My first muscle car build thread (lots of pics)

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Sorry I haven't done much lately. The compressor was broken for a few days and i ended up working or doing other stuff. I have gotten a few little things done. I painted the water pump silver and some bolts silver. I also painted the fan up real nice. worked a little bit today on the battery tray and battery hold down. I really need to pop the steering box off and do a bit more cleaning. It was kind of crappy today so i just did some little stuff. Hoping to get the ball rolling again.
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I got the steering box off and cleaned the K frame a bit more today. Cleaned up a bunch of brackets and pulleys, shot a bit of paint on them. Figured out how to get pandora on the shop radio. Also figured out wearing headphones and drinking a beer while bead blasting makes it way more enjoyable.
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Shot a coat of black on everything before calling it quits.

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I need to find a temporary home for all my nicely painted parts so they don't get banged up. I'm loving seeing this stuff painted up nice, I can just imagine how great it will look in the engine bay.
 
Very nice work!
Those pulleys and brackets look really good in black...mine were chromed on my first overhaul, think I'm gonna go your way, much nicer!

Keep on the hard work!
 
Chrome is cool, but it is expensive and requires a lot of prep work. I wen't with the gloss black since it is cheap and i don't need to do a whole lot of work to make it look good, just blast it and paint it.

I also like chrome but, I think like many things it is best used in moderation.
 
Doesn't look like I got much done today but It took forever. Here are my freshly painted pieces

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had to shoot a bit more on these 2 parts.
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I spent FOREVER trying to clean this manual steering box!!! Finally got it pretty clean.

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Aluminum finish metallic paint
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After finishing this I started cleaning the A/C bracket and A/C. It looks pretty clean but, its pretty dark out so It might need more cleaning.

maybe tomorrow I can paint the K frame A/c pump and steering linkages? we shall see!
 
I just gotta say, I love this car and this post. I just spent my entire lunch here at work, reading your post. You are doing such an amazing job.
I actually just bought a 73' dart myself, and there is so much you have done, that I have wanted to do, and you have helped me so much I can't thank you enough, just having the pictures to see and knowing that IT CAN BE DONE is an inspiration.

Right now, i am tearing my front suspension to rebuild it compeltely, I am going to swap the nose to a 72 as well (I used to own a 72 and wrecked her, hate the pointy nose of the 73), and I have a 360 that I am gonna build.

Thank you again, and keep up the hard work, and that car is looking amazing.
 
snapetwo said:
I just gotta say, I love this car and this post. I just spent my entire lunch here at work, reading your post. You are doing such an amazing job.
I actually just bought a 73' dart myself, and there is so much you have done, that I have wanted to do, and you have helped me so much I can't thank you enough, just having the pictures to see and knowing that IT CAN BE DONE is an inspiration.

Right now, i am tearing my front suspension to rebuild it compeltely, I am going to swap the nose to a 72 as well (I used to own a 72 and wrecked her, hate the pointy nose of the 73), and I have a 360 that I am gonna build.

Thank you again, and keep up the hard work, and that car is looking amazing.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Its people like you who post stuff like this that keeps me going! Also keep in mind i started this thread about 2 years ago. Just keep at it and you'll get it done.



Started painting a few more things. I still need to do the other side of the steering box and A/c compressor. The K frame just needs another coat. I did it top to bottom in every visible nook and cranny. I am liking the way it looks. Still have another bracket i just found to clean and paint as well.
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Man i feel like, I spend a few hours and think I got a lot done. Then i come inside get on the computer to post up what I did and, it looks like I did nothing!
 
It was a little warm today!
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Finished up painting the a/c and steering box
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Put another coat on the K frame

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I took the master cylinder off 2 days ago, i looked today and it is leaking a lot out of the piston! looks like i need another one. more money down the drain.
 
Rained a bunch yesterday, lots of lightning and thunder. I was not working outside in those conditions. Today I had some trouble getting going and dad wanted me to take my rear tires off. He recently lowered his chevy truck and we have a set of 4 of these tires so he is putting them all on the truck. He is going to buy me the me the same brand as the front for the rear. Which is great i love those pepboys futura super sports. Tire size in the rear will remain 275/60/15.

anyway i spent an hour or two swapping tires by hand. wore me out a bit. I finally got going on the dart. I ripped the power brake setup off. Then i got the column out and took the pedal assembly off.

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I also found out The drivers side frame rail by the K frame has a rot hole in it. Sucks but, we will plate it and move on. It's not like this is a factory restoration.

Also since I need a new master cylinder anyway I was considering going with manual brakes. It just seems like it will be better that way, brake feel, looks, ease of access to the engine bay. So i found out all i need is a master and the brake rod. I looked mancini has a new brake rod for 40 bucks. Then i was looking a bit in classifieds. Then I had an AHA moment and ran downstairs and looked in the box of 4 speed stuff I have. There in the box was the manual brake rod!!!! SCORE!!! So all i need is the master to convert to manual brakes. I am also hoping to sell the power brake stuff and make a few bucks!

Its difficult to look at the car in this state. Really at this moment it's just a rolling shell. I really can't wait to get this damn thing back together!!!
 
