Found '76 Dart Sport - what are these holes?

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65s

65s

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I found this '76 Dart Sport for sale, I might buy it as a project. Anyone recognize these holes in the front fenders? Are they for turn signals? Towing lights? Deer whistles?

Is this factory interior and a factory stripe? I don't know anything about a '76!

Any help is appreciated.

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65s said:
I found this '76 Dart Sport for sale, I might buy it as a project. Anyone recognize these holes in the front fenders? Are they for turn signals? Towing lights? Deer whistles?

Is this factory interior and a factory stripe? I don't know anything about a '76!

Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...


Those holes are there to help you hone your bodywork skills....
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The holes appear to have been measured as they're in relativly the same spot on each side. Why were they put there? I couldn't tell you. The stripe & interior look factory.

This is a neat find... what's the details?
 
If there's screw holes or an old radio bracket on the bottom of the dash frame, the holes in the fender could've been for CB radio antennas. Back in the day, some people had dual CB antennas for better performance. OR, if there's evidence of a hitch on the back of the car, those holes could've been for trailering mirrors.
 
Thanks guys! I'll go with side mounted turn signals or maybe antennas. The deal is, the car is for sale for $1500, no motor. 92 year old lady stored it for joe blow who has never come back for it. Just so happens joe blow's ex wife is the granddaughter, so she's sent a lawyers letter and now they're taking possession under the properties and storage act. I think she wants to spite him as well! She knows nothing else about it. She said, and I quote "It would be a good car if you put a 427 in it, that's what everyone is doing these days."
 
$1500 for that with no motor is too much. Try offering $500. The stripe is not factory to that car but looks like a later Duster stripe painted on. The seats look to be out of an 89 or 90 Omni. The holes???? Maybe one of those 70's alarm systems, although I have never seen more than one fender with a hole for one of them. The advantage of that car for you is that it probably has disk brakes and the spool mount k-frame means readily available motor mounts for the engine swap of your choice.
 
Ya, I'd have to offer less. I think they were doing plush interiors like that in the mid 70's weren't they?

I've got my eye on a low mileage 360 nearby that would go into that car and make a decent driver.....at least this is what my Mopar addicted mind is telling me....it's trying to convince me to go buy it!
 
Looks like holes for the old time round key locks.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. There are lots of factors when considering price. One of them is location. I've seen lots of nice cars in California for a good price, but getting that car to me here in Ottawa will triple the cost! So this car might be $500 in California, but $1500 here. I'd like to pay $1000 for it, we'll have to see.

I'm just trying to find a tow dolly I can borrow....
 
stripes are pre 76. look like 73 style. interior is stock, abit maybe the seats? i know the plush stuff was around but i have never seen a bucket seat from this type of setup. build sheet or fender tag info can tell you for sure. they were starting to get into the plush interiors in 75-76. holes??? well an alarm system first comes to mind, but 2 holes???? one may never know, but at least they are small. looks pretty solid...900.00 to 1200 max!
 
I keep wondering about the fact they were building the Volare at this time, AND the Duster/Dart Sport. My wife had a Volare and I'm sure the interior looked just like this. Maybe the factory was just sharing the interiors?
 
This would be a bicentennial year car 1976.
I have seen ignition shut off key switches on one side of a car before.
but some one may have put on on booth sides.
Is this a hatch back car or a trunk car.
Do you know if it was a 360 car with a/c.or /6
Look under the carpet and see if it was a bench set car or just look under the floor pans and see if someone drilled holes for buckets.
If you look ate your third picture it almost looks like red paint on the rear window trim. look it over good for signs of a re paint job.
Get the fender tag number and vin number off of it and lets check it out.
1500 for a car that has bodie work under second paint job and no motor
and not sure if it is a v8 car would be pricy, but it could be a good one for the price" was this the last year for this body style. and is the glass ,trim,seals,dash all there and not damaged.
I would get a magnet out and go around the bottom of rocker panels and
rear 1/4's, Look closely under the car and under the hood and trunk area for any past history of damage.
If all looks good and the wiring all seems to be good go for it.
Carry a battery with you and see if the flashers wipers lights work.
Good luck 65s, These cars are getting hard to find and I hope it works out for you. Keep us updated and be careful with the dolly.
 
Hatchback? There were never any hatchback Duster/Dart Sports. Too bad too, they'd have been very useful!

Neil, those seats are the same as the ones in my Ramcharger, which are the same as the Omni/Horizon buckets. The later Darts came with velour seat fabric (mostly in highline models) but those are definitely not A-body seats. They'll work just fine though.

