1966 Dodge Dart

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Also John The Body man was here and started fitting the rear quarters. Hes going to use the 3M glue for the fenders and told me to use it when putting the small plugs in where the molding strips were fastened down. Going to be the fall until much body work gets done but at least have an idea what we will be doing. I started to strip the engine compartment but before I paint there I want to fit the motor with the headers and steering on so I am sure everything clears everywhere. When cleaning out inside the firewall and outside vent area I see there must have been criters living in there! I'm not sure how to get to that area to sand for painting but I am sure there is a way! I will be removing the fenders to clean up the welding I did. Will be easier when painting as well. Here are some pics of this work.
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Heres my monthly update. Hope i can get more work done and do a weekly update. I will start with the K Frame since thats a big part for me to get at. I cut the section out that was hitting the pan following many members experience that I read about on this site. I decided to add gussets then box in the remaining open areas. I ran into problems when the head of my mig welder wouldnt fit down into the space to weld the gussets in so I had to send the k frame out to be welded. Luckily the neighbors brother inlaw is a welder and he welded them for free! Once i got it back I started boxing in the openings that I had cut but first I cut an extra 1/2" off the top of the k frame to add a little extra clearance to remove the oil pan if ever needed. This made the front section to weld be at a slant as you will see in the pics. Then I continued to box the rest in. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I fitted it to the motor on the stand tonight and it will have about 3/8" clearance on each side. Should be good to go. I also painted the engine using the POR15 Hemi Orange. I like it much better then the spray can color as it seems to have some gloss and deep color to it.
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Also the radiator arrived and it appears to be about 3/4 taller then the stock one. Going to have to check the height for clearance as the extra height puts it tight at the bottom and a little taller at the top. Going to post a question in the cooling section for information about what other have done. The engine compartment is sanded down and almost ready for primer and paint. Going to fit up the engine before going to that step to make sure everything fits and I dont have to move any metal for fitment! Well that it for now but hopefully things will start to happen a little faster since fall is setting in.
Rod
 
Well since my last post at the beginning of the month I have gotten quite a few things done. unfortunately its mostly been fitting things in place to make sure I wont run into issues after things are painted. Almost everything I will post tonight will need to be taken back off before it will be final assembled. Here are some of this months progress. I will post pics at end of this posting. First is the fuel tank got the sump and return fitting welded in place. Then the motor was ready for fitting but first I needed to make a cart that would hold the motor mounted on the K Frame so I could drop the body over it. Then the headers would need installed to assure fitment. The trans would need installed but wouldnt fit with the headers installed so I had to remove the passenger header then reinstall it. I then put the lower control arms on the K frame where I found I lost the washer and nut. Gotta buy one once i find a supplier! Then I slid the torsion bars into place. everything looks as tho its going to fit together with very little adjustments. even the exhaust looks like its going to fit up! I then sat the rear housing in place and bolted it down. Put the tires on since the one rear quarter panel has been epoxy'd in place to see how the tire will tuck up inside the fender. I added a 1 1/2" spacer to get the tire up farther into the fender but not sure about keeping them there. well thats it for now. Hopefully I can get everything finalized this weekend, remove everything back out, get the car back on the rotisserrie and get the engine compartment and underbody painting started.
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Rod
 
Great build on a great car and very agressive! Those tires look awesome under there! Keep up the good work!
 
