Where do I start....?

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KramerSwinger70

KramerSwinger70

70 Dart Swinger360
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
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Location
Rohnert Park, CA
Just wanted to get some thoughts from the Resto-Vets here. Im not quite yet in the position to begin my restoration on my 70 dart, maybe i will in the next year or 2.

My car needs everything recovered or replaced. currently it is a 225/6-904-7 1/4 grannymobile. engine no longer runs because theres no battery and the radiator is toast. engine and trans leak like the devil. interior needs damn near everything (headliner, carpet, reupoholstered seats, ect). body needs some rust removal (minor) and a general once over to get arrow straight. im changing the color from a pastel yellow to Green Go, so its gonna need to be gutted for that.

my plans for the car are to pull the original drivetrain and replace it with a 360/904-8 3/4 setup, change the suspension to full RMS front and rear. Add twin scoops to the hood, recover the interior and spray it green plus the bumblebee stripe and blackout hood.

id like to be able to drive it during the resto-process but that wont be happening at this pointa. On 1 side i could (1) do the RMS suspension front and rear (roughly $10k including brakes wheels and tires) BUT then id have no motor, as the motor mounts would have to work for the SB which has not been built. OR i could (2) build the 360/904 and drop it in with aftermarket motor mounts BUT then id have to remove it and re-do it when i get my RMS stuff. in both scenarios i have no 8 3/4 rear right now and i plan on gettin one 1st. Option (3) send body off to a body shop so my shell will be ready for everything else to piece it together.

I hate that this car is gonna have to be done so slowly. ive had it since 2009 (i was 17) and ive yet to do any actual RESTORING :banghead:

SO basically this poor lil dart needs a whole lotta help and ive got bog plans for it and id love for it to be completed before my contract finishes. Im leaving for USMC Bootcamp on January 28th so that means im wanting this done before February 2017. Well see if that happens.

what would you guys do? Does it make more sense to do literally gorund up (suspension/brakes/wheels, engine/trans/rear, interior, body)? Is there another way im not thinkin about?

Either way i know im never selling it. Love this 70 and i miss driving it:burnout::burnout:
 
I would leave the stock suspension upfront for now. Use the Trans dapt engine swap kit which is under $75 and just get the car running and driving first. Upgrade as you drive it.
 
A running driving car will get you more involved/motivated to restore. That said when money allows and a fully resto takes place always do body first.
 
do the swap and upgrade lil at a time ive always liked starting fresh with cars and jus tearing in and doing the interior first cus u can take stuff out and still b able to drive.

onther then working on body it takes longer and u cant rly drive if u have to with no fender and no hood
 
Unfortunatly money and time never match up for most of us.. Your young so don't get antsy. Theres alot of us out here that had our cars for years
life happens and you take care of it first. So much for the father ,son talk. if your project is not a daily driver and you have a place to work on it, theres plenty to do that dosen't cost , just time and elbow grease. Strip it down and start cleaning ,front to back. This will keep you occupied for quite a while and you get a chance to see what your car needs, make notes . It also lets you know ,when you get money where its needed first instead of just throwing money at it. Have fun.
 
guess its about time I pop back on this thread. I am now a US Marine, and this coming Monday I begin my MOS training as....A Mechanic! I mean its on AAV's (Assault Amphibian Vehicles) but least im learnin! Im WAY motivated to get the old gal here and into the hoby shop, but that wont happen till I finish training and get my to my permanent duty station.

Question: I have yet to aquire a better rear, so im thinkin im gonna have to make the 7 1/4 do for now and go ahead and build and swap in the 360/904. if im easy on it, am I still in danger of blowin out the rear? the 360 wont be crazy, im lookin at 300hp range, if that since I want the think to get decent mpgs so I can DD it. im thinkin get the engine in and drive for a while like that, then the next big job would be the suspension/brakes/wheels.

Speakin of brakes, I have 9" drums all the way around. again, if im careful, am I putting myself in a lot of danger runnin on them with a v8? should I do brakes 1st?
 
Probably going to be blasphemy here, but have you thought about a Ford 9" rear end? Readily available and pretty normal swap in for non Ford cars.

Do you have the 360 drive train at hand, or is this still something that is a future purchase? If you don't yet then I would do a light rebuild on the 225 (new gaskets and cleaning) and get that into the car as a DD until you can get all the parts you need to do the v8 drivetrain swap. Personally I'd go ahead and send the car to the body shop and get it painted and patched first then do the interior. If you've purchased the drivetrain by the time you finished that throw that in. I've done things in different orders and this way has always worked out the best.
 
If you are mellow,cruising mode(for now),should be o.k.A 8 1/4 would be a great substitute.
 
Life has a way of showing you the middle finger sometimes!

Im still in Camp Pendleton for my MOS training, graduating in Nov. However, I have since learned of where I am being stationed afterwards.....Okinawa. So much for working on the old dodge! its looking like 1 of two options

1.Store the car and all the parts in a storage container back home and wait till my enlistement is up, use saved money and start the resto when I come home in 2017

2.Send money back home and have parents farm out the work for me

I may end up doin a little of both. send money home to at least get the new engine and trans built and installed so it can run, then store it and when I come home I can actually drive it and start really tearing into it!

Still trying to stay motivated on this car, just sucks its taking far longer than I hoped!
 
Well, SEMPER FI at ya, Marine! And there's lots worse places than Okinawa! I think maybe the parents could search for that 8.75 rear, have the 360 built by a MOPAR fanatic mechanic and the same for the 904. You will DEFINITELY need to dump the 9" brakes and replace the torsion bars with some 1" or bigger ones. Or, the RMS setup will solve the front end probs. The 8.75 should have 10" drums or disks. I know you love your parents and vice versa, but you'll do better doing the bodywork and assembly parts yourself. Coming home to find the car and the mechanical parts waiting for ya would be the cherry on top!

But FIRST - - be damn sure you come home! All the best to you and yours.

BC
 
Get it running first then improve it.I wish I had done that.I got mine and right away stripped everything I could off of it.Now it will probably be at least 2 years before I can drive it and have already lost some interest in the whole thing.
 
Day of purchase, the dream begins! Looks can be deceiving, however, because the car is in much worse shape than it appears in these photos. Not much has changed since these photos were taken 4 years ago!

 
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