70 340 4-speed dart - talk me off the ledge

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340duster340

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i bought this dart with intentions to restore, or at least do the bare minimum to make it the ultimate beater.

its a legit 340-4 speed and mostly complete, nicely optioned car but has serious rust issues. worst parts are the t-bar cross member and lower front frame rails, firewall is moth-eaten and the hood under bracing is swiss-cheese. also a tree or something fell on the drivers rear 1/4 and gave it and the trunk a healthy speed-dent. also every panel possible on the car has some form of rot.

structurally the inner rockers, a pillars, roof and rear rails are relatively sold.

my delusional fantasy is to patch the rails/floor/firewall and get it going again with a mechanical re-do, but then reality sets in, and its looking like it might need the entire rails and cross member replaced which is more than i can tackle time-wise right now.

thoughts? ideas? talk me off the ledge, i really want to do something with this car, but don't want to take it apart and have it sit in my garage for a years. my next step is to get it on the lift and see what its going to take to fabricate some frame patches


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If it were a slant or 318 car there would be no question that it's not worth saving. The fact it's a 340 4spd makes it worth consider restoring..... Decisions, decisions, decisions..... How much money do you have for the restoration??
 
Part it out. You will be shocked at how much you can get for parts. I bought a rusty 69 Barracuda FB 4 spd parts car with a running 340 for $3200. I wanted to convert my 69 340 Auto to a 4 speed. I stripped off all the 4 speed stuff, and parted out the rest. I stripped it to the BONE. I made enough parting it out to have 4 spd and shifter rebuilt and even after paying $3200 for it, I ultimately pocketed several hundred in the end.
 
I lot of guys were saying the same thing about B-bodies just a few years ago. Look how many of them got parted out and look at what they're worth now. I bet many wish they hadn't chopped them up because of the way prices have skyrocketed lately.

It's only a matter of time before A-body prices start heading that way, if they haven't already. It started with the E's. Once they were too high, people moved to the B's, and now the A's (and even C's) are inching up.

If you're not needing the money, I say do a little bit at a time and either 1) sell it when the A-body market comes up or 2) continue the restoration to whatever level you see fit.
 
wish4hemi said:
I lot of guys were saying the same thing about B-bodies just a few years ago. Look how many of them got parted out and look at what they're worth now. I bet many wish they hadn't chopped them up because of the way prices have skyrocketed lately.

It's only a matter of time before A-body prices start heading that way, if they haven't already. It started with the E's. Once they were too high, people moved to the B's, and now the A's (and even C's) are inching up.

If you're not needing the money, I say do a little bit at a time and either 1) sell it when the A-body market comes up or 2) continue the restoration to whatever level you see fit.
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agree, option 2 for the forseeable future, red on black 340 4 speed, its basically my dream car all roached out.
 
harrisonm said:
Part it out. You will be shocked at how much you can get for parts. I bought a rusty 69 Barracuda FB 4 spd parts car with a running 340 for $3200. I wanted to convert my 69 340 Auto to a 4 speed. I stripped off all the 4 speed stuff, and parted out the rest. I stripped it to the BONE. I made enough parting it out to have 4 spd and shifter rebuilt and even after paying $3200 for it, I ultimately pocketed several hundred in the end.
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yeah, i know its got some good parts, which is why even though i paid relatively a lot for it, i know between what i would keep and what i could sell i would be ok. but parting it is not on the table right now.
 
Put it on a lift and see what you have maybe start collecting parts and save it when you have the time. If you can keep it out of the weather to stop it from getting worse.
Let's face it we all have parted out cars and maybe junked some along the way and down the road said I wish I still had that.
Besides when was the last time you found any real 340 4spd cars in any condition.
Good Luck what ever you decide
 
Interesting that it has a thumbwheel radio. Was this strictly a rally dash thing or were some one way, some the other? I had a 70 4 door Dart back in the day and it had a knob radio.
 
Sounds like you could have answered your own question if you don't have the time. Seems like the only reasonable way to save it is if you could do a lot of the work. That thing would be a crazy money pit if you're paying someone to do the work. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving it. This is my favorite a-body and I own one. This one seems pretty bad though. I do like what someone before me suggested. Maybe you can store it for a while and collect parts until your schedule allows you to tear into it? It is a GREAT car, that's for sure.

And, yes, all 70 340 a-bodies had a thumbwheel radio, I believe.
 
with the parts available from AMD these days, parting it out shouldn't be on the table.

It should be fixed and stand as the prize for whoever is dedicated to put the work in to save a piece of Americana and coolness.

It shouldn't be about the money if you are a true car guy.
 
Oaktree said:
Interesting that it has a thumbwheel radio. Was this strictly a rally dash thing or were some one way, some the other? I had a 70 4 door Dart back in the day and it had a knob radio.
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Rallye Dash has a thumbwheel in 1970. 71 Rallye Dash cars got a knob style.
 
Part it out. Unless you have another parts car or a lot of money, time, and patience, it's pretty far gone to revive. That 8 track player is a Craig power play floor mount. I might be interested.
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you gotta decide if you have the HEART and the wallet to do that restoration... that poor car is pretty well jacked up. - the heart: because if you're not 100% into it for the pure satisfaction of doing it, you will ultimately be disappointed. - the wallet: it's going to be EXPENSIVE and time consuming to restore that car - even if you do most of it yourself. - so - if you continue forward you'll pour your heart and soul into it, mega $$ and sweat equity and when all is said and done - it'll be worth about 1/2 of what you put into it monetarily and you'll get next none of the sweat/blood equity back. - in short, you need to fall in love with the car and be ready to spend spend spend..
 
Most if not all the people who are telling you to part it...want parts from it.lol
FIX IT, TAKE YOUR TIME...NO HURRY.
Its just sheet metal , patch weld or flange it, fill it...no one cares if you use expensive repop panels and they shouldnt.
Just maybe buy the repop rails and then just grab a sheet or 2 to do all the rocker panels, lower fenders,1/4. I've seen worse get brought back in about yr by guys with no money , just brains and a welder with some paint skills.
I have looked into trunks and seen plain sheet patched in, painted and nice...and said to myself.."this car could have been junk, if some Galen goobier had decided rerop parts or scrap...this car would be a memory.
Save it!
 
Can ya sell it as is?

Just doesn't seem worth it to me. You'll have 40k into a 25k car. I could see if maybe there was some sentimental attachment of something but I still don't see it being worth it. All that for a VIN tag. I'd buy s clean car and build what you want out of it. Too much time and money for me to be bothered with that thing.
 
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