My New Daily Driver - 1972 Dart Swinger!!!!

[Haney]

Here is my new daily driver - a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger. Althought this will not be a restoration, I am going to do some modifications to it so I thought this would be the forum to post it in. As I make progress I will add it here. Now about the car....

It is a factory 318, 904, 7 1/4 (2.76 ratio) beast!!! :burnout: LOL. I did not want a hot rod for a daily driver so this fits the bill great. It is a factory B5/B5 black top car. Has factory A/C (not working right now), PS, Manual drums on all corners, AM, Bench seat car. The car has 74K original miles and runs and drives great. "Floats" at 70 MPH.

As far as condition, it is wearing about 70% of the original paint. It has been buffed and burned pretty bad over the years and spotted on in several places. It is an all factory panel car and has the nicest truck floor I have ever seen in an A-Body. Lots of little door dings and scratch "patina" :smile: The trim is all nice and straight and in very good condition. The top is also original in great shape. The interior is original and very nice. It needs carpet and the drivers side arm rest is worn. Headliner and Dash is mint.

So, What do I plan to do... Well drive the crap out of it!!! I love driving this car. Here are some things I am going to do as far as upgrades...

• Front Disk Brake Conversion: I have 73+ spindles, UCAs, and 11" caliper mounts. I will get the rest from Rock Auto or local.
• New BBP Wheels: Here is where I am in a delima. I am going to keep the back SBP for now and run some billet adapters. I just don't know what size or kind of wheels to run. Either old school 15" Cragars with 60 series tires or 17" Torque Thrust style? I really like both looks. Also, I don't know if chrome/polish would look better or wheels with gray centers... Still trying to decide. Any suggestions?
• Dual exhaust
• Handling mods: 1" Tbars, front and rear sway bars and new shocks.
• Better Stereo
• Repair AC. I did put in some R-12 and it was cold for a couple days then quit again. Compressor was good and quiet and blew COLD! I hope it is a line.

After I get these mods done, I will then probaly put a little better paint job on it....

Well, that is the intro. As I make progress I will post. Thanks for looking!

 

[rlevs]

wow very nice car

 

[03JeepJeep]

Looks great!

 

[mopar79sean]

Slick ride for sure. It looks to be in great shape!

 

[zhandfull]

That looks like a sweet little Dart.

 

[Haney]

Thanks for all the nice comments.....

Would these look good on this car in a 17" with like 245/50/17s on the back and 225/45/17s on the front? I don't know about the gray centers on the blue car.....

Just for reference the car currently has 14x6 SBP rallyes on it with 225/70/14s in the back and 215/70/14s in the front.

 

[bigus1949]

very nice car. i have a 74 swinger. there is a place called e-bays garage where ya can post pics also. it has tons of classics on there including mopars.

 

[Haney]

Update...

The car is currently in the paint shop. Should get it back this weekend. I have also purchased a set of polished mustang Bullitt Wheels with 245/45/17 tires on them that I will also pick up this weekend.

I have collected spindels, stock Big Ball Joint UCA's, and ordered the rest of the front brake hardware from Doc Diff.

Hopefully will have some pics and more progress next week.....

 

[roadrunnerh]

Nice ride! I remember seeing that car for sale recently, maybe on ebay?

 

[Haney]

Thanks....

You are right about being for sale recently, but it was on this site. I bought it from a FABO memeber......

 

[72swingerVA]

Have fun with it! Mine was my daily driver back in '01-'03, but it's been off the road for a couple years now (mine is pretty much the same car in lighter blue and much worse shape - 318, 904, 2.76 rear, front disks from the factory, but a prior owner that used it to tow and had at least one accident in it).

 

[MoparDaddy]

Here is my new daily driver - a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger. Althought this will not be a restoration, I am going to do some modifications to it so I thought this would be the forum to post it in. As I make progress I will add it here. Now about the car....

It is a factory 318, 904, 7 1/4 (2.76 ratio) beast!!! :burnout: LOL. I did not want a hot rod for a daily driver so this fits the bill great. It is a factory B5/B5 black top car. Has factory A/C (not working right now), PS, Manual drums on all corners, AM, Bench seat car. The car has 74K original miles and runs and drives great. "Floats" at 70 MPH.