I didnt have a lot of time since my last post but today I decided I needed to get everything fitted up and pulled back out so I can get the engine compartment painted. I ran into some problems with the radiator clearance both in height for hood clearance where I am going to have to drop it about 3/4" lower and also with not enough room for my electric fan to go between the water pump and radiator. It looks like I will need to mount a fan in front of the radiator as a push fan. Also this week I made small metal punch outs to fill in the holes that the original trim clips snapped into. Was going to weld them shut but my body man suggested using the 3m epoxy and glueing in the metal punchouts. This worked out better as I did not have the heat on the cars side by welding and it should be easier to finish yet still having a solid structural hold. I reworked the trans mount for the dual exhaust then put on the x-pipe to see how it would fit. Looks as tho its going to work. I then removed then trans and engine from the car. I plan on getting the engine compartment in primer this week and get some paint on there so I can put the motor back in for good! I'll keep you updated as I move forward. The good thing is I am finally getting a little time to work on it!
Rod
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Enjoying your progress. I see you glued the lower quarters on. The more body tech's I talk to the more they recommend it. It's super strong and creates a positive seal between the two pieces of metal and no heat warping. Keep up the good work! tmm
 
Great work! Are you getting rid of your body trim? I'm looking for fender and door trim for one side of my 66 Dart 170.PM if you want to sell yours.:D
 
So much rust in a Mopar? Who would have thunk it! Just about finished with my 66 Dart restomod, believe me I saw plenty of rust myself!
 
Been a while since I posted any updates. Thats because I am finding it hard to get my butt out to work on it. I'm lucky enough to have heat in the garage so its just a loss of ambition. A lot of the reason is because I am doing the sanding and painting of the engine compartment and I have found out I hate sanding. My hats off to those that enjoy it! But as we all know, if you dont want to spend money you have to do it yourself. So last week I went out and prepped for the first coat of primer. I posted that story in the body section but I can tell you it didnt go wonderful! Well tonight after trying to get the first attempt at priming I went back out and sanded then body filler, then sanded, then more filler then sanded then some glazing putty and tomorrow more sanding. I hope to spray another coat of primer tomorrow sand again then a final coat of primer before I attempt painting on Saturday. I will add pics this weekend with progress as I go. The color in the engine compartment will be GM White as well as over half the cars exterior. Its a match from my 99 Trans AM Pace car.
Now as for my previous post with the electric fan issue, I purchased 2- 10" fans that I am planning to stagger on the engine side of radiator left top and right bottom. Hoping this solves that issue but wont know for sure until enigne goes back in and I can mount radiator again.
A perfect plan to stay on track for December is to have the engine mounted back in with the k-frame permanently bolted in place along with all front suspension and car sitting back down on its wheels. This would allow me to have the roll bar welded in the car between Christmas and New Years since both myself and my welding buddy are off work that week. Thats means I have to stay motivated in December!
Thats it for now but by weeks end I need to have painting for engine compartment completed. I'll keep you updated on how that goes!
Thanks for following along.
Rod
 
Back at it tonight so I can stay on schedule. Did a quick sanding then went back to spraying. Put on 2 heavier coats of filler primer and will sand and shoot it again tomorrow or Friday. I hope to take a crack at color on Saturday so I need to clean up around the small filler areas you see on the left side and prime again first, I am surprised at how these spots show when the primer is wet. More updates to come.
Rod

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Sanding sucks but makes all the difference. You'll have satisfaction every time you look at the nice, smooth paintjob.
 
Just a quick update for this week. Spent 12 hours in the garage yesterday in an attempt to get paint in the engine compartment. Finished last night at 3 AM! Painting is a very detailed job and is meant for those with lots of patience! Today Im hurting from being on the concrete floor for so long but I am happy with how it turned out. here are some pics, the white doesnt show up in the pics as well as I thought it would but it is a very bright white. Cant wait to get the engine sitting in there as it should stand out with the white background.

