PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Thanks for your help figuring out the motor mount issue!
Dad's Dart (or one just like it) Restoration
- Thread starter PocketAces
- Start date
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Thanks for your help figuring out the motor mount issue!
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Cut and Buffed a few more panels on Thursday. I do the sanding. Mike does the polishing. Here's a sample:
Excellent work John!
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I've gotten way behind on my posts, so time for some updates.
Got the quarter panels buffed and the doors hung back at the beginning of December.
Got the quarter panels buffed and the doors hung back at the beginning of December.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Transported the drive train to the shop to be reunited with the body.
Here's the rear axle being loaded into the van.
View attachment 1 axle.jpg
Borrowed Guy Grant's flat bed trailer for the engine. It's massive overkill, but the low rear deck and winch make loading relatively easy. Winched the dolly up the steel ramps. The plywood is just help get the casters over the bumps.
View attachment 2 Loading.jpg
Here it is all tied down. Had I known I was going to do this, I would have build the dolly wider. It was only intended to move the engine around my garage. This made me pretty nervous, but it loaded up and traveled with no issues.
View attachment 3 Loaded.jpg
View attachment 4 Loaded.jpg
Unloading the engine/trans at L&M.
View attachment 5 Unloading.jpg
Here's the rear axle being loaded into the van.
View attachment 1 axle.jpg
Borrowed Guy Grant's flat bed trailer for the engine. It's massive overkill, but the low rear deck and winch make loading relatively easy. Winched the dolly up the steel ramps. The plywood is just help get the casters over the bumps.
View attachment 2 Loading.jpg
Here it is all tied down. Had I known I was going to do this, I would have build the dolly wider. It was only intended to move the engine around my garage. This made me pretty nervous, but it loaded up and traveled with no issues.
View attachment 3 Loaded.jpg
View attachment 4 Loaded.jpg
Unloading the engine/trans at L&M.
View attachment 5 Unloading.jpg
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Mike at L&M generously offered the use of his hoist for the reunion of the body with the drive train. I was planning to do this in my garage with the cherry picker.
Here is the car coming off the rotisserie on December 14th, a bit over 2 years since it went on.
Here is the car coming off the rotisserie on December 14th, a bit over 2 years since it went on.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I upgraded the 7 1/4 rear axle with a cone style Sure Grip. The housing was media blasted and painted. It got new bearings and seals I spent a lot of time dialing in the bearing preload and contact pattern. Here's the thread with all the details.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=252363
The springs were disassembled, media blasted, and painted. I also replaced the plastic inter-liners with new ones from Layson's.
The U-bolts were media blasted and zinc plated.
We assembled the rear axle and springs on a dolly Mike uses for painting large hoods.
View attachment 20141214_110909.jpg
View attachment 20141214_110943.jpg
New brakes of course.
View attachment 20141214_110919.jpg
View attachment 20141214_110933.jpg
Wheeled the dolly under the car and lowered the car down to the axle.
View attachment 20141214_111248.jpg
All bolted in with KYB gas shocks.
View attachment 20141214_221001.jpg
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=252363
The springs were disassembled, media blasted, and painted. I also replaced the plastic inter-liners with new ones from Layson's.
The U-bolts were media blasted and zinc plated.
We assembled the rear axle and springs on a dolly Mike uses for painting large hoods.
View attachment 20141214_110909.jpg
View attachment 20141214_110943.jpg
New brakes of course.
View attachment 20141214_110919.jpg
View attachment 20141214_110933.jpg
Wheeled the dolly under the car and lowered the car down to the axle.
View attachment 20141214_111248.jpg
All bolted in with KYB gas shocks.
View attachment 20141214_221001.jpg
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Next step was to install the front suspension.
This included strut rods, torsion bars, front spindles, upper control arms, and shocks.
I got a stiffer set of torsion bars from a wrecking yard. The stock bars were .850" diameter. These are .870". Just a bit stiffer.
I upgraded to Kelsey Hayes front disc brakes. The calipers were rebuilt from Calipers Online. All the cast iron parts were painted with epoxy primer and top coated with cast iron gray spray paint. The strut rods and dust shields were zinc plated. Other hardware was zinc phosphate or bright zinc plated as appropriate. All the brake lines are stainless steel from Inline Tube. I upgraded to a dual circuit master cylinder and a summit racing proportioning valve.
