66 dart convertible

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You're doing a great job on the Dart Kurt! I like your speaker location!

Let me know if you need some odd parts for your project!
 
65dartcharger said:
You're doing a great job on the Dart Kurt! I like your speaker location!

Let me know if you need some odd parts for your project!
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thanks!

I'm still figuring out some of the things I want/need to do. I am happy with the way the speaker/kick panel is working out on the Home made CNC.
here's a few more shots of the part. it is close to being ready to go(just a little more bondo on top). then I'll just mirror it and do the passengers side with 1/2 the problems.

I might just hit you up on some odd parts. I'm thinking of adding (2) 2 inch instrument pod's to the A pillar in my convertible. I don't have any for the hardtops since the a pillars are different than the convertibles, but they might be doable.

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pyrojim said:
Ooohhh, I like!!! I like a lot!! Are you open for business yet? Put me as #1 on the list!!!!
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you got it.
did ya see how they were rounded into the windlace. that part Sucked!
anyway they are not quite ready yet, that's just one side. I'm working on the other side now. this side took me way too long to get done since I was trying to learn how to use the cnc software, design software and figure out how the machines could do most of the work instead of ME. yeah I'm lazy, but now that I have the major setup and cutting pattern it should go a LOT faster. AND if I break the mold it'll be 100% faster making the next ones!
thank goodness that I'm doing them instead of the original vacuform guy. I'd be into these stupid things for over 1k just in molds and changes. 350 for epoxy and 50 bucks a change per mold was just too much for me to take. there ware a LOT of changes from stock. such as the bottom kick out to flair into the carpet, recessed holes (and moving them a couple of times to get the fit right. making the speaker miss the fresh air door and so forth.

I'll get a set made and posted on here so you can see what they look like finished. there's a couple of changes I'd like to do before I ramp up making these sets (want to make them look GOOD, now they just look OK to me that is.) it'll be soon I promise 1-2 weeks tops and I'll have em done and posted for ya to look at
 
You have awesome skills! I bet you have awesome nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills!!
 
pyrojim said:
You have awesome skills! I bet you have awesome nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills!!
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ehh nix the nunchucks I'd probably never had kids if I'd have tried that.
bow hunt's not to shabby and I did a computer business alongside my real job for umm can you say coleco's adam's time. programming's OK but hacking is a breed all by it's self. I actually Like working on my old cars.

I am pleased with the way they came out. let me run a few more set's to refine my cutting(I SUCK at alignment) . then I can put them out for sale. (working on a 4"x6" to see if they fit and splash shields for the 66's).
DMT has a set of weatherstrips for the front splash from me and I'm waiting on a set to be delivered when he gets them finished before
I go ahead and try to make them.
 
Thanks for letting me help you with your project. VERY impressed with all the different skillz!!! We're a lot alike. I program industrial computers and robots for a living, but an avid hobbiest too. I can design, program, build or invent just about anything.

My jaw dropped when I saw you take a break from all the body work to do some printed circuit boards!!!

Carry on :)
 
jamesfillmore said:
Thanks for letting me help you with your project. VERY impressed with all the different skillz!!! We're a lot alike. I program industrial computers and robots for a living, but an avid hobbiest too. I can design, program, build or invent just about anything.

My jaw dropped when I saw you take a break from all the body work to do some printed circuit boards!!!

Carry on :)
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Thanks. hey I couldn't finish the dart with out you making the parts could I? thanks for making stuff for our early A's
engine and body work are easy if you do them right I learned a lot for oldtimers when I was growing up and it sort of stuck with me. I've adapted to the newer paints and such but the basic's are still good.
as for the Other projects (other than programming 10 years doing the robotic loading arms for the glass furnaces and NC work at Chryslers another 20years running the complete line from start to finish) that was OJT for them, their philosophy was learn it or someone else would do it. I learned.

truthfully I didn't know much of ANYTHING about any of my projects until I started them, it all a learning experience for me, fun and just a challenge to see if I can do it.

I had the help of slantsixdan with figures and charts he sent me so I'd have to meet (lumens, viewing areas and such) I couldn't have done a safe street tail light with out his help. that project led me to the vacuform and cnc projects ohhh and I learned a little about circuitry too!:D
I wanted to make pods(need vacuform for that) that go into the tail light for the leds to make it a plug and play setup (1 wire splice is all it'll take.) and no mods to the tail light buckets either. and making the LED boards just plain sucked drilling those tiny holes (166 per board, made the CNC a project to drill the holes for me!)
so it's really just a continuation of my work on the dart.
 
