Dart Wagon 3rd Row Seat?

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mammlouk

mammlouk

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Hello all,
I am new here obviously so please forgive me if this has been covered before. I searched before making this thread, but came up empty. I am about to inherit a 1965 Dart Wagon. I am putting together a list of things that I would like to do. As it is, my wife and I are expecting our 6th child in February. I will be using the car as a daily driver and would like the flexibility to fit as much of my family as possible when needed. I know that just getting the right seatbelts is going to cost me, but I'd like to take things a step further.

So the big question is whether anyone has ever added a 3rd row to one of these wagons? If the answer is yes, then what seat was used and what sort of fabrication is involved? Am I insane for even thinking about this?
 
3rd row seat was an option on 60-62 Lancer and Valiant wagons. I haven't actually seen pictures of the setup, so I don't know how everything was arranged. Maybe someone can post pictures.

On '63-'66s, the gas tank and spare tire are going to be in the way. Other wagons of the era put the gas tank up against the rear fender, but then it's more exposed to rupturing in a crash. The '85 Caprice 9-passenger wagon we had when I was younger had the spare tire up against the rear fender hidden under the interior trim. To duplicate that, you'd need to fabricate some kind of well for it to sit in in the dead area inside the rear fender, some way to secure it, and some way to get it in and out.
 
Time to upgrade to a C-Body wagon Mr. Brady.
 
Alaskan_TA said:
Time to upgrade to a C-Body wagon Mr. Brady.
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Haha, I know right. Our currently "family" car is a Lincoln Navigator, but we are already planning our move to a full size van eventually. Like I said, the Dart is an inheritance. It was my grandmother's car and I believe was bought new, though I haven't asked my uncle about all the details. I just know when she passed my dad was the only one of the siblings that had a big desire for the car and now that he has passed it goes to me. He never had time to get anything done with it so I am excited to start a small restoration on it with my oldest son (10).


brummett said:
3rd row seat was an option on 60-62 Lancer and Valiant wagons. I haven't actually seen pictures of the setup, so I don't know how everything was arranged. Maybe someone can post pictures.

On '63-'66s, the gas tank and spare tire are going to be in the way. Other wagons of the era put the gas tank up against the rear fender, but then it's more exposed to rupturing in a crash. The '85 Caprice 9-passenger wagon we had when I was younger had the spare tire up against the rear fender hidden under the interior trim. To duplicate that, you'd need to fabricate some kind of well for it to sit in in the dead area inside the rear fender, some way to secure it, and some way to get it in and out.
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I figured there would be a good amount of fabrication/customization necessary to the rear floor pan as well as getting some sort of support welded underneath from the frame. I hadn't thought about the gas tank at all which would probably be the larger hurdle as far as determining a safe relocation. As far as a spare goes I was actually figuring that if I did this I would either ditch it completely or toss it into a basket on the roof. I will definitely look into how the seat was done in the earlier lancer wagons because that might be the nearest equivalent to what I want. If it turns out to be unrealistic for me then I'll just have to spend that time/money on some extra gofast instead. :burnout: I just thought it might be a cool way to make this project more custom and suited to my family. At least my oldest 2 are just about out of the booster stage which means once I add some good restraints everywhere I can still haul 5 kids in the wagon.
 
With that many kids it might be a good thing to not be able to haul all of them at once...make them earn the ride
 
Yeah - when they were new, you could haul 8 or 10 people in them (seating for 6 with front bench and pitch the small ones in the back)
 
diymirage said:
With that many kids it might be a good thing to not be able to haul all of them at once...make them earn the ride
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That might end up being the case.

brummett said:
Here's how one guy put a 3rd seat in the back of his Magnum wagon. Maybe some inspiration...
http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php/296435-Add-a-third-row-rer-facing-seat-to-your-magnum
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Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Of course always gotta have the obligatory guy that says you are going to kill your kids... LoL

Commando66 said:
Do you have any pictures of your wagon to share?
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I've got a couple of really terrible shots from extreme angles that nobody wants to see. It is still in my dad's garage in Connecticut until the estate stuff gets moved along a bit further. Hopefully in March it will be making it's way to my house in Colorado.
 
64DartGTinAZ said:
Yeah - when they were new, you could haul 8 or 10 people in them (seating for 6 with front bench and pitch the small ones in the back)
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For sure. I think I'd run into some trouble for doing that now. The cops would probably be the least of my troubles if the wife caught me!
 
Picked up the wagon this weekend. Here's a quick shot I took on the road. I'll get some more pictures later this week. The interior is pretty trashed and the engine bay is filthy. The 273 under the hood is a filthy mess, but supposedly ran fine before the heater core went out 3 years ago. It's been sitting since then. Hopefully some fresh fluids and a carb adjustment for the new altitude will get everything firing. It will be a lot easier to get this thing cleaned up a bit if I can drive it over to the nearest diy car wash. At least then my neighbors can't see all the grime I'm rinsing down into the drains... :eek:
13962568_10153720084552823_5981885298624143506_n.jpg
 
SUPER COOL!!! and it looks pretty clean (rust free)!! That roof rack is probably worth as much as the whole car to a collector!!

treblig
 
Cool car!
You should be able to by pass the heater core if you need to drive it at least during the warmer months.
 
SSVDP said:
Cool car!
You should be able to by pass the heater core if you need to drive it at least during the warmer months.
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That's exactly what I already did! I actually have a heater core for it because my dad had started pulling the bad one to do the replacement before he passed. I'm figuring I'll be pulling the dash, rust guarding the interior, and replacing the carpet before it gets cold enough to need the heater, so no rush in getting the new one installed. I haven't had a chance to grab any antifreeze and starter spray. Planning to stop on the way home tonight, but I'll be unloading the truck that it was attached to in the picture after I get home today, so I doubt I'll get a chance to try and fire it up until tomorrow.
 
Any progress with this? I am planning on doing this also. Was planning on adding some seat rails the back just not sure about a bench that would fit.
 
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