DOA so she's been borrowing the van I was going to be driving while we parked the Dart to work on it. Instead I've had to press it into daily service which it has handled perfectly. The 41 year old Dodge is still pulling duty while the 11 year old Honda is parked.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...l+Removal+Tool
I'll be do this tomorrow. I'm having my glass guy remove the front and rear glass trim on Friday and then we'll begin on the body this weekend. I'll be gone for a week in April so I'll have the actual glass taken out then so my brother-in-law can clean up the channels before paint.
I was hoping to have it in paint by the time of our biggest cruise/show in town which happens in mid-April but my daughter's car is DOA so she's been borrowing the van I was going to be driving while we parked the Dart to work on it. Instead I've had to press it into daily service which it has handled perfectly. The 41 year old Dodge is still pulling duty while the 11 year old Honda is parked.
Robj
Well-Known Member
I wondered what kind of dings were under the primered patches under the vinyl top. Twin spots above each door right behind the A pillars. I've always heard that the damaged roof sections at the factory went to the vinyl topped cars. Two pretty good dings.
The seam was clean.
We'll be taking the front and rear glass out to finish the top. So far I see no rot at all in the channels under the moldings. Always a relief.
The seam was clean.
We'll be taking the front and rear glass out to finish the top. So far I see no rot at all in the channels under the moldings. Always a relief.
Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Dam, I have/ had your cars twin.
OneOfMany
Well-Known Member
What a solid starting point.. Really must be a pleasure to work on.
Grant
Grant
Robj
Well-Known Member
It's really been one of those dream cars you could search for your entire life. Unfortunate for the guy who parked it for 8 years and then needed to price it for a quick sale because he was out of work. I'm amazed though, I was the only looker. This area is a huge Chevy/Ford region. You can't shoot a cannon down I-5 without hitting a Camero, Chevelle or especially a Mustang. There's not many Mopars but also not much competition when they do go up for sale.
Dartnut
Don't hate me because i'm beautiful
Cudos to you for keeping it green.
It sure must be great to fix up a car with no rust issues!
It sure must be great to fix up a car with no rust issues!
Robj
Well-Known Member
Thanks and I love your little reference there to Sid and Marty in the side panel under your name. Kind of dates us "more mature" owners...
Dartnut
Don't hate me because i'm beautiful
Thanks!
I happen to be an ''immature owner'' at 49 and counting!
Sid and Marty who? Never heard of them.
I just won a battle at work with the Human Resources department, and everyone at work is calling me that.
It's from the movie '' Ace Ventura Pet Detective'' too, which i found hilarious.
But then again, i have a weird immature sense of humor.......
Robj
Well-Known Member
Sid and Marty Krofft- creators of H.R. Pufnstuf the twisted childrens show from the 60's. It was like watching a bad acid trip. By mature I only meant by age....non of us boys ever really grow up. Our toy cars just get bigger.
Robj
Well-Known Member
The Swinger is pretty much stripped and ready to get the body prepped for paint. We had an entire month of rain so I haven't been able to transfer it over to the other shop. It's finally over there so work can begin in earnest.
So far no surprises- everything is super clean. With the door panels off even the bottom of the interior of the doors was spotless. No leaves, dirt or crud. Was I ever surprised on that.
So far no surprises- everything is super clean. With the door panels off even the bottom of the interior of the doors was spotless. No leaves, dirt or crud. Was I ever surprised on that.
ef8340
Well-Known Member
man that dart is clean
OneOfMany
Well-Known Member
That's a dream car.. Taking off 40 year old bolts with a wrench or socket, instead of snapping off the head and drilling lol..
Cant wait to see it in paint,
Grant
Cant wait to see it in paint,
Grant
Robj
Well-Known Member
You're not kidding. It came apart so easy. Even four of the five plastic push-retainers for the top of the grill came out in one piece. I ordered fresh new ones anyway even before I tried.
Robj
Well-Known Member
He's just begun the body work- first day. A little surface rust at the left lower corner of the rear glass once it was out.