This included strut rods, torsion bars, front spindles, upper control arms, and shocks.
I got a stiffer set of torsion bars from a wrecking yard. The stock bars were .850" diameter. These are .870". Just a bit stiffer.
I upgraded to Kelsey Hayes front disc brakes. The calipers were rebuilt from Calipers Online. All the cast iron parts were painted with epoxy primer and top coated with cast iron gray spray paint. The strut rods and dust shields were zinc plated. Other hardware was zinc phosphate or bright zinc plated as appropriate. All the brake lines are stainless steel from Inline Tube. I upgraded to a dual circuit master cylinder and a summit racing proportioning valve.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
In a single 14 hour day the car went from a body on a rotisserie, to a roller with a complete drive train.
Big thanks to Mike Phillips at L&M auto body for helping me do this and for use of the shop and the hoist.
Big thanks to Mike Phillips at L&M auto body for helping me do this and for use of the shop and the hoist.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Mike buffed and polished the rear deck lid and we got it mounted. I climbed inside the trunk with the ratchet and tightened the bolts once Mike had the deck lid sitting flush with the jamb.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I ordered the special suede paint in dark gold for the top of the dash in urethane.
It did flatten out a bit more after it dried, but I don't think I would call it suede.
It did flatten out a bit more after it dried, but I don't think I would call it suede.
That's an awesome job you've done. I like all the details on your car. Super well done. Will you get the car ready for this summer?
:burnout:
:burnout:
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I painted the needles on the gauges with Testers model paint. I bought that paint over 20 years ago to paint the needles on my corvette and it's still good, although it was tough getting the cap off.
View attachment 20150103_163022.jpg
View attachment 20150103_164622.jpg
I also cleaned the numbers on the odometer and reset it to zero since the car will be essentially new when I'm finished. I learned the hard way not to clean the odometer wheels with rubbing alcohol. It took the numbers off almost instantly. I had to buy another odometer from a FABO member. After that, the owner of Paul's Speedometer in Redondo Beach told me his secret; clean the numbers with WD40.
I had all the dash bezels re-chromed (actually vacuum metalized) by GCar http://www.gcartrim.com/
View attachment 20150103_211546.jpg
View attachment 20150103_163022.jpg
View attachment 20150103_164622.jpg
I also cleaned the numbers on the odometer and reset it to zero since the car will be essentially new when I'm finished. I learned the hard way not to clean the odometer wheels with rubbing alcohol. It took the numbers off almost instantly. I had to buy another odometer from a FABO member. After that, the owner of Paul's Speedometer in Redondo Beach told me his secret; clean the numbers with WD40.
I had all the dash bezels re-chromed (actually vacuum metalized) by GCar http://www.gcartrim.com/
View attachment 20150103_211546.jpg
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I'm still hoping to be ready for the Mopar Spring Fling in April 11-12. It helps to have a goal. I might not make it, but I think this summer is realistic.
Let me know if I can help you with anything.u
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
You've already helped a ton with parts and information. And I refer to your build thread all the time. But I'll let you know if I need anything. Maybe we can meet at Carlisle this summer???
Yeah, that would be great! Are you gonna drive your car to the show?
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Finished the assembly of the dash. Most of the detail work was done by GCar.
View attachment 20150106_231144.jpg
It was up to me to paint the letters on the heater buttons. I soda blasted the tips of the plastic buttons to remove the grime and old paint from the recessed letters. Then I hit them with white spray paint and wiped it off. I used some acetone to clean the last of the white paint and also smooth out the texture created by the soda blaster. Here's the result.
View attachment 20150105_092634.jpg
The only challenge left to overcome is the dash pad.
View attachment 20150106_231144.jpg
It was up to me to paint the letters on the heater buttons. I soda blasted the tips of the plastic buttons to remove the grime and old paint from the recessed letters. Then I hit them with white spray paint and wiped it off. I used some acetone to clean the last of the white paint and also smooth out the texture created by the soda blaster. Here's the result.
View attachment 20150105_092634.jpg
The only challenge left to overcome is the dash pad.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
Installed the under dash harness to the back side of the dash. The harness is made by M&H Electronics in Santa Fe springs and sold by Year One. It's a very nice reproduction which accurately matches the original harness. However I did encounter some missing features during the install.
