1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife

[Jim Kueneman]

Burnout on the welding so I am trying to get the garage cleaned out by finishing up detailing and painting of the piece parts..... Should be able to paint the dash the 2 tone turquoise this week....

Universal clear to protect the Seymours Stainless Steel rattle can from grease and oil..

 

[Jim Kueneman]

SPI black epoxy primer on the parts I forgot and the column firewall plate.

coupling bead blasted and painted/cleared.

Rear brake hardware blasted and painted.

Dash and column parts epoxy primer'ed

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Glad you still have parts available to break up your welding blues.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Sometimes you just have to play around. Need to get the other 3 pieces of trim on the buffer and then shoot them with the same silver paint Frank used on the plastic pieces but it is going to look super with the new coat of original teal dash paint this weekend!

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Nason single stage matched to the original paint that was on the dash (I dislike this cheaper paint after using Automotive Arts and Southern Polyurethane) but it came out ok. It seems to take FOREVER to dry... 2 hours later it is still sticky..... I have the dark turquoise for the top of the dash, like the original, if it ever drys enough to tape off..

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Caught this baby yesterday. Dont remember the year but......

 

[Jim Kueneman]

'63 GT!

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Not a vert but this one was there too.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Some after work... work.....

Opened up the cracks with various size Dremel ball grinders, depending on the size of the crack. Then drilled holes at a 45 degree angle in the walls of the cracks to allow epoxy to flow into the holes to grab the sides better. Mixed up some PC7 and worked it in with wooden tools. Not sure if I like this better than JB Weld for flowing into the cracks and voids.... I do like that it does not flow everywhere.... I hope this works well other have used PC7 successfully....

I then wrap it with tape so I can press down and get a smooth surface on the epoxy and hold it in place so it won't flow. The tape glue won't stick to JB Weld so I am hoping for the same with PC7....

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Temps dropped 15 degrees and windy today, front moving through. Wanted to paint the second tone on the dash top but decided to wait. So I started on the wife's tiny rear-end.... Parts are available for these 7 1/4" but getting the right part number can be frustrating. I documented the parts here for others.

Here is how I bead blasted the hubs and protected the bearing..

Axel Seals for the tiny rear end...

Put a little grease on the seal to help it slide in easier.

Tapped in that far with just a hammer...

Make shift driver, works better on these smaller seals!

Drive it all the way home.

The 7 1/4" did not have the steel gasket here. The parts book shows both gaskets the same part number so I used the DMT seals front and rear. If you order them MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A NOTE you want the 7 1/4". Jim says he sells about 4 of these a year and always sends the wrong ones...

Backing plate and another gasket.

Axel painted and installed. There is no adjustment on these axles.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Here is the rear cover gasket part number.

Installed and torqued.

Again DMT seals but make sure you leave a note for the SMALL ones!

Snap in the E-Brake cables I restored a while ago.

E-Brake Lever.

Here is how you hook these damn springs! Yes the FSM is helpful at times!

Fancy, Fancy, Fancy....

Ready for some slotted mags!

Yoke all painted and ready to go.

Ready to Roll once again!

 

[Jim Kueneman]

The wife has one sexy rear end and it is not too big!

%#%^&%$##!@@#

The right diameter but too deep on the knurling......

New turn signal switch from OER.... The '63 has Packard 56 pins but the replacement has something else. Lucky I am retrofitting an M&H '65 new harness and that year has this connector...

Nice picture.... not sure what I was trying to show!

Coupler all greased up.... This was a fail it is too worn out and I can turn the shaft a good 5 degrees inside it. Need to look for a NOS or something...

I don't understand this lower seal. The old one (left) is clearly the same but the outer is missing.....

What keeps it on?

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Cooked the steering wheel this morning at 170F to cure the PC7.....

Sanded the wheel with 150 grit. Next is to spray SPI epoxy primer and a bit of a skim of glazing compound to get it perfect...

Gotta mock it up!

 

[66Dvert]

Some after work... work.....

Opened up the cracks with various size Dremel ball grinders, depending on the size of the crack. Then drilled holes at a 45 degree angle in the walls of the cracks to allow epoxy to flow into the holes to grab the sides better. Mixed up some PC7 and worked it in with wooden tools. Not sure if I like this better than JB Weld for flowing into the cracks and voids.... I do like that it does not flow everywhere.... I hope this works well other have used PC7 successfully....

I then wrap it with tape so I can press down and get a smooth surface on the epoxy and hold it in place so it won't flow. The tape glue won't stick to JB Weld so I am hoping for the same with PC7....

View attachment 1715413399 View attachment 1715413400 View attachment 1715413401 View attachment 1715413402 View attachment 1715413403 View attachment 1715413404 View attachment 1715413405

Looking good on the wheel. I wish mine had been in that good of shape. I had parts falling off mine. I bead blasted mine to get a bite on the plastic (well to get rid of rust too!) it took 2 cans of pc7 to get mine going again. and took forever to dry but it did harden up just as hard as the wheel plastic adn it's been out in the sun and weather for 2 years now on my buddies 66 (I'm totally going to steal it back when I get his done)

 

[Jim Kueneman]

OMG that was a disaster! I would have spent the money for another one!

 

[66Dvert]

The wife has one sexy rear end and it is not too big!

View attachment 1715413821

%#%^&%$##!@@#

The right diameter but too deep on the knurling......

