1969 Dodge Dart Custom Sedan Slant Six, Father-Son Project
Wanting to drive it around a bit before tackling the project, there was a short list of things to go at immediately.
The right rear doors latch mechanism was failed in the
unlatched position, and some
McGyver level of engineering
(a rope) had gone into keeping the door from swinging open when taking left turns. This was the first repair we did - we disassembled the entire doors innards, cleaned and lubed everything, and reassembled. Fixed!
(Also, a good confidence boost that we knew what we were doing ;-)
Vapor Lock
The prior owner forewarned us about the car stalling on hot days, and summer in Seattle was unusually hot this year. We wrapped the steel fuel line in fiberglass insulation and wired some aluminum foil around that in order to limp the car home, and that did the trick no stalls. The fuel line was then modified to replace most of the hard-line with a (properly rated) flexible fuel hose that simply arced over the valve cover straight to the 1-bbl carb.
Electrical Issues
No dashboard lights. No right turn signal. No emergency flashers. Fuel and engine coolant temperature gauge inoperative. This forum was instrumental in teaching what needed to be done to remedy all this. Including the purchase of the 1969 Dart Shop Manual as a starting point.
Ammeter what a crappy, fault-intolerant design. Same as my 1977 Dodge Aspen had (my first car I bought back in 1988 ). Bypassed per the
MadElectrical article, with the alternator feeding the battery directly.
Bulkhead connectors, fuse panel, parking lamps, headlamps, most accessible electrical connectors got inspected and cleaned. New turn signal flasher (wow is that hidden well). All new bulbs for the instrument panel. The right turn signal/parking lamp resurrected,
but thats it.