Like Father, Like Son: The Story of my 1970 Dodge Dart

[Mpacker]

In the days and months since my father passed away, you've all made me feel welcome and have provided knowledge I'm sure I couldn't find anywhere but here.

For that, Thank You.

My Dad's nickname was Burt (like Burt and Ernie) because of his temper. He even had a Burt doll that he put in the window of one of his cars. I didn't get to spend much time with him throughout his life, but I remember (and give him credit for) how he'd muffle his swearing around me, pretend there wasn't Jack Daniels mixed into his drinks, the smell of exhaust and sounds of roaring engines, and trips to the drag strip.

After my parents split, I'd go work for him each summer in Ohio. He was a career Iron Worker who always had a side business of putting up fence. That's what I'd do when I'd go visit him, and every now and again, catch the Mopar Nationals. If there's anything I took away from his death, it's finality. I now know that nothing can ever change. The good will stay good, and the bad will stay bad. The past is written in stone and the only direction that matters is forward.

My father gave me his name, work ethic, and love for cars. I hope to carry on the good times we shared and hopefully create some new ones for my kids. He left behind a few torn apart A Bodies and a pile of parts he was planning to put towards getting another drag racer built. I inherited these items which have awoken the love for Mopars I once had. I have been selling off the drag racing components so that I can build the 1970 Dodge Dart he left behind.

This thread will memorialize the struggles of our past and the triumphs of our future. As long I'm alive his memory will live on.

I only wish we could have done it together.

 

[Mpacker]

My dad, some of his old cars, and a very handsome young man with his dad's race car on his shirt for what looks like his 2nd grade school photo.

 

[Mpacker]

Dad's garage. Loading up for the move from Vermont to Virginia.

 

[Mpacker]

Arrived and unloaded on the hottest day of the year in Virginia. Have spent the last several months posting ads, talking to you guys, and slowly getting my single-car garage rearranged to handle everything that's about to go into it. Planning to bring the Dart home on Sunday, wish me luck. After that, I may fall silent for a bit. I'll still be on here bothering people, but I'll have to sit still while I get rid of a few more things and re-learn how to weld. My dad taught me when I was about 13, but I haven't done it since.

 

[Dave 74 Dart]

Thanks for being honest with your story. Working on the dart will be therapeutic for you. Remember that progress sometimes goes very quickly and then life gets in the way and then everything slows down... Helping my son with his 70 swinger ( daily driver) has been quite an experience for both of us. Looking forward to your build.

 

[Plymouth 65]

Very well written post, I can tell it's from your heart! There's always something to be learned from every experience in life. From you're post it's obvious to me that you already understand that. Too many people, including myself, can get caught up in the negative aspects of life. You have the right perspective to embrace the good times you had with your father. 65'

 

[B'cuda]

Reading your story made me go be nice to my kids! Really! Let me just say that my life has a few parallels with yours. I'm probably your dad's age, I've got kids your age. I lost my dad when I was 9. I could go on, but it's not my thread. You have a good positive attitude. You are closer to your dad now than ever and he knows it. Carry his name with pride. That's the one thing he left you that no one can take. Oh, did I say that my youngest is a junior too? Lol.
Anyways let me say I'm in southern Maryland and if you need anything, if I can help, I will.
Good luck

 

[Mpacker]

After some long nights/weekends and being able to unload some of the larger parts, I was able to get the car and 440 out of storage and to the house. The 1000's of pounds worth of tetris I have been playing is done! For now at least. I'll be taking some time to catch up on life, but believe I'll get bored sooner than later and strip everything off it to free up space. Also, because it needs to happen anyways. Plan is to throw some casters on it, or just build my own wood rotisserie with casters incorporated in some way. Should be fun!

 

[340mike]

Thank you for sharing your story. I look forward to seeing your progress and pics! As you know there are many people on here with great advise and answers to any questions you will have along the way.

