Looking real good. Keep at it
1973 Dart Sport
- Thread starter Deceus
- Start date
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K-member is patched and painted.
It wont go in until the rest of the front end is ready but that's one piece down. Probably ordering the rotors, calipers, front rims and tires this week. Still waiting on the ball joint socket might go ahead and just buy that as well. Anyone happen to know the exact size I need for a 74 Dart?
Edit: found a 1 59/64 in socket on Summit for $16, pretty sure this is the one I need.
It wont go in until the rest of the front end is ready but that's one piece down. Probably ordering the rotors, calipers, front rims and tires this week. Still waiting on the ball joint socket might go ahead and just buy that as well. Anyone happen to know the exact size I need for a 74 Dart?
Edit: found a 1 59/64 in socket on Summit for $16, pretty sure this is the one I need.
I have a BUNCH of goodies coming in this week so it should be a fun filled weekend for me and the car. I should have everything needed to put the front end back together, so a lot of sandblasting and painting for Saturday and hopefully just about everything goes back on Sunday.
The ball joint socket must've fell out of the box because it was the only thing missing and there was a huge split at the bottom of one of the boxes from Summit. Got a new one that will ship out Monday. Was only able to sandblast the control arms and get the spindles and old lower ball joints separated. Not as much progress as I would have liked but progress is progress. Temperature should be a lot better for painting next weekend anyways.
One of the ball joints was welded on but everything is painted and ready for re-assembly minus the one upper control arm. Going to put in some interior work tomorrow since that's all I can really do until my dad has the time to remove the ball joint from one of the other control arms. You don't know fun until you've cranked one of those off in a muddy backyard in the rain.
Nice job. They looks like brand new!
Hey man, looking really good! Im doing pretty much the same thing right now for my 75 Dart Sport!
Got the interior stripped and started on the dash.
My patience for the upper control arm ball joints has ran out. Ordered some new tubular UCAs from QA1. I'll just sell the old ones with the new ball joints and bushings and someone else can try to break the driver side one loose. Heaven help them.
My patience for the upper control arm ball joints has ran out. Ordered some new tubular UCAs from QA1. I'll just sell the old ones with the new ball joints and bushings and someone else can try to break the driver side one loose. Heaven help them.
Got the new tubular arms on the car and the front end can start to come together finally. Ended up switching gears and tearing off the heads of my engine in preparation for doing it at the junkyard for a set of cast # 302 heads. It didn't go as planned in the junkyard, a bolt on the AC compressor bolted to the intake kept everything from coming apart 90% of the way in. Can easily say that was one of the most frustrating Sunday mornings I'll ever have. Plan on going back and finishing the job if someone hasn't already taken them.
Donor #2 (hopefully)
Donor #2 (hopefully)
Got my 302 heads for the 318 this morning. It was a bit of struggle getting them out of the van but it's done now. I can now start getting ready for the engine build. Didn't take any pics of the aftermath but I wish I had.
Keep up the great progress, The Sport will be together in no time now...
Thanks, I'm shooting to be done by mid-summer if all goes well and the cashflow is steady. Might be sooner since I'm going for a promotion/new job in the near future.
Getting impatient with the crappy weather so I decided to set-up a painting table in my room for the mean time. I have a mask, 2 ceiling fans, a tower fan and two windows to crack when I'm ready to shoot so it shouldn't be a problem. Did some prep work on the plastic trim I brought to my house to smooth out the surface before painting it black. Waiting to hear back from the machine shop if the heads I pulled are good or not.
It was 70 but raining on Wednesday. Put the bedroom painting setup to good use one more time and painted a lot of the remaining trim.
Got a big promotion, so a lot of the goodies I put on the wishlist are going to become a reality. The engine should be coming together by May, I think. The 302 heads I pulled were a go (thank god) and the shop is putting in bigger valves (1.88/1.60) now.
Got some good inspiration for what I want from an old thread on the forum:
I'm going to go with a lime green block, black ceramic coated headers and a black powder coated intake though.
Got a big promotion, so a lot of the goodies I put on the wishlist are going to become a reality. The engine should be coming together by May, I think. The 302 heads I pulled were a go (thank god) and the shop is putting in bigger valves (1.88/1.60) now.
Got some good inspiration for what I want from an old thread on the forum:
I'm going to go with a lime green block, black ceramic coated headers and a black powder coated intake though.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Subscribed! Keep it up man!
It was close to 70 and sunny on a weekend for the first time in a long, long time. Put the weather to good use and painted the rest of what I needed for the interior. Turns out the door panel from the 74 was a match for my car. That was a surprise. The vinyl on the rear panels was coming unglued just about everywhere. I use some super glue and vise grips (couldn't find my claps) to fix them and got to painting.
Been looking at dash inserts and gauges to get ideas with what I eventually want. Unbolted the steering wheel and pulled the instrument cluster.
Probably going to go with something like this:
Been looking at dash inserts and gauges to get ideas with what I eventually want. Unbolted the steering wheel and pulled the instrument cluster.
Probably going to go with something like this:
Ended up being a lot colder than expecting, got 30s when I was hoping for 50s but I drove 3 hours to work on the car so I ended up doing a lot of prep work this weekend. Removed the heater core, cleaned up some of the wiring, took a wire brush and wheel to a lot of things that I'll be painting once Spring decides it's here to stay.
Didn't get a shot of the after with the wires but most of that stuff is gone.
