67 Dart Convertible Rescue

[Dana67Dart]

After I have been through a restoration or 2 it makes me appreciate any good looking old cars going down the road

This one is making me appreciate how well my dad maintained his / my 67 convert.

Garaged so cal car did not hurt either.

The nice thing about this rescue dart is I can learn on it and then feel less like I'm going to mess up my late father's car when these type of repairs are needed

 

[69conv]

Mine will never be points cars but they look good and I built them to be what I want. You have a great model to play with.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Well...

60 lbs ( I measured all of it ) of dirt removed from the trunk and inside of the car!

 

[Dana67Dart]

Engine is still in the engine bay but it should be coming out this weekend.

I don't expect much from the engine as it has been open and exposed to the elements for decades.




The front driver's side stamping says it is a 318

PM318R 22492025

According to some other posts...

PM is Mound Rd engine assy plant
Displacement 318
R is Regular gas
2249 is September 24, 67 build date
2025 engine built that day .


I pulled the dist.

At first I did not expect it to come out.

I took a 2x4 on one of the screws that holds the vac can on and tapped it with a hammer, to my surprise the dist rotated.

Did the same on another screw and it rotated back.

A 2x2 under the dist and a light rotating tap as before and it popped right out.

Not pretty in the hole!

 

[Dana67Dart]

Engine comes out Saturday morning!

It is free and moveable.

When I supported the oil pan with a 2x4 and jack all I heard was crack snap... Like rusted metal breaking!


The oil filter was rusted and split open.

I would be surprised if the block is not cracked and split!

 

[Dana67Dart]

Well here is the engine results....

Not looking good

 

[Dana67Dart]

 

[Dana67Dart]

1. Rust as a porting technique.
2. Crack on the block ear near the oil filter adapter
3. Many cylinders full of dirt. One was still damp after a year indoors
4. All but 3 lifters came out easily
5. Erosion between the center exhaust ports.
6. I believe the engine is untouched, steel head gaskets, no pass side exhaust gaskets all the exhaust bolts came out with out braking.
7. Only had to cut one front timing cover bolt, all other bolts came out with ease

Crank and cam come out tomorrow.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Latest update...

So sad... an original 68 standard bore 318. 2 pistons came out with no coercion needed, no ridge to ream, and totally beautiful cylinder walls.

The other 6... Pits that make craters on the moon look flat.


Block and heads are now becoming a toaster.

The crank, and cam have a new home with a buddy.

I'm cleaning the 2 salvaged rods and the 8 caps, the main bearing caps (unfortunately the rear cap got damaged where the oil pump fits in it in the removal of the oil pump) and the main bolts. The valve trane is also getting cleaned up.


Most likely I'll be selling the parts (at a great price ) in the near future.

The timing cover, finally came off. 1 upper bolt was corroded/welded to the cover. I was able to press the cover off the stud enough to cut the bolt flush with the block being carefully to protect the cover.

Then tap the bolt out of the cover.

Some front accessory drive parts including an elusive AC idler pulley that still spins.

The PS pump spins free and there is still red good smelling trans fluid in it. Go figure! The car was last registered in 1976!


Today, my daughter and I removed everything from the headlight bucket back to the firewall.

Only 1 broken bolt... The hood alignment screw.

I was able to center punch and drill a hole so centered and crept up on drilling it out that the last drill bit left the tips of the threads in the hole barely visible. Cleanup with a tap, and presto it's all good. (First time in my life that I have had that good of a success drilling out a broken bolt)

We made the decision to replace all the steel lines, fuel and brake so removing the lines was easy snip snip pull pull. The master is a drum drum that I doubt can be disassembled, the rearmost cylinder was dry as a bone and you could see into the piston bore, the frontmost was filled with solid gunk that chips away.

Just some misc photos

Now for a mystery....

Rogue bolt?

It's next to where the fender tag is, to the front of the car.

The hole seems to be a pressed hole! Nothing was under the screw, and my 3 month younger 67 dart convert doesn't have it or even a dimple in that location.


Thoughts?

 

[JDMopar]

On our 69 Dart conv, that screw holds down a clamp on an AC hose that runs to the condenser. Your car is an AC car too, so that is probably what it’s for.

 

[JDMopar]

 

[Dana67Dart]

On our 69 Dart conv, that screw holds down a clamp on an AC hose that runs to the condenser. Your car is an AC car too, so that is probably what it’s for

On the driver's side?

Just saw your photo.

Can you get me one from farther away?

All the AC was missing except a the under dash parts, a beat up condenser, the receiver dryer, the crank pulley and the idler pulley

 

[JDMopar]

Yep, that was taken across the drivers side fender. Grill is to the left in that pic. The 2 screws you can see to the right of the screw holding that strap on the AC line are the screws that hold the fender tag to the inner wheel well. The tag is off for safe keeping.

I'll be glad to get you some pics, but it will be late this coming weekend. We're going to the beach for a few days and will be back then. The car is a 69 GT convertible, 273 auto, AC car. All of the stuff under the hood is intact and original. I would imagine it would be the same as a 67 small block, AC car.

 

[69conv]

That screw looks like what holds down the washer bottle too. Any possibility?

 

[Dana67Dart]

I'll be glad to get you some pics, but it will be late this coming weekend

No rush. It will be years before the AC works again!

 

[Dana67Dart]

That screw looks like what holds down the washer bottle too. Any possibility

It is twice as big as washer bottle screws and they have a flange on them

 

[Dana67Dart]

The latest...

We picked up a $250.00 79 318 and A998 trans from a running driving car (91,000 miles)

We did some more excavating in the car.