As far as condition, it is wearing about 70% of the original paint. It has been buffed and burned pretty bad over the years and spotted on in several places. It is an all factory panel car and has the nicest truck floor I have ever seen in an A-Body. Lots of little door dings and scratch "patina" :smile: The trim is all nice and straight and in very good condition. The top is also original in great shape. The interior is original and very nice. It needs carpet and the drivers side arm rest is worn. Headliner and Dash is mint.

So, What do I plan to do... Well drive the crap out of it!!! I love driving this car. Here are some things I am going to do as far as upgrades...


[*]Front Disk Brake Conversion: I have 73+ spindles, UCAs, and 11" caliper mounts. I will get the rest from Rock Auto or local.
[*]New BBP Wheels: Here is where I am in a delima. I am going to keep the back SBP for now and run some billet adapters. I just don't know what size or kind of wheels to run. Either old school 15" Cragars with 60 series tires or 17" Torque Thrust style? I really like both looks. Also, I don't know if chrome/polish would look better or wheels with gray centers... Still trying to decide. Any suggestions?
[*]Dual exhaust
[*]Handling mods: 1" Tbars, front and rear sway bars and new shocks.
[*]Better Stereo
[*]Repair AC. I did put in some R-12 and it was cold for a couple days then quit again. Compressor was good and quiet and blew COLD! I hope it is a line.
After I get these mods done, I will then probaly put a little better paint job on it....

Well, that is the intro. As I make progress I will post. Thanks for looking!

Damn that's a clean driver! Lol have fun with that beautiful beast

 

[Haney]

Well, I couldn't stand it.... Here is a picture from about 1 hour ago! I will post more soon. The paint I though ( and was told) was original was a really old repaint that was darker than the original. This will be much better......

 

[pro-tech]

Wow it looked good before But now even better.. Most people would of left it, But I understand the change ...Bill

 

[Haney]

Tail Stripe.....

 

[Haney]

Good News: The paint on this thing is slick. They did a great job blocking it out and it went on very, very slick. Love the color.

Bad News: At some point in time, this car has been painted all over... Jambs and interior metal included. They missed the B5 color pretty bad. It had a purple tint to it and is very dark. SO.... Now I am going to have to do the jambs at minimal. I had planned on freshing up the engine compartment this winter, but did not expect to have to paint the interior metal surfaces.

Bummer..... Another reason BLACK interior is superior...

 

[Haney]

Update....
Well it has been some time since an update so I thought I would post some progress....

The Car is painted and I think it turned out pretty good. It is VERY straight now and has the new tail stripe on it. Changed the car completely.



I am now working on my front suspension. I took it all apart the other night (with the help of my son) and will be putting it back together this week after I get the lower control arms blasted and the stiffeners welded on and new bushing pressed in. I will be installing:

• Firm Feel 1" T-bars
• Firm Feel Tubular UCAs
• Stock 73 spindels
• New 11.75" brakes components with drilled and slotted rotors; all from Dr. Diff.
• New aluminum MC and adjustable prop valve
• PST Adjustable Strut Rods
• 11/16" Inner and Outter TREs with solid adjusters
• 4 new Bilstein Shocks
• I have also bought 4 Chrome Mustang Bullitt Wheels with almost new Bridgestone 245/45/17 tires.

I can't wait to see how it drives........

After that I will start on the back....... I plan to install an 8 3/4 rear with 3.23 gears, new ESPO springs, and 11x2" brakes.

 

[Mark 71 dart]

Your car is looking great, ,nice choice on the wheels also .

 

[Haney]

I was in the garage earlier tonight painting some suspension pieces and could not help but to hang a wheel/tire to see how it was going to look. It is on there with an adapter that is too thick by about .5" to clear the wheel well lip but it gave me an idea of how it will look. I think with the car about 2" lower in the back it will look good.

 

[pro-tech]

Looking good, Its alot of work isnt it? Luckily you've got your little man to help you.. Those are great times to cherish, and he will remember it for a lifetime.. Be patient and kind and it will be a great experience for the both of you..( only say that because I know sometimes working on cars can be a challenge to anyone.) Have fun keep us updated...Thanks for the pictures...Bill :burnout:

 

[memike]

=D>=D>=D>Dang Man!! you have been moving forward and in great fashion

 

[megajoltman]

:thumbup:Nice