1966 Dodge Dart

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rod7515 said:
The small anvil and theres a special small hammer came from Eastwood. They were reasonably inexpensive. The pieces I used to get the dents out I made from small round stock I bought and cut to fit then welded together. i would grind the contour I thought I needed on my belt sander. SOme worked and some didnt. It wasnt all success! lol
If this car ever gets done I will have enough work for next winter as I have 5 sets of headlight bezels and 2 spare grills plus plenty of spare trim for a 66.
Rod
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Thanks for the response on the trim tools. As well, on my 65, 3 sets of trim, two grilles, but, as with the 66, lacking on tail lights. Thanks again. I will let you know when the interior trim from you arrives. Best, and, again, great looking 66. sgrip65
 
Just a quick update on the work ive gotten done this week, I was able to rebuild the clips on the rear trim by running a die down over the threads, then I bought rubber washers from Lowes to replace the 50 yr old ones that were rusted in place. I used Standard 10/24 nuts for each clip and doubled them so they stay tight. Very happy with the results. next onto the drivers window and wing assembly. If you followed this thread yo know i took everything out of the door so I could paint them. So I had to reinstall the regulator then I dropped the window down into the door, then put the wing assembly in place,before I went any farther I installed the window wiskers, fought with the window to get it in place an into the tracks, then put the rear slide into place and started adjusting the window. I cant make final adjustments until I have the rear quarter glass in place for me to do that I need my new roof rail seals which I forgot to order until today so Im at a stand still there for a couple days. I was able to get the rear window back in with some help from a friend so thats done. I painted the area on the roll bar that goes into the trunk today and installed the gas neck into the tank. Of course I forgo to put the rubber seal on so I need to pull that back off and install that. Seems like theres a lot of redo going on here!! Im back to polishing the trims just outside the windows and I need to clean up the door sills so I can put them on. Well tomorrows another day of work on it so I hope to post some pics of work I was able to complete.
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
Just a quick update on the work ive gotten done this week, I was able to rebuild the clips on the rear trim by running a die down over the threads, then I bought rubber washers from Lowes to replace the 50 yr old ones that were rusted in place. I used Standard 10/24 nuts for each clip and doubled them so they stay tight. Very happy with the results. next onto the drivers window and wing assembly. If you followed this thread yo know i took everything out of the door so I could paint them. So I had to reinstall the regulator then I dropped the window down into the door, then put the wing assembly in place,before I went any farther I installed the window wiskers, fought with the window to get it in place an into the tracks, then put the rear slide into place and started adjusting the window. I cant make final adjustments until I have the rear quarter glass in place for me to do that I need my new roof rail seals which I forgot to order until today so Im at a stand still there for a couple days. I was able to get the rear window back in with some help from a friend so thats done. I painted the area on the roll bar that goes into the trunk today and installed the gas neck into the tank. Of course I forgo to put the rubber seal on so I need to pull that back off and install that. Seems like theres a lot of redo going on here!! Im back to polishing the trims just outside the windows and I need to clean up the door sills so I can put them on. Well tomorrows another day of work on it so I hope to post some pics of work I was able to complete.
Rod
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Rod. Just out of curiosity, are you keeping a log from start to finish? On my 66, I did not, as well on my 65, I failed to do so. I am afraid I would scare myself if I did. Needless to say, a labor of love. Great work, and great that you let us know what you are up to on that 66. We will keep these great cars alive for the next generations to enjoy. sgrip65
 
I keep a photo book but not a true log. I would be writing forever if I did!
Rod
 
When I did my vette I kept every receipt. The first car show I went to a guy offered me an amount and knowing he was full of sh_t I called him on it. That night I went thru all the receipts and added it up and I would have lost almost 12k if he had bought it for what I challenged him on. I wont take that chance again and I wont add up what I have in this thing because Ill never get even half of it back.
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
When I did my vette I kept every receipt. The first car show I went to a guy offered me an amount and knowing he was full of sh_t I called him on it. That night I went thru all the receipts and added it up and I would have lost almost 12k if he had bought it for what I challenged him on. I wont take that chance again and I wont add up what I have in this thing because Ill never get even half of it back.
Rod
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Rod. That car is going to be way too beautiful to sell. Maybe your kids, or a very very very close friend. That amount of work is your right arm, heart and soul, first born, and whatever else fits into the bill. Beautiful work. Yes, I know, you can buy 'em cheaper than you can build them, but YOU know what you have. Check out some of these that go across the block at Meecum or Barrett. You can see the mud on the rockers and fenders....even on the TV screen. Nice Work. sgrip65
 