Debating on taking the build a different direction by going with lower tubular control arms as well and upgrading the brakes from the crappy Duralast ones I got. Might sell all the parts I have as a front end rebuild/disk brake conversion kit. Going to gauge interest and find out what it'll cost to do what I have in mind.
Jhenry70
Well-Known Member
Glad you got some time to work on it. I just replaced the heater core this weekend on the Duster as well. Stripped the entire heater box and soaked the clips and hardware in rust Converter... New pop rivets on the fresh air door hinges. Now to put it all back together with the new gaskets and foam from the DMT heater box rebuild kit.
Yeah always a good weekend when I get some work done. Haven't looked into rebuilding the box yet, i did crack the plastic getting it out since I missed the third nut holding it on to the firewall. There was only one hose still down there and I don't think it could be in worse shape that it was. I should have taken a picture haha. Might be pulling my windshield after all, keep finding small puddles on the driver side floor pan.
Just recently moved to Falls Church in Northern Virginia, the car is still at my parent's in Newport News though so it's not far from you. Got any pics? I'd love to see em.
I decided I'm going to run with the QA1 Tubular lower control arms, adjustable strut rod and a Willwood disk brake setup for the front end. Probably going to get some Hotchkis shocks as well. Going to be selling the stock setup soon, should be a good deal for someone just looking to a rebuild.
I decided I'm going to run with the QA1 Tubular lower control arms, adjustable strut rod and a Willwood disk brake setup for the front end. Probably going to get some Hotchkis shocks as well. Going to be selling the stock setup soon, should be a good deal for someone just looking to a rebuild.
Placed my first order for the engine yesterday:
-kb167 pistons
-KB plasma-moly ring set
-Clevite p series rod/main bearings
-Arp rod/main bolts
-Comp cam XE262H cam + lifters, springs and bearings
-COMP Cams Hi-Tech Roller Race Timing Sets
-Melling High-Volume Oil Pumps
-Mopar Performance Oil Windage Tray
-Seal Power Gasket Kit
-Doug's Headers D453-R
Seeing 2 grand walk out the door was a little painful but I wanted a bullet proof bottom end because I do plan on flogging the hell out the engine. Bought the headers early so my Dad can start gasket matching the heads while the block was at the shop. I also need to send them off to get ceramic coated as well. Eventually going with an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake Manifold as well.
Been looking into the transmission and rear end next. The current plan is either rebuild the one I have locally or get a CRT Pro Street 904. Either way I've decided on a full manual reverse pattern setup. Wanted to build a nice sure grip 8.75 but that's looking to be upwards $3500 counting the disk brakes as well. Strongly considering going with the 8.8 Explorer rear end if I can find a limited slip 3.73 rear end with disk brakes. I found one for sale on here but looks like I'm second in line, we'll see. Shouldn't be too hard to pull and modify my own.
Making the trip this weekend to put in some more work. Should have nice weather so I'll probably get some more painting done. Still need to do the back seats and finish up the frontend. I'll have to track down some hardware for the front end kit I plan on selling soon and soak anything I haven't painted yet in something like Evaporust.
-kb167 pistons
-KB plasma-moly ring set
-Clevite p series rod/main bearings
-Arp rod/main bolts
-Comp cam XE262H cam + lifters, springs and bearings
-COMP Cams Hi-Tech Roller Race Timing Sets
-Melling High-Volume Oil Pumps
-Mopar Performance Oil Windage Tray
-Seal Power Gasket Kit
-Doug's Headers D453-R
Seeing 2 grand walk out the door was a little painful but I wanted a bullet proof bottom end because I do plan on flogging the hell out the engine. Bought the headers early so my Dad can start gasket matching the heads while the block was at the shop. I also need to send them off to get ceramic coated as well. Eventually going with an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake Manifold as well.
Been looking into the transmission and rear end next. The current plan is either rebuild the one I have locally or get a CRT Pro Street 904. Either way I've decided on a full manual reverse pattern setup. Wanted to build a nice sure grip 8.75 but that's looking to be upwards $3500 counting the disk brakes as well. Strongly considering going with the 8.8 Explorer rear end if I can find a limited slip 3.73 rear end with disk brakes. I found one for sale on here but looks like I'm second in line, we'll see. Shouldn't be too hard to pull and modify my own.
Making the trip this weekend to put in some more work. Should have nice weather so I'll probably get some more painting done. Still need to do the back seats and finish up the frontend. I'll have to track down some hardware for the front end kit I plan on selling soon and soak anything I haven't painted yet in something like Evaporust.
Got a lot of work done on the car all things considered. Had to drive across the state and back, get my mountain bike ready to ride, rewire my desktop with my new power supply and spend time with my girlfriend and some of her family all in 3 days.
Got the block stripped down so it can be shipped off the to the shop this week, got the rear seats painted finally and finished painting the remaining front end parts I plan on selling. Got started on repainting/undercoating the frontend on Saturday but the rain started at 9am instead of the evening like the forecast stated. Also soaked a few things in some Evaporust and that stuff is pretty magical, highly recommend it.
Got the block stripped down so it can be shipped off the to the shop this week, got the rear seats painted finally and finished painting the remaining front end parts I plan on selling. Got started on repainting/undercoating the frontend on Saturday but the rain started at 9am instead of the evening like the forecast stated. Also soaked a few things in some Evaporust and that stuff is pretty magical, highly recommend it.
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