the start of the Dart clean up

-
mark studley

mark studley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2016
Messages
100
Reaction score
47
Location
Rhode Island
I started cleaning up the car today just to take stock in what I have please comment on the pictures I don't want to waist my time if the car looks to far gone. the thing that I am most excited about is that I drove it from its grave.

20161020_164437_001.jpg


20161020_164457_001.jpg


20161020_164503_001.jpg


20161020_164514_001.jpg


20161020_164522_001.jpg
 
A trunk floor isn't a deal breaker by any stretch. How's the important stuff? Frame rails, cross members, ect. What's your experience level?
 
Pascamp said:
A trunk floor isn't a deal breaker by any stretch. How's the important stuff? Frame rails, cross members, ect. What's your experience level?
Click to expand...
the floors are shot as well as all frame rails they are there but rotted badly I am hopeing to take measurements and replace them one at a time from the front to the back I have never done this type of work before so I am going to move slowly I have all the shop equipment needed to do the work. the firewall and toe kicks are solid as well as under the rear seat. the rockers are also very solid with no visable rot when you open the doors or feel under the rockers. as shown in the pictures the center of the trunk floors is rotted but the rear panel and side panels are fine.
 
Your a braver man then me...I don't bother with anything that has rust..
 
a few AMD panels and you have yourself a life long friend

good score :thumbsup:
 
very crude song but this music video has a lot of glimpses of a red 67 dart GT convertible just like yours

 
I am spoiled because I live in the southwest and cars around here are usually desert baked with absolutely no rust, but I would have still picked up that dart convertible just because it has a nice personality and you don't find those very often and just to be a pack rat. Plus with re-pop panels so readily available, you really cant go wrong with that. IMO
 
Strip everything out of it, level it on your garage floor and then weld in cross bracing to hold whats left together and square before starting in on it. If your replacing framerails your in luck i believe 67 to 72 or 73 all the dart rails are the same. Id recommend installing subframe connectors as well when changing out the framerails. Makes the car much stiffer as its a drop top. Change out stuff like the framerails one at a time. Not sure how you would do it, but i personally would start at the center of the car with a new torsion bar crossmember, and a floorpan. At this point you can take stock of the rockers and see how solid they are. AMD makes almost everything for this car except convertible specific stuff, and from what i understand their parts fit just like factory stuff. How bad are the rails? Are the rears solid, but need splices at the back? Or are they perforated all the way through?
PM me i may be able to hook you up with a local boneyard out here in West Texas that has a partially picked over rust free 70 four door dart that would perfect for a lot of what you would need. They might sell it to you for $300-$400 would be cheaper than having them torch out what you need.
 
mark studley said:
I started cleaning up the car today just to take stock in what I have please comment on the pictures I don't want to waist my time if the car looks to far gone. the thing that I am most excited about is that I drove it from its grave.

View attachment 1714981709

View attachment 1714981710

View attachment 1714981711

View attachment 1714981712

View attachment 1714981713
Click to expand...
So you started it up and drove it out of there? I bet its got a slanty 6 in it if you could do that with it.
 
moparmat2000 said:
So you started it up and drove it out of there? I bet its got a slanty 6 in it if you could do that with it.
Click to expand...
yes it has a slant 6 that runs great for not having been run for all that time. I was told later by a friend that I was a fool to start it without a tear down because I could have really messed up the motor.I did dump the sae 30 oil and put in 10w 30 instead.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Strip everything out of it, level it on your garage floor and then weld in cross bracing to hold whats left together and square before starting in on it. If your replacing framerails your in luck i believe 67 to 72 or 73 all the dart rails are the same. Id recommend installing subframe connectors as well when changing out the framerails. Makes the car much stiffer as its a drop top. Change out stuff like the framerails one at a time. Not sure how you would do it, but i personally would start at the center of the car with a new torsion bar crossmember, and a floorpan. At this point you can take stock of the rockers and see how solid they are. AMD makes almost everything for this car except convertible specific stuff, and from what i understand their parts fit just like factory stuff. How bad are the rails? Are the rears solid, but need splices at the back? Or are they perforated all the way through?
PM me i may be able to hook you up with a local boneyard out here in West Texas that has a partially picked over rust free 70 four door dart that would perfect for a lot of what you would need. They might sell it to you for $300-$400 would be cheaper than having them torch out what you need.
Click to expand...
 
all the rails are shot as far as I can see I plan to put it up on the lift next week. I am currently removing the interior so that I can start bracing the car so it stays true the doors seem to close pretty good and the spacing looks even. thank you for the offer about the car by the time I pay to ship it I think the cost may be to high. I am planning on buying new rails front to rear as needed I got a budget of about $4500 to spend on parts if needed.
 
