John's 66 Dart GT covertible restoration

[66Dart273]

First let me introduce myself.

I'm John. I have been a mopar fan ever since I could see over the fender of the first car I remember getting my hands dirty on a 72 Duster. Dad still has the car and getting ready to re paint her.

I have always loved the way the mopars have looked. Preferably all the A bodies. I have recently ( within the last few months ) found myself around a deal I couldn't pass up. I was looking on Craigslist looking for toys, as I'm sure most of us do, and came acrossed the 66. I seen it and said man that would be nice to start my first build on. Long story short. I got in contact with the owner and came to a deal. The info I have on the car are as follows.

66 Dart GT convertible 273
904 trans from what I can tell
Colum shift
8 1/4 rear
White with red Interior panels ( missing front and rear seats )
Drum brakes
All the chrome and stainless/aluminum pieces are all there
Cracked windshield ( probably the hardest thing to find )
Gonna need some patch panels for the floor pans
Steelies all the way around ( lol )
Numbers matching ( so I'm told )

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting.


The original owner bought the car new for his wife, as they drove it around somewhere down the line she had been sideswiped or side swiped someone in a snow storm. Nothing to bad but enough to take t off the road and repair the damage. Shortly after the repair was taken care of. The car came off the road and wasnt drive any longer for reasons unknown. The guy I got the car from purchased it from him and drove it for a while and decided he was going to turn the car into something but never got around to it. The car sat for 14 years and was never touched. He came to the conclusion that his wife nagging him about the car needing to go finally had to stop. And that's where I came in.

I plan on putting the car back to the original with the original 273, color and making a nice cruiser with a mild motor that I know the 273 can do.

I have pics of the car from where I picked it up from. I'll get those posted later.


I have taken the from suspension off the car as that was sagging and I'm assuming was the original shocks.

I look forward to all the advice you guys can give and showing the progress that will come over time. I'm in it for the long haul and don't plan on giving up when the car gives me a hard time. Can't wait to tell the wife all the new tools/toys I'll need to fix/finish the car. I've already convinced her two days after I purchased the car that a welder and compressor was a must. And they fit perfect in the garage nicely.

 

[QuintinMotorCompany]

:cheers:late welcome!!

 

[toolmanmike]

Welcome to FABO. Lots of 66 Dart's here and quite a few converts. Let us know if we can be of help to you and feel free to ask questions. Sometimes we disagree but at the end of the day we are all good friends. Load up some pictures. We like pics. Check out my 66 Dart thread too. The link is just below this paragraph. Here's a couple shots of mine. Not too pretty but it's fun and I enjoy it. Looking forward to following along with your resto. toolmanmike

 

[66Dvert]

HI John:
Welcome to FABO
Nice car too!
But I could be biased since I have one too!
here's mine so far
View attachment 0125131526.jpg
oops
I really gotta get going again on mine.
There is plenty of help here and lotsa answers. (I got most of my answers here)

 

[66Dart273]

Thanks guys. Pics will be up by the end of the day.

66dvert - I've seen the progress of your build. You seem very knowledgeable about the vert's and I love the LED tail lights. I'm sure ill be asking a few question in the near future.

Toolmanmike - nice looking 66, disagreeing is part of working on cars. I know my dad and I have had a few " disagreements " over the years.

 

[66Dart273]

Here are the pictures as promised.

When I picked her up, all taken with my iPhone.

 

[66Dart273]

I have taken the front suspension off, and I have ordered new lower ball joints, all the front bushings, shocks, and the patch panels for the floor.

Gonna start the dirty process of getting all the under coat off the front wheel wells and then moving to the under side of the car once the patch panels are in place. Propane torch and a putty knife will be my weapon of choice. I have tried stripper and had no luck with it.

I have come to the LCA and wondering if welding a washer to the bushing is the best way to get it out? I dont have access to an air chisel and really dont want to mess up the inner part where the bushing slides into. What have you guys used with success?

pics of the front suspension off, you can see that the car hasnt been driven with all the spider webs in the car's drum brakes. Also as you can tell the car was semi sitting in the mud when I picked it up, thats why I think the floor pans need patch panels.

You can also tell from the pictures above that the passenger side is pushed in slightly. Does anyone have dimensions for when I push the pillars back out?

 

[66Dart273]

I started working on getting all the undercoating in the fender wells.

I used a propane torch and a 2 inch putty knife to get almost all of the undercoat off. Then I went back over it again with the torch and a wire brush.

I'm going to spray the whole wheel well in undercoat. Minus the bump stop mounting area, brake line mounting are, and the caster bolt areas. Any other area that shouldn't get covered that I'm not thinking about?

Here's a before pic

 

[66Dart273]

And an after pic

 

[Rockerdude]

Sweet choice in car there! Looks like how my friend Harold's car started out 28 years ago...