The fuse block in the new harness was missing a fuse holder. In my car that fuse powered the air conditioning. I called M&H and got some excellent technical support. He talked me though transferring the fuse holder from my old fuse block.
View attachment 20150108_112318.jpg
View attachment 20150108_112346.jpg
View attachment 20150108_121456.jpg
View attachment Fuse Back.jpg
View attachment Fuse Front.jpg
The under dash courtesy lamp is not included, nor is the pigtail that connects the courtesy lamp to the cigarette lighter. Had to repair mine and use it. There is a connector on that wire that I would guess is to feed a glove box light.
View attachment Courtesy.jpg
The wiring the goes to the floor shifter console and feeds the backup lights is also not included. Salvaged my original and installed it. The purple wire was added to the connector for the rear light harness.
View attachment Backup.jpg
The windshield wiper wiring in the M&H harness is setup for single speed wipers. Dual speed wipers were optional and used additional wires outside of the harness. I parted out another 65 that had dual speed wipers so I grabbed the wiper switch and additional wires out of that harness.
View attachment Wiper.jpg
The power wires for the radio also run outside the harness from the fuse block to the radio. One wire is for power, the other is for the light in the radio dial when the headlights are on.
View attachment Radio.jpg
There is a separate harness for the convertible top
View attachment Convertible Top.jpg
In each of these cases, the missing wiring was not part of the original harness and ran outside the harness. Where necessary, I was able to install the old wiring into empty positions in the plugs, fuse block or bulkhead connector of the new harness. Ideally, the new harness would have included everything one might need so one could omit the parts not used on ones car.
The moral of the story is to save all your wiring because much of it is not available as reproduction and has to be cleaned, repaired, and reused. I found soda blasting to be an excellent method for cleaning switches and connectors. I cleaned the individual wires with acetone.
The fuse block in the new harness was missing a fuse holder. In my car that fuse powered the air conditioning. I called M&H and got some excellent technical support. He talked me though transferring the fuse holder from my old fuse block.
View attachment 20150108_112318.jpg
View attachment 20150108_112346.jpg
View attachment 20150108_121456.jpg
View attachment Fuse Back.jpg
View attachment Fuse Front.jpg
The under dash courtesy lamp is not included, nor is the pigtail that connects the courtesy lamp to the cigarette lighter. Had to repair mine and use it. There is a connector on that wire that I would guess is to feed a glove box light.
View attachment Courtesy.jpg
The wiring the goes to the floor shifter console and feeds the backup lights is also not included. Salvaged my original and installed it. The purple wire was added to the connector for the rear light harness.
View attachment Backup.jpg
The windshield wiper wiring in the M&H harness is setup for single speed wipers. Dual speed wipers were optional and used additional wires outside of the harness. I parted out another 65 that had dual speed wipers so I grabbed the wiper switch and additional wires out of that harness.
View attachment Wiper.jpg
The power wires for the radio also run outside the harness from the fuse block to the radio. One wire is for power, the other is for the light in the radio dial when the headlights are on.
View attachment Radio.jpg
There is a separate harness for the convertible top
View attachment Convertible Top.jpg
In each of these cases, the missing wiring was not part of the original harness and ran outside the harness. Where necessary, I was able to install the old wiring into empty positions in the plugs, fuse block or bulkhead connector of the new harness. Ideally, the new harness would have included everything one might need so one could omit the parts not used on ones car.
The moral of the story is to save all your wiring because much of it is not available as reproduction and has to be cleaned, repaired, and reused. I found soda blasting to be an excellent method for cleaning switches and connectors. I cleaned the individual wires with acetone.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
I reassembled the steering column. Here are some pictures of the result. Everything has to go together in particular order, including the installation of the pins into the harness connector. I think I put this thing together three times before I got it right. I couldn't resist the urge to add some shrink tubing around the wires. Not "correct" but looks better to me.
Someday I'd like to get the wood grain restored on the steering wheel.
Someday I'd like to get the wood grain restored on the steering wheel.
66Dvert
Working on my custom car parts again!
If you want it "more" suede you can take some clear coat and add a bit of corn starch(some use talcum powder).
do a spray out with different amounts to get the level of "suede" or flat finish. All my dashes that I paint get the standard color match and some good old corn starch to flatten it out. no glare what so ever and I can vary the "flatness" or gloss.
BTW great looking car.
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