Ok cool. I know i would love to tear into it and change out the rusty structure. I guess i must be a masochist. I do sheetmeral structural repairs on aircraft for a living. They get quite corroded under the galleys and lavatories, changing out corroded out frames , stiffeners , and stringers are a way of life for me. The darts rust is a challenge. Take your time, i have seen far worse rebuilt. I followed a thread here where a guy was holding onto a Truk Lagoon rusty 67 barracuda 383 4 speed convertible because he was waiting for all the pieces to be repopped. I watched him work the carto completion a section at a time. It was impressive. I believe he started in the middle as well.

I recommend getting some 1/8" draw type cleco pins with the wing nuts. "Brown tool supply, or the yard aviation supply" . This will help you pin and hold stuff together prior to welding, then just remove the pins and weld up the 1/8" cleco pin holes when done
 
moparmat2000 said:
Ok cool. I know i would love to tear into it and change out the rusty structure. I guess i must be a masochist. I do sheetmeral structural repairs on aircraft for a living. They get quite corroded under the galleys and lavatories, changing out corroded out frames , stiffeners , and stringers are a way of life for me. The darts rust is a challenge. Take your time, i have seen far worse rebuilt. I followed a thread here where a guy was holding onto a Truk Lagoon rusty 67 barracuda 383 4 speed convertible because he was waiting for all the pieces to be repopped. I watched him work the carto completion a section at a time. It was impressive. I believe he started in the middle as well.

I recommend getting some 1/8" draw type cleco pins with the wing nuts. "Brown tool supply, or the yard aviation supply" . This will help you pin and hold stuff together prior to welding, then just remove the pins and weld up the 1/8" cleco pin holes when done
Click to expand...
 
funny you should mention that, you are the second person to tell me about clecos, now I have to buy some and play around so I can see how they work. Thank for your words of support I want this to come out right. I am also working on a 65 vw convertible a 68 cutlass convertible and a 58 ford ranchero yes I am a sick man...
 
Sounds like you have a full plate. So do i. A 67 barracuda notchback, 88 daytona shelby, 69 barracuda notchback (kids future project) , and a mild refresh on my 94 chevy sliverado i bought new. I have spring clecos, and "draw" clecos (wingnut type).for automotive sheetmetal i'd recomnend a mix of draw and spring clecos. The copper colored are 1/8". Brown tool sells the "button" or spring clecos for about $4.20 a dozen.and "wing nut" or draw types for about $2.00 each. Plyers for spring clecos are about $5.00 so these are really a great investment.

In my aviation job the clecos are sized for different nominal sized rivet shanks to keep existing drilled rivet holes or new rivet holes perfectly lined up when changing out aviation metal frames and such, but for automotive sheetmetal they work great to pin and hold stuff together prior to welding.

I recommend clamping and drilling for the cleco pins then pulling the pieces back apart to remove the burrs from drilling then repin with the clecos to draw everything tight prior to welding. Also i recommend using 3M weld thru ll on any steel sheetmetal pieces that are overlapping each other where you plan to weld. Its like a spray on zinc coating to help prevent rust.
 
Last edited:
moparmat2000 said:
Sounds like you have a full plate. So do i. A 67 barracuda notchback, 88 daytona shelby, 69 barracuda notchback (kids future project) , and a mild refresh on my 94 chevy sliverado i bought new. I have spring clecos, and "draw" clecos (wingnut type).for automotive sheetmetal i'd recomnend a mix of draw and spring clecos. The copper colored are 1/8". Brown tool sells the "button" or spring clecos for about $4.20 a dozen.and "wing nut" or draw types for about $2.00 each. Plyers for spring clecos are about $5.00 so these are really a great investment.

In my aviation job the clecos are sized for different nominal sized rivet shanks to keep existing drilled rivet holes or new rivet holes perfectly lined up when changing out aviation metal frames and such, but for automotive sheetmetal they work great to pin and hold stuff together prior to welding.

I recommend clamping and drilling for the cleco pins then pulling the pieces back apart to remove the burrs from drilling then repin with the clecos to draw everything tight prior to welding. Also i recommend using 3M weld thru ll on any steel sheetmetal pieces that are overlapping each other where you plan to weld. Its like a spray on zinc coating to help prevent rust.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top