Any Guru's for 73 Swinger advice?

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gdizzle

gdizzle

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Not sure where or if this is an appropriate question, but I am newbie to mopar (1 have 66 dart for 1.5years I have worked on L6). Anyhow, I am looking at possible getting a 2nd car and would like to avoid the pitfalls that I encountered when I bought my 66 Dart. My dart needed an engine rebuild 1 month after I got it. I hope, now I know what to look for.

Looking for something that requires very little mechanical/electrical work for my Teen son. We have found a 73 dart swinger with 318. However it has had a 4bbl added to it along with a new edlebrock intake. They were unable to reconnect the kickdown. Also the auto trans has had a 3 speed rachet shifter added to it? I think that means you shift from gear to gear, but it is automatic? How does Kickdown work with that type of shifter? Also if you have any ideas on what something like this would cost, that would be GREAT info. Any other hints? or things to be wary of?
 
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Unless the transmission has a manual valve body, find some way to get the kickdown hooked up ASAP or chances are the transmission is gonna need a rebuild.
 
I'm lost on what a click shifter is, but I'm certain someone here can speak to it. As for the kickdown, if they/you cannot get it to work (weird) Lokar makes an aftermarket kickdown cable you could use.
 
Like others said unless they did major work on the transmission by adding a manual valve body you need to get a kickdown system hooked up ASAP
If you can't make the original bracket/linkages work you have 2 options in the aftermarket that use a cable instead

First is Lokar. I've used it on a few transmissions. See here:
727 Kickdown

The other option is the Bouchillon performance kickdown cable which is superior to Lokar as it has more adjustability

Read the instructions (you can get them on their sites) and do some searches so you can fully understand how they work and how to hook them up properly
 
In the short term, you can just zip-tie the pressure lever all the way back. This will max out the line pressure, save the tranny, and maybe shake your fillings out on the shifts.
It is a simple thing to get the KD working.But whether or not you need it depends on what shift kit was installed.
On the street,I'm not a fan of a shift kit that absolutely requires the tranny to be manually shifted.
Make sure the throttle cable is properly anchored on the metal ferrule and NOT on the black plasticized outer sheath!
 
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gdizzle said:
Not sure where or if this is an appropriate question, but I am newbie to mopar (1 have 66 dart for 1.5years I have worked on L6). Anyhow, I am looking at possible getting a 2nd car and would like to avoid the pitfalls that I encountered when I bought my 66 Dart. My dart needed an engine rebuild 1 month after I got it. I hope, now I know what to look for.

Looking for something that requires very little mechanical/electrical work for my Teen son. We have found a 73 dart swinger with 318. However it has had a 4bbl added to it along with a new edlebrock intake. They were unable to reconnect the kickdown. Also the auto trans has had a 3 speed rachet shifter added to it? I think that means you shift from gear to gear, but it is automatic? How does Kickdown work with that type of shifter? Also if you have any ideas on what something like this would cost, that would be GREAT info. Any other hints? or things to be wary of?
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Aftermarket shifters can be a lot of fun, and installed/set up correctly work great. You need to know which shifter it is, 'cause they don't all function the same, so really go
find instructions for it & read. B&M had at least 4 different types way back, & all of them appeared &/or operated in their own way. Most have a "dual" mode system, where
it can operate as a std. console shift, but pulling the T handle & back puts it in ratchet mode, only moving one detent at a time. The kick-down works the same no matter
what unless a manual valvebody or manual kit was installed, not as likely or commonly done, so get that pulled back like AJ said until it's hooked up proper.
 
When I was 16 that was a fairly common "first car" among car guys. My first car was a 318 Ebody with a B&M Star Shifter in it. I loved it so much I broke it in half! A 318 driveline is a solid, but not unsafe-powerful package. As they said - wrachet shifters are the fix when you can't get the kick down working properly, and all that does is slightly slow down the demise of the transmission because it's not designed to operate without a kick down pressure system or to be manually shifted without internal modifications. Get a kickdown. I don't like Lokar but it is a solution if you have no way to aquire the right factory 4bbl A body linkage setup.
 
I think the missing parts are available from places like;
A&A, Bouchillon, or Brewers.
I just know I've seen the somewhere, I just can't remember where,lol.
I think the Web page background was Yellow,if that helps.....
 
gdizzle said:
Not sure where or if this is an appropriate question, but I am newbie to mopar (1 have 66 dart for 1.5years I have worked on L6). Anyhow, I am looking at possible getting a 2nd car and would like to avoid the pitfalls that I encountered when I bought my 66 Dart. My dart needed an engine rebuild 1 month after I got it. I hope, now I know what to look for.