 

[Mpacker]

Thank you for sharing your story. I look forward to seeing your progress and pics! As you know there are many people on here with great advise and answers to any questions you will have along the way.

Thank you for sharing your story. I look forward to seeing your progress and pics! As you know there are many people on here with great advise and answers to any questions you will have along the way.

I appreciate it! So far, my biggest headache has been trying to figure out what to replace, And when to replace it. I may get some decent pictures of the situation and post in the Body section of the forum. Trunk, floors, rear bumper panel that the frame rails tie into, rear frame rails, rockers, fenders, quarters...... the list goes on. I can tell there’s a lot of filler on there too. Not that I can really afford it, but I’ve thought a good media blasting would be best for me to see what I really have to work with. I’d hate to start cutting and welding to only find out that I have I cut out what I just put in because of some other issue that ties into it.

 

[Mpacker]

Over the past few months, I've been reading the forum (a lot) and selling parts to build up a nest egg to begin working on the car. I got the service manual and went through it several times, and with a fancy PDF editor I was even able to chop out all the Challenger content to shorten it up a bit. That thing is a beast. I also got some steel and rearranged several shelves in the tiny garage, so I can build a little fab table and mount a vice and grinder to it. Spent about $500 at a welding supply company and I am now fully equipped to start messing things up with the MIG...

The path I'm choosing is based on my situation (not made of money), knowledge (fast learner, but currently beginner / can change brakes, etc. but nothing major), and the advice I've seen given to countless others on this forum. The advice that resonated with me was to get the car on the road (safely), as quickly as possible, then to take it one small project at a time from there. No surprise, despite the thousands of posts asking for advice, here I am asking for more. I'd like to do all of the above all while fitting my vision for the car, so if something contradicts what would be the absolute cheapest or fastest to roadworthiness, it is because I also need it to meet my plan for the build. I have no goal for when it will actually be done, only that I can do it as fast as I can raise funds and do the work without having to take 5 steps back each time I cut into it.

Having said ALL that, this car needs everything touched / brought back to life in some way. Trunk is rotten. Rear frame rails, floor pans in front and back (transition pan is about all that's good), rust holes in inner fenders right by the cowl support, fenders all along where they connect to inner fender and lower behind the wheels, rockers, etc. Only a dash and steering wheel for an interior. Primer has runs in it in spots that look like there's an inch of body filler on it. I don't know where to start and it's overwhelmed me. Every time I get on here, I can't focus because there's just so much to do to the car and so much to look at on here. I need to build the work table and sort through the rest of the tools that are left over from all the other stuff that was left behind, then, I took apart my engine stand and hoist and put it in the car. There's also miscellaneous tools and hardware scattered throughout the floor pans from what my dad was working on right before he passed. Once all that has a new home, I planned to tear down the suspension and rear end so it's just the car on jack stands. I guess getting it to be a "blank canvass".

Once I've gotten that far, I'm lost. I'll see what I can do this weekend and follow up with less gibberish of a post. Hopefully a bullet list of my build plan, current inventory, and pictures of the known trouble areas of the car.

I went and became a Gold Member (yeah babay!) because I already felt guilty for stealing so much knowledge from all of you. I couldn't appreciate this place more!

TLDR: Don't know where to start, haven't made progress, stay tuned.

 

[Dave 74 Dart]

Sounds like you need some advice from @moparmat2000 ( I know there is others, just can't think of them). I've bookmarked a few of his posts regarding metal disassembly and repair. My 74 sport needs a lot of metal repair and I have limited welding skills , so I'm looking for a small shop to get it to a point where I can take over. Maybe start a new thread about "where to start" and guys that" have been there and done that" will respond.

 

[WTruo]

My condolences for your lost. But its heart warming to see you pick up where he left off on the car. I hope you are able to go through with it 100%. This is going to be a great thread!