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Rod
 
Well since the last post I have made more progress. I did some updates to the K frame by installing the torque strap. Welded it in place so I dont have to worry about lose bolts somewhere down the road. I then mounted the engine back on the k frame and then on the cart to sit the assembly back into the car from the bottom. Before I could install back into the car I had to mount the header on the drivers side. Once this was done I slid the motor in from the bottom and put the 4 bolts in the frame rail for the K frame but didnt tighten up yet. After the motor and k frame were in place I installed the trans and bolted it together. Installed the new trans mount which was a tight fit. The trans is very close to the floor tunnel. Now I installed the passenger side header from underneath. I found that one of the driver side tubes just touched the frame rail and after many attempts to get it away I reverted to the old smash the tube a little to make clearance. I hated to since they are the ceramic TTI headers but it was the easiest and quickest solution. Now today more progress as I installed the front suspension back on the car. I did not put on the tie rod thru tie rod yet because I still need to clean and paint them. But the good news is that for the first time since last year the car actually sat on the floor without jackstands or a lift under it. I told my dad my little dart was growing up as it can sit on its own now!! here are some pics of progress.
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More updates coming soon as the next step should be roll bar install.
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
The Cameo belongs to my dad, it is a 55 that he just did a motor refresh to or should I say is in the process of completing.
Rod
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Truck looks awesome!!! My dad has a 59 Dodge Sweptside he restored, those are some classy trucks they made those years :glasses7:

Progress is coming along nice on the Dart, looks like a fun project!
 
Roll Bar update, Today I started laying out the roll bar, first found the right spot for the hoop to meet NHRA guidelines then had to go buy 2 bars to make the rear supports so I could clear the rear seat. I was shocked by the price of the material for 2 - 7 1/2 ft rear bars. They were $155. I even bought them from a large commercial steel company. They come in 18 Ft sections so I had them cut them and they charged $20 per cut, 2 cuts! But what do you do when you need something. Once I got them home I had to cut the rear shelf so the bars could go in from the trunk as they were to long to go in from the interior side. I had to notch the new bars by hand which took some time so tomorrow night I will get back at it. I hope to get both rear bars fitted and tached into place tomorrow. The only other thing I did today was drill the holes in the floor so I can drop the hoop down to weld the tops of the rear bars to hoop. I was able to place a front bar in to see how it would fit and I am going to have to make sure I leave room for the arm rest on the door panels. I will add some pics tomorrow with my progress that I hope to get done.
Rod
 
Well trying to weld the roll bar proved to be harder then I expected. I found that I didnt have an electrical outlet with enough amps to feed for a longer weld time. I kept blowing the breaker so I had to have my neighbor come down and add a 20 amp circuit. Kinda set me back some on my schedule so I only got the main hoop and rear bars going to the trunk welded in. I cant say my welds ended up looking pretty but they are done on the main hoop for those 2 bars. I didnt work on car last night or today as the holiday had to many family members here. Here are some pics of how I set things up since I am working alone. If you see anything I need to do let me know as this is my first attempt at this.

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Rod
 
Got some more of the roll bar installed yesterday. I tach welded the plates for the hoop to the floor after I heated and bent them to fit. Then I tached the main hoop in place. This allowed me to position my front bar and plate on the drivers side (still need to do the passenger side) and weld it into place. Since I am going to use the swing out pivots for the front bars I will be able to cut them, grind the tach welds back off the main hoop floor area and the rear of the roll bar will be movable for me to paint the interior, fit the carpet and start to assemble the interior before I permanently weld the main hoop and rear bars tight to the floors. Of course I will be dropping the roll bar back down the holes I drilled in the floor which allowed me to weld the top of the roll bar so I can put the headliner in as well. I also mounted my starter but had some issues there with clearance so I decided to heat the one tube and with a hammer i created some space. I did this because you cant see that from up top or underneath unless it was on the lift. It just wasnt worth the fight and expense to not move on. I will post pics one day this week once I finish the roll bar on the passenger side.
Rod
 
Finished the roll bar as far as I can go until I have the interior painted and the headliner installed. After cutting and grinding the pipes to the right angles and lengths the shed was a mess so I had to start a major cleanup tonight. But before I did that I took some pics of the roll bar and swingouts. Here are some pics. You'll have to excuse some of the poor welding as I am not a welder and the guy that did my previous welding has a back injury and I didnt want to wait until he was heeled.
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Rod
 
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