Josh's 73 Dart Sport - "Fred"

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ragtopfury

ragtopfury

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Some of you have seen my post about my 14 yr old son getting his wrench on and bringing home a $400 73 Sport. That thread is here: My next young gun is starting to get his wrench on..... The search begins...

I figure I might as well start a restoration thread of sorts, to introduce y'all to the pending build. Josh's car is a 73 Dart Sport, power steering, fold down rear seat, drum brake car missing it's slant 6 and 904. Needs lower qtrs, a couple of floor patches, headliner and a roof skin. The rear springs are very saggy, for lack of a better term.

The plan is to start getting into it late Macrh/early April. However, as I begin to work on my own car, there are a few little things that I can get josh started on, although we don't necessarily need it done yet. The 1st thing being getting the 8.75 cleaned up, resealed and ready to go. I picked this rear up about a month and a half before the search for a car for Josh began. Out of a 68(?) Dart, from a member only 45 min from home for a mere $100... 8.75, sure grip, 3.23 gears. We brought Fred home on Dec 10, and the week before Christmas, I brought home a $200 carcass to donate it's roof, and a new set of leaf springs for $125, that the guy had bought for his Dart 14 years ago and never used them.

So here he is - Fred. Why did we name it Fred? Because the last registered tag on the car is in one of the pics

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. Enjoy the journey, as Josh will be learning more than he can imagine right now....
 
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This morning, we broke the rear down, cleaned it up, assembled the brakes we picked up from an awesome member here (thanks Chris), and had Josh brush on the Rustoleum black.
Only had about a quart of old lube in it. The bearings all feel way too smooth to mess with, so inner axle seals and a pinion seal will do it.
You know how the gear ratio and sure-grip lube tags should be under the nuts with the larger recess milled around them? The sure grip tag was not. It should have been up one stud. As a result, it did not come off as reusable. Lol. Oh well. Not building a show car.

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You're son will learn much more than how to turn wrenches during the restoration process. Doing a great job with your son and Fred. 65'
 
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Dart sports get no love and they are not really around anymore like they were even 10 years ago. Great to see one getting saved and loved.
 
He is going to have fun with this one.
 
Yes I am.... Oh, maybe you meant Josh will.
Heck, we both will. His older brother will get involved when we get into the big stuff, as well.
 
So we had the rear all put together the 1st week of February. Slid it under the back end of my 68 just to have it mostly out of the way. Now that I am getting into the qtr work on my car, I want to get it all the way out of the way. So.....

Fred has been hibernating all winter under a couple of tarps. Now that the weather is teasing us with a promise of wanting to warm up outside, yesterday afternoon it was 58* outside, when Josh got home from school, I had him jack the back end up, showed him where to put the stands on the frame (pic looks like they are under the axle tubes, but they are not. lol) and PB Blasted all of the spring hanger nuts/bolts. If we don't get the 7.25 out from under Fred this Saturday, It'll be next Saturday. Of course I will stress the redundancy of putting the jack under there as well, as a back up to the stands when we get back out there. We did discover for as solid as the frame rails are, the right rear spring hanger is toast. The tube that the bushings go in has pretty much rotted away. Anyone have a spare pair? (rear spring hangers, that is) I'll be putting up a "wanted add" here soon.

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@Dartman928 you may have just swayed the tide.... The day we brought Fred home, Josh said he will be hemi-ish orange with a dual snorkel and a wing. About a month ago, he said he's kind of feeling limelight green. He has spoke of no other colors. Time will tell.
 
ragtopfury said:
@Dartman928 you may have just swayed the tide.... The day we brought Fred home, Josh said he will be hemi-ish orange with a dual snorkel and a wing. About a month ago, he said he's kind of feeling limelight green. He has spoke of no other colors. Time will tell.
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Yes had my Dart Sport for 30 years. When I sold it had a 588 Alum Indy pump gas engine. Ram 9.72 N.A. foot brake non tubbed car. Love that car. I was in 1990 I was also considering yellow,orange or lime green. Went with lime green and so happy I did. You guys are going to have a blast and make great memories. I was a member here for a long time and took a break and somehow all my posts and user name disappeared. So I guess I start over. If you guys need some parts I maybe have some depending what you guys need.
 
Well I knew the old springs under Fred were quote saggy, but dang! Josh and I rolled the 8.75 and new springs in place on Sunday. Fred's rear end came up about 6 inches! I'll get a better pic next time we fold the blankets back.
Before and after, in reverse order.

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A little something to keep you energized and working to your goal. My 1973 Sport 340 before and after my 4 year restoration. Mine was similar to yours - rusted out floor, both quarters and tail panel rusted, one fender replaced, new interior, new suspension. All the work you do will be worth it.
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So I decided to put my 68 on the back burner again. Otherwise Josh will be 25
by the time we finish Fred. We have to have Fred done in about a year and a half. Trying to work on both at the same time just isn't going to work too well. So we rolled mine out and wrapped it up and pushed Fred inside. Schools are closed tomorrow, so after a couple of hours playing catch and release at a local pond, we are beginning the interior removal after lunch.

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When Jake was 14 and we dragged his $400 65 Bcuda home, Wife said we'd NEVER have done for him to drive to high school. Challenge excepted and accomplished.
Told her well have Josh's Fred done within 2 years. She has said nothing. LOL
 
lol, we both have builds named Fred.... Looking forward to watching Josh's car come together.

Bill
 
Well, the fish were not hungry this morning at the pond.
But, we did get most of the interior out of Fred today.

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Fred even still has these 2 filler pieces at the pop out windows, but only one of the rear seat hinge covers.
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Have not found a build sheet and have not decoded the fender tag yet, but apparently Fred was a vinyl top car after all. Better explains the front of the roof rust. Found both of these under the rear seat, of all places....
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Just a tip for free bracing when you go to cutting and whacking the top.

If you have any contacts at work with your directional boring contractors, check to see how they dispose of the steel reels that the orange P Flex pipe comes on. The reels break down and get in their way quickly at the show up, and they are usually glad to get rid of any of it. The center braces that the pipe actually rolls onto are straight square tubing that unbolts from the sides. They make good bracing or fab metal. The round sides would make a good hillbilly rotisserie if you're a braver welder than I am! :)
 
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