rod7515 said:
When I did my vette I kept every receipt. The first car show I went to a guy offered me an amount and knowing he was full of sh_t I called him on it. That night I went thru all the receipts and added it up and I would have lost almost 12k if he had bought it for what I challenged him on. I wont take that chance again and I wont add up what I have in this thing because Ill never get even half of it back.
Rod
Click to expand...
BTW Rod, on my 65 Dart, still a work in progress, as well, I am saving every receipt and I, as well, am keeping a photographic record. Document, document, and lots of pictures. Best. sgrip65
 
I finished all the polishing of the trim parts for the drivers outside. I spent quite a bit of time today polishing and got all but the drip rail back onto the car. I started a thread in the trim section to see what will make that rail go on the easiest. Its super tight and I dont want to put any dents in it on the way back on. I also put the drivers door seal in place. The seal is really pushing hard against the door so I might end up having to make the latch a little tighter although Im hoping the seal will relax some and compress allowing the door to go back into alignment!. Everything else fit pretty well. I had to grind a slight bit off the rear quarter window trim so the trim would go in far enough. The front door trim fit great and the inner upper trim looks like it will fit nicely as well. I had to order the drip rail rubber so I left that one loose because its going to be easier to off the car. Here are a few pics from today with everything on.
DSCN0973.JPG

I the photo above Im not sure if i need to trim that door seal hanging down or if it tucks in under the interior trim piece. Im thinking it will need trimmed.
DSCN0974.JPG
DSCN0975.JPG

This is the billet gas cap that one of the members here sell. Its a super nice fit. Im thinking im going to leave it the natural material look at this point. I also have a stock cap that is painted white. But all the stock caps leak gas and the billet cap is suppose to not allow a leak.
DSCN0976.JPG
DSCN0977.JPG

This pic above shows how straight the lower door trim and quarter trim are. Im very happy with them.
Lower pic shows the new door seal. It has the edge of the door pushed out about 1/16th. Im hoping it collapses some.
DSCN0978.JPG

I'll tackle the drip rail once someone answers the thread I started.
Thanks for following
Rod
 
Rod, Absolutely Great. I'm not too far behind you, but still a ways to go for me. Be proud, as that work looks great. sgrip65
 
I went and picked up my bumpers yesterday at an auto show in Allentown Pa. Its about a 2 hour drive form home. Walked around and didnt see anything that caught my eye so I grabbed the bumpers from the vendor and headed home. I am very pleased with the ones they did. I had 3 frts and 2 rears to sell to them as well so all and all it was a good day.
I also ordered my drip rail trim, quarter panel pillar seals, door bumpers and the rubbers in front of the A wing from Detroit Muscle.
After dinner last night I went out and decided it was time to start another organizing/cleaning so I could find things now that I am starting to put the interior back together. I ran across the window winders in a bag so I polished one to see how it would look. Then I thought I might as well do all winders and door handles. They turned out ok for being 53 years old!
DSCN0979.JPG
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They have some very light pitting but I think Im going to go with them!.
then I found the door sills and decided to clean them up. I polished the one and heres what it looked like. Not sure if im done or will try to make them a little nicer yet.
DSCN0981.JPG
DSCN0982.JPG

Today I worked on getting the drivers side windows in place and adjust them as close as I could without the drip rail rubber. I also started to put the trim on the inside of the rear window. I found this to be very difficult between locating the holes thru the new headliner and the fact that its not easy to be flexible at my age!! Those screws are not at an easy place to reach while holding the trim in place.
I plan on going back out later tonight and getting a little more done but needed a break for a few hours!
Lol
Rod
 
well back out after dinner tonight and I wanted to get something done that looked like it was a major step so I decided to tackle the trunk. What it needed done was the original style cover needed cut and fit around all the things that had changed such as the roll bar, battery and cut off switch accessories. That meant the battery needed to come out and that thing is a bear to move but out it came. Cut the cover and installed. Trunk doesnt look to bad!
DSCN0989.JPG
DSCN0990.JPG

