Arizona Swinger

[bmaudlin]

a few more pictures of progress. Hoping to have the exterior trimmed out this weekend. Windshield and back glass will have to wait until the headliner is installed. Hope to be driving by Christmas, if all of the back orders come in! Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

May all of you have a very HAPPY Thanksgiving and a wonderful time with family and friends! For those not as fortunate to be with family, especially those serving abroad and those in harms way, we thank God for your willingness to serve, and hold you in our prayers each day! Ben

 

[Renegade]

This is just awesome!!

 

[340sFastback]

Beautiful car! Love the colors.

 

[bmaudlin]

Thanks again for the compliments guys! Spending some time at work today, although closed, taking care of some customers and hoping to attach a lot of chrome, a mirror and other small items to the Dart when I can. Will post some more pictures as I can! Thanks for your interest, Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

Got quite a bit done today, in between dealing with customer, even with the 'Closed" sign up! Made a few bucks anyway!

Left the good digital camera at home, so I had to use the less than desirable cell phone for some updated pictures! Will post some better pictures tomorrow! Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

A little more done today, although maybe not as much as I would like to have done. Stopped by an older model salvage yard this morning and picked up the balance of the the fasteners needed to finish attaching the rear valance and various other little parts. Need to send out to be zinc coated, so now the attention will be on getting this thing buttoned up mechanically, and ready to send to the trim shop to have the headliner put in. Ben.

 

[340sFastback]

Beautiful!!

 

[rlevs]

WOW very nice build

 

[bmaudlin]

THANKS!! again for the compliments guys! Progress is going to be slow until some of the back ordered parts get in. Seems the exterior is pretty much complete, now on to the interior where I can finish up the door and quarter interior panels and put in the carpet and trim. Once the headliner gets here I can pretty much finish the interior up.

Once the carburetors get here, I can get the engine pretty much finished up although that back ordered fuel tank will stop me, unless I want to use a 5 gallon gas can hooked up to a temporary hose for fuel. Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

Got the carburetors in today, as well as a lot of other little misc. parts.

Also some pics of the 'plasti dip' used to coat some wiring clips. Some really good stuff to use for any kind of insulating. Ben.

 

[340sFastback]

Those carbs look awesome!!

 

[bmaudlin]

a few more pictures of the carburetors and linkage. Ben.

 

[FJRdoc]

Just stumbled on this thread last night. Just wanted to say you are doing a beautiful job on your Swinger. I was also wondering whether you restored the filler tube or if you located a NOS unit.

 

[bmaudlin]

Just stumbled on this thread last night. Just wanted to say you are doing a beautiful job on your Swinger. I was also wondering whether you restored the filler tube or if you located a NOS unit.

The filler tube is the original one that came with the car. Sent it out and had it zinc coated like most of the fasteners and other misc. parts. (I think the original tubes had some sort of lead coating on them, although that may be incorrect?!?) Thanks for the compliments! Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

Have been contemplating doing some trimming on the six pack air cleaner base. I really would like to see more of the carburetors, fuel lines and linkage, and the factory style non-cold air cleaner base really blocks off quite a bit of each of these. Laid out a cut line that would remove all of the 'offending' pieces and would give more clearance for the two speed wiper motor, spark plug wires at the cap and the radiator hose. Has anybody trimmed up one of these air cleaners, and had satisfactory results? Basically I would have a base, filter and top lid without all of the 'hangover'.

The red lines in the second two pictures show where I might cut the base to clean it up. Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

After looking at a lot of the six pack set ups over the years......as much as I like the looks of the top and filter of the six pack air cleaner......I never cared much for the looks of the lower pan and all of its' overhang that was used to seal it to the six pack hood.

As much as I didn't want to alter a new air cleaner, I think the end results will justify the attempt to clean it up and make the carbs, linkage, etc. more visible under a non six pack hood.

We trimmed quite a bit off of the lower pan, and were able to hammer and dolly a lower lip to retain the air filter. Will post some more pictures once all of the trimming, welding and painting have been completed. Thankfully this was an aftermarket cleaner and not one of those high priced OEM units you see on EBay every once in a while! Ben.

 

[bmaudlin]

Some finish metal work, grinding and painted. Should work well and allow me to see some more of those Holley carbs and linkage/fuel lines! Ben

 

[bmaudlin]

All excited about finishing up the door and quarter panels today.....pulled out the panels I purchased from Legendary and started running into some problems. The holes in the back for the retainer clips are not punched out, and have to be cut out very carefully so you don't poke a hole through the vinyl material on the front. Got that done, put in the clips and tried to install on the door and the clips were either slightly off, or when you popped them into place, they popped back. Managed to get it installed finally, stepped back and I could see where every clip was installed, as it was visibly noticeable through the vinyl. I pulled out a set of OEM door panels I had set aside......similar color of green, but they had a different pattern as they were from a 71 model. Installation was a snap, now I have to convince myself that I'll be okay with 71 panels versus 70! Well instead of getting all four done, I managed to assemble one, then disassembled it again, trying to make up my mind what to do! Maybe getting away from this problem for a few days, will help clear my mind! Also a couple of shots of the carpet for the car. Seems there are going to be quite a few shades of green in this car!

Also a couple of shots of the modified air cleaner base. Dropped the K&N filter onto it, but still waiting for the top lid to be finished. Ben.

 

[76orangewagon]

I'd say your mission to see more of the carbs was a huge sucess....looks great...as always good job.

 

[bmaudlin]

I'd say your mission to see more of the carbs was a huge sucess....looks great...as always good job.

Thanks! As sharp as those Holley carburetors are, the last thing I want to do is cover them up!

Also did a little checking on those Legendary door panels.......seems the cuts made by Legendary for the clips are in the wrong place. I used the OEM panel as a template where the clips should go, and they are quite a bit off front the imprints on the back of the new panel. At least I only cut out the clip holes on one panel, and the proper locations are in areas not yet cut out. Should be a simple cut out in the right spots, and the panel should fit much better. I can only hope! Ben.

 

[340sFastback]

Nice job on that air cleaner.

 

[bmaudlin]

After a little time to reflect on what could be causing the problem for the new door panels not attaching properly, I found that the new panels have 13 spots on the back of them that can be cut out. The only problem is none of the thirteen spots given line up with the holes in the door shell.

The back of the OEM door panel has seven holes cut out for the retainers, of which only six are actually used. By lining up the old door panel with the new panel I can mark off where the cut outs need to be made, and then cut them out with an Xacto knife. Holes cut out, clips installed and the panel installs right in place, but using only six clips. Hopefully the rest of the door and quarter trim panels will go on a little quicker! Ben.

 

[buffoni88]

HOLY SHHHHH...!!!!!! Wow, what a beautiful car!!!!!!!! Someday I hope to be able to do that to my Duster. Immaculate...great job!

 

[moparpollack]

Do you think it will be ready for the HEMI show Jan 20 in Phoenix?