Hello from MA!

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sneke_eyez

1974 Dodge Dart 2dr 318V8
Joined
Apr 16, 2008
Messages
291
Reaction score
1
Location
Central MA
Hello everyone,

My name is Ryan, I'm 19, and I'm new to the site.
I live in Central MA, North Brookfield to be exact.

I am now the proud owner of a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr 318 V8 Automatic, which I agreed to purchase yesterday for $1800 and I pick up on Sunday from New Hampshire.

Its currently flat black hot rod primer with a half black, half tan interior. (The current owner began a black interior conversion, but never finished it)
The original color was a gold/cream, as visible in the picture.

Here is my new baby and project:
IMG_06851.jpg


It is not perfect, it needs a few things:
A new windshield
A new speedo cable (a new one is included)
New Tranny Lines (a pre-bent set is included)
New Driver's fender (a decent fender is included)
Some rear quarter panel bondo-fixing
New Front tires
Interior work (My Specialty! :D)

Several neat things it does have:
4bbl intake on the 318
Brand New True Dual Exhaust with 2 Flowmasters (I don't know what model, the P.O. didn't know)
Nearly mint underneath
No rust on the doors or door sills.

I've done a lot of interior work and some minor mechanical work to my current vehicles, and I've learned a lot, but this is my first "project car" undertaking, as well as my first hands-on experience with bondo, bodywork, and engine-related issues.

The car will be a grandfather, father & son project, as well as numerous other friends and relatives who want to help. My dad and I split the cost in mainly in order to have a hobby this summer, but also because I've really wanted a muscle car for a long time now (since I was around 13!)

I am new to the A-body scene, and this is my first pre-1997 car I've owned, so I'll be asking lots of questions and trying to read up and learn how to work on it.

As a matter of fact, I'll be posting a thread with some questions in a few minutes.

My other cars are:
A 2002 Dodge Intrepid ES, which is my baby and summer-only daily driver. I've done a LOT of work and mods to this car. I'll post about it sometime later.
&
A 1997 Ford Taurus GL, which is my winter daily driver. I've done a fair amount of work to this car too, nothing as cool as the Intrepid though.

I'm a member of two other forums as well, www.LHForums.net, where I'm a moderator, and www.TaurusClub.com.
I was extremely excited to find out there was a forum for the A-body cars. :cheers:

Anyway, I guess that was a long into thread, but I'm very happy to be here and I know that I'm going to stick around and enjoy myself! :D
 
Welcome Sneke!! You've came to the right place....best site on the net for a-bodies. Your car looks to be in great shape. I always like to see young guys working with their family on projects. You guys will have alot of good memories.
 
Welcome to FABO! Nice car you have there. What are you planing to do to it? Are you going with the black or tan int? I like the tan my self. Keep us up to date on how it is comeing along.
 
Well, for now I'm just planning to get her fixed up and in mint flat black shape.
That'll involve a lot of projects, interior and exterior...
Then, I'm planning on a recoat of flat black for now with a nice glossy white stripe on the rear end, something simple, but something that will break up the endless flat blackness.

All of that will probably take all summer...

Next summer, I'm going to begin looking into an engine swap.
No definite guarantee it'll happen next summer, but we'll see.
I'd like to go either to a 383 or a 440, or what I'd REALLY like is a modern 5.7 or 6.1 Hemi, but I'm willing to bet that either of those will run me more than I've got to spend.

As for the interior, I'm a black interior kind of guy.
Thus far its only got the visors and door panels, so I've got a lot of work to do to get it there.
Its also currently a column-shift car with a bench seat, which I am NOT a fan of.
I have NO clue how to do a swap to a floor shifter, but I plan to search and ask you guys about it, as I WANT one.
Oh, and the front bench will probably get replaced with a set of mint black leather 98 Dodge Avenger seats I've got lying around, if I can figure out how to make them fit...
 
Sounds very nice. Good luck on the Big block swap. That would be cool. as for questions this is the place for them. You could allways try selling the things you take out or replace here to try and help with your car.
 
Sounds very nice. Good luck on the Big block swap. That would be cool. as for questions this is the place for them. You could allways try selling the things you take out or replace here to try and help with your car.
Thanks!
I already am addicted to this place, haha, I should be writing a paper!
I definitely plan to do that, whatever I take out I'll resell in order to make $ back!

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention was a stereo.
I need a CD player and speakers, even if I just get cheap stuff for now and upgrade later...
At one time this car had something fancy for a stereo in it, but now theres NOTHING, just an empty hole where the AM radio used to be.
Luckily we're trailering it back, it'd be an awfully long ride with no stereo...
 
Welcome to FABO, nice solid car you have there, good luck with the things you plan to do on it. A new 6.1L is my aim too, but I also wouldn't mind the big 440 wedge LOL!
 
Well, I appreciate the welcomes and I know I'm bumping up an almost week-old thread, but I wanted to say that I picked the car up yesterday.
The Dart has landed and is now officially in my possession.
Hopefully the basic work will begin this weekend.
And I'm making a junkyard run on Thursday, so maybe I'll be picking up some parts!
 
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