340duster340
Well-Known Member
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
![IMG_9534_zpsq7ztxt4b.jpg IMG_9534_zpsq7ztxt4b.jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/img_9534_zpsq7ztxt4b-jpg.1714976324/)
![20161002_165754_zpsboru4qtl.jpg 20161002_165754_zpsboru4qtl.jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20161002_165754_zpsboru4qtl-jpg.1714976325/)
![20161002_165802_zpsacknfwsc.jpg 20161002_165802_zpsacknfwsc.jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20161002_165802_zpsacknfwsc-jpg.1714976326/)
![20161002_170048_zpswhsfaxgj.jpg 20161002_170048_zpswhsfaxgj.jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20161002_170048_zpswhsfaxgj-jpg.1714976327/)
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