67 dart GT 273 4bbl restoration

[Cudapete]

After finishing my 68 gts for the most part I started to tear down my fathers 67 dart and decided to start a resto thread,This car is a pretty much untouched and completely original other than a color change from red to green in 1975, so it needs everything! so far i've pretty much tore down the whole car with only the front suspension and brake lines left to pull out. from there I plan to repair the 2 bad floor pans under the rear seat and the couple small holes in the rear passenger frame rail, then rebuild the suspension to get it rolling again, so far thats as far as my plan has gotten. This car will be restored stone stock with the only modifications being frame connectors, electronic ign, and maybe a hydraulic cam. So far we've found 2 build sheets, we have the fender tag ,registrations back to 1970, and the certicard holder(unfortunatly no certicard) Hope you enjoy the pics.

 

[67Dart440GT]

Sweet, good luck. Looks like it was the same color as mine.

 

[68383GTS]

Nice,I am looking foward to watching this thread....

 

[Cudapete]

Been awhile since I've posted any pics, so heres some highlights on waht I've done and where i'm at: floors and chassis are finished as well as the frame connectors, next gonna start body work.

 

[Cudapete]

A couple more...

 

[Cudapete]

Been awhile since an update on progress : the car is painted, the rear end, front suspension and brakes are done, a lot of little things like dash,console rear tail panel are all redone. most of the trim is polished. after the holidays gonna wire in tach and gauges(easier with no interior) then its going to get the vinyl top done and after that glass will be going in. My dad is pretty excited to get it done so our goal is 4th of july 2012! hope you enjoy the pics

 

[moparker]

Looks fantastic! You guys do great work.

 

[George R]

You'll meet your goal of July easily.
Very nice work you've done so far!

George

 

[zhandfull]

Wow looks great. I think the hard part is behind you July should be no problem.

 

[65dartcharger]

You've done a great job on your project. Would you just change cam on the engine? I will follow your progress.

 

[smlveightis]

Great work!!

 

[684mulas]

Nice Dart! Love the color on that. Is that darker than the original red? It will look great with all of that stainless trim. Are you going to put the vinyl top back on? I think that would look sharp with that body style.

 

[Cudapete]

Thanks to all for the compliments! I've really enjoyed this build as my dad and I havent restored a car together since my 65 barracuda when I was a kid. To answer a few questions The car is being restored factory stock with a few exceptions being the frame connectors(I put them in all my cars, less flex, handle better IMO),electronic ign, radials, and possibly a hydraulic cam. If we go hydraulic i'm thinking a factory grind 340 or as close to original specs in an aftermarket.This is the original QQ1 dark red metallic color and yes it will be getting the vinyl top again soon I just need the weather to cooperate to get it to the guys shop thats doing it. I'll post more pics when I make a little more progress.

 

[Cudapete]

So finishing up my dads car I realized I have'nt posted pics since Dec! Since then pretty much everything has been finished! here are some highlights, the only things left to do to drive are an alignment and inspection and way earlier than my July 4th goal runs and sounds awsome! the 273 hi po exhaust system has a very unique sound!

 

[Cudapete]

Just a few more...

 

[68-GTS]

Vinyl top looks great.... Mind touching on the steps you took to get looking that good.
IE : Did you sand and what glue ECT ECT

Thanks

 

[OwdKasd]

Fantastic work. TV should do a reality show about these types of Builds.

 

[txstang84]

Very nice-sweet ride!

 

[scrappydoo]

Beautiful job.
Does it only have a single exhaust out the back?

 

[67 gt]

Great job and thanks for sharing your build with us.You have done some great work ,your dad would be stoked on how the car came out.!

 

[Cudapete]

Thanks everyone for the compliments! its been one of the more challenging resto's Iv'e done, but its rarity and uniqueness made it well worth saving! My father got me into this hobby when I was a kid and I have build a ton of cool stuff over the years so it was fitting in my mind to give back so to speak. He's very excited to get out and drive it and hit some cruise nights with it.

68 GTS the top was put on by a local guy I know who has an upholstery shop (chris @ onlineupholstery.com) Short version he found the center of both the top and car marked it with a soap stone we masked it ,hit it with a red scrubby lightly, cleaned it with wax and grease remover let it dry sprayed the glue (dont know what kind he used) let it tack up then lined up the marks and 3 of us smoothed and tugged on it til it was perfect!

Scrappydoo It has a special single exhaust specific to the hi po 273's in the 65-67 cuda /darts that consists of 2" pipe to a factory freeflow muffler tith a 3 foot long "resonator" that has a big chrome tip, the exhaust on this car is NOS and came in the boxes from the factory, its very unique looking and sounding compared to anything else I 've had

 

[Divenut]

Man, that's one fine ride! Great job!

Pat