My first muscle car build thread (lots of pics)

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varlo said:
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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Yeah, it should be easy to recognize. Also I was thinking today, anything else i do to the car I can do while i drive it. So this is probably the biggest downtime this car will see for a long time.

I worked today so, nothing got done on the car. I think its about ready for some sand blasting.
 
I haven't posted much, progress has been slow. I did a bunch of sandblasting. Man did it suck. Anyway I think i have done all the rusty spots in the engine bay, hit them with etch prime. Here is a picture of about 90% completion.

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Today i got out there and cut out some cancer. Made some templates out of a beer box. Sadly the weld through primer was all clogged up inside the can and would not come out. I called it a day after that. I just remembered there is one more spot on the passenger side i need to cut out. perhaps some welding will get done soon. Then i guess a bit more prep work and paint time? I need to see what my dad recommends to do next. I feel like I am at the crest of the hill of this project but, we will see.

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I just read through your entire thread. All I have to say is "WOW!" That is one sweet ride! I'm looking forward to seeing it when it is finished.
 
65LoveAffair said:
I just read through your entire thread. All I have to say is "WOW!" That is one sweet ride! I'm looking forward to seeing it when it is finished.
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Sometimes I wonder if it will ever be finished!



Got some patches welded in on the passenger side! It's a lot harder than it looks in pictures or on TV. well not hard just time consuming. lots more to do but, it is one step closer every day!

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I guess i forgot to post but, about 4 weeks ago i got all the patches in but not primed.

since then I haven't touched it in a while. Just been too busy. There was some blast media and metal flakes from griding all around the engine bay. It rained and all that **** rusted. so I created more work for myself. Its all on the surface of the primer so a quick blast cleans it up.

Anyway I have TONS of homework to do but, It was 70 degrees out and fairly nice for 3 hours. I just had to get out there and screw with it, even though i should really be focusing on homework. :unsure: anyway I got out there, put some fresh media in the blaster first which helped tons! the old stuff was shot. Blasted the whole passenger side and got it in etch prime. Then I set up some tarps to hopefully keep rain out of the engine bay. I also made sure to blow everything off good this time. put maybe 2-3 hours in on it. I think with a full day of work it should be ready to see some filler.

It would be really nice to put the engine in over the thanksgiving break. But I just don't know if i can make it happen. Still so much to go. tons of school work to do as well. maybe if i can just put 2 hours a day in on it I could get somewhere. but that is easier said than done.
 
Keep to it, it's looking great! Just remeber where your headed, and have some fun on your way there. Besides, it's better to have a mopar sitting in your garage than to have to be driving a ford.
 
Well i decided to get on it again today. I got the entire thing blasted again and re primed. I think Ill try and blast the inside of the firewall if the weather cooperates tomorrow. Hopefully i can get the last 2 patches welded in over the weekend. I'm thinking putting the engine in over thanksgiving break sounds realistic as long as i can put in a few hours a week on it.

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I put some tarps up to keep the engine bay nice and dry as well.

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Blasted the firewall inside today. It was annoying and messy. too dark for pictures. Hopefully the other patches can be welded in tomorrow and things can start moving along.
 
Managed to convince my friend to bring his engine lift over since he is a block away and his was in his driveway together while mine is in the garage wedged in the corner in pieces. can't believe I got him to bring it over so easily.

I spent half the day cleaning up a bit, so ill have more room to work. since my dart project started a few things had gotten in my way. My dad acquired a 350 and that was just plopped down haphazardly and in my way. So we took that and threw it on the stand, at least now its move-able. Then we got this old fridge when my grandma passed away, real old has this big round thing on top. There was a good spot for it up against the wall so we muscled that in there and out of the middle of the damn patio. Then my old 318 was laying on the ground, i popped the heads off and threw them on the shelf, then took the pan off to finally investigate what happened. It turns out it spun a rod bearing. Other than that the motor seemed like it was in good shape bores looked good and stuff. I just don't think its worth keeping around and tripping over so I think I'm going to scrap it. I took that engine and put it off towards the edge of the patio. In the end I freed up a bunch of real estate. I could move things around and pull the entire car under now if needed.