Robj
Well-Known Member
Photos rotated when I posted them. Third one down needs to go 1/4 turn to the right. It's the upper right corner of the window channel. Fourth photo down 1/4 to the right. Center of lower channel. Bottom photo 1/4 turn to the left. Lower left corner of channel.
Robj
Well-Known Member
Looking good!
Looks a lot like my EL5 Dart Gt as far as the condition goes. I'm still amazed how clean it is, I pulled the front suspension off of it to switch over from the 10" drums to disks and was amazed that the torsion bars just slid out. Factory grease in the sockets and everything. Mine isn't as straight though, the little old lady that must have been driving mine the whole time must have had worse vision then Bell did, lots of parking lot dings. But zero rust, you can still see all the overspray paint underneath along with the stock undercoating.
Props to you for keeping it green! :thumblef: Not sure I could, the Mopar greens from the era aren't my favorite. But my Dart will stay EL5, also known as butterscotch.
My car also has the rim blow wheel, 8 3/4 rear, and 10" HD drums. Some of that may have had to do with the GT package in '71 . Seems like Ma Mopar must have known in advance they were going to be phasing out the A body 8 3/4 and rim blow wheels for '72 and beyond, they included them on a lot of Darts for those years. They didn't even always appear on the fender tag and buildsheet. Neither of my GT's have an A38 code, yet both had rim blow wheels. I assume this is because they were included in the GT package, but since there isn't a ton of info on the package itself its hard to say.
Good luck with the rebuild! Always good to see another Dart back on the road.
Looks a lot like my EL5 Dart Gt as far as the condition goes. I'm still amazed how clean it is, I pulled the front suspension off of it to switch over from the 10" drums to disks and was amazed that the torsion bars just slid out. Factory grease in the sockets and everything. Mine isn't as straight though, the little old lady that must have been driving mine the whole time must have had worse vision then Bell did, lots of parking lot dings. But zero rust, you can still see all the overspray paint underneath along with the stock undercoating.
Props to you for keeping it green! :thumblef: Not sure I could, the Mopar greens from the era aren't my favorite. But my Dart will stay EL5, also known as butterscotch.
My car also has the rim blow wheel, 8 3/4 rear, and 10" HD drums. Some of that may have had to do with the GT package in '71 . Seems like Ma Mopar must have known in advance they were going to be phasing out the A body 8 3/4 and rim blow wheels for '72 and beyond, they included them on a lot of Darts for those years. They didn't even always appear on the fender tag and buildsheet. Neither of my GT's have an A38 code, yet both had rim blow wheels. I assume this is because they were included in the GT package, but since there isn't a ton of info on the package itself its hard to say.
Good luck with the rebuild! Always good to see another Dart back on the road.
Robj
Well-Known Member
The quarter extensions were wavy and didn't follow the lines of the panel very well. He's been shaping them to match and they're really nice now.
Robj
Well-Known Member
The leading where the left A pillar meets the cowling was awful. It humped up about 3/16 of an inch high and you could see the grinder or file marks where they just quickly ran it over to knock down the edge. Instead of being slightly rounded, the edge was several sharp facets. Not a lot of time taken in the details back then.
Robj
Well-Known Member
He's gotten a lot work done. The plan is to put a guide coat on it, block it out this next week and primer it all again and then finish the prep for paint. I've been collecting gaskets, a headliner, clips for the glass reveals, polishing all the stainless. Coming together!
Tnplumber
Well-Known Member
Wow that car is proof, Chrysler can build a car that didn't rust! lol
Badart
Senior Member
Very solid car. How come some of the 70 models came with bumper guards and some didn't? California thing?
A couple of weeks ago I ran across a 70 dart that I couldn't walk away from either, it's just a bare bones, but complete /6 3 speed manual car. Other than a little rust in the rear quarters, it's solid too. I took it home and just parked it till I get a chance to build it. At least I saved one. Keep us updated. :thumleft:
A couple of weeks ago I ran across a 70 dart that I couldn't walk away from either, it's just a bare bones, but complete /6 3 speed manual car. Other than a little rust in the rear quarters, it's solid too. I took it home and just parked it till I get a chance to build it. At least I saved one. Keep us updated. :thumleft:
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