1965 Dart GT restoration

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Musclecar

Musclecar

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Hello, I am so glad I found this site. Every time I Google something about this car, forabodiesonly.com came up. I recently purchased this 1965 Dart GT, and am going to make it a street bruiser, with an occasional trip to Firebird Raceway. It is relatively rust free, except for one quarter where the lip pushed up and collected dirt, not a large area at all, and no rust holes in the interior floor pan. The trunk has a couple small holes in the spare tire compartment, but nothing hard to fix at all. The body has a bit of damage, mostly on the right rear QP, and both front fenders. The interior is trash. Anyway, I will post some pics, and make this an ongoing thing. I need to ask some questions but will do that in the proper forum. Thanks for looking.

Posting more pictures of progress.
Rebuilt front end, now have K member and all other parts to convert to disc brakes, Except for upper control arms. Interior was gutted and floor is ready for carpet. Much body work is done, but pictures of bondo and primer are not a thing of interest. Will post pictures of finished paint when that day happens!
 
Ty 65vart, and AdamR, It helps to have people that appreciate these cars to give enthusiasm to us.
 
It is an easy fix compared to the 1965 Barracuda job in Austria.
 
I'll definitely be following this, as I plan on one day restoring my 65 Dart GT
 
Welcome, Looks like you're coming right along with your project. Nice work. Looks good. We'll be following your progress for sure. toolmanmike
 
Thanks all for your encouragement. Today I acquired the disc brake setup I need from a 1973 Duster. I have the V8 K-member, spindles, rotors, calipers, torsion bars etc. After rebuilding the drum brake setup (now for sale by the way), I am excited to convert to disc. Another plus is now I don't have to spend $150 for the Schumaker motor mounts.

The pictures show the finished 6 cyl. K-member, original to the car (some will like these pictures for the reference between the 6 and 8 cyl. K-members) and the unfinished V-8 Kmember, to be installed soon. Also now I have an anti-sway bar. Kudos to the guy that sold this stuff to me. He has been a very valuable resource for information. Semper Fi.

I still need to get upper control arms for the bigger ball joint, or I think there must be a way to open up the control arm and rethread the hole for the bigger ball joint. Any one heard of doing that?
 
Never heard of "opening up" an earlier UCA to accept the later ball joint. Far easier to get the correct arms. But then again, you can do pretty much whatever with a welder.
 
Here is another thing I have modified to make it better. The stock parklamps in the front were not usable. I modified the parklamp housing to accomodate the newer LED lights. It doesn't take much work, just some cutting the housing with a cutoff wheel on a die grinder. I had to pound the rounded edges to fit, and then weld in a small piece to compensate for the longer edge. But now I have nice looking LED lights for the front parklamps, and turn signals. If anyone wants the part number for the lamp, say so, I don't have it tonight but can get it anytime at work.
 
C130Chief, I see you are in Boise, I live in Nampa, nice to meet you. I know that the correct control arms are the way to go, but they are getting harder and harder to find. If I can figure a way to make the upper ball joint fit in the older small socket,,,, I am just thinking out loud!
 
Tonight, I cleaned the new V8 K-member, lots of scraping, and wire wheel action. I have a really dirt face right now. After scraping for awhile, I used a degreaser and rinsed with a hose. Then used a rubberized undercoating for the final touch. I am amazed at how sloppy the factory guys used their welders on the K-member. I guess it was,, just make it work back in those days. Anyway, it is clean, and as pretty as it gets for now.
 
I may be wrong on this. But I don't think the later model k-member will fit. The early a-bodies are nearly 2" narrower in the frame rails. Also the early a-body with V-8's and slant 6's use the same k member. They just have a different drag link, and motor mounts.
 
I thought so too, but I measured it, and it is only about 1/4 inch off. I can modify the holes, and make it fit. Thanks for your input!
 
Oh wow that is great! That makes life easier. lol Nice build by the way. I really like what you did with the turn signals.
 
Thanks. I am not completely finished with the turn signals yet, but they will be first class. Have been working on the K-member tonight, specifically the sway bar. Unreal how much cleaning and prepping is needed before parts are ready to install. I spent an hour cleaning the sway bar alone. The bushings to the frame are new, it is cleaned and painted, and installed to the K-member. Also, brand new end links with poly bushings are going in. Every piece that goes back on this car is either new, or cleaned and painted. I will post pictures within the hour.
 
Tonight I cleaned the sway bar and brackets and installed them with new bushings and bolts. The K-member is about ready to install, however I must keep the Dart as a rolling chassis for now. I have a job coming in, and have to move her out to fix the Mercedes coming in. Don't like foreign cars, but this one is a jewel, 1964 in mint, and I mean mint condition,, just fixing some dings on the door and fender. Then the Dart will be back in the garage for more work. Anyways, sometimes I ramble.
Attached are pictures of the K-member with the anti sway bar installed. All parts that go to this car are new, or cleaned and painted first.
 
Today I spent some time at the wrecking yard, and picked up the brake proprotioning valve that I needed. It came off a 1979 Aspen. It has the proper inlets and outlets for my disc brake setup. I completely disassembled everything that could be taken apart, cleaned, and inspected all seals and springs. I cleaned it and painted with cast iron finish paint. The old fittings are used as plugs so no dirt enters the system. It was mounted with a bolt through the fenderwell, so had to make an access hole on the frame where the original one was mounted. The original 1965 Dart proportioning valve was mounted with a threaded hole in the unibody. Also mounted the master cylinder tonight. The dual reservior cylinder replaced the single one for drum brakes. As I mounted it, it had a gap at the top of the reservior through the firewall. I improvised, and made a seal from an anti-freeze container,,,, will never rot, and made do with what I had available. Better than Duct tape or bailing wire! If this was a 1970 Challenger or something, I would not have done that, but, I am building a street strip car that is not as valuable. Anyway, making progress every day,, keep checking back.
 
Nice work, taking notes here. I still need to do my disk conversion. I have a KH set up I bought summer of 09.
 
I did some on the brakelines,, making my own with a double flare tool. I am a bit rusty on using the tool, but have done well, and am pleased with the results. If the double flare is not perfect, I do it all over again. So far, only one flare has had to be redone.
 
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