Then I went at the car. I welded up the stupid vacuum advance filter thing on the firewall. Then I cut out the drivers side inner fender rot and trimmed up the patch. Doesn't sound like much but it took a bit of time. Really wanted to have all the patches welded in today but maybe tomorrow.
 
Hit it HARD today. when i woke up my dad had the patch panel sheetmetal screwed in place to check fitment. all was well so I welded that sucker on and welded a few other minor things. Ground the welds down. Seems real strong, ran out of gas though so I could not weld the chassis patch in. That is the only patch left to weld in for the engine bay.

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My dad was working on the other inner fender, He has the body work about 95% done on it.

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He shot some primer on it too.

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I bead blasted the trans tunnel piece and primed it as well while he was working.

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Very productive last couple days.




The plan so far is:

next weekend 26-28:
Finish body work, weld frame patch in and final prime

2-4
Spray color

9-11
Floor patches/4 speed hump

16-18
floor patches/4 speed hump

21st-25th Swing engine in


It seems like a realistic time frame but, I am worried I might end up with too much homework to do or something. Tried to balance the two things over the past week and think i did a good job. hopefully I can keep it up.
 
Got some gas today, so that is no longer a worry. Probably will focus on homework rite now and work on the car fri,sat,sun. I was really worried about the gas as there is still lots to weld.
 
Great build Sirdan. I read the complete thread today.

Keep up the work and can't wait to see this Dart running!
 
Got the frame patch welded in and ground down today! Was a bit of a pain in the ***. got some burns trying to weld too. I decided to just weld it on top of the existing frame rail instead of cutting it out, since it was behind the torsion bar and difficult to get to and will never really be seen.


http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/historic-sandy-targets-new-yor/701206

Looks like the storm is going to hit us good. Last time we had a tropical storm the power was out for like 5 days!! I'm praying we don't lose power this time. High winds so I guess ill have to take my tarps down. Maybe ill push the car as far towards the middle as I can and wrap a tarp around the engine bay or something.

Anyway hoping that I can still get this thing in primer this weekend.
 
Dad wasn't feeling well today so not too much got done. hopefully its still in primer by sunday.

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I sandblasted one header and painted it with BBQ paint. I really wanted to go with the nice plasticote silver paint but it had to be cured within 8 hours of spraying. BBQ paint I still think does need curing but it can be done whenever and handled within one hour after spraying. Also my back up plain if the paint fails is wood stove polish. If the paint chips or flakes, ill rub the stove polish on and that should be close to the BBQ paint color, and hopefully holds up well.

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Best tip on header paint: fire the engine up.Run it 2,3 minutes,shut off.Let it cool down 10,15 minutes.Do this cycle 3,4 times.Let it cool to cold to the touch.You be great,after that.This works very well.
 
Didn't get all the body work done today. But its real close. wrapped a tarp around the engine bay and am hoping for the best. hopefully sandy isn't a *****.

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Engine bay held up pretty well in the weather. I drilled holes for the ECU mount and then drilled the fender mounting holes. Dad didn't help tonight he said he was tired. Sunday might be a wash as well. might not get any color on this weekend :banghead:
 
Supposed to be nice here in Lyme on Sunday,...hopin to get some more primin done myself,...
 
diymirage said:
i spy with my little eye...nice KDX (that rear tire looks mighty wide)
i have a 96 myself that is plated
oh, and a 96 that im (slowly)rebuilding

they sure are fun
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Can't believe you knew it was a kdx from such a crappy photo! I think its an 2001? It rocks, I wouldn't trade it for any other dirtbike. It's just perfect in every way. Would like to ride it more often than 2-3 times a year but nowhere to ride local.
 
i feel your pain man, the closest trails to me are a 3 hour hike
even though mine is plated i trailer it out there because after a few hours of trail riding im beat

there are a few seasonal roads i like hauling down only half an hour from my house
great fun
of course with the plate on it i can ride it whereever i want
9 out of 10 times if its not raining i take it to work :)
 
I painted the other header today, dad did a little body work.

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Painted the starter quickly in the dark when i had no power.

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