Earl's 1971 Dart

-

Earl Austin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2018
Messages
68
Reaction score
106
Location
Greensboro NC
Hey Guys,
I'm a member here as well as over on the B Bodies forum. I sold My Gold 74 Dart after it was finished last spring. I am restoring a 64 Plymouth fury convertible I bought with that sale. It's a long haul project, so I purchased my Buddies 71 Dart, that he was well into restoring to finish. It has had a few setbacks such as it was vandalized after it was painted ( someone Keyed it ). Another fellow started the car, and spent a bucketload on it without a lot of knowledge of these cars...In my opinion, It was being way "Overbuilt"... I believe this guy just bought what he read about in magazines, Like it had a "Purple Cam", and an " Demon 850 Double pumper", and a 2800 Stall etc etc.... When he listed it for sale, after it had been keyed by his sons girlfriend, He said " Its to unruly to cruise in...It loads up with Gas and floods", etc etc. I wanted to say 'If you wanted a cruiser, why did you buy everything for a Street/Strip racecar then??
It has a ton of new stuff, everything from Bumpers, Grill, door handles, Door sills, Door Rubber ,etc etc.... The upholstery had been redone, and new headliner, windshield. New Rubber. We since installed New Window track Guides, Door fuzzys, side widow rubbers. Mirrors, etc.... We painted & detailed the Ralleye wheels. 15x7 and 14x6... I have new polished trim rings for the 15's, but need polished 14's unless i go to 15's all around (adding 15x8 to rear and moving 15 x 7 to front ). I also have a center console, & B&M Cable shifter. I may or may not use....We have been getting all the wiring worked out under the dash, and installed Guages. We pulled the Big Cam and Carb, and went with basically a stock 340 cam, a Mopar electronic ignition, and a Holley 650. The car sounds good, runs good and now is very streetable !! It still needs some things to finish but it will be a nice little car....
wa4RCR5hCokx-2ANjao7j8LWtl5jwYGIjpb5y4EIB3-N-51ewYX1p9KgIsf6KseJvoIEf-Thv&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
6572_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=go1NODegAOwAX_VnU1h&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
1514_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=RdHg5_GJibUAX-uur5-&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
9844_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=JJZIpmATvZQAX8G9frP&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
5749_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=iELjzWsFjQUAX8sp2zf&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
4364_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=-6oIj32msIEAX_-2nsI&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.jpg
 
OH, it was a Crate motor from somewhere... It has less than 200 miles on it now.It was nice and fresh when we changed the Cam.
 
Hey Guys,
I'm a member here as well as over on the B Bodies forum. I sold My Gold 74 Dart after it was finished last spring. I am restoring a 64 Plymouth fury convertible I bought with that sale. It's a long haul project, so I purchased my Buddies 71 Dart, that he was well into restoring to finish. It has had a few setbacks such as it was vandalized after it was painted ( someone Keyed it ). Another fellow started the car, and spent a bucketload on it without a lot of knowledge of these cars...In my opinion, It was being way "Overbuilt"... I believe this guy just bought what he read about in magazines, Like it had a "Purple Cam", and an " Demon 850 Double pumper", and a 2800 Stall etc etc.... When he listed it for sale, after it had been keyed by his sons girlfriend, He said " Its to unruly to cruise in...It loads up with Gas and floods", etc etc. I wanted to say 'If you wanted a cruiser, why did you buy everything for a Street/Strip racecar then??
It has a ton of new stuff, everything from Bumpers, Grill, door handles, Door sills, Door Rubber ,etc etc.... The upholstery had been redone, and new headliner, windshield. New Rubber. We since installed New Window track Guides, Door fuzzys, side widow rubbers. Mirrors, etc.... We painted & detailed the Ralleye wheels. 15x7 and 14x6... I have new polished trim rings for the 15's, but need polished 14's unless i go to 15's all around (adding 15x8 to rear and moving 15 x 7 to front ). I also have a center console, & B&M Cable shifter. I may or may not use....We have been getting all the wiring worked out under the dash, and installed Guages. We pulled the Big Cam and Carb, and went with basically a stock 340 cam, a Mopar electronic ignition, and a Holley 650. The car sounds good, runs good and now is very streetable !! It still needs some things to finish but it will be a nice little car....View attachment 1715744398 View attachment 1715744399 View attachment 1715744400 View attachment 1715744401 View attachment 1715744402 View attachment 1715744403
Man that brings back memories.
20210102_111543.jpg
20210102_122346.jpg
 
Right on!! Looks great...wish mine was as clean!!

20210529_160947.jpg


20210529_152159.jpg
 
Hey Guys,
I'm a member here as well as over on the B Bodies forum. I sold My Gold 74 Dart after it was finished last spring. I am restoring a 64 Plymouth fury convertible I bought with that sale. It's a long haul project, so I purchased my Buddies 71 Dart, that he was well into restoring to finish. It has had a few setbacks such as it was vandalized after it was painted ( someone Keyed it ). Another fellow started the car, and spent a bucketload on it without a lot of knowledge of these cars...In my opinion, It was being way "Overbuilt"... I believe this guy just bought what he read about in magazines, Like it had a "Purple Cam", and an " Demon 850 Double pumper", and a 2800 Stall etc etc.... When he listed it for sale, after it had been keyed by his sons girlfriend, He said " Its to unruly to cruise in...It loads up with Gas and floods", etc etc. I wanted to say 'If you wanted a cruiser, why did you buy everything for a Street/Strip racecar then??
It has a ton of new stuff, everything from Bumpers, Grill, door handles, Door sills, Door Rubber ,etc etc.... The upholstery had been redone, and new headliner, windshield. New Rubber. We since installed New Window track Guides, Door fuzzys, side widow rubbers. Mirrors, etc.... We painted & detailed the Ralleye wheels. 15x7 and 14x6... I have new polished trim rings for the 15's, but need polished 14's unless i go to 15's all around (adding 15x8 to rear and moving 15 x 7 to front ). I also have a center console, & B&M Cable shifter. I may or may not use....We have been getting all the wiring worked out under the dash, and installed Guages. We pulled the Big Cam and Carb, and went with basically a stock 340 cam, a Mopar electronic ignition, and a Holley 650. The car sounds good, runs good and now is very streetable !! It still needs some things to finish but it will be a nice little car....View attachment 1715744398 View attachment 1715744399 View attachment 1715744400 View attachment 1715744401 View attachment 1715744402 View attachment 1715744403
BEAUTIFUL dart!
 
