LOOKING FOR ADVICE

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74 DART'

74 DART'

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
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Location
Dallas, GA
Im looking for some advice from guys who have been through this before. Im not sure which direction i should go with my car. ( here's backstory on my car) I bought my 74 Dart back in 07. Daily drove it until i sold it in 2013. It is a deff. project car and i wasn't able to do much more than minor repairs while i had it due to time and money. I was able to repurchase the car in Dec 2016 in much worse shape then when i sold it. So here's my dilliema, car needs floor pans, some roof repairs, lower quarters, trunk patch, paint, interior redone. Right now cyl head is off the engine and needs valve job. I have most parts to reassemble engine and get running again. Its a slant six (which i dont want) i picked up a 99 5.2 out of a durango to swap into it. My original pan was to replace floor pans , drop k-member out and paint engine compartment, gather parts need to complete magmum swap. Now im thinking to get slant running and enjoy car for awhile while i attack small projects on it. Worried about tearing car down and it turning into multi-year project that i dont get to enjoy. Sorry for long post and i appreciate any advise you can give.
Thanks J.R.
 
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Make it a runner so you can use it while you work on the rest and collect the parts you need for the swap later on. I'm a firm believer in having a running car that can keep giving you joy. I get comments every time I stop to get gas or whatever and that's one of the reasons I got it in the first place. To have others enjoy it as well.
 
Its easier to stay focused on gathering parts with a running car. So many get torn down and never run again.
 
Totally agree with the others. Get 'er running and do small projects that won't take it off the road very long at one time.

by the way...I'm just a piece north of you in Rome!!
 
Thank you guys for your responses. My fear is tearing it down and it never getting done and me getting fed up with it. Even though it isn't a show car it always made me fell great to drive it! Would like to have it completely redone , but thats not possible right now. Thanks Again
 
Mine's a driver too. Sure, someday I'd like to take it all apart, clean it up, paint it up and put it all back together, but I don't think I could stand not driving for that long, lol.
 
74 DART' said:
Thank you guys for your responses. My fear is tearing it down and it never getting done and me getting fed up with it. Even though it isn't a show car it always made me fell great to drive it! Would like to have it completely redone , but thats not possible right now. Thanks Again
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Exactly. You could tear it down and work on it for several years and maybe lose interest or drive it most of the time and still be working on it for several years. Rare around here is the guy or gal who has the time and or money to get it done without roadblocks and asap.
 
Thats why I bought my 68 Valiant, its a driver. Im bad for tearing a car a part then never get back to it.

Divide things up between weekend and winter projects.

Like next winter I want to do an OD swap.
In the summer I want to do few weekend projects for eg.. A drag and gas mileage shootout of M1 single plane vs airgap, rhoads lifters and gears.
 
Do the head, patch the floor and trunk, drive and enjoy it, then take apart ONLY when you have the time and parts are gathered, my son found his Duster in a barn last year, not running, parts missing, we spent all last winter working on it off and on, then he drove it all summer and had fun, this winter more work planned, I took my 56 Dodge apart over 20 years ago, right down to the frame rails, I have never driven it....maybe next year?
 
Speaking from the perspective of the taker-aparter... Leave it together. Do what you can while you enjoy it.
 
Agree with keeping it intact. Total teardowns can kill your motivation, it's much more fun to work on if it's still a driver.
 
Part it out, and use the money to get a car finished to closer to what you want.
With project cars, it just seems to drag on endlessly
Yeah, the buy-in is higher, but the pay-back is much more rewarding.
 
Fix and Drive, or do what AJ/Forms suggested...Keep the "Fun Factor" high and keep driving it any way you can....tear it apart and they tend to stay that way...damn don't I know this..lol
 
I’m all for daily drivers, that’s how I use mine. And tearing a car all the way down for an endless stream of projects that will take years is a great way to lose motivation. These cars don’t have to be perfect to enjoy the hell out of them! :D

However, I also know what it’s like to daily drive a car that has holes in the floor. In the summer, not so bad. Well, as long as your exhaust system is 100% sound. If it’s not, well, carbon monoxide poisoning is not your friend. In the winter, it’s miserable. It’s impossible to keep the cold out, and if it rains, well, everything gets wet and then you get to drive around in a moldy smelling swamp. And of course, the rust gets worse. Lots worse.

So, I might suggest that you fix a few things before you start driving it. Namely, the floor pans and the roof. Yes, the floor pan might be a big project. Same for the roof. But I would do those as you’re getting it running. You can spot prime whatever you replace, it’s about function not looks. But having something that has a relatively water tight cabin will make you a lot happier. The quarters, trunk, drop offs, paint, etc can wait and be done as you go. But after driving my Challenger around for 60k+ miles with holes in the floor pan, I wouldn’t do that again. I finally patched the floors in that car over about 2 weeks, it wasn’t really that bad. And I replaced probably close to 40% of the floor and firewall in that time, engine and transmission still in place, only the interior was stripped. If I’d done that at the beginning, I’d have been a lot happier. So, if it were me, I would prioritize a couple of those projects and take them on before you start driving it. Don’t do everything, don’t tear the whole thing down, just pick a few high value projects, take them on, button them up, and be a lot happier when you start driving it. Just my .02.
 