Hey Kurt, those kick panels are awesome!!! will they fit my 65 vert?? if so, put me down for a pair!! I got my top installed finally and the guy was able to fab that lock piece so i will let you off the hook on making me one..LOL... anyway, those panels are kick ***...let me know, thanks, John
 
johnmucci said:
Hey Kurt, those kick panels are awesome!!! will they fit my 65 vert?? if so, put me down for a pair!! I got my top installed finally and the guy was able to fab that lock piece so i will let you off the hook on making me one..LOL... anyway, those panels are kick ***...let me know, thanks, John
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yeah they'll fit from 63 to 66 dodge and plymouth Abody cars
they are going for 84.00+shipping. (gotta find out if they fit a flat rate box, on the web store they'll be 99.00 + shipping once the store is finished.)

I left the mounting holes small (.2) so you can open them up or slot them if your set was mounted in a different part of the metal slotted hole in the car.
here's some close ups up the first finished 000001 part (set) promised to Ray Formont. I'm waiting on my next 4 sheets of ABS to come on on Friday before I can make more.
they fit 5 1/4 speakers (I have tried them out on 3 different sets and all of them fit so far.
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this bottom edge can be trimmed down to fit a larger pile or insulated carpet without loosing stiffness. you can trim back over 3/8th of an inch if you have heavy insulated carpets. my wife's car will be in that category. I'll have to trim it all the way back (3/8") since she wants hushmatt and bubble type insulation along the edges and with the good jute backing. she hates a noisy car but likes the older ones if I can make em quiet.
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I left a rounded edge to give it a smoother look(not that you'll ever see in besides the fresh air box, but I wanted it there for me.)
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the cnc cut it out 10000% better than I ever could:glasses7:
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darn near a perfect match. now to find out of they will fit in a flat rate box.
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I'll be putting a for sale thread on here after I get the splash shields and rear panel trim plastic piece made.
 
I posted this over in making molds. but I'm geeked about the new part I just tested out. IT's soooooo close. I have a little bit more tweaking on the part. (maybe a lot) but it's been in the vacuform and a piece has been made. That's 100% ahead of where I was! yeah it need adjustment since I forgot to adjust for shrinkage. :banghead: BUT I'm working on it.

here it is (driver side only right now and yeah I'll have to do the passengers side like that too! &^%*&^%

trims gotta come down a bit.
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top fits goooood
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I'll have to manually reheat and bend this piece in just like the originals.
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part of the fix.
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Since I was able to work on the 66. got stuck up in Michigan for about 5 months working on the house getting it ready to sell. But I'm home now (thankfully before the frigid weather hit.)
and have been playing around trying to get back in the groove of working on the 66. Slow progress on the car but a little better on the parts. I made some molds up for parts I need for my dart. I currently have the wing divider cushions molded up and am testing out the different types of urethane to see which one will work for the part. yeah I know someone makes em but I want to do it for ME. so far so good on the molds. I just poured a rear bumper cushion for the Darts rear bumper and am as pleased as I can be. now to make repairs to the part so it's close to perfect. my original wasn't perfect ,but now that I have a decent set that fits WITH softer rubber I can afford to repair the originals and get a better mold. here is the new parts in progress

the best 2 originals that I have. still a lot of work to redo these parts and am afraid to bend the piece since it's brittle rubber.
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oops this is what happens when you try to straighten it up $^&%&$%^&
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now making the silicone mold for the parts
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made the molds and peeled it apart to check for curing.. look like it'll be ok to test things out.
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Had metal pieces cut at the metal shop (it was cheaper to get 20 pieces made than 4). go figure.
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testing position in the mold.....works for me!
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urethane poured in and flash cleaned off . I'm excited to see the finished part.
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old part is on the rubber mold and new part is on desk. they look good for a test. I like the soft rubber on there now.
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Damn it fits! I like it!
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it even follows the curve of the panel great.
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Ahh now to do a pretty fix of the originals to hide all the little flaws and cracks that the mold picked up and make some new molds. will they be perfect? nope but they will fit and look good. I'm happy with the part as is, but I'd like it to be a lot better for the wife's 66 dart.
 
salinasjoel said:
66dvert I've been gone for a while I'm glad your still molding parts this is great
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Thanks. it has been fun learning new stuff and making parts for my (and others ) Early A's.
so far the slimline kick panels are DONE.
the vent window divider cushions are molded and tested to fit on my dart convertible but I consider them too soft to really use. plus I need to make the originals pretty before I remold them but they did come out okay and I will redo them with an easier pour opening after they are prettied up. lots of nicks and ragged edges on the originals and they sure did show up. super glue is my friend here and grits from 220 to 3000 whew gonna take a while.

the rear bumper cushions for the darts 63-66 look okay also but I need a better opening to pour into to get full coverage with no bubbles. I'm learning as I go. another mold is being made for them also since I would have to butcher this one too badly to use:banghead:.

rear license plate light's lens is molded but I don't have any clear UV resistant plastic on hand.. gotta make money to spend it.

