64 Dart Convertible rescue

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paulclark

paulclark

Early A fanatic
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Sometimes resto projects find you.

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I have several early A-bodies and wasn't really looking for more right now. But at the back of my mind, someday out there I'd like to find an original black 64 Dart convertible like my beloved 64 GT. And then this one appeared out of nowhere, and you guess what happened next. (short version: it's safely at my shop now)

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Restoration projects get stalled for various reasons, good and bad, this is one of the bad stories. The previous owner left this convertible in the hands of a 'helper' to get it ready for paint. The helper stripped it, sanded, it and then left it to rust. But worse than that - they took the car's interior, and all the trim, and -threw-it-away-. AAAaaaahhhhhggggghh!

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I know, me too. The previous owner was so upset that they've been unable to bear the sight of the car and I that's why I wound up with it. I don't mind hard luck cases, and I do have a stash of extra 64 Dart interior parts for my GT, so that's a start.
The good news is the car is straight and amazingly solid - especially the floors. The convertible top hardware is all there. including the power top motor pump and cylinders. The rear quarter panels are solid and unrusted!

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More good news - the original 273 with power steering is still there and relatively unmolested, and turns freely, even the spark plug wire looms are still in place. The pushbutton 904 is intact and undisturbed. Mechanically the car is solid and mostly intact.

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Here's the want list so far. If you have any of these parts let me know. Some of these are common but some not so much:
ALL the convertible trim (yikes!)
convertible rear seat (narrow)
GT trim - the narrow strips that go around the color stripe, including the cast end pieces (yikes!)
64 grille
valence
front parking lights and trim
bumpers and mounts, front and rear
rear taillight bezels and lenses (yikes!)
rear quarter top trim strips
hood trim
wheel opening trim
rocker trim


Stuff I already have:
rear seat convertible side panels
front seats
door panels
replacement doors
headlight bezels

On the way to a new home: they always seem so happy to be out and getting movement again, even on a trailer.

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Here's the fender tag - I'd appreciate help decoding this as my previous efforts have not gone so well.
I'm especially interested to learn the original color scheme. All evidence says this was an original black car with black top, dash, and interior. What color was the GT stripe? White?
The options I notice so far are power steering and power top. Any others?

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I still have a bunch if convertible trim from my 65.

Rear seat cushion or the seat back?

Think i may have at least one top of quarter panel trim.

If 65 fronts are the sane, i have a set.
 
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Good luck on the headlight bezels. They pop up every now and then but for big money. I have ONE nos one for my 63 in perfect condition. I thought about making a mold and casting some out of resin and painting them body color if i can ever find the time.
 
1963dartgt said:
Good luck on the headlight bezels. They pop up every now and then but for big money. I have ONE nos one for my 63 in perfect condition. I thought about making a mold and casting some out of resin and painting them body color if i can ever find the time.
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Yeah, very high on the list of needed repro parts. I do have a spare set of bezels that will probably straighten enough to use but yeah they took a long time to find.
 
65 Dartman said:
I still have a bunch if convertible trim from my 65.

Rear seat cushion or the seat back?

Think i may have at least one top of quarter panel trim.

If 65 fronts are the sane, i have a set.
Click to expand...

Both back and cushion are missing, so both. Would be very interested in any of the trim you have!
 
many years ago, I saw a black 64 gt convertible outside of yakima, WA in a wrecking yard. Memory is a little faded, but I think it was a 4spd, too. I really regret not grabbing that one.
There was another early dart convertible, maybe a 64, all in gray primer in a garage in the Greenwood area. I don't know what ever happened to that one.
 
Wow nice find, as rough as it is. Plans are to put it back as much as possible to original?

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Nice find . Boy do you have an uphill climb on finding all the trim .

Have you considered doing a resto tribute ? One where you airbrush the “trim” instead of using actual trim . A good artist can make it look realistic .
As for the trim on the top of the rear quarters they could be left off and the seam filled.
The trim on the hood could also be airbrushed on also.

Doing this would cut your list,time and money way down . You would still have to find the trim around the convertible top , tail lights , rockers , head lights , etc. etc.

If you prefer dimension to your trim you could use aftermarket stick on “chrome” trim that comes on a roll in different sizes and profiles.
 
rustycowll69 said:
many years ago, I saw a black 64 gt convertible outside of yakima, WA in a wrecking yard. Memory is a little faded, but I think it was a 4spd, too. I really regret not grabbing that one.
There was another early dart convertible, maybe a 64, all in gray primer in a garage in the Greenwood area. I don't know what ever happened to that one.
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There was a white one in a yard in Clearview in bad shape for too much, I had been kicking myself about it but glad I waited.
 