Haven't touched the dart lately, I have been too busy working. I went to the carlisile swap meet today walked around in 100 degree weather and stuff. I got a firewall gasket kit for $30 and got a trunk lid with go wing "provisions" for 30 dollars. Trunk lid is in as good a shape as my other ones. now i have 3 trunk lids! I wanted to buy more but most things i need are out of my budget!
 
Got the blower motor off the firewall, then took the heater/ac box out, that thing is F'n huge. Took the seat out too. I just need to get the wiper motor off the firewall now and i think the gas pedal assembly and it is a clean firewall. I have to rip the carpet out too. Then its time to cut and weld some patches in smear some puddy, and paint the bay. I am dying to drive this thing again so bad!!!
 
got out of work early today and ran home to work on the dart. I got the wiper motor out, gas pedal out, squirter lines off, and yanked the carpet. The hole in my drives side floorpan is much much larger than i had thought! Sucks but, it is what it is! the carpet and insulation must have weighed damn near 100 pounds! granted they were moldy and wet.

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not sure how my feet weren't falling through.

Yesterday I also ordered some parts. I got a master cylinder and idler arm off rock auto. Then i went to advance and got motor mounts and a trans mount. when i was there the counter guy was like " 73 dart huh, we don't get many of those anymore" Then as I was being helped the very next guy to walk up to the counter walks up and says "I need a cap for a 69 dart". what are the odds!!
 
wow that is bad. My dad's 50 caddy is nearly in that shape. It doesn't look like it until you lift up the carpet.
 
Wow SirDan, thats pretty rough looking. Gonna get a new floorpan or make your own?

Ya, darts are making a comeback, im glad. I have people stopping every weekend to look at what im doing in the garage ( my garage door faces a 3 street alley)so everyone is watching me and keeping track of progress.

I will say one thing about darts, I think they are gonna become even more coveted soon, because of that horrible looking "dart" dodge is making for 2013....that car is ugly and did us old dart guys a disservice. Dodge should be embarrased by it.

keep up the great work dan.
 
I'm going to buy a floorpan. A buddy of mine has new floor pans that came with his car and he said I could use them if i replaced them. So i don't have to wait for shipping and stuff if i don't want to.

If i get a front DS pan, rear PS pan and a windsheild gasket from auto body specialties with shipping I'm looking at $340. Not too bad. Hopefully when i get paid next I will be getting at least 400 bucks. worst comes to worst ill just buy the front pan for now, and cover the window up or something so it doesn't leak. Then get everything else as i can. I really need the floor pan to put the 4 speed hump on. even if i get all that stuff I still need a carpet but, I'm figuring i can do that later on. I don't "NEED" carpet to drive it. Like I said I am trying not to let this thing snowball into something huge.

Rite now everything is off the firewall and out of the bay. I took my 4 speed hump out of the basement. We just cut it bigger initially to just get it out. Tonight i spent time taking it off nicely. Just needs to be bead blasted now. My dad finally got me tires for the rear again. The lugs had rusted from sitting outside and i had to run the tap through them once. Still tons to do! I want to drive this thing so bad!!!

Dad is dragging his feet as usual, I might get stuck doing everything myself at this rate!

No pictures rite now, nothing amazing to see anyhow.
 
Keep up the progress, you'll get there! it's great following this build.
You're gonna have a really cool Dart when you are done!
 
I pulled a bunch of crap out of my basement. I took everything but the steering column out. Then i decided to clean the trans and hit it with some paint. It looks really really really shiny in the pictures for some reason, its the same paint i used on my steering box. I just finished painting at 11pm. I painted the fuel pump too while i was at it.

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I also grabbed 2 cants of flat black for the radiator, and ac thing that looks like a radiator. might do the driveshaft in flat We will see.

I am really hoping i don't have work tomorrow. I have a bunch more crap to paint, rust repair work to start on. just so much left to do! i just need the time.
 
Yesterday i didn't have to work, i spent 11 hours working on the car, it looks like I got JACK **** done. I started painting lots of bits. trying to get everything done and painted. My sheetmetal also came. I got the 2 floor pans i needed and a wind sheild gasket! I think now i have pretty much everything painted. I still need to slap some paint on the distributor and oil filter adapter though. maybe something else I've overlooked. Still need to rebuild my heater/ac box, fix all the rust in the engine bay, fix the rust on the floors, then paint. its getting closer.

I took all these pictures on the wrong mode so they all look like ***.

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I once again felt like nothing got done! I painted my distributor and oil filter adapter. Then i cleaned the mouse crap out of my heater box and cleaned the heck out of it. Then i dropped in the new heater core. Of course the old one failed after all the mouse pee that was on it! Well that was a disgusting part of my day. Then i figured out why my wiper linkage was making noise. some jerk took one of the wiper linkage things out and replaced it with just a washer and some clip to keep it on. I replaced it with the right part and it looks like it will work great and not make tons of slapping noises!!! yay. Oh and i also painted a bunch of bolts. Might have did something else but i cant remember. It got too dark before i remembered to take pictures.
 
outstanding work....keep at it your in the home stretch. And the best part of all is your gunna appreciate the dart so much more since your doing all the work. Hopefully one of these summers ill run into ya at a cruise night.
 
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