I also pulled the gas neck back out and cleaned the gas seal and put everything back in. I still need to make a new vent for the gas neck as while I was doing things many months ago I decided to make the vent 1/2" instead of the old 1/4". Was hoping that might help some during fill ups. Sometime during this summer I will be switching out the gas struts I installed and try to buy a pair that actually work. The ones I put on assist, but not strong enough to hold the trunk up. They were at first but they were cheap ebay purchase so better ones are in my future!
DSCN0991.JPG

Heres the pics of the car with the drivers side windows into place. Hopefully I will have the weatherstrip/seals arrive this week along with some new interior screws so I can move forward and complete the drivers side.
Guess its almost time to move to the passenger side!
DSCN0987.JPG
DSCN0988.JPG

Thats it for now.
Thanks for looking
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
well back out after dinner tonight and I wanted to get something done that looked like it was a major step so I decided to tackle the trunk. What it needed done was the original style cover needed cut and fit around all the things that had changed such as the roll bar, battery and cut off switch accessories. That meant the battery needed to come out and that thing is a bear to move but out it came. Cut the cover and installed. Trunk doesnt look to bad!
View attachment 1715278392 View attachment 1715278393
I also pulled the gas neck back out and cleaned the gas seal and put everything back in. I still need to make a new vent for the gas neck as while I was doing things many months ago I decided to make the vent 1/2" instead of the old 1/4". Was hoping that might help some during fill ups. Sometime during this summer I will be switching out the gas struts I installed and try to buy a pair that actually work. The ones I put on assist, but not strong enough to hold the trunk up. They were at first but they were cheap ebay purchase so better ones are in my future!View attachment 1715278394
Heres the pics of the car with the drivers side windows into place. Hopefully I will have the weatherstrip/seals arrive this week along with some new interior screws so I can move forward and complete the drivers side.
Guess its almost time to move to the passenger side!
View attachment 1715278395 View attachment 1715278396
Thats it for now.
Thanks for looking
Rod
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Rod. Again, outstanding work. When is the maiden voyage for the 66? Best. sgrip65
 
Maiden Voyage better be the first nice day in April!! Im hoping to have it all done by then. At this time Im going to wait to do the 2x4 set up and the serpentine dress up kit until after I drive it some.
Rod
 
Last edited:
Quick update, Working in the interior yet, tonight I got the trim put in place around the rear window. I didnt take pics of that but it looks good. Then onto the rear window areas. Before closing up the rear door panel I cleaned the inside of the window area because the body work dust had collected and I thought it would probably get wet from washing the car from time to time running down the outside of the window and this wet body dirt would start to rust the rocker panel from the inside. I used a wire brush then vacuumed it out. Then I decided to spray the area with one step rust inhibitor and after that dried I sprayed the area with spray paint. I dug out the panel trim and found them to be in bad shape. They have been off for 5 years and between the paint, dirt and some rust from being so old I had to clean sand and buff them out. Here are pics before I cleaned them up.
DSCN0993.JPG
DSCN0994.JPG
DSCN0995.JPG

Then I mounted them in the rear and it was time to install the panels. along with the panels I installed the rear window winders and the rear arm rests and ashtrays once they were buffed.
DSCN0998.JPG

Im going to need to make some kind of trim for the area at the rear of the door panel just above the rear tub. Remember this car will not get a back seat. Also I will need to make a piece of trim to tie the carpet to the floor since the rear seat will not hold them down to the floor.
Tomorrow I plan on starting on the passenger window regulator and window and everything in that door. Ill post more pics as I go.
Thanks for following,
Rod

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Hey Rod.... Did you install the trunk seal? I just installed mine and now the trunk does not close. Can you take a picture of yours? Thanks..
Pedro..
 
i plan on doing mine this week. Im finding any of the new seals on the car are keeping things from fitting. My doors didnt close when I put on the new seals in the jambs. I ended up with a small piece of 2x4 and a hammer and moving the actual trim edge until they did close. Im not sure what i will do if the trunk doesnt close because its adjusted to mate up with the body and the edge doesnt look like you could adjust it. I will find out next week and let you know.
Rod
 
Thanks Rod.. I will try to figure it out tomorrow.. I just looked at Jimmy's 66 Dodge dart GT link and saw how it goes... At left and right bottom it goes all the way down.
 
