1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife
- Thread starter Jim Kueneman
- Start date
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rt-eng.com
your kind of people all double e guys driving pristine purist mopars.
After 4 weeks of Summit struggling I ordered these from a place in Southern California.
Heading up to Maricopa to pick up a complete cluster for the Dart in the morning. Can't have to many spare parts that are not reproduced.....
mygasser
Well-Known Member
good choice with the slot mags, i love 'em 
neil.
neil.
5 hour round trip drive to meet a super nice fellow early A-Body guy with a collection of old Mopars. He parted with his last '63/'64 cluster so I could get a gas gauge. I will likely try to rewind my old one and then restore this dash like I did mine for someone to have a turn key restored cluster for their old Dart.
Installed the Real Time Engineering electronic regulator as the one in the new gas gauge clear got hot as the bimetallic strip was not straight and the wires where black. Bend the points out so it could not touch and snipped the ground on the NiChrome wire for the regulator heater so it could not short things out. Used the supplied resistor to test things out, the 10 ohm should peg the the needles.. Crap I just remembered I did not paint the needle orange!!!! It is stinking hot.... it was going to be over 115F where I was south of Phoenix and it is 95 here but the storms are building.
I'm waiting for the comments @billccm......
Installed the Real Time Engineering electronic regulator as the one in the new gas gauge clear got hot as the bimetallic strip was not straight and the wires where black. Bend the points out so it could not touch and snipped the ground on the NiChrome wire for the regulator heater so it could not short things out. Used the supplied resistor to test things out, the 10 ohm should peg the the needles.. Crap I just remembered I did not paint the needle orange!!!! It is stinking hot.... it was going to be over 115F where I was south of Phoenix and it is 95 here but the storms are building.
I'm waiting for the comments @billccm......
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Dash is flipped back down, radio is out (did not work well) and the order is into the electronics store in Tucson for pickup later this morning... fingers crossed this all that is wrong. Basic checks of the output stage indicate it is not blown so that is good.... Interesting old capacitors that have multiple caps in a single package... I needed to create a "ring of ground" for the old Bendix cap.... Ready for the new ones.
Hoping I am doing @billccm proud
Hoping I am doing @billccm proud
PCB looks to be in excellent condition.
A good antenna and fresh capacitors is probably all it needs. Remember to trim the antenna when in the car. Tune anywhere above 1200kHz and adjust for max volume at the trimmer. Use a plastic or ceramic screwdriver.
A good antenna and fresh capacitors is probably all it needs. Remember to trim the antenna when in the car. Tune anywhere above 1200kHz and adjust for max volume at the trimmer. Use a plastic or ceramic screwdriver.
Ok I'm going out to drill 4 holes before I am drenched in sweat and will come back in... if it doesn't cool off this is going to take forever.....
New holes for the washer pump (non-functional, know it will leak) and dimmer. Need to extend the wires for the dimmer. Now the speaker kick panels will clear. Just doing this I was drenched in sweat, the humidity during monsoon season is a killer....
More under dash details. DMT wiper pivot kit and the wipers are installed and functional. Bead blasted the heater door cable clips and the heater controls are done. Installed some insulation then removed the cracked and disintegrated covering on the shift cable. After that bead blasted the shift and speedo cables.
After blasting it was time to seal the shift cables. They do not have seals and transmission fluid is allowed to travel up them so they need to be sealed. I like this Permatex sealer that my machine shop buddy uses so I smeared a coating on the cable then slid on 3/8" shrink tubing. After shrinking it I then put on 3 more layers. Basically used up four of the 4' lengths.
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Once done fixed the bent cable holders so the cables came straight into the shifter mechanism and replaced the seal in the speedo gear. Lubed the cable and installed. Once I get a couple questions answered the dash will be rolled up and bolted in for good.
Dash is in for good (I hope).... vapor barriers in (Lowes 6 mil plastic, one roll has done 4 cars), letting the carpet layout for a week and mocked in the windshield chrome!
Upholstery place called and the rear bottom frame had rot.... apparently a common disease for A-verts. Spent a few hours here and there this week restoring it. Dropped it off at 4:30 this evening. Upholstery will be done early next week. Gotta get the seat parts restored and painted this weekend... piece of round rod and a 22 gauge panel from Ace then a few scraps off the body panels and some blasting and epoxy primer. Just like new.
Final Product.
The wife is NOT getting this back.....
mygasser
Well-Known Member
they look so much sleeker as a convertible
neil.
neil.
For your viewing pleasure..
Baca will probably contract you for other furniture frame repairs.
He did not seem too impressed!
What you think is a few hours turns into all day easy... I decided to just find everything that needed to be shot black epoxy and blast then paint them... Seat hardware is ready for the seats next week and the convertible top hardware is ready. Also the 2 small air cleaners for the dual carbs are ready.. Sort of a bitter sweet day. This morning my friend at the store said that my retired cowboy neighbor had a horse die and he needed to take care of it. When I was working later I saw both horses and wondered if my friend was wrong. Then a backhoe came started to dig a hole, then the echo of a shot and the remaining horse was whinnying up a storm... he knew what happened.... a few hours later a trailer arrived and I am assuming it was someone who moved one of his horses over to keep my neighbors horse company and calm her down. My wife flipped out when she heard the shot....
JDMopar
Well-Known Member
Nice work on the parts. R.I.P. horsey.
Bigdaddypooh
Member
Jim, I just recently joined this message board because I acquired a '63 Dart GT convertible last year and I am just now realizing how difficult it is to find certain replacement parts. I am just AMAZED at what you have done here. It is both an honor and a treat to see what you have documented thus far. You are a true, skilled craftsman and I look forward to seeing the video of you turning the key and driving away with your (sorry, your wife's ... lol) finished ride. Keep doing what you're doing, man! You have a new fan out here in California.
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