 

[moparmat2000]

Mpacker,

it was cool reading your thread. Glad your pops instilled the love of MoPars in you. My son is only 8 and loves MoPars too. Teaching him the coolness that is vintage Chrysler products. As an aside, you might be able to free up more working space if you have a storage shed in the back yard for keeping larger parts until needed. If your needing some metal replacing advice send me a PM. I would be glad to help.

Matt

 

[missing linc]

Condolences for your loss, it appears that it has had a profound impact on you. The idea of taking on the project where your dad left off would be daunting for most, even those who have a great deal more experience. Think of it as building a house, the foundation must be solid before you start to place anything above it. Take your time, ask as many questions as you feel necessary, and work methodically. I don't have enough experience in structural repair to be of any help, but there are many others here who have done it and will be of great help. Good luck, and keep us posted, I have a real soft spot for the 1970 Darts, have owned a few.

 

[Mpacker]

Sounds like you need some advice from @moparmat2000 ( I know there is others, just can't think of them). I've bookmarked a few of his posts regarding metal disassembly and repair. My 74 sport needs a lot of metal repair and I have limited welding skills , so I'm looking for a small shop to get it to a point where I can take over. Maybe start a new thread about "where to start" and guys that" have been there and done that" will respond.

Thanks for tagging him. He’s one I’ve read though several times already, haha! I thought about the best way to present the material and whether or not it’s do better here or on a separate thread in the body section. I think I have a plan. I’ll do my best to link whatever I can back to this original post and label things very obviously so those who follow can follow a more straight like from start to finish.

 

[Mpacker]

Mpacker,

it was cool reading your thread. Glad your pops instilled the love of MoPars in you. My son is only 8 and loves MoPars too. Teaching him the coolness that is vintage Chrysler products. As an aside, you might be able to free up more working space if you have a storage shed in the back yard for keeping larger parts until needed. If your needing some metal replacing advice send me a PM. I would be glad to help.

Matt

I’ve read through your entire build, several of your for sale ads, and many of your comments on other threads. I feel like I’ve been stalking you so I’m glad we’re formally meeting, hahaha. Thanks so much for reaching out. To free up space, I’ve had to get creative hanging things from the ceiling. I’ve got a lot of empty shelving space to put things on, but will most likely run out quickly. Maybe have to bring some stuff inside. I live in a townhouse and the HOA here is like living in Nazi Germany. I’m bound to piss people off with this build. Anyways. That means I don’t have a yard to put a shed. I think I’ll make do though and the car is missing so much and it’ll take me so long to work on it that I can do “out with the old, in with the new” rather than stockpile a ton of parts. It’s been hard already to not go buy the nice / fun / flashy stuff. Emblems, grille, gauges. I’m probably 3 years away from all that. I think I’m going to make a post in the body section and link it back to here. I’ll absolutely PM you and thanks so much for reaching out. What you’re doing for your kid will impact him for the rest of his life. You’re a very talented person and I can’t wait to see you continue your build. Also, you may have some things in need to buy. I’ll follow up and PM you when I get a better idea.

 

[moparmat2000]

Mpacker, heres some of the best advice I can give you as far as how I am approaching these projects I have. What I have done for both my stalled out 67 cuda project and my sons 69 cuda we are working on is I sat down and made detailed lists of everything both cars need. The lists are on the bookshelf in clear sleeves in a notebook binder in the shop. Being sonny's car needed more, the list was obviously longer. I am not independently wealthy by any means either, so it all has to be done on a budget, with me doing the labor on as much as I can. I have the lists broken down to

unibody
Glass & related parts
exterior trim & weatherstrip
suspension & brakes
engine & cooling
transmission
rear end
electrical
interior hard & soft parts.