GGs66GT said:
Nice find . Boy do you have an uphill climb on finding all the trim .

Have you considered doing a resto tribute ? One where you airbrush the “trim” instead of using actual trim . A good artist can make it look realistic .
As for the trim on the top of the rear quarters they could be left off and the seam filled.
The trim on the hood could also be airbrushed on also.

Doing this would cut your list,time and money way down . You would still have to find the trim around the convertible top , tail lights , rockers , head lights , etc. etc.

If you prefer dimension to your trim you could use aftermarket stick on “chrome” trim that comes on a roll in different sizes and profiles.
Click to expand...

Old pinstripers' tricks! Years ago I had a vintage Cadillac that I couldn't find a piece of side trim for (pre-ebay days) so I did much the same. From 20 feet away it blended right in!

Plan will probably be to run the side stripes without trim at first while I track down all the pieces. Would be a good idea to use some pinstripes to set it off - the chrome strip is an interesting idea as a temporary removeable idea too.
 
Keith Mopar said:
Wow nice find, as rough as it is. Plans are to put it back as much as possible to original?

Subscribed.
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Yes indeed. I'm usually not a purist, I think these cars should be driven and enjoyed, but then again, when it comes to the rarer ones they really do deserve to be close to stock condition.

As near as I can tell the car was originally triple black - body, interior and top - with a white GT stripe. I could be wrong, maybe the top was white and the stripe was black? Except remnants of the top are black, unless it was replaced. The stripe is sanded away completely so it's hard to tell. Like this stripe (not my car):
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However, I have most of a red interior, seats and door panels, and or a long time my dream has been to find a black/red/red GT convertible, like this (not my car):

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But that said, the dash and steering wheel of my car are black, a cool color and not that common among early A bodies. I've been looking at all the reference photos I can find, and it seems like in every case the seats match the dash, I don't see any original examples of a two-tone interior aside from the high trim seats which had a white panel. So that suggests I should go with a black interior - and dying red interior parts black should be doable (more than going from a dark to light color anyway).

At present my thinking is a black interior and red side stripe. The stripe would be easy to repaint back to white for originality, compared to changing a non-original interior color.

But otherwise - mechanically etc - absolutely. Especially that unmolested original engine compartment, going to touch that as little as possible, clean it up and keep it as is. I love the 273, and have driven one for years with a 7 1/4" rear end which is lightweight and efficient - no racing or burnouts and it shoul dbe OK. And I love the 64 original covers on 13" wheels. So yeah, going for mostly original.
 
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I have seen several oem two-tone interiors on 64's. I've seen mostly gold w/ brown seat inserts, and I've seen dark blue w/ light blue seat inserts. Both color combo's looked excellent, especially with the 50th Anniversary silver mylar fratzog emblems and silver piping.
 
rustycowll69 said:
I have seen several oem two-tone interiors on 64's. I've seen mostly gold w/ brown seat inserts, and I've seen dark blue w/ light blue seat inserts. Both color combo's looked excellent, especially with the 50th Anniversary silver mylar fratzog emblems and silver piping.
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Are set inserts the seat center panels?
 
Here's a Photoshopped pic of a car with black interior and red stripe. Did this ever come from the factory? Seems like all the stripes I've seen were interior color.

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Here's as far as I've gotten with the fender tag yet. Corrections welcome.
This is a 64 Dart convertible with 273-2, 904

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A - 5 ?
F - 1 power brakes - not true
H - 5 power window !!!?
J - 7
K - 6
M - 3
N - 8 rear defogger
T - 8 tach ???
Z - 7

SO Number
0327 6270

BDY:
L Dart V8
4 premium
5 convertible

TRM:
P premium front bucket seat
4 vinyl bucket seats
X black

PNT:
BBBW

open questions:
Why does this have an A instead of AB engine code?
What code is for the pushbutton 904?
I didn't think 64 Darts could have power windows, what's that H - 5?
LIkewise tach on a 64 Dart? Never heard of that. What's T - 8?
What code is for the power steering?
Guessing K - 6 is the power convertible top since K is used for power tailgates on wagons.
The biggest open questions are about color. What color were the top and GT stripe? Guessing Everything black except the stripe was white.
 
