1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr
My father and I just purchased a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr Hardtop with the 318 V8 in it as our new "father-son" project car!
Little bit of background:
I have wanted a muscle car my whole life, and with the encouragement of my grandfather, who has a 1966 Chevy Nova SS, my dad and I decided we wanted to get a project muscle car.
We began our search Easter Sunday, trying to find some decent Mopar muscle car that wouldn't hit us too hard in the wallet.
Our budget was $2,000, and we needed to stick to that, so it put a lot of the more well known cars out of our price range.
However, I became aware of the 73+ Dodge Dart as a cheaper alternative that I really liked the styling of, and a car you can fit a 340, 440, 5.7 Hemi, or even a 6.1 Hemi in...
Then the search became Dart exclusive, and after looking at many, many Darts and calling about many others, I found this 1974 on craigslist in Exeter, NH, which we looked at 2 Sundays ago, agreed to purchase for $1800, and picked up this past Sunday.
Specs:
1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr Hardtop
Stock specs:
318 V8
3 Speed Automatic on the column
Currently 92k miles
Tan interior
Front Bench seat
No A/C
"Mods" it came with:
Flat Black Paint (yes, its horribly done...)
Mopar Magnum Wheels (in need of a repaint, but solid overall)
4bbl Carb
4bbl Edelbrock Intake
Brand new True Dual Exhaust with Flowmasters (unsure what model #, PO didn't know)
Mopar Go Wing
Black interior changeover in progress:
Door panels
Visors
Seatbelts
Alright, time for pics:
Its not perfect, its a project car through and through, but I think I got a pretty good deal.
It runs pretty well, is rust free underneath and on the doors and door sills, and sounds pretty awesome.
It does need work though:
A new windshield
A new speedo cable (a new one was included)
New Tranny Lines (a pre-bent set was included)
New Driver's fender (a decent steel fender was included, but I plan to go fiberglass like the passenger side fender)
Some rear quarter rust work
Some Trunk repair (just small holes)
Interior work (My Specialty!)
The 318 runs a little rough and my friend and I think its because its a little off time. We plan to do a waterpump, timing chain, etc. etc. very soon...
Plans for her (this summerish):
Get the engine in brand new shape
Fix rust
Redo the flat black paintjob
Finish the black interior conversion
Bucket seats
Long term plans:
Engine swap (something large, 440, 5.7 Hemi, etc)
Paintjob (I don't know what color)
Like I said, I know its not perfect, but its MINE!
She'll be registered soon and will be a driveable project this summer.
I'll be working on everything from engine, to exterior, to interior, and learning all the while...
I'll be chronicalling the whole process in this thread, so stay tuned!
My father and I just purchased a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr Hardtop with the 318 V8 in it as our new "father-son" project car!
Little bit of background:
I have wanted a muscle car my whole life, and with the encouragement of my grandfather, who has a 1966 Chevy Nova SS, my dad and I decided we wanted to get a project muscle car.
We began our search Easter Sunday, trying to find some decent Mopar muscle car that wouldn't hit us too hard in the wallet.
Our budget was $2,000, and we needed to stick to that, so it put a lot of the more well known cars out of our price range.
However, I became aware of the 73+ Dodge Dart as a cheaper alternative that I really liked the styling of, and a car you can fit a 340, 440, 5.7 Hemi, or even a 6.1 Hemi in...
Then the search became Dart exclusive, and after looking at many, many Darts and calling about many others, I found this 1974 on craigslist in Exeter, NH, which we looked at 2 Sundays ago, agreed to purchase for $1800, and picked up this past Sunday.
Specs:
1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr Hardtop
Stock specs:
318 V8
3 Speed Automatic on the column
Currently 92k miles
Tan interior
Front Bench seat
No A/C
"Mods" it came with:
Flat Black Paint (yes, its horribly done...)
Mopar Magnum Wheels (in need of a repaint, but solid overall)
4bbl Carb
4bbl Edelbrock Intake
Brand new True Dual Exhaust with Flowmasters (unsure what model #, PO didn't know)
Mopar Go Wing
Black interior changeover in progress:
Door panels
Visors
Seatbelts
Alright, time for pics:
Its not perfect, its a project car through and through, but I think I got a pretty good deal.
It runs pretty well, is rust free underneath and on the doors and door sills, and sounds pretty awesome.
It does need work though:
A new windshield
A new speedo cable (a new one was included)
New Tranny Lines (a pre-bent set was included)
New Driver's fender (a decent steel fender was included, but I plan to go fiberglass like the passenger side fender)
Some rear quarter rust work
Some Trunk repair (just small holes)
Interior work (My Specialty!)
The 318 runs a little rough and my friend and I think its because its a little off time. We plan to do a waterpump, timing chain, etc. etc. very soon...
Plans for her (this summerish):
Get the engine in brand new shape
Fix rust
Redo the flat black paintjob
Finish the black interior conversion
Bucket seats
Long term plans:
Engine swap (something large, 440, 5.7 Hemi, etc)
Paintjob (I don't know what color)
Like I said, I know its not perfect, but its MINE!
She'll be registered soon and will be a driveable project this summer.
I'll be working on everything from engine, to exterior, to interior, and learning all the while...
I'll be chronicalling the whole process in this thread, so stay tuned!