I am looking for a drivers side rubber divider cushion for a 63-66 hardtop or barracuda (left hand side.) my right hand is good (eh okay but I can fix it) and yeah it is a bunch different
should be part number 2217573 ab ct lh


convertible in and working (but too soft for me) will fix going to shore 80 hardness instead of 60.
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here is the right hand for the hardtops and barracuda's. I'm looking for the left hand side
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this is the difference between the hardtops,barracuda's (left) and the convertible vent window frames.(right) the glass and the actual window frame is the same but the Chrome piece that it bolts too is different.
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hardtop is on top and convertible is on bottom , vent glass from the hardtop has been put in ther convertible frame.
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And I'm going to try and keep the power steering, A/c AND add an engine mounted turbo on my /6. I am looking for early a-body pictures of the fender well header cutout areas so I can better think through the placement of my turbo (rear mount would work but the darn scavenge pump makes it a bit of a mess and added expense for me to mock up). sooooo I was thinking (ya, I know bad idea right?)I might get enough room for the front turbo if I move it over to the area on the passengers side where a fender well header cutout would be on the passengers side and clock it to fit. so any pictures of the passengers side inner fender that's been cut for the headers would be appreciated to help me mock it up on a parts car first. and for the underside crossover I could go either way since it does not matter much to the turbo (<10psi boost)what shape the pipe is as long as it gets the exhaust flow. so 2.5" pipe with a slightly flattened 3"area welded in at the area under the oil pan or between the trans pan and bell housing to the passengers inner fender should work.

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of course I'll have to figure out how to add an inter-cooler into the radiator,a/c condenser area without chopping up too much stuff, but that's what a spare front section of a parts car is for:D
 
Hey D vert.
Don't suppose you made an extra set of those window stops, did you?
I have one that's broken, original. I bought a set from Laysons and they are VERY SOFT!!!!
Let me know.
Jim
 
pyrojim said:
Hey D vert.
Don't suppose you made an extra set of those window stops, did you?
I have one that's broken, original. I bought a set from Laysons and they are VERY SOFT!!!!
Let me know.
Jim
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nope, I didn't make a set yet. (that is why I made them from 60 shore hardness instead of laysons 20 shore silicone) but I can. they do have a few little flaws in them right now. that's why I didn't make a run of em. (got your new design deeper kick panels in the works, one side done and tested) if your willing to wait a bit I can send them both together . darn life gets in the way of playing with my toys!!!
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my new baby. Not an A body and it took 12 years of work on his other cars to pay it off but it's mine now! Needs paint but other than that it's done!


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I just got my wiring harness back from the maker. now I can safely add my rear light to the dart. I made them from 14 gauge instead if the regular 16 gauge just because, I could even go back to stock or even use 4 1157 bulbs if I ever blow up the led modules.
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all it takes is one splice to go to all 4 tail/stop/turn instead of the trunk lights just being tail lights. I like the extra visibility, the extra load only comes on when you hit the brakes or turn signal so it's a smaller drain that I thought
 
Wow I can not beleive it's been 2 years since I posted on this thread... Car still isn't done BUT I did manage to get the engine work done and am in the process of putting it back together. So far I have a 78 /6 engine .030 over. decked .080, head with oversized valved shaved .060and a reground Cam #819 specs with new lifters and timing chain. Piston rings are opened up a bit for eventual turbo on the engine and extra .008 over stock gaps. next up I'll measure the 66 darts oil pickup and level it then add the 66 oil pan and paint it RED! Trans is going to come apart as soon as I get the engine put together. Right now it'll have the dual 1bbl setup until I get the Turbo piping and location mocked up just to get some time on the engine and bugs worked out. I'm lucky I have a driver so it's not making me crazy trying to cram everything into a short time. but I really do want to get this car going soon.

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oh and my fix as a driver since I'm waiting on this one. It's not an A-body but it'll have ot do until I get mine going.
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