When I pick up something I need thats on the list, with a ruler and a red bic pen I make a line thru the item, so I dont end up forgetting and buying it again. Though it seems I collect parts at random for this project, i am always looking for the best deal I can find. When the opportunity presents itself with a screaming deal I get it long before i need the part. I have all the wiring harnesses years before we will actually use them simply because a good deal popped up that saved me hundreds of $$$. Ditto for the rest of it. I had the trunk floor, and main floor for about 2 years before putting in at least the trunk floor. The deal presented itself on each so I bought them. AMD Main floor is from summit racing black friday deal 40% off. AMD trunk floor from a fabo member for $200. Tamraz ran a christmas sale on AMD barracuda bumpers. I couldent pass it up $300 per pair shipped. I bought them for both cars even though I am years away from getting just 1 car done. You have to keep in mind that the prices on this stuff will always keep going up year after year with inflation. I think 67-69 cuda bumpers are now $275 each.

Personally the lists keep me focused on the hunt and allows me to prioritize. I have almost all the items needed for my sons car. Leaving engine and transmission internal rebuild items to purchase for last since mechanical stuff is a lot more common.

If you have a spare room in your house, maybe use that as a storage for new boxed up parts. Any parts like trim and chrome you buy new repop, always remove these from the box and inspect for any flaws before boxing back up especially trim and chrome. Check fitment too. I have gotten some ugly stuff bad chrome, didnt fit right etc that I had to return for an exchange. You only have a limited time to do that before your stuck with it.

Get on YearOne, Classic Industries, MrMopar.net , DMT, BEA Parts (retiring), Legendary Auto Interiors, Summit Racing, Jegs, Laysons Restorations, Tamraz Parts, AMD, Steele Rubber Products, Inline tube, and Rockauto mailing lists. This is just a few. Many of these places run sales specials for black friday, cyber monday, christmas, new years, superbowl sunday, easter, 4th of july etc. Also check here on fabo first In the interior parts, exterior parts, mechanical parts, brakes and wheels, and parts cars sections. I have gotten really good deals on stuff, and have sold rust free stuff like framerails from cadavers I have drilled apart, and plowed the money back into these projects.

Dont forget junkyards. I have a few good ones here. Lots of A body stuff interchanges with FMJ body cars up thru 1989. Including SAE body fasteners and clips. I have wanted to buy an M body chrysler fifth ave just as a parts picker car to leave in my yard. Ram Vans provide lower door hinges with bushings that can be rebuilt , and chrome door handles. Ram Vans and dodge pickups with magnum 5.2, 5.9 or 3.9 V6 provide nice denso mini starters that are plug n play. People use jeep liberty, and dodge nitro rear disc brakes on mopar 8&3/4 and 8&1/4 rear axles they are a bolt on swap with big bolt pattern axles. I went with steel rims off chrysler fifth Aves for a few reasons.

1 they are a 15x7 with a nice offset.
2 they are big bolt pattern which I converted both cars to
3 they will clear the bigger disc brakes.
4 old skool look.
5 they were unbelievably cheap. Junkyard sold em to me for $8 each lol.

The good thing about your dart is it's a lot more common than what I am working on, and it seems the aftermarket make a lot more for it than 67-69 barracuda making your search easier.

It all seems daunting especially since you didnt dissassemble the car. This makes it an even bigger jigsaw puzzle. Theres lots of guys here who can help you get it back into 1 piece. I hope to be one of those guys who can help. I have a photographic memory and know the order of reassembly on these things in a way to make it pretty simple. I know this is all a lot to read through and process.

Hope this helps you out.
Matt

 

[Mpacker]

That should be made a sticky somewhere. On the road now, but couldn’t be more thankful for such a response. I’ll get on later and follow up. Thanks Matt!

 

[moparmat2000]

Glad I could help. Oh check out the ford 8.8 swap sticky if you dont have an 8&3/4 under that dart already. If you have the mopar 8&3/4 rear then use it. They are tough as nails but hard to find nowadays. The only reason for the ford 8.8 swap is its common as dirt has a limited slip in most cases, disc brakes, good gearsets, and is inexpensive. People use em a lot when swapping out slant sux for a V8. Most slants have horrible 7.25 pegleg rears. If you have the mopar rear, disc brakes as I said from a liberty or nitro with the big bolt pattern are readily available in the junkyard.