 

[pettybludart]

Welcome to FABO.Nice little project you have going.Kinda reminds me of my 66 Dart when I first got it from Alabama.I,ve pretty much touched every nut and bolt on mine a couple times.Good luck with the transformation.
View attachment DSC_0435.jpg

 

[66Dart273]

Thanks guys. She's a project for sure. But that's half the fun.

 

[66Dart273]

Hey guys.
It's been a while since I have posted on the forums and in my build thread. I'm also irking on 2 Mazda RX7's as well.

I'm trying to get the car back on the front suspension. I've taken it off the clean the inner wheel wells off all the dirt and grim. Any ideas on how to get all the grim from the tight corners of where the upper a arm connects? The car is in the garage so a pressure washer isn't an option. And wire brushes aren't getting into the crevasses. You can tell the area I'm talking about in the above pictures.

Thanks guys.

 

[65dartcharger]

Welcome to Fabo. I will follow your project. I have a 65 vert. Good luck!

 

[66Dart273]

Hey guys. I got around to pulling the motor out of the Dart. I found these cast numbers.

Block - 2808030-273-7 What does the -7 mean? Also I couldn't find that casting number in any of the books I have.
Heads - 2843675-6
I found the heads to be 318 heads just wondering what the -6 means?
Head Gasket - 61018 and 2843680 They have the Chrysler symbol stamped in them. I couldn't cross reference any number back to anything.

I'm changing the intake so I wasn't worried about that.
Since this is a 273 block and it's not notched I'm thinking it has been bored to 318 spec's. Anyone have anything matching these numbers?

 

[66Dart273]

I took the block down to a bare block, it took a little moving back and forth of the pistons to get them out. I labeled everything so I can put it all back where it was from the previous build and/or factory.

I did notice a few scrathes if you want to call them that in the bores. Maybe 2. I will post pictures of them to see what you guys think. I really would like to keep the 273, but if I would have to bore it over I would just swap in a 318 or 360.

How much can you hone the 273 with either a stone or dingle berry hone? Also what is a good cylinder to piston clearance or to much of a clearance? I appreciate it guys

 

[QuintinMotorCompany]

wow, nice dart, coming together nicely

 

[66Dart273]

It has been a while since I have gotten to update the progress I have made on the car.

10/15/14 I finally got the front suspension back on the car with all new components and anything that could fit in the powdercoat oven powdercoated. The car is finally back to a " roller " status and I will be getting the floor pans, and body panels welded on this winter. The car is coming together slowly but surely. First I need to sandblast the underside of the chassis/floor pans and put some POR15 on.

The only issue I had with getting all the suspsension back on was the torsion bar dust boots, I used the energy suspension boots. Those things were a pita to get on, I used the " socket " method(slipping a socket into the boot until it was big enough to slip over the end of the torsion bar, could never get a big enough socket to actually slide into the rubber even with WD-40) I eventually boiled the boots for 10 mins and they slipped right over the torsion bars and I would suggest that to anyone who gets them to do as well.

I have also brought back a 318, and a A833 :burnout: from my dads house in VA. Ill be using the 318 in the Dart, but ill be keeping the A833 for a future project.

Quick question for you guys, what have you all used to get the sound deadening off the inside of the rear quarter panels? I havent tried to take it off yet, but I would like to get it all of and re apply after body work/paint.

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[sgrip65]

It has been a while since I have gotten to update the progress I have made on the car.

10/15/14 I finally got the front suspension back on the car with all new components and anything that could fit in the powdercoat oven powdercoated. The car is finally back to a " roller " status and I will be getting the floor pans, and body panels welded on this winter. The car is coming together slowly but surely. First I need to sandblast the underside of the chassis/floor pans and put some POR15 on.

The only issue I had with getting all the suspsension back on was the torsion bar dust boots, I used the energy suspension boots. Those things were a pita to get on, I used the " socket " method(slipping a socket into the boot until it was big enough to slip over the end of the torsion bar, could never get a big enough socket to actually slide into the rubber even with WD-40) I eventually boiled the boots for 10 mins and they slipped right over the torsion bars and I would suggest that to anyone who gets them to do as well.

I have also brought back a 318, and a A833 :burnout: from my dads house in VA. Ill be using the 318 in the Dart, but ill be keeping the A833 for a future project.

Quick question for you guys, what have you all used to get the sound deadening off the inside of the rear quarter panels? I havent tried to take it off yet, but I would like to get it all of and re apply after body work/paint.

View attachment 1714761980

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Sound Deadening. Firstly, do not use extreme heat....as I am sure you know, warped panels for sure. I used aircraft stripper, but wear a mask....and I mean a good mask as this stuff is wicked and will burn your lungs. Non flammable stuff is available. Mine had oodles of this stuff on it, but after much work, it is off. Good sharp chisels work too, but can leave trails on the opposing side. Welcome. sgrip65