Your First Car
My first car was a 1972 Dart Swinger ( LH23G2B307811 , in case anyone's got it :-D ) which I bought in August 1989 , for $800 .
At that time , eight hundred was a bit to pay for a post-1970 Dart , but this thing was Clean ( I bought it off of its original owner ) , and best of all ...
... it was factory EV2 Hemi Orange ! It has E2XW interior
( white bench seat with black accents ) , AM radio , 318 / 904 , outside right-hand ( pass side ) mirror , A/C , power disc brakes , power steering , etc. , etc.
I had to remove the factory white vinyl top as there was Rust under the rear window ; I repaired the rotted areas
( yes , California cars DO rust ! ) , stripped the crappy factory "finish" ( HA! ) off of the roof , and prepped and rattle can painted the roof in gloss white.
The 904 took a huge dump in '91 , so I had a friend-of-a-friend rebuild it . I insisted on having a shift-improver put in ( I despise soft , granny-shifting automatics :angry7: ! ) , to which he obliged ; it was my first experience with Trans-Go , and I haven't looked back !
California required any and all 1966 & newer cars be run through their anal smog check programme , prior to 01/01/1998 , so when I wanted to hot rod the 318 , I had to consider the EEC canister , thermostatic air cleaner , and cam specs .
It got a 360 two barrel top end ( heads and intake ) , a carb from a 1972 400 2Bbl ( for its vacuum porting and EEC provisions ) , and a 340 cam ; headers with a heat riser tube welded on the driver's side ( to run the tube to the air cleaner's snorkel ) ; double roller timing , h.v. oil pump ; 340-style dual exhaust ( with turn down tips ) .
Really woke that 318 up , and passed CA's white glove emissions testing .
That piece-of-crap 7.25" diff let go ( small surprise , huh ? ) , so I hit the local self-serve yard and scored a complete 8.25" from a 1974 Duster 360 ( 3.21's / Sure Grip ) . A 1975 Coronet wagon gave up its 15x7" steel wheels ; and a 1973 Valiant sedan donated its superior disc brake setup ( those stock 4 piston K-H brakes on my Dart were trouble prone and expensive !!! Not to mention that stupid 5x4" bolt circle pattern !!! ) .
Unfortunately I had to sell the car back in 1999 . I had some absurd medical bills to cover ; the car wasn't running at that point anyhow ( some electrical gremlin that I couldn't afford to trace & fix :angry7: ) , so it went to a loving home .