''I'm going to fix it up someday'' The resurrection of a '74 Dart Sport......

[rlevs]

it is nice to see some thing that has been put to rest have a second chance! keep the pic's coming

 

[Dartnut]

First was the engine compartment painting.
I didn't go fancy here, it just needed freshening up. There was only light surface rust on the upper inner fenders which came off with a wire wheel pretty easily as well as the master cylinder area. then i sanded everything thoroughly. Everything was removed except the heater motor, (to be changed later) and the e brake cable. I self etch primed the engine compartment and painted with Duplicolor ''perfect match'' KG8 Deep Sherwood Green paint, (the original color for the car.) I couldn't believe that my local Canadian Tire store had it in stock!

View attachment 20121116_78.JPG

View attachment 20121116_72.JPG

View attachment 20121116_79.JPG

View attachment 20121116_81.JPG

View attachment 20121116_73.JPG

View attachment 20121116_80.JPG

View attachment 20121116_82.JPG

View attachment 20121116_83.JPG

View attachment 20121116_84.JPG

 

[stansblue72]

Looks good, I like that color of green.

 

[memike]

Moving right along and in great style some good work going on here for sure :cheers: watching these great builds makes for a good :coffee2: time :glasses7:

 

[Dartnut]

I rewelded the lousy factory welds on the K member......

 

[Dartnut]

Looks good, I like that color of green.

Thanks, i love the dark greens too!

 

[Dartnut]

Moving right along and in great style some good work going on here for sure :cheers: watching these great builds makes for a good :coffee2: time :glasses7:

Thanks, Mike.
Yeah, it's a lot of work......but very rewarding.
I did all of the welding and fabricating myself on this project, so if it leaks or breaks, i can blame you know who!

 

[Dartnut]

It's kinda tough welding on a old K member with just a mig, even being sand blasted and ground out, there is still crap that seeps through the pores and seams......
Still a lot better than the factory!

View attachment 20120824_38.JPG

View attachment 20120824_42.JPG

View attachment 20120824_44.JPG

View attachment 20120824_46.JPG

View attachment 20120824_45.JPG

View attachment 20120824_48.JPG

View attachment 20120824_47.JPG

View attachment 20120824_35.JPG

View attachment 20120824_33.JPG

View attachment 20120824_49.JPG

 

[gdrill]

Nice welds Tom....I see you're not just another pretty face!

 

[Dartnut]

it is nice to see some thing that has been put to rest have a second chance! keep the pic's coming

Thanks,
They are coming, there will be lots! :cheers:

 

[Dartnut]

Nice welds Tom....I see you're not just another pretty face!

Thanks George.
I think they are kinda groty, yeah, i know...... just like my face. (I saved you the trouble of saying it!) :glasses7:

 

[Dartnut]

Well, why wait? On to the engine!
It's a '78 casting date 360 out of a '80 Chrysler. Ran pretty good, good oil pressure, no squeaks, ticks, or rattles...... compression checked out good too.
I pulled the intake off, and found lots of sludge inside. Under the valve covers was just as bad. The timing chain was really bad and the cam was starting to go flat. Surprisingly enough, the pan was quite clean, and the cylinders had barely any ring ridge at all.

 

[Dartnut]

So we proceeded to have the heads cleaned up and the valves ground, the guides were all good if you can believe that, the surface on the heads were straight and flat still as well as the decks, shecked for cracks and found none, had all of the tin and hard parts cleaned up at the machine shop as well.
We went to work cleaning the inside of the engine and all of the water passages. We found 3 frost plugs and 2 old block heaters in there that we had to remove!
In went the 474 lift purple shaft cam and double roller timing chain set we had laying around, all new brass frost plugs, block heater, water pump, and all new gaskets and seals.
Also had a Weiand 4 barrel aluminum intake that i got a few years ago, cleaned it up and installed it.

View attachment 20121116_38.JPG

View attachment 20121116_40.JPG

View attachment 20121116_39.JPG

View attachment 20121116_41.JPG

View attachment 20121116_48.jpg

View attachment 20121116_50.jpg

View attachment 20121116_55.JPG

View attachment 20121116_57.JPG

View attachment 20121116_58.JPG

 

[Dartnut]

Paint time!
Time to make it purdy.........:glasses7:

 

[alan627b]

Neat project.. might be a good idea to replace the freeze plugs lest they leak after you get it installed.. especially the ones in the bellhousing area... it sure will be easier now than once you get it into it's shiny new home! They may look good but can rust through from the inside.. trust me I've been there!
Nice to see another Dart Sport saved!

Alan

 

[Dartnut]

Good tip Alan.
All of the frost plugs were changed on the entire engine, the ones in the back of the block were changed after the engine came off the stand and we could get at them. All of the junk in the water passages were cleaned out before the new plugs went in.
We used brass ones BTW!

 

[Dartnut]

The engine, resurfaced 360 flywheel, bellhousing, clutch, and transmission were bolted together and installed on the K member with the steering box.......

 

[Dartnut]

Next were the exhaust manifolds ('73 340) and into the car the package went.
It took about 20 minutes to lower the car down, align everything and bolt it all up.
That's one of the reasons that i love mopars so much! :cheers:

 

[HemiPar]

Jumping on to say great project. I love "old" daily drivers like mine.

 

[Dartnut]

Jumping on to say great project. I love "old" daily drivers like mine.

Thank you.
I'm hoping to get about 50 smiles per gallon out of it.
You've got a great build going on too i see.

 

[Dartnut]

Well, the interior is next.
We just cleaned up the interior out of the red '75 Dart Sport and installed it as is, dash and all, the wiring under the dash looked like new. The dash was repainted black and R.J. had a good hardly used black 4 speed carpet kit out of his '71 Demon that we did a little trading for. The package tray was cleaned up and resprayed. The '74 heater box and core was cleaned up and resealed then installed. We cleaned and painted the sport mirrors green and installed them too after making a template off the red parts car where they came from.
The window regulator was shot in the passenger's door, so the one out of the '75 went in. All of the window channels and rollers were cleaned up and lubed. The steering column was cleaned up and painted then installed.
We used a new firewall seal kit on the car which was great to replace all of the worn out and weathered wiper seals and foam gaskets.
We used all of the seat belts etc. out of the '75 red parts car because they were a lot better condition wise.
The shifter was cleaned up and installed along with the pedal assembly out of the '75 red parts car.

 

[gdrill]

It's lookin' real good. Are you sure you want to keep those mirrors on there? I might have a buyer lined up if not! l:

 

[Dartnut]

It's lookin' real good. Are you sure you want to keep those mirrors on there? I might have a buyer lined up if not! l:

Sorry,
I already drilled the holes, there's no turning back now.
You should have said something to me a little while ago, i just used them because i couldn't find a set off of a honda for cheap.

 

[Dartnut]

On second thought George, i might trade them for a chromed up A body 8 3/4 housing and axles. Know of any kicking around?

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Great thread. How long are A body axles? I have 2 that should be B body axles