Looking for something that requires very little mechanical/electrical work for my Teen son. We have found a 73 dart swinger with 318. However it has had a 4bbl added to it along with a new edlebrock intake. They were unable to reconnect the kickdown. Also the auto trans has had a 3 speed rachet shifter added to it? I think that means you shift from gear to gear, but it is automatic? How does Kickdown work with that type of shifter? Also if you have any ideas on what something like this would cost, that would be GREAT info. Any other hints? or things to be wary of?
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Things to be wary of ?
The worst thing you can do is buy someone else's headache. Buying a car that has been torn apart, hoopdied out, in pieces, is not the way to go.
Take your time, and find the "little old lady from Pasadena" car. Something that is all original, bone stock, and running is the way to go. Patience is key here. The cars are out there, just take your time.
 
You can always put a 2 bbl carb and intake back on it, then find the ever so common 2bbl kickdown setup!! I'd bet dollars that they don't know that there is a different upper rod, which is hard to find, and instead did the aforementioned hoopty shifter deal!! That should tell you what kind of other engineering marvels you may encounter!!

If it was me, and it was a good car otherwise, I would take out the ratchet shifter and re hookup the column shift, put a 2bbl and proper kickdown on it and let the lad learn on stock parts instead of how to de-hooptyfy something!!!
 
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Unless it is really cheap,er,affordable, you don't mind tinkering, comes with a stack of receipts showing all the parts he has previously installed,and it still runs and drives under it's own power,lol.
 
Geoff sent me the link to it asking for any input i might have on it. I did provide a lengthy breakdown of what I saw on both the engine and interior area. Personally I would pass on it if it were for my son. 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger
 
When and if you go to look at it. Ask him to not start it before you get there. It's nice to be able to start a cold engine and see how it runs. If you get there and it's already hot, they probably took it around the block a few times to get it running good before you got there. I just looked at the link. That car has been on Craigslist for many months. I'm always searching the LA area Craigslist ads and she's been there a while.
 
I wouldn't pay $500 for that car. In fact, I wouldn't buy that car period.
Patients grasshopper. :)
 
65 Dartman said:
Geoff sent me the link to it asking for any input i might have on it. I did provide a lengthy breakdown of what I saw on both the engine and interior area. Personally I would pass on it if it were for my son. 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger
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That car looks like a basket case. You're asking for a gigantic headache if you buy that.
Looks like he was running one of those useless triangle Edelbrock foam air filters, and possibly even with the foam part removed??!??
 
65 Dartman said:
Geoff sent me the link to it asking for any input i might have on it. I did provide a lengthy breakdown of what I saw on both the engine and interior area. Personally I would pass on it if it were for my son. 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger
Click to expand...

I'm no guru by any means, but would have to agree and say PASS on it. If you are adamant on buying it I would ask way less then what they are asking.

The Good: 8 3/4 rear end (would check to make sure), new brakes, the glass looks good (I'm having a difficult time finding new side glass for mine because it looks like the 73 was a one-year only for it.)

The Bad: They've added their own gauges and I can't tell from the photos if they just moved the heater panel down to where the radio used to be... The electrical could be "interesting". The leaf springs look like the lighter duty slant-6 and they added the long shackles to get it to sit level.

The Ugly: What did they do to the rear wheel wells? Rather than shorten the 8 3/4 just cut the openings? Looks like they took an angle grinder or sawzall to it.
 
You guys are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks so much for your insight. So this one is a pass for sure. If i find another possible, i would love to post it and get ur feedback. Is there a different forum to post or is it ok to put it here. Ps my son turns 16 in october.:)
 
It's fine posting it here. Since you're in LA, bring him to the Spring Fling in Van Nuys. It's free and lots of cars for him to check out. Maybe you can even find a car to buy there. I'll be there tomorrow.
Chrysler Performance West - Mopar Spring Fling & Fall Fling
IMG_20170407_194620.jpg

IMG_20170407_194641.jpg
 
gdizzle said:
You guys are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks so much for your insight. So this one is a pass for sure. If i find another possible, i would love to post it and get ur feedback. Is there a different forum to post or is it ok to put it here. Ps my son turns 16 in october.:)
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67-72:the good dart years to have. Cars with beaks arent worth much...
 
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