its been miserably cold this week here so ive only gone out to the shop yesterday and tonight. ive polished the metal for on the inside of the door, put in place and installed the door panel and handles for the drivers door. I plan on using interior screws instead of the stack clips to hold the panel in place. That way I can pull the panel tight to the door. I think the only thing left on the drivers side is the drip rail chrome and the trim at the drivers door opening floor area. Here are the pics from tonight
DSCN1006.JPG
DSCN1011.JPG

now its time to move on to polishing everything for the passenger side and putting the window, track and A Pillar in and adjusting so I can get the Passenger door back together. I hope by the end of this weekend I will have the interior pretty much done.
Will update this weekend.
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
its been miserably cold this week here so ive only gone out to the shop yesterday and tonight. ive polished the metal for on the inside of the door, put in place and installed the door panel and handles for the drivers door. I plan on using interior screws instead of the stack clips to hold the panel in place. That way I can pull the panel tight to the door. I think the only thing left on the drivers side is the drip rail chrome and the trim at the drivers door opening floor area. Here are the pics from tonight
View attachment 1715283044 View attachment 1715283045
now its time to move on to polishing everything for the passenger side and putting the window, track and A Pillar in and adjusting so I can get the Passenger door back together. I hope by the end of this weekend I will have the interior pretty much done.
Will update this weekend.
Rod
Click to expand...

Rod. Again, outstanding. It ain't cool if the chrome don't shine. Not my statement....that is a quote from some movie back in the seventies. Your chrome surely does shine nicely. Very nice. sgrip65
 
rod7515 said:
I finished all the polishing of the trim parts for the drivers outside. I spent quite a bit of time today polishing and got all but the drip rail back onto the car. I started a thread in the trim section to see what will make that rail go on the easiest. Its super tight and I dont want to put any dents in it on the way back on. I also put the drivers door seal in place. The seal is really pushing hard against the door so I might end up having to make the latch a little tighter although Im hoping the seal will relax some and compress allowing the door to go back into alignment!. Everything else fit pretty well. I had to grind a slight bit off the rear quarter window trim so the trim would go in far enough. The front door trim fit great and the inner upper trim looks like it will fit nicely as well. I had to order the drip rail rubber so I left that one loose because its going to be easier to off the car. Here are a few pics from today with everything on.
View attachment 1715275458
I the photo above Im not sure if i need to trim that door seal hanging down or if it tucks in under the interior trim piece. Im thinking it will need trimmed.
View attachment 1715275459 View attachment 1715275460
This is the billet gas cap that one of the members here sell. Its a super nice fit. Im thinking im going to leave it the natural material look at this point. I also have a stock cap that is painted white. But all the stock caps leak gas and the billet cap is suppose to not allow a leak. View attachment 1715275461 View attachment 1715275462
This pic above shows how straight the lower door trim and quarter trim are. Im very happy with them.
Lower pic shows the new door seal. It has the edge of the door pushed out about 1/16th. Im hoping it collapses some.
View attachment 1715275463
I'll tackle the drip rail once someone answers the thread I started.
Thanks for following
Rod
Click to expand...
Where did you buy your door seals from?
 
Dragnut
I just got them from Detroit Muscle Technologies. part number is "Mopar A Body 63-66 2DHT Roofrail Weatherstrip" #70-1871-68. They dont list them on their online store so I called. The owner is Jim Filmore. Very nice person to work with. They actually come from another company. I think its called Steele Rubber Products. Jim can answer and supply any rubber questions I had. Almost everything I replaced in trim came from them.
Best of luck
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
Dragnut
I just got them from Detroit Muscle Technologies. part number is "Mopar A Body 63-66 2DHT Roofrail Weatherstrip" #70-1871-68. They dont list them on their online store so I called. The owner is Jim Filmore. Very nice person to work with. They actually come from another company. I think its called Steele Rubber Products. Jim can answer and supply any rubber questions I had. Almost everything I replaced in trim came from them.
Best of luck
Rod
Click to expand...

Rod. In what I have been pricing between Metro Mldg and others it seems that DMT is very competitive in their pricing. I have purchased from them as well on my 66 and my 65....good folks to to work with. Best. sgrip65
 
Don't know if DMT has gotten into molding anything. .. I believe Jim is carrying other quality seals (like Steele) to be as close to one-stop-shopping as possible. As for the gaskets. They are the manufacturer, and from what I got for my 75, do a great job duplicating original shape and material. Many of them are just not available anywhere else.
It was a long time from when I bought my kit that I was finishing assembly and discovered I needed a couple gaskets that were not there. I told Jim what I needed when I saw him at Carlisle. Had them in my mailbox a few days later- no charge.
 
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