1963 Dart 170 2 Door Post Resto

A little more progress...or at least back to where I was before finding a couple issues anyway...lol.

Jacked up the car last night and fixed the exhaust issue. Actually went much better than expected. Used my small cut off tool and cut the muffler just ahead of the previous weld doing my best to only cut the muffler tube and not the inner sleeve from the tail pipe. After i Had the cut half done I made a couple of reference marks with a permanent marker so I would know how much I turned the pipe and finished the cut. Twisted the pipe to a better position and even angled it a fraction so it ran nice and straight and tacked it back together. Then I reinstalled the clamps to confirm position. To my surprise, I got it perfect on my first try, nice and centered between the frame rail and fuel tank, with the tail pipe going straight along the frame rail out the back. Even gained some muffler to hand brake cable bracket clearance.

Pulled it back down and proceeded to weld it all the way around. Got a little spatter on the stainless muffler where I forgot to wrap it with the weld blanket but not bad. Reinstalled both of the clamps and am really happy with how it looks.

Also had my wife assist me with final adjustment of the trunk lid now that I have the trunk latch reinstalled. Was a little too far back. It was like this from the factory, but I wanted it closer to proper. Looks real close now.

Finally, I finished up with the steering column. Added grease to the steering coupling and closed it back up. A bit of a pain getting the cover crimped nice and tight but I managed.

I think I am about ready to do the final sand and paint. Just need to finish cleaning up the shop. Started organizing and cleaning a bit (was never organized from the day I finished building it. Was almost done when my son took sick and everything just got shoved in. After he passed I never organized it properly. Needed to work on something so thats how it went. Now trying to bit by bit find a proper home for everything and get it set up right). Funny how when you start cleaning it gets much worse before you actually start seeing any progress...lol.

Maybe I'll actually get a drive or two in before the end of the year. Fingers crossed.