70 Dart Swinger Restorationish

[pyrogen007]

I originally purchased my new to me 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger in 2008. It had the slant 6 w/ 3spd auto on the column, factory A/C, 7.25 open diff, manual drum brakes and power steering. Additional parts that came with the car was a 71 date code 340 and a 73+ V8 front suspension. My dad and I got the Dart running and driving and assessed how much the car needed to be safe and reliable. We decided it basically needed everything but it had very little rust and was very solid. Spoiler, I should have just replaced the worn out stuff and driven/enjoyed the car but we wanted to go fast so we took it apart for a V8 and manual swap. Life happened as it does and the car was left stored outside under tarps at my parents' house until summer of 2024 when I was able to finally bring it home. Dad and I did our best to store it properly and even today its still very solid and though it has more rust, its mostly just surface rust with exception of a few pin holes in the passenger compartment floor pan.

Attached photos are of when I first got the car and the the initial progress made of stripping/painting the V8 K frame/suspension/steering components and stuffing all the suspension with poly bushings back in 2008/2009.

 

[pyrogen007]

Some of these photos might look familiar as I posted some in another post requesting help with suspension/brakes/wheels. We originally planned to build a 451 stroker and go drag racing but since I am basically restarting this project, I want a nice driver instead with some decent power but not just in a straight line. These photos are also from 2008/09.

 

[Lift&Move]

I think the body looks great!
And a lot of nice goodies there!

 

[pyrogen007]

Fast forward a number of years and life events later.... Getting back to it Summer of 2024.

The plan now is to get rid of as much rust as necessary to put it back on the road, so engine bay, and interior were top priority. I got both sides shiny, though I didn't get photos of the passenger side being fully shiny. Weighing my options between black engine bay and body color, also, go back with the original or a color that I am more fond of. Decisions...

 

[pyrogen007]

And now the front of the engine bay.

 

[Kendog 170]

Nice work!

 

[pyrogen007]

The most time consuming part of the engine bay had to be the firewall. The whole process I used a combination of wire wheels and rust dissolver. I tried sand blasting, not a fan of the mess.

 

[pyrogen007]

A little out of sequence but, about half way through the firewall rust removal I took a quick ADHD break to clean/organize my work bench and work on cast iron transmission parts. This is Nov of 2024, I basically get a weekend here an there or maybe a random week night to mess with it.

 

[pyrogen007]

I also went and picked up a 383 short block to throw in the car. Its an older rebuild according to the previous owner, looks like lifter bores are going to need some love and I'm not sure I trust that cam but hte rest of it looks pretty good.

 

[pyrogen007]

Ok back to the car, with the engine bay in a better spot I turned toward the interior since we ripped that out years ago to rebuild the HVAC stuff and replace all the deteriorated well everything...

I did really mess one thing up, I disposed of my cardboard headliner prematurely, now I don't have a template for doing one and I really don't like the really thin vinyl covered cardboard that was originally there.

 

[pyrogen007]

And another ADHD break to go buy a rear axle, guy told me it was out of his 70 Superbee, measurements were right but I think it wasn't in quite as good condition as he claimed, I should have had him open it up. Live you learn I guess, its not that bad though. Its a 3.23 open and needs a new snubber and seals and brakes but I'm getting ahead of myself. First it needed the perches moved, so I did the thing that made the most sense and ordered a 1/2in relocation kit and new perches of course. That center chunk was such a pain to get out.

 

[pyrogen007]

More procrastinating instead of doing the rust removal/body work... but I waaaas doing rust removal, just on the axle housing and some of the internals.

 

[pyrogen007]

I started cleaning out the cowl vent and looking at the terrible leftover insulation. This is Jan/Feb 2025

 

[pyrogen007]

Decided to do the perch relocation since I was already working on it and I can do that standing up straight unlike inside the car, under the dash.

View attachment 1716446837

 

[pyrogen007]

Cleaning up and repainting suspension pieces after removing the 7.25 axle.

 

[pyrogen007]

Re-using the old suspension with new bushings for now, the plan is to get some higher rate springs, torsion bars and the Bilstiens down the road, just too much to do.

 

[pyrogen007]

And I made the mistake of looking up at where the rear axle was... Oh yay, more rust to take care of that I wasn't really planning on doing, still need to get back to the interior but I really need this car back on wheels.

 

[pyrogen007]

So instead of putting things back together, I took it more apart to address the rust...

 

[pyrogen007]

This tank was brand new back when we got the car running in 09ish.

 

[Kendog 170]

At least it's only surface rust. That body is nice compared to what we deal with in the Northeast.

 

[pyrogen007]

I purchased this car from someone in Oklahoma and its been in North East Texas since, I probably should do a bit more research into its history, but yeah, I'm very glad we dont have the rust here that most of the rest of the US has. On the subject of rust...

 

[pyrogen007]

Looks like the car fell off a jack stand at some point in its life, based on the hole and dent in the frame rail, bought some metal to repair it.

 

[pyrogen007]

Due to family, work and Texas summers, I will hopefully start making progress again in the coming weeks.

 

[pyrogen007]

Well got to work on it a bit back in Sept but forgot to take photos so there was a whole 9hrs of fun with a wire wheel on an angle grinder and playing with low Ph chemicals that have gone completely undocumented. Also decided to get rid of some of the textured primer for before summer so re-doing the LH front spring mount area. So here are today's adventures with more wire wheel action, media blasting and even some primer/paint. I really hate media blasting.

 

[pyrogen007]

More photographic documentation of self etching priming and then primer sealer.