Thanks everybody !! Hope everyone had a great Holiday...I've been inspecting the car, and I'm replacing the front brake hoses.The rest of the brakes look good so far....
 
Well, After a thorough inspection of this car, I have found a couple of soft rust spots on the rockers, and see some bubbling. I also see some blisters, so instead of just repainting the panels that were keyed, I'm going to go ahead and take the car back down and do it right, check all the Bodywork and repaint the entire car except for underhood,Trunk, and the door jambs. They all look good. I'm also going to pull the seats and carpet. Check the floorpans from the top and bottom ( even though they appear solid ). I just dont like to do anything Half ***....I know the motor was built right, as we went through it when we changed the cam, but i want to make sure the body is right. If you've looked at my 64 build on B Bodies, you'll see I fix any and all rust with new metal....so much for cruising in it this summer...
08&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=1MAuTT0y5UcAX9yG_Pe&tn=dKgpRFTXwaldX7ca&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
1116_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=c2ez7j0D18MAX_Opf3m&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
05&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=mbQ4HgR6hGIAX8Sh_gL&tn=dKgpRFTXwaldX7ca&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
 
Cool car! 71 is my favorite year Dart. Diggin Mr. Horsepower. He and his woman are a recurring theme in my 64 Valiant.
 
well, I found some Bubbles, so went ahead and delved in, and found a little evil.... we're cutting out the spots and welding in new metal,and cleaning rust from inside panels and rustproofing everywhere i can reach before she goes off for paint. he's going to take it down, but the more we do...the less i have to pay someone else to !! The floorpans are looking good so far. I pulled interior to freshen it up. going to work on the dash pieces, New steering wheel. Paint steering Column. wash carpet while its out. It already has a new headliner, dash Pad, Door panels, Armrest, handles, etc etc
4100_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=vn7Fi5rBqfcAX_sAfos&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
3196_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=xuYwxJ0CO44AX_Kepbz&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
10&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=F9WTwFqzEIQAX_dsNiF&tn=dKgpRFTXwaldX7ca&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
5174_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=9DXYk2sY02cAX9OEpft&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
3080_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=n_4Kpiht54sAX9Qo9Ht&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
8000_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=ZTTPLG6C2bQAX8vMUpk&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
3832_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=p33BfyVpTDgAX8sG0yz&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.jpg
 
Got all the places welded up. stripped both sides all along the bottom making sure we got everything. Also found a little bit of thin metal starting to pepper in the Passenger floorboard, so we put in a floor pan over there. we fixed the leak also....I prepped the frame rail inside with rust preventer, and the top with weld through Primer, rustproofing on the bottom of pan, and the top plus seam sealer. The Pan is fully Butt Welded in. Now she's off to the painter. He's going to take her down to the metal most everywhere as well.
IMG_9171.jpeg
IMG_9100.jpeg
IMG_9310.jpeg
IMG_9291.jpeg
IMG_9294.jpeg
IMG_9302.jpeg
IMG_9307.jpeg
IMG_9290.jpeg
IMG_9305.jpeg
IMG_9304.jpeg
welded in
 
Haven't posted in a while, But after a LOT of Blocking, sanding Priming, and repeating multiple times. The shop was happy with the body, and she got sprayed this week !!!! The best PPG Solvent Bsed color and 5 gts of top shelf clear...... The Materials were STUPID expensive !!!
Still has to be cut and Buffed, but I'm happy with what im seeing so far !!!!!

IMG_2725.jpeg


IMG_2724.jpeg


IMG_2723.jpeg


IMG_2722.jpeg
 
Haven't posted in a while, But after a LOT of Blocking, sanding Priming, and repeating multiple times. The shop was happy with the body, and she got sprayed this week !!!! The best PPG Solvent Bsed color and 5 gts of top shelf clear...... The Materials were STUPID expensive !!!
Still has to be cut and Buffed, but I'm happy with what im seeing so far !!!!!

View attachment 1716100927

View attachment 1716100928

View attachment 1716100929

View attachment 1716100930
Wow! Does that bring back some memories! Gorgeous car!
 
Cool rids!!

And they also, usually.. rust from within!!
I actually coated the crap out of the inside of both rear quarters with rust preventative, while we were doing the small patch panels....Hopefully, she always lives in a temp/humidity controlled garage going forward !!! Not out under a tree like these cars did for a lot of their lives ...LOL
 
Rumor has it that something is FINALLY after 2 years and 4 months is coming back to me to finish reassembly !! Woo Hoo !!!

2.jpeg


3.jpeg


4.jpeg


5.jpeg


1.jpeg
 
-
Back
Top