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Kern Dog said:
This is good advice. He advised you properly.
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No advise here, I bought a total basket case, w/ no baskets hardly. Took 7 yrs and a but load of $$$. Just hang in there , which ever way u go ! Gotta have some "stick to it`ivnes, which ever way
u go unless ur rich, I`m not .
 
The thing with driving it and "restoring" it is - it'll never get "done".. there will always be something else that needs attention and after a while you will feel like it is nickle and diming you to death... and unless you're ok with a "mop and glow" paint job, it'll never get painted either - but you will be driving it and there is something to be said for that. On the other side - taking it off the road and tearing it apart to do a full restoration or build is a serious commitment - and depending on your level of commitment, it still may never get done. The used up garage space isn't just about where the car sits - all the parts you take off of it have to go somewhere. Then you'll have to get another car so you can still get around = more $$.
Like Bob said above - no advice here - just some food for thought.. truth is, only you can decide what is right for you.
 
The only advise I can give for big projects like you describe is to first, really do the prep work first as in HOMEWORK! On what’s needed.

This will pay off when the bigger project comes into play. The engine/trans swap isn’t to bad at all but missing a part and waiting a week to get back to it totally blows.
Just think ahead. Write a list and go from there. Driving and fixing at the same time isn’t easy.

Small projects like floor pan replacement, interior fixes, etc... can be about half done and still be able to enjoy the car. Plan your time wisely.
 
Get another cheap later model car or truck to use as a bad weather beater. Keep
the 74 on the road as a rolling restoration.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Part it out, and use the money to get a car finished to closer to what you want.
With project cars, it just seems to drag on endlessly
Yeah, the buy-in is higher, but the pay-back is much more rewarding.
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I have to say that I tend to agree with AJ on this one. I guess it comes down to how much sentimental value you have in this car. If it means a lot to you for some reason, I agree with the others on here about keeping it running as much as you can. Doing a full tear down can get too big and you can get stuck like I did. I decided I wanted to do a full rebuild of my Charger. As we dug into it, the size of the project just got bigger and bigger. Had I not had it since I was a kid, I wouldn't have continued and would have gotten rid of it long ago. That's why I bought my Barracuda. It was mostly done, and just needed little things here and there while driving it and enjoying it.

The other problem with big projects is if you can't do it all yourself. I'm not a body man, so I am relying on others to do the body and I have already had two different shops back out on me for different reasons, leaving me with a car all tore apart and having to find someone to take on the project in the middle. Fortunately for me, I have a brother-in-law that runs a rod & custom shop so that is where it is now.

So,... if it were me,.... No sentimental value = sell it and find something closer to done that you can drive and enjoy while finishing it. Sentimental value = Get it sealed (floors & roof) and on the road and do what you can as money and time permits.

Pic of my Charger at the point the first body guy bailed on me. He was working on it out of his home shop. Got caught cheating on wife and forced to move out!!:BangHead:

IMG_0560.JPG
 
66jim said:
Get another cheap later model car or truck to use as a bad weather beater. Keep
the 74 on the road as a rolling restoration.
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The OP is rom N. Ga. BAD weather once per winter!!!! ha

For most of us, we need 1 old mopar that is a driver to keep up the interest in the hobby. Drive it and work on it as time and $ allows. If $ and space allow, get a project and tear it down if that stokes your fire. It can be a long and expensive road.
Other solution as already stated, sell the project and buy something more "done" if that is in your budget. Just be realistic in your ability to make a project car into what you will be happy with.
 
I vote to get it running and enjoy it if you can safely do that. Collect parts and do as much pre-work and component restoration as you can. If you can keep your time with the car disabled to a minimum, you will gave less trouble with motivation. If you are a family guy, try and get your family to enjoy the car with you. Their buy in will be great later on!

Cley
 
I have to agree with 66jim. If it is within your means a second classic is a valuable tool. There is always something to fix or rebuild on nearly every classic owned. I am fortunate in that I have a wife that let me buy a second toy. When my 70 Dart needs a little attention I have my 75 Vette to drive and when the Vette is down I have the Dart. I don't have much money invested as both of my cars are not show quality but they both drive very well and look half decent at the local cruises. Both cars are covered for the duration of winter weather but both will have a clay bar treatment and fresh wax by April 1st. Good luck with your vintage love affair.
Jerry
 
Thanks again for all the responses. I should also mention that this time around the Dart won't be my primary driver. I bought my wife a nice suv for the family 2 years ago and i have an older pickup to get me back and forth. So if it took me a couple weeks to knock out a small project its no big deal. I would use the Dart just for whenever i want. It was a great stress reliever just to drive the car to work on a saturday or take my son for a ride to pick-up food, that type of thing. AJ is propably right i should just sell and find something better but i do have sentimental value with it and one condition of me buying it back was my wife said " your are not selling it this time, i don't want to hear it". So the Dart is here to stay. Sounds kinda stupid but it seems like i was meant for the car, because even after i sold it i was able to keep up with it for awhile through craigslist , and saw it on FABO. The car never left more than an hour from my house. I think im going to put the slant back together, see how it runs and go from there. Don't know why previous owner pulled the head, so ill see how that goes.( I didn't care because i was going to put v8) Keep collecting parts for the swap , repair floor pans, that type of stuff. Once again thanks for all the great advise and different perspectives.
 
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