View attachment 1715413822 View attachment 1715413823

New turn signal switch from OER.... The '63 has Packard 56 pins but the replacement has something else. Lucky I am retrofitting an M&H '65 new harness and that year has this connector...

View attachment 1715413824

Nice picture.... not sure what I was trying to show!

View attachment 1715413825

Coupler all greased up.... This was a fail it is too worn out and I can turn the shaft a good 5 degrees inside it. Need to look for a NOS or something...

View attachment 1715413826 View attachment 1715413827

I don't understand this lower seal. The old one (left) is clearly the same but the outer is missing.....

View attachment 1715413828 View attachment 1715413829

What keeps it on?

View attachment 1715413830

I used 3m black weather stripping adhesive. I found a little on the more door parts car and it was gummy like the adhesive. (I used butyl in 1967 at the Jim Vince dodge dealership on fort street Lincoln park Michigan)

 

[Jim Kueneman]

I used 3m black weather stripping adhesive. I found a little on the more door parts car and it was gummy like the adhesive. (I used butyl in 1967 at the Jim Vince dodge dealership on fort street Lincoln park Michigan)

Are you serious that damn thing was glued on?

 

[66Dvert]

Are you serious that damn thing was glued on?

yep, I used to have to fix almost every car that came in to the dealership new and that was one of my jobs. I also got to spray paint the "behind the grill " black the assembly line guys missed @ 16yo prep guy. they ARE supposed to be a press on fit (that is why the end of the tube is flared) though according to the assembly line guys I talked to. but never stayed up.

 

[66Dvert]

OMG that was a disaster! I would have spent the money for another one!

I did have another one that I was going to use. but I had the time since I was "on doctors" orders to stay sitting for 3 damned weeks and I was really,really bored.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

WOW.... Need to solve the leaking cable issue some other way......

Set of Transmission Shift & Park Cables for 1960-1965 MoPar A-Body | eBay

 

[Jim Kueneman]

No... wait the front lugs ARE correct! The catch is the knurls are suppose to be longer so they press into the drum as well so the drum and hub are a single unit! Duh.....

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Morning jobs before going to town...

MASK EVERYTHING you don't want paint on inside and out.....

Purple 3M tape is the best then expensive auto body tape then cheap Home Depot tape that barely sticks...

Two coats of the dark turquoise that the outside will be.

Carefully peal off the tape and put it out of the reach of bugs. This Nason SS paint takes 12 hours to not be sticky and 24-36 to be dry enough to handle...

Thinned SPI epoxy primer on the wheel...

Damn it missed some cracks..... More PC7 to follow....

Normal auto body glaze over the epoxy will sand nice and fill in the voids.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Spread out filler and sanded it smooth today. Unfortunately the wind was blowing 40 MPH so there was no painting today, plus I found another crack that needed to be fixed...


Some of the tools of the trade.... you have to make shaping tools based on what your sanding. I used 150 grit because this is all shaping. It is a mistake thinking you can get it done in one or two passes. It will take 4-5 passes to get a really nice job so just admit it to yourself and do it.

DAMN IT found another crack I missed.... I baked this one for 2 hours but the wind was so bad I could not spray anyway so I moved on to the dash. Also after the oven the dog banged the table and it rolled off and crashed on the tile. It held up just fine!

Off to the dash. This housing for the pushbutton shifter has a rubber spacer but after 56 years it is hard and brittle and loose. I started looked for a solution....

Tried some R134a o rings but that was not very good.

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Note to self. This button MUST be installed before you slide the mechanism onto the housing!

So what I ended up with is wire grommets from a kit I had..... 2 Stacked made it nice and stable.

You can start at 1 and work your way up the line to install them. I buffed the faces VERY carefully with a dremel buffer wheel and some CSI polish.

Note to self 2.... The damn light goes between the mechanism and the housing under the grommets....

I finally bought the right tool to do this. What a joy it is.....

Install the DMT rubber feet in the ash tray and glove box.

Bead blast the ash tray frame and installed.

 

[66Dvert]

Spread out filler and sanded it smooth today. Unfortunately the wind was blowing 40 MPH so there was no painting today, plus I found another crack that needed to be fixed...


Some of the tools of the trade.... you have to make shaping tools based on what your sanding. I used 150 grit because this is all shaping. It is a mistake thinking you can get it done in one or two passes. It will take 4-5 passes to get a really nice job so just admit it to yourself and do it.

View attachment 1715414760 View attachment 1715414761 View attachment 1715414762 View attachment 1715414763 View attachment 1715414764 View attachment 1715414765 View attachment 1715414767

DAMN IT found another crack I missed.... I baked this one for 2 hours but the wind was so bad I could not spray anyway so I moved on to the dash. Also after the oven the dog banged the table and it rolled off and crashed on the tile. It held up just fine!

View attachment 1715414768

Off to the dash. This housing for the pushbutton shifter has a rubber spacer but after 56 years it is hard and brittle and loose. I started looked for a solution....

View attachment 1715414769

Tried some R134a o rings but that was not very good.

View attachment 1715414770

I went to lowes and got some of the rubber shower pan stuff. (grey rolled up. some of it is .090 some is .060 or millimeters thickness) I used 2 layers wiht contact cement bonding them together and to the back of the housing. worked really well

steering wheel is coming along well also. dash looks good. are you going to satin the top?