The stripe is similar to the 73/74 stripe as mentioned but the factory stripe had pinstripes both top and bottom, unlike the one pictured that just has one.

Around here these days, $1500 for a roller isn't outrageous as long as the car isn't toast. Definitely get out the magnet and check out the bodywork. Bad areas common to this body are the trunk extensions, trunk floor, driver's floor pan, front subframe rails, torsion bar crossmember, rear inner fenders (under hood near firewall), bottom dogleg of front fender and upper forward of front fender. Get underneath and have a good look around.

If you decide to buy, U-Haul rents dollies but Kevin Pelletier has a car trailer that he hauls his racecar on... maybe he could be convinced to help you out for a Tim Horton's XL double double. ;)

Dave

PS: That car looks similar to one that I knew of hiding in a garage just off of Kirkwood in Westboro. I wonder if it's the same one?
 
I have a 76 Dart Sport and like was said earlier that is not the correct stripe for it. The 76 up and over stripe has 5 mini stripes in the big one. I like the 76 best. Those holes must have been somebody's gimmick.
 
Excellent, thanks! It seems it's been repainted and upon closer inspection of the photo I can see a beige vinyl rear seat, so I guess you're all correct that the front seats are not original. I haven't seen the car in person yet, it's a few hours away. Just trying to decide if it's worth going to see, I still think it is, even with its problems. It's been in a barn for 10 years apparently.

Having worked extensively on a '73 Dart sport that was winter driven, I know the areas to look for quite intimately now. :)

Dave, I don't really know Kevin Pelletier but I sure wish I did!
 
If all goes well, I'm going to see and probably buy this car on Thursday. I've struck a deal for less money. I don't know if it's worth the drive (it's a bit far) but it's an adventure in the name of hobby as well.

Apparently the cars been in storage for 14 years, as you see it. I figure if there's a lot of rust, it should be poking through that paint by now. I'll let you know what happens...
 
Whats the V.I.N. number? if it is a real 76, the sixth digit of the V.I.N. will be a "6" and if it's a 360 car the "L" will be the fifth digit. 76 cars sometimes had the plush interiors. The frames on my original vinyl bucket seats broke down and the foam was wasted so I replaced my seats with some really nice low mileage 1976 Dart S.E. buckets. They are the plush style seats and they also have magazine pockets on the back. The seats are 75-76 only as the tracks are different from 73-74 in order to work with the hump on the floor pans for the catylysts. Another thing to look for is that in 76 , it was the last year for these cars and Dodge was throwing all kinds of wierd parts on them to get them out the door. Once in a while these cars were released with Dart "Lite" aluminum framed decklids or hoods or bumpers. If you hold a magnet to the underside of the hood or decklid and it doesn't stick then you've got some valuable lightweight pieces there. You can also tell the Aluminum framed hood by the smaller coil spring in the hood hinges.
 
Cool, good information. I'll take a magnet and I've written down the VIN stuff. I don't know the VIN at this point, the owner has to drive to the car as well. I'd better take some large bolt wheels/tires with me, those ones don't look too good!
 
Turns out it's a 1975, made in Nov. '74 and it's safely in my possession now!

Oh ya, turns out it's got the numbers matching drivetrain in it after all! A 318 2bbl, A/C, heavy duty suspension package. I hope she fires up, we're going to try tonight.
 
Looks like a stock SE interior to me, it has the SE door panels. This was just another option to check on the order form if you wanted the mouse fur interior. It as also available on the Valiant line as a Brougham. Most of them were maroon with a cream colored padded vinyl top and your interior. Benches on the sedans and buckets on the coupes. The holes in the fender look like the aftermarket corner wands were added. These were clear plastic wands with a red end that stuck up about 2-3 inches above the fender so you could tell where the corner of the car was. They had bulbs in the base and were wired in to the marker lights for nighttime use. Folk usually bought a pair after they ran into something because they weren't used to the extra protrusion of the 5 MPH bumpers. We needed all the help we could get in the '70's since we were usually running on 3 or 4 brain cells.
 
haha...funny!

I've got some cool new photos but I don't know how to get them off my new camera yet. The engine seems to fire but the bad gas wouldn't allow us to get it running. Tomorrow we're going to disconnect the fuel pump and try again.

Thanks for the help!
 
Cool Neil!

You'll have to have a show 'n tell with the car soon. Not today though, Gil and I are heading south of Hamilton to pick up a 71 Satellite Sebring Plus that he just HAS to have. I've lost track of how many cars he has now! :D
 
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