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Also, thanks to 65dartman who came up with many of the missing convertible trim parts - thats a huge help, thanks!

I also have most of the missing front end parts coming - grille and support pieces etc. and that will go a long way toward making it look like a car again. Still need to find bumpers.

Since I have a red carpet and most of a red interior that could go in here, I considered what if I used some or all of it. I went through the exercise of mocking up in Photoshop what it would look like, and concluded that the only ones that look right (to my eye) are the first and last - either all black or all red, like the factory would have done it.
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I'm posting the photoshop mockups here in case anyone else is thinking of mixing interior colors and wants to see how it would look. Except for seat inserts, I haven't seen any original examples that mix colors, although the fender tag does look like you could order a different color seat from the rest of the interior, since it has its own color code.

And in this car the black dash is just too cool, and not that common. I could replace or refinish it, but why? And then to look right, the rest of the interior should be black to match.

This may seem like silly or trivial questions but I'm about to start sourcing parts, and for interior stuff I need to know the color to do that. Will order a black carpet and probably plan to dye these red seat covers I have and the spare red door and kick panels black, or trade them to someone who has black and wants red (what are the odds?)
 
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I don't have a decoder book or anything, but I've been keeping notes for a while about fender tag codes on these older cars for a while. Maybe I can help with some of them.

paulclark said:
Here's as far as I've gotten with the fender tag yet. Corrections welcome.
This is a 64 Dart convertible with 273-2, 904

A - 5 ?
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Apparently not all assembly plants used AB for the engine code. I have notes from one with a lot of the same options.

A=5 is torqueflite auto trans.
F=1 AM radio
H=5 Heater with front defroster
M=3 Rear backup lights
N=8 Electric windshield washer pump
T=8 48 amp battery
K=6 Black convertible top

J=7 No idea
Z=7 No idea
Maybe one is for the power top or power steering? I have a couple of other tags in my notes with power tops, but the code is either L=6 or N=0. The 273 2bbl might not be on the fender tag, since L in the BDY code already means V8, and the 273 2bbl was the base (and only) V8 offered in a Dart 1964.

I think the 4th letter of the paint code is the molding insert color, so white.
 
brummett said:
I don't have a decoder book or anything, but I've been keeping notes for a while about fender tag codes on these older cars for a while. Maybe I can help with some of them.
Apparently not all assembly plants used AB for the engine code. I have notes from one with a lot of the same options.

A=5 is torqueflite auto trans.
F=1 AM radio
H=5 Heater with front defroster
M=3 Rear backup lights
N=8 Electric windshield washer pump
T=8 48 amp battery
K=6 Black convertible top
Click to expand...

Ah, bingo. all those are on the car (will check to confirm washer pump)


brummett said:
J=7 No idea
Z=7 No idea
Maybe one is for the power top or power steering? I have a couple of other tags in my notes with power tops, but the code is either L=6 or N=0. The 273 2bbl might not be on the fender tag, since L in the BDY code already means V8, and the 273 2bbl was the base (and only) V8 offered in a Dart 1964.

I think the 4th letter of the paint code is the molding insert color, so white.
Click to expand...

molding insert - do you mean the outside stripe or the seat and door inserts?
 
paulclark said:
Here's as far as I've gotten with the fender tag yet. Corrections welcome.
This is a 64 Dart convertible with 273-2, 904

View attachment 1715515286


A - 5 ?
F - 1 power brakes - not true
H - 5 power window !!!?
J - 7
K - 6
M - 3
N - 8 rear defogger
T - 8 tach ???
Z - 7

SO Number
0327 6270

BDY:
L Dart V8
4 premium
5 convertible

TRM:
P premium front bucket seat
4 vinyl bucket seats
X black

PNT:
BBBW

open questions:
Why does this have an A instead of AB engine code?
What code is for the pushbutton 904?
I didn't think 64 Darts could have power windows, what's that H - 5?
LIkewise tach on a 64 Dart? Never heard of that. What's T - 8?
What code is for the power steering?
Guessing K - 6 is the power convertible top since K is used for power tailgates on wagons.
The biggest open questions are about color. What color were the top and GT stripe? Guessing Everything black except the stripe was white.
Click to expand...
SO number 0327 6270 means
0327 scheduled assembly date
6270 order number
 
Early As prior to 65 had different code values based on the assembly plant. What plant was your car made at? The 4th digit of the Vin will tell you what plant.
 
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