 

[Mpacker]

Mpacker, heres some of the best advice I can give you as far as how I am approaching these projects I have. What I have done for both my stalled out 67 cuda project and my sons 69 cuda we are working on is I sat down and made detailed lists of everything both cars need. The lists are on the bookshelf in clear sleeves in a notebook binder in the shop. Being sonny's car needed more, the list was obviously longer. I am not independently wealthy by any means either, so it all has to be done on a budget, with me doing the labor on as much as I can. I have the lists broken down to

unibody
Glass & related parts
exterior trim & weatherstrip
suspension & brakes
engine & cooling
transmission
rear end
electrical
interior hard & soft parts.

When I pick up something I need thats on the list, with a ruler and a red bic pen I make a line thru the item, so I dont end up forgetting and buying it again. Though it seems I collect parts at random for this project, i am always looking for the best deal I can find. When the opportunity presents itself with a screaming deal I get it long before i need the part. I have all the wiring harnesses years before we will actually use them simply because a good deal popped up that saved me hundreds of $$$. Ditto for the rest of it. I had the trunk floor, and main floor for about 2 years before putting in at least the trunk floor. The deal presented itself on each so I bought them. AMD Main floor is from summit racing black friday deal 40% off. AMD trunk floor from a fabo member for $200. Tamraz ran a christmas sale on AMD barracuda bumpers. I couldent pass it up $300 per pair shipped. I bought them for both cars even though I am years away from getting just 1 car done. You have to keep in mind that the prices on this stuff will always keep going up year after year with inflation. I think 67-69 cuda bumpers are now $275 each.

Personally the lists keep me focused on the hunt and allows me to prioritize. I have almost all the items needed for my sons car. Leaving engine and transmission internal rebuild items to purchase for last since mechanical stuff is a lot more common.

If you have a spare room in your house, maybe use that as a storage for new boxed up parts. Any parts like trim and chrome you buy new repop, always remove these from the box and inspect for any flaws before boxing back up especially trim and chrome. Check fitment too. I have gotten some ugly stuff bad chrome, didnt fit right etc that I had to return for an exchange. You only have a limited time to do that before your stuck with it.

Get on YearOne, Classic Industries, MrMopar.net , DMT, BEA Parts (retiring), Legendary Auto Interiors, Summit Racing, Jegs, Laysons Restorations, Tamraz Parts, AMD, Steele Rubber Products, Inline tube, and Rockauto mailing lists. This is just a few. Many of these places run sales specials for black friday, cyber monday, christmas, new years, superbowl sunday, easter, 4th of july etc. Also check here on fabo first In the interior parts, exterior parts, mechanical parts, brakes and wheels, and parts cars sections. I have gotten really good deals on stuff, and have sold rust free stuff like framerails from cadavers I have drilled apart, and plowed the money back into these projects.

Dont forget junkyards. I have a few good ones here. Lots of A body stuff interchanges with FMJ body cars up thru 1989. Including SAE body fasteners and clips. I have wanted to buy an M body chrysler fifth ave just as a parts picker car to leave in my yard. Ram Vans provide lower door hinges with bushings that can be rebuilt , and chrome door handles. Ram Vans and dodge pickups with magnum 5.2, 5.9 or 3.9 V6 provide nice denso mini starters that are plug n play. People use jeep liberty, and dodge nitro rear disc brakes on mopar 8&3/4 and 8&1/4 rear axles they are a bolt on swap with big bolt pattern axles. I went with steel rims off chrysler fifth Aves for a few reasons.

1 they are a 15x7 with a nice offset.
2 they are big bolt pattern which I converted both cars to
3 they will clear the bigger disc brakes.
4 old skool look.
5 they were unbelievably cheap. Junkyard sold em to me for $8 each lol.

The good thing about your dart is it's a lot more common than what I am working on, and it seems the aftermarket make a lot more for it than 67-69 barracuda making your search easier.

