1974 Dodge Dart Sport rebuild

JDMopar · Nov 22, 2025

I think the way you did them really looks good. The dark caps were 71 only. I bet those were fun to paint without running the heck out of them!

Builderguy · Nov 22, 2025

I started on re-foaming and re-covering the front seats. Little bit of a PIA but doing it myself (okay the QC lady helped) saves a boatload of cash.
Small error on the hole location for the latch. Don't use the old seat cover as a guide for the hole, as it was wrong.

At least it is on the console side so it won't be seen. It was only 3/4" but still......

TF360 · Nov 23, 2025

Yea, they look great,

Builderguy · Nov 23, 2025

Well I did it, I finally did it! I found something I like less than color sanding. Removing injected foam from a seat back. Back and forth, back and forth. scrape and dig, and crap flying everywhere. I probably could have just cut out the damaged area, but I had new foams so, they will get stripped and replaced. Probably smell better too!

On the plus side, I did find out what color the brake booster is supposed to be.

Survey says, goldish or whatever they call this coating. Maybe Zinc Dichromate or Cadmium Plating? IDK, it will be goldish when I get done.

Builderguy · Nov 24, 2025

The seatbacks are a little more challenging than the seat bottoms. I installed new foams so I knew the covers would be a tight fit. Right now I need to stretch them around an inch or so to get a good wrap around the bottom. Might have to use a little heat to get the material to stretch. Not a problem, just an issue. A bigger issue is that the covers did not come with the control wires. Now I got these seats from a second party, so the wires might have simply been misplaced. Or, the covers don't come with these wires and you have to use your old ones. IDK, but the pockets for the two bottom wires were not cut to accept these wires. Slight modifications done and all will be fine.

340six · Nov 24, 2025

Builderguy said:
The seatbacks are a little more challenging than the seat bottoms. I installed new foams so I knew the covers would be a tight fit. Right now I need to stretch them around an inch or so to get a good wrap around the bottom. Might have to use a little heat to get the material to stretch. Not a problem, just an issue. A bigger issue is that the covers did not come with the control wires. Now I got these seats from a second party, so the wires might have simply been misplaced. Or, the covers don't come with these wires and you have to use your old ones. IDK, but the pockets for the two bottom wires were not cut to accept these wires. Slight modifications done and all will be fine.

View attachment 1716482187 View attachment 1716482188 View attachment 1716482189

You do not get listing wires with covers. They are reused. You will have to make some.

Builderguy · Nov 25, 2025

The look is changing.

mygasser · Nov 26, 2025

that's quite a transformation :thumbsup:

Builderguy · Nov 26, 2025

Another red "X" on the board. Upholstery is not my thing so it took a little bit, but it is done! On to finishing the dash.

Builderguy · Nov 26, 2025

Change in plans, I decided to finish the carb/kickdown linkage. I was not going to pay, over $150 for a 4 bbl kickdown rod. Nope, not going to happen!
Took my existing rod, and extended it 2 3/4", that is all it took. Tested it and it works fine, full engagement at WOT, and room for throttle return if the kickdown does not release (that is why there is a slot). I did not know that before digging into this whole kickdown thing. Anyway, here are the pics.

WOT

Throttle back to idle with kickdown held in full engagement. Throttle has plenty of room to return.

Builderguy · Nov 26, 2025

Now it is dash time. I bought a new 4 x 10 front speaker but the mounting tabs are just a bit off. I cut out most of the original speaker and then mounted my new speaker to the old frame. Covered it with some speaker fabric and all is nice, so nice.

Builderguy · Sunday at 7:17 PM

Back from the holiday weekend and back to work. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Removed the last few bits from the dash and prepped it for paint. I am not hiding the VIN, I am protecting it since this time I am not going to use the latex transfer as it is too dang expensive! Do you want to sell one at $80 or four at $40. It is your business but I won't be buying any. Anyway, once I finish going around the VIN tag and masking it, can prime and paint the dash. I ran a few samples to see what paint would match the existing finish and color. We will see how it turns out.

Oh yeah, we did get a little snow last night.

Builderguy · Monday at 12:23 PM

Did a little more digging on the net and I found a vin plate dry transfer for $35 offered by ECS. That is a bit more reasonable, SOLD. It is worth it not to tape off the vin plate and hope the paint colors match. Now I can just spray the entire dash. Happy Days are here again.

Builderguy · Monday at 4:30 PM

Got the dash locked in placed and painted. Very, very, close match to what was there. I color matched to the lower section to avoid sun fade, etc.
and I think it turned out better than I was expecting. I took a shot of the paint I used in case someone wants the same.