Dug up some fun and one totally awesome artifact.

And now the totally awesome one....

The finger print of someone who worked on the car back in 1966 (november 66 built) it is in a bab of putty that was pressed into a slotted hole

If anyone is in law enforcement and has the ability to run finger prints it would be so cool to have the name of the person assuming they are in the system!


And lastly...

Original front shock?

1 pc bushing with metal tube in side.

Also the shock has blackout paint on one side of it. And there is blackout paint under the fender in the body (original or not????)

 

[Dana67Dart]

Removed the driver's quarter glass ( well frame, since some little bastards smashed a bunch of glass on the POs hoard of cars)

Looks like removing the regulator first would have been the way to go.

Ultimately I unbolted all the nuts and bolts and removed parts that came free, then the regulator out the bottom, then the glass frame out the top.

(If the convert top was down it might have been easier, but right now it is storing long parts)

I'm NOT looking forward to putting in new glass! Let alone adjust it!



Found a couple more artifacts...

A plastic cup and a bolt that is supposed to hold the top to the car.

The cup did not go in through this body hole, it could have only gone in with the rear window rolled up, and the armrest removed.


Interesting writing on the cup ..

"Liquor Stores"

"Call GR 6-0633 (the last 3 might be a 0 or 6 or 8 or 9)

The letter phone numbers ended in 68 so that puts the cup in the 66 to 69 (figuring the store had a supply of cups that they ran through after the change over)

On the bottom of the cup is

3 Cs inside each other.
12IP
2

The bolt was in the cavity forward of the wheel wheel.

I found the hole that it should go into, no nut welded behind the body panel.

I assume on the production line the installer just tossed it into the body panel cavity rather than have to explain why he has extra parts left over.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Got another 5lbs of dirt!

Successfully removed the chrome / stainless trim around the top opening. Only had 3 snap screws that resisted. I had to bend the mounting clip to get it off the car. The screws basically have lost a circle of teeth so the screw just turns.

I broke one of the top curtain tac strip retainer screws. Lucky I was able to drill it out.

Got the driver's side door down to a shell. The vent window frame lower pivot mount detached from the frame and the middle of the frame Aldo septated.

It's odd, like the spot welds were not done correctly.

Tomorrow cleanup the mess I made bag and tag anything I missed.

Then on to the pass side glass.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Very productive day.

Got things straightened up a bit.

Then got sidetracked...

Now the top pump and rams are out, the top is down, and the busted out windshield is out.

Got more dirt vacuumed up.


A bit of moisture got in the pump at some time.

But overall the clear ATF (as in the original fluid) looked and smelled good.

A bit of sludge but it whipped out easy.

Both bottom corners of the A pillers look great

More proof that 2 people assembled the top to the converts.

Left side the staples are all in a row, the right side vertical and more random. My 67 very was built 2 months later and was almost the same, 2 guys one neat one not so neat.

I cut out some of the rusted out pass side floor.

The metal under it perfect.

It looks so much better without the busted out windshield

 

[Dana67Dart]

A little more progress.

Another pound of dirt..

I think the car was sitting on a nose down pass side down angle.

The right side of the car is significantly more rusted than the left.

Got the trim stored away.

And got the pass side rear quarter glass and hardware removed.

Got a replacement (it was the victim of a baseball bat) driver's side quarter glass (not tinted) but it's in good condition (if anyone has a tinted and want to trade for a non tinted pm me)


Only one broken bolt that will be easy to fix..

AND....

there was one bolt holding the bottom of the front channel that was rusted away and I could not get a wrench on it.

I ended up grinding the head off but now I have to drill out the bolt.

Not an easy task inside the quarter cavity.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Not a lot of progress...

Got the passenger door cleared out to a shell

Got a shelving unit to store all the totes with misc car parts. And ha e a path to thru the garage.

I need to finish cleaning up the misc bits.

Then it's the dash and inside firewall accessories

 

[Dana67Dart]

Triumph!

I got the dash assy out (by my self and a couple of Bungie cords) and did not break anything!

I chose to cut the vacuum hoses at the switch rather than risk damaging the switch, also that way ill know which hose goes where.

Man oh man.... I'm thinking about ditching the AC and going to a heater only!

Many fewer parts!

Got another pound or so of dirt out

The two screw lugs on the back of the center radio bezel broke off AAARRRGGG!

I'm in the process of taking the dash assy apart now.

Tomorrow is the AC box on the firewall and the wipers.

Got the steering column out and brake assy and parking brake assy too!

Looks like the gauge cluster has been out at some point and who ever took it out left off a few screws...

 

[70coupe]

That looks like a great shell, well saved. Looking forward to seeing the progress/updates

 

[Dana67Dart]

Got the AC / heater out.

The j bolt has a 5 /16 nut under the vent.

Loosened up easy.

The entire unit is heavier than the entire dash!

Got the dash stripped no major rust

Jot most of the switches functioning.

I took a few apart to clean but now I need a proper grease to reassemble.

From searches...

Vaseline
White lithium
Silicone

Are the favorites

I have an email in to a company to see what that have so we will see.

The wiper switch is a big sucker.

I successfully got it apart and cleaned. Found a small plastic disk that the stem presses on to make the washer pump work is broken so that's going to be a challenge.

Without it the stem will short out the pump switch.

Another 1/2 pound of dirt.

The radio and the gauges aren't looking too good at this point

I am seriously thinking about ditching the AC, making a filler plate to cover the large motor hole for the heater only.


Wiper linkage was being fussy so I sprayed the nuts and will tackle that tomorrow