MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
Well, sorta popping back in. So, back story... I finally quit my job two weeks ago. My manager, ever since I started, was making my work environment very negative, stressful, and toxic for no reason. Monday I'm starting a new job working on something much more interesting and more along the lines of my expertise. My commute is twice as long but I work a 9/80 schedule so I get every other Friday off. Also, since August, I've been teaching an engineering class at the college I got my bachelor's and master's at. I've been pretty busy. So, the plan is to slowly start working on the Dart again. Just put in a couple hours every other Friday. No deadlines. No goals. Just work. Car is not for sale nor is there any plans of selling it.
Last time I drove the Dart, I was driving home from Spring Fling and halfway home, the electrical started cutting out on me and the whole car died. First, the tachometer was all over the place, then it stopped working, then the whole car started cutting out. I believe I have a bad battery, so I have it on a tender now.
During my 2 weeks off, I've been inspecting the Dart and developing a list from things that need to be done to blue sky ideas I'd like to do. I'm going to tackle the Dart focusing on maintenance items first, then improved driveability, then performance.
For maintenance, I'll focus on the basics. Radiator flush, bleed brakes, bleed master cylinder, fix transmission or oil leaks. I need to fix the electrical issue noted above whether it's a new battery or alternator or whatever. I also noticed when I was looking under the dash in the car that my clutch master cylinder seems to be leaking at the rubber boot. Every time I pressed it, it seems a little bit of fluid came out. So, I may have to replace that.
With regards to driveavility, about a year and a half ago, I bought almost everything for an EFI swap so I started looking at some of the components. So, once I get the car running, I'll start swapping those components over. I assembled the Sending Unit, but realized I was missing the gasket between the sending unit and the tank. I was also looking under the car and realized I may be able to reuse a lot of my current fuel hose. But I'll focus on that later.
For blue sky ideas, I really want to lighten the car. I think the last time I weighed the car, it weighed about 3380lbs with 2 gallons of gas in it. So, with a full tank, we're looking closer to 3500 lbs. I think, I'm going to start making a bunch of composite components here and there to start lightening the car up. I would also like to give this car a paint job of some sort. Whoever did the paint job before did a 20-footer job and it's starting to show its age. Rust bubbles are now getting bigger or showing through. Part of me, way down the line, wants to swap the 408 for a much lighter, more efficient engine. But that's way down there.
And that's that. So, you may see me around again from time to time. I'll post updates as I make progress.
Well, sorta popping back in. So, back story... I finally quit my job two weeks ago. My manager, ever since I started, was making my work environment very negative, stressful, and toxic for no reason. Monday I'm starting a new job working on something much more interesting and more along the lines of my expertise. My commute is twice as long but I work a 9/80 schedule so I get every other Friday off. Also, since August, I've been teaching an engineering class at the college I got my bachelor's and master's at. I've been pretty busy. So, the plan is to slowly start working on the Dart again. Just put in a couple hours every other Friday. No deadlines. No goals. Just work. Car is not for sale nor is there any plans of selling it.
Last time I drove the Dart, I was driving home from Spring Fling and halfway home, the electrical started cutting out on me and the whole car died. First, the tachometer was all over the place, then it stopped working, then the whole car started cutting out. I believe I have a bad battery, so I have it on a tender now.
During my 2 weeks off, I've been inspecting the Dart and developing a list from things that need to be done to blue sky ideas I'd like to do. I'm going to tackle the Dart focusing on maintenance items first, then improved driveability, then performance.
For maintenance, I'll focus on the basics. Radiator flush, bleed brakes, bleed master cylinder, fix transmission or oil leaks. I need to fix the electrical issue noted above whether it's a new battery or alternator or whatever. I also noticed when I was looking under the dash in the car that my clutch master cylinder seems to be leaking at the rubber boot. Every time I pressed it, it seems a little bit of fluid came out. So, I may have to replace that.
With regards to driveavility, about a year and a half ago, I bought almost everything for an EFI swap so I started looking at some of the components. So, once I get the car running, I'll start swapping those components over. I assembled the Sending Unit, but realized I was missing the gasket between the sending unit and the tank. I was also looking under the car and realized I may be able to reuse a lot of my current fuel hose. But I'll focus on that later.
For blue sky ideas, I really want to lighten the car. I think the last time I weighed the car, it weighed about 3380lbs with 2 gallons of gas in it. So, with a full tank, we're looking closer to 3500 lbs. I think, I'm going to start making a bunch of composite components here and there to start lightening the car up. I would also like to give this car a paint job of some sort. Whoever did the paint job before did a 20-footer job and it's starting to show its age. Rust bubbles are now getting bigger or showing through. Part of me, way down the line, wants to swap the 408 for a much lighter, more efficient engine. But that's way down there.
And that's that. So, you may see me around again from time to time. I'll post updates as I make progress.