It all seems daunting especially since you didnt dissassemble the car. This makes it an even bigger jigsaw puzzle. Theres lots of guys here who can help you get it back into 1 piece. I hope to be one of those guys who can help. I have a photographic memory and know the order of reassembly on these things in a way to make it pretty simple. I know this is all a lot to read through and process.

Hope this helps you out.
Matt

Thanks again for this response. I think I was barking up the right tree, as I had already started to break down the build according to the major sub-sections of the service manual. I figured they knew what they were talking about, haha.

Very good point, and point taken, on getting parts while they're hot. I'll definitely look out for that and try to plan more in-depth than "what can fit in my garage next". Also will check packages when they arrive for quality control, before they're stored for later. I wasn't able to get into the garage today. Both regular cars came due for inspections and plate renewals. I was doing a lot of waiting in line. Also got the Christmas tree, then got tasked by the wife on some housework. I'll attempt to create another post in General Discussions about my build plan and break it down into those categories as best I can. I'll attempt to list what I currently have, what my plans are, and parts / mods I've learned I'll need already. Then I'll link it back here for other lost souls to follow the bread crumbs a bit easier.

 

[Mpacker]

Glad I could help. Oh check out the ford 8.8 swap sticky if you dont have an 8&3/4 under that dart already. If you have the mopar 8&3/4 rear then use it. They are tough as nails but hard to find nowadays. The only reason for the ford 8.8 swap is its common as dirt has a limited slip in most cases, disc brakes, good gearsets, and is inexpensive. People use em a lot when swapping out slant sux for a V8. Most slants have horrible 7.25 pegleg rears. If you have the mopar rear, disc brakes as I said from a liberty or nitro with the big bolt pattern are readily available in the junkyard.

On this note, I have a very crudely cut up Dana 60 (hacked off each axle tube about 8" away from the housing). It has 4.10 gears in it now that someone said looked like truck gears. I'm not that knowledgeable on how to tell, but it looked there was an additional set of gear studs around the ring gear (right by my fingers in the picture). I have no clue what it'd take to turn what I have (only what's in the pictures) into a complete rear end. I also wanted lower gears in there. Mid to high 3's. Sounds like I need to start fresh though...

The motor is a 440. I have another post where I listed what was in it here: Help Gathering Info on Inherited Motor Not sure what to do with it yet, but as far as getting it moving as fast as possible I might just put it in as-is. Along this line of thinking, I figured the Dana parts I have now might save me some money as complete rear ends are pricey! The shop that built the 440 said it'll only run on race fuel though, and I wouldn't want to have to redo or have that mess up any of the fuel system as I want to eventually tone it down. The shop also said "we didn't keep that many records on it" so the information in that post is all I really have. Definitely doing the 440 swap. That's all my dad was about, haha.

 

[GGs66GT]

How to eat an Elephant ... One bite at a time .

What is the Plan , Race , street or driver ?

 

[Mpacker]

How to eat an Elephant ... One bite at a time .

What is the Plan , Race , street or driver ?

For now, I don’t intend to race it, but the 440 is definitely too exotic to be on the street for long. I’ve been told I need to swap the pistons and cam/lifters to get it better suited for street use. I’m still kind of at a loss there.

My big issue now is say, the trunk floor needs replaced, so do the rear frame rails, quarters, trunk extensions, and tail panel/bumper support. I have no idea where to start. To me it seems weird to weld a new floor to half rotten frame rails, then hack it off and continue down the line. If that’s normal practice then that’s what I’ll plan on.

I’m just a bit green and worried if I tear the whole thing apart and weld in supports, that I’d never get it back together right.

 

[Demonracer]

Don't tear the car apart, it becomes over whelming at that point. Take it one step at a time, figure what piece you want to tackle, gather up the parts you think you will need, take plenty of pictures in case there is lag time between taking something out to replace it. Take you time, if you get frustrated, walk a away for a short period of time. As stated earlier, " How to eat an elephant, one bite at a time".