73 Swinger Ratty Daily Driver Project
Well it’s been a little while since I last posted. I had been slowly plugging away on the interior and been busy helping another buddy with a project car of his, but the last few days have been a big push to get the inside all finished up and I’m fairly pleased with the results. Actually having a complete decent shape black interior totally changed the car in my opinion.
Since this is gonna be a daily driver I wanted a more modern radio with FM capability and that I would be able to plug my iPod into. I found a radio from retro sound that was a “universal” fit and took a chance on it for $180. Pretty big investment for a budget car but a sound system is something I really don’t mind spending some dough on. It took some trial and error fitting it into the dash behind the stock bezel without cutting the steel structure or the bezel itself but I’m pretty satisfied with the job I did. That coupled with a $25 set of pioneer 6 1/2” speakers in the kick panels and a free 6x9 in the package tray doesn’t sound that bad!
You can get an idea of the install here in this picture, I even reused the factory knobs for that stealthy look. Some of you with a keen eye might be looking at the gauge cluster and going “that doesn’t look factory!” Well I decided to spruce mine up a bit. I already had to modify it slightly to fit the oil pressure gauge since I found a small 1 1/2” diameter gauge. A little clearancing in the steel structure behind the cluster and opening up the hole in the face was all that was needed, and I hate drilling holes in the underside of dashes for aftermarket gauges. So a little black wrinkle paint and yes, chrome spray paint and I think it gives the dash a decidedly more muscle car vibe. Here’s a before shot.
And after.
Amazing what a little paint, elbow grease and imagination will do. I took the day off from anything major on the dart today, I’ve been neglecting my other hot rod and this is the last nice day we are supposed to have for a bit so I decided to clean up my 67 Cougar and take it out for a ride. I know it’s not a mopar but hey, we all like showing off our cars here and I need to prove I don’t just own ratty cars, haha.
Hopefully I’ll be posting here again soon. My 360 should be close to being done in the machine shop and ready to assemble. All I need is that and to rebuild my tranny and diff and this thing is on the road. I can see light at the end of the tunnel!
Well it’s been a little while since I last posted. I had been slowly plugging away on the interior and been busy helping another buddy with a project car of his, but the last few days have been a big push to get the inside all finished up and I’m fairly pleased with the results. Actually having a complete decent shape black interior totally changed the car in my opinion.
Since this is gonna be a daily driver I wanted a more modern radio with FM capability and that I would be able to plug my iPod into. I found a radio from retro sound that was a “universal” fit and took a chance on it for $180. Pretty big investment for a budget car but a sound system is something I really don’t mind spending some dough on. It took some trial and error fitting it into the dash behind the stock bezel without cutting the steel structure or the bezel itself but I’m pretty satisfied with the job I did. That coupled with a $25 set of pioneer 6 1/2” speakers in the kick panels and a free 6x9 in the package tray doesn’t sound that bad!
You can get an idea of the install here in this picture, I even reused the factory knobs for that stealthy look. Some of you with a keen eye might be looking at the gauge cluster and going “that doesn’t look factory!” Well I decided to spruce mine up a bit. I already had to modify it slightly to fit the oil pressure gauge since I found a small 1 1/2” diameter gauge. A little clearancing in the steel structure behind the cluster and opening up the hole in the face was all that was needed, and I hate drilling holes in the underside of dashes for aftermarket gauges. So a little black wrinkle paint and yes, chrome spray paint and I think it gives the dash a decidedly more muscle car vibe. Here’s a before shot.
And after.
Amazing what a little paint, elbow grease and imagination will do. I took the day off from anything major on the dart today, I’ve been neglecting my other hot rod and this is the last nice day we are supposed to have for a bit so I decided to clean up my 67 Cougar and take it out for a ride. I know it’s not a mopar but hey, we all like showing off our cars here and I need to prove I don’t just own ratty cars, haha.
Hopefully I’ll be posting here again soon. My 360 should be close to being done in the machine shop and ready to assemble. All I need is that and to rebuild my tranny and diff and this thing is on the road. I can see light at the end of the tunnel!