72 Front Clip on a 75 Dart and hood?

[Woodsman341]

Hi all,

Anyone got pics of a 75 Dart with a 72 front clip? I'm just curious how the hood looks, fits, between the different years/clips.

Thanks!

 

[HemiSSDart]

You have to use the entire front clip, fenders, hood, grille, bumper, lower valance to make it work. 75 fenders are like 67-69 fenders and don't have the separate fender extensions.

 

[Woodsman341]

You have to use the entire front clip, fenders, hood, grille, bumper, lower valance to make it work. 75 fenders are like 67-69 fenders and don't have the separate fender extensions.

I just re-read my post and realized I didn't type out everything I was thinking. I'm looking at buying a 75 that already has the 72 front clip and hood, and while I like the look (sort of like a 72 Demon), I wasn't sure what parts would need to change. Thanks for pointing it out! So it would take a bit of work and more than a few parts to go back to a 75 sport body front. Gotcha.

Thanks!

 

[72bluNblu]

On a ‘75 you’d want to look at how they did the front bumper brackets. The earlier cars use 2 bolts to mount the bumper brackets. The later cars with the shock mounted bumpers (like the ‘75) only use one bolt, and that bolt is not in the same place as either of the earlier ones. So mounting the earlier brackets requires some fabrication. The right way to do it would be to add captured nuts inside the frame rail, but that’s not the easiest way. So I’d look and see how that was done if I was looking to buy a converted car.

The rest of the stuff- fenders, hood, front valance, grille, hood latch support, etc just bolt on, so it’s only a matter of having those parts to install.

Was the tail light panel and rear bumper changed as well? Or does it have the ‘75 rear bumper and tail lights? That swap also requires a decent amount of welding and panel swapping.

 

[Locomotion]

The 1975 Dart Sport had a unique tailpanel that included a 3 piece bezel that extended from end-to-end encompassing the taillights. I swapped around '74 thru '76 parts on my existing Dart Sport which started as a '74 Duster. Also had a project converting a '71 Duster to a '75 Dart Sport before I sold it. Kinda curious how the car you mentioned is done. Got pics?

 

[Woodsman341]

The rear is still a 75 sport, complete with the trim around/between the tails.

 

[72bluNblu]

Here's a picture of my '74 Dusters front frame rail. The mid year '74's are unique, they had all 3 bumper mounting locations. Turns out that '74 started with shock bumpers up front (and a single mounting hole for the bracket), then due to some kind of manufacturing issue the factory had to switch back to standard (non shock mount) brackets. That swap happened in late November/December of '73 ('74 model year). The rest of model year '74 got standard brackets, but had all 3 locations. '75's and later would have just had the single shock mount hole, and not the standard mounts.

I swapped my '74 Duster over to a '71 Dart front clip, but I've also changed the rear tail panel and bumper to make it a Demon clone.

 

[Woodsman341]

Here's a picture of my '74 Dusters front frame rail. The mid year '74's are unique, they had all 3 bumper mounting locations. Turns out that '74 started with shock bumpers up front (and a single mounting hole for the bracket), then due to some kind of manufacturing issue the factory had to switch back to standard (non shock mount) brackets. That swap happened in late November/December of '73 ('74 model year). The rest of model year '74 got standard brackets, but had all 3 locations. '75's and later would have just had the single shock mount hole, and not the standard mounts.

View attachment 1716003776

I swapped my '74 Duster over to a '71 Dart front clip, but I've also changed the rear tail panel and bumper to make it a Demon clone.
View attachment 1716003777

View attachment 1716003778

That's wild about the bumper mounts on the 74. And that is a sweet looking ride. The more I look at the 72 front end on the 75, the more I like it. I'm curious, that round marker light... Was that stock in one year?

 

[72bluNblu]

Thanks!

And yes, those are factory 1968 marker lights. I had the plastic ‘72+ markers in the back, and the front fenders had the ‘70/‘71 marker lights so when I did the front clip I went to the ‘68’s since I had to change stuff anyway. The ‘68 markers are really easy, they just need a round hole with a small slot. Plus they look nice and clean without totally shaving the markers or making it look more custom with a flushed set of markers. My duster is basically my daily driver, so I wanted to keep some kind of side marker.

 

[Wayne Rider]

I don't know if it's okay or not but I have a 75 Dart Sport and my tail panel is a little rough . Anyone know where to find one ?

 

[72bluNblu]

I don't know if it's okay or not but I have a 75 Dart Sport and my tail panel is a little rough . Anyone know where to find one ?

A tail panel for a ‘75 Dart Sport? I don’t believe they’re reproduced at all, so you’d have to find someone that’s parted one out. Or change to one of the panels that is reproduced, but then you’d have to find tail light housings and lenses.

You might try asking @Lee Robinson, although I don’t think he’s listed any tail panels recently.

Depending on where your panel is “rough” you might also be able to buy one of the earlier tail panels and use it for repairs, or swap the later tail light openings into the replacement panel. But that could be a lot of work depending on the condition of your tail light panel and how much sectioning you ended up doing.

 

[MoparMike1974]

The swap is a bolt on deal. As mentioned the shock absorber bumper mount in the main obstacle on a 74+. Everything forward of the firewall needs to be swapped out. Its a lot to change out but not difficult. The good news is you should have no problem selling your early front clip and should be ahead in $$ if going to a beaker.
No reproductions on the 73+ tail panels. I managed to find a nos one for my 73 but didnt see any others out there.

 

[Wayne Rider]

A tail panel for a ‘75 Dart Sport? I don’t believe they’re reproduced at all, so you’d have to find someone that’s parted one out. Or change to one of the panels that is reproduced, but then you’d have to find tail light housings and lenses.

You might try asking @Lee Robinson, although I don’t think he’s listed any tail panels recently.

Depending on where your panel is “rough” you might also be able to buy one of the earlier tail panels and use it for repairs, or swap the later tail light openings into the replacement panel. But that could be a lot of work depending on the condition of your tail light panel and how much sectioning you ended up doing.

Thanks any idea where reproduced panels would be ?

 

[72bluNblu]

Thanks any idea where reproduced panels would be ?

Like I said, none for the 73+ cars.

But AMD has a Demon tail panel, which would be basically the same except for the tail lights. So you could either use it to repair yours, or use yours to change the tail lights on the demon panel. Not easy, but I don’t know how rough your panel is or how long you want to look for a good one for a ‘74 Dart Sport.

Taillight Panel - OE Style - 71-72 Demon Taillight Panels | AMD 900-2371

They also have a ‘72 Duster panel in stock
Body Components - Tail Panel - Taillight Panels Body Components - Tail Panel - Taillight Panels

Looks like the 70/71 Duster tail panel is out of stock.

 

[Wayne Rider]

Like I said, none for the 73+ cars.

But AMD has a Demon tail panel, which would be basically the same except for the tail lights. So you could either use it to repair yours, or use yours to change the tail lights on the demon panel. Not easy, but I don’t know how rough your panel is or how long you want to look for a good one for a ‘74 Dart Sport.

Taillight Panel - OE Style - 71-72 Demon Taillight Panels | AMD 900-2371

They also have a ‘72 Duster panel in stock
Body Components - Tail Panel - Taillight Panels Body Components - Tail Panel - Taillight Panels

Looks like the 70/71 Duster tail panel is out of stock.

Thanks again