71 hemi orange swinger rescue.

[Stephen Hotz]

1971 Dodge Dart Swinger
Found it on craigslist and watched it for a year just sitting, contacted the seller and asked if he would take payments. He said yes so I paid $1,200.00 for it. Have always been a Ford guy but have always liked Mopars as well and this was too good to pass up. These are the craigslist photos

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Got her home and had some suprises, disc brakes engine turns over by hand and was able to install a new rear windshield after rehydrating the original weatherstriping. Also replaced the driver side hood hinge.

 

[Stephen Hotz]

I have since replaced the starter, went to a latemodel mini starter. Plugs, wires, coil(not there), and added a battery. Still need to replace points and condensor then see if it will fire off. I need it to fire so it can pass its inspection as a complete car to get my bonded title. Worked on the ignition switch so that I can now remove the key from it and cleaned out the trunk to get a better picture of what I am dealing with. Had a little helper for that. Found the expected rust in the spare tire well and some screen wire in both drop off's that would not come out so you can bet there is bondo in the lower quarters.

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Plan at this point is get it to a point where it fires then stabilized so I can fix it one bite at a time. It is a #'s matching body and drivetrain but I can always swap in another motor to warm over and save the stock parts if I ever need to put it back. The big reason I started coming to these forums stem from a google search I did that led me to a thread, "RustyRatRods guide to hotrod bliss" I believe it was. Between that and 318willrun's lowbuck 318 project got me hooked. Looking forward to seeing how this project goes as I'm sure it will be slow but steady.

 

[Dartnut]

Looks like a good straight forward build on a nicely optioned car.
I'll be following this one!

 

[451Cuda]

Nicely optioned car to start with. Keep that rim blow steering wheel, getting expensive nowadays.

 

[jimjimjimmy]

every old mopar that is saved makes the world a better place thanks and good luck and try to keep the young fellow busy it will pay in the long run .

 

[barbee6043]

Good save! I love the taillites in the bumpers. I am a few or so hours East of you. There is a great Mopar culb right there at SA.
You will get there, just make a plan and one step at a time!!

 

[Stephen Hotz]

He has had a 63 fairlane since he was 3. I bought the 63 to flip but he walks out looks at it and says Ramón, I tell him no Ramón from Cars is a Chevy to which he says no, Ramón, Ramón de Judah ( Judah's Ramón in spanish) he's bilingual. So the wife says well he told you. He loves cars as does his brother. His brother just got his own car and as he likes Mopars just got a 67 Coronet 440 trim 4 door. So both the 9 and 10 year olds have project cars that a) they have to work on themselves, I get the heavy stuff. b) they have to document on thier respective forums. C) they have to learn and research thier on stuff. Start them early.

 

[chryslerfat]

Looks like a good start

 

[Stephen Hotz]

I like the taillights in the bumper as well, has a clean look too me. I plan on keeping the rimblow wheel but need to look into its restoration. Worst case senario I strip it and build it back up with black walnut on the outside. One bite at a time.

 

[barbee6043]

Great to see your kids leaning not just how to build cars , but to be learning all about life.. hard work, responsibility, respect, the list is long as to what you are teaching them and letting them learn. Good deal!

 

[HemiSSDart]

LA built car made it to Texas, nice find! It will be a neat little hotrod...

 

[crackedback]

Did you get lucky? Rim Blow and Disc.... does it have an 8.75 rear in it? Lots of the cars optioned like yours ended up with 8.75's instead of the 7.25.

 

[Stephen Hotz]

7.25 unfortunatly

 

[70scatpack]

Nice find,I love Hemi orange

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Majority of the floor pan rust is from inside and the worst is drivers side. Bent the edges back strait and radio bezel fits back.

 

[813Demon340]

Nice score! Should be a fun, easy, project. Very cool of you to keep the little helpers involved too, I look forward to your build!

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Ran a compression test on the 318 today.
1. 30psi
2. 100psi
3. 45psi
4. 75psi
5. 85psi
6. 75psi
7. 10psi
8. 95psi
All dry #'s. Easy to see why it wont fire off with a little gas down the carb.

 

[George Jets]

Provably bad valves, they are the first thing to go.

Have seen the exhaust valves burn through, beside them needing a valve job after 40 years.

 

[Stephen Hotz]

I guess I need to run a scope into the cylinders to check the bores. I would like to keep the 318 over the 360 magnum that I have.

 

[George Jets]

318s are good engines, yeah.

Bore scope for a look in the cylinders is good idea.

If it was sitting for a long time, there usually is one valve open on each bank letting humidity in from the air. Can light rust the cylinder wall in that hole.

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Ran the bore scope into the spark plug holes, no evidence of rust on any of the cylinder walls that I could see.

 

[George Jets]

Ran the bore scope into the spark plug holes, no evidence of rust on any of the cylinder walls that I could see.

That's a good thing.

 

[sireland67]

I would say valves sticking.
Pull the rocker arms, squirt some ATF on the valve guides, let it sit a couple of days, give the top of each valve a good strong tap with a brass hammer.
Then put the rocker arms back on, add a squirt of oil to the cylinders and try the compression test again.

Or the timing chain jumped, may want to check it first, since you have a bore scope, pop the fuel pump out and see if there is any broken teeth on the cam gear.