1966 Dodge Dart

[rod7515]

Got to spend some time working on the car tonight. I was able to bend the aluminum piping for me to run the wires in up under the drivers fender well. I wasnt as nice as the smaller piping I did under the passenger fender well but its not to bad. I'll get pics in the next few days. My next focus is to get the steering column in place so I can finish the wiring under the dash. I got to put the column back together tonight as well so Im hoping one night this week to get it in place in the car so I can turn the wheels!! I'll need to check the turn signal switch to be sure it works since I've never driven this car. The steering wheel I will be using is a Grant So I'm not sure what changes I will need to make so it fits and functions. Well thats as far as Ive gotten but I'll keep moving forward a little at a time.
Thanks for following my build
Rod

 

[rod7515]

Ran a quick test tonight thru the turn signal switch. I ran power into the switch thru the red wire on the turn signal switch. The diagram shows that as the wire for the flasher. I grounded the power thru the spring loaded horn contact. I checked all other wires and had no current anywhere else. I also checked for continuity thru horn circuit and I did. Next I moved the switch into the left position, at this time I had power to the lt and drk green wires and no where else. Then I moved the switch into the right position. At this time I have power to the tan and brown wires. Then I removed the power from the red feed and applied it to the white lead which is the brake signal. With switch in left position I had power to the brown wire or right brake light and with switch in the right position I have power to the drk green wire. I think this should be a good switch so I guess I can move forward with installing the column. Once the column is in place and all wiring terminated up under the dash I will be able to locate the best spot for my tach and shift light. Im hoping they can go on around the column because I dont really want them on the top of dash drawing unwanted attention! The only gauge on the dash that will matter will be the fuel gauge so covering up there shouldnt effect anything. Im hoping that the coupling will fit onto the steering box without any issues. I did slide the coupler on to be sure it fit since I am using a different column then what was in it when I purchased the car. It was a column shifter and the column I am using came out of a 6 cyl console shifting dart. I'll let you know how i make out.
Rod

 

[rod7515]

I had to call in some help in order to get the steering column into place. I wasnt able to slide the coupling on to the end of the steering box because the actual column housing was hitting the rear header tube. So I ended up pulling the column out and back apart and cutting 2" off the column housing bottom. This allowed the coupling to go down to the box but I still couldnt get the alignment correct so thats when I had a friend stop over and he held the column up inside the car while I worked the coupling until I finally got it aligned and he drove it onto the steering box shaft. All fits good now.
Next I moved in under the dash and started getting wires together so I could complete the wiring that will be going up to the front of the car like headlights, turn signals, parking light, relay feeds, horn and any other. I plugged the headlight switch into the column connector and again checked the operation. I couldnt get 12v to the wires for the front turn signals. Also I had no dash lights. I crawled under the dash and checked power to the printed sircuit and found I had 12v there. So I pulled out all the dash light sockets (that are brand new) and found that the brass tabs needed to be bent down so they touched the printed circuit. I missed the socket for the left turn signal indictator and of course that meant a ground problem issue with the turn signals. Once I figured out what was going on there I bent the tabs on that one and now all my problems seem to be gone for now. So now I will start terminating the wires under the dash. Probably going to take about 2 -3 nights to do this. Once that is done I will move on to the rear brake lines then add fluid and bleed. Here are a few pics of the column in the car

One other thing I found out is that the tach doesnt really fit on the top of the steering column unless I would drill the slip housing and mount it with bolts instead of a clamp. That would mean tearing the column part way apart again. Not sure I am up to that!
These are bad pics but you can see the wiring nightmare I am undertaking!!

Im having fun with this but its taking way too long. Ive learned a lot about the wiring on this old car and will need to make a wiring diagram up for future issues! I'll try to get a few pics of the run of wires up thru the fender well in the next few nights.
Thanks for following and if you feel free to offer advice or comments.
Rod

 

[rod7515]

I finished terminating the wires that will go to the front of the car tonight. As I've said in past posts I am running all wires thru aluminum tubing in order to keep them as hidden as possible while protecting them from the elements. Here are some pics of the tubing

from here the wires will go to the other side of this frame rail where I have mounted my fuse box, headlight relays and fan relay.

Next on the list to do will be to get the brake tubing completed. I still need to finish the line to the proportioning valve from the master cylinder then the run from the valve to the rear of the car. Also I need to figure out what to do for the emergency brake since I had to remove all factory brackets. Challenges!! I'll have to post in the brake section to see what others have done to get around the frame rail connectors and 3" dual exhaust!!!
Rod

 

[zkx14]

I finished terminating the wires that will go to the front of the car tonight. As I've said in past posts I am running all wires thru aluminum tubing in order to keep them as hidden as possible while protecting them from the elements. Here are some pics of the tubing
View attachment 1714968402
View attachment 1714968403
from here the wires will go to the other side of this frame rail where I have mounted my fuse box, headlight relays and fan relay.
View attachment 1714968404
View attachment 1714968405 Next on the list to do will be to get the brake tubing completed. I still need to finish the line to the proportioning valve from the master cylinder then the run from the valve to the rear of the car. Also I need to figure out what to do for the emergency brake since I had to remove all factory brackets. Challenges!! I'll have to post in the brake section to see what others have done to get around the frame rail connectors and 3" dual exhaust!!!
Rod

Looking good Rodney. I'll have to stop over and check it out. You workin on it this weekend?

 

[rod7515]

Keith, i wont get back out until monday night now. I only get to work on it a few hours during the week.
Rod

 

[rod7515]

3 years + after I bought this Dart I got to take my first ride today! First I pulled it out of the shed and loaded it on the trailer because I was taking it to dads garage so I can get it higher in the air on his lift. Here at home I can only get it about 4' in the air on my max jax lift. Dad has a full size lift that will make installing the exhaust and working on fabricating an emergency brake cable system much easier. So the trip on the trailer was about 3 miles. Dads driveway is about 130 yards long. I unloaded it and drove it up the driveway and back down. Pulled it into the garage and it was just not enough. So back out I went and when I got to the other side of the driveway I did my first launch. Now it wasnt a full launch but probably went to about 5k rpms. very very strong feel. What a smile to my face! What a feeling! Made the last 3 years of work worth while. Here are a few pics of it on the trailer.

Now the plan is to get some exhaust system put under the car. I already have purchased an X pipe from TTI and I have some inexpensive mufflers but will need to bring the exhaust out from under the car. Here in Pa it can not end under the car. I would like to fabricate tailpipes but since its a 3" system and the springs have been moved in Im not sure if I can take it around the gas tank. I'll let you know how it turns out. I would expect this to take a few weeks to complete. Im sure that during that time I will take a few more drives up and down that driveway!!
Rod

 

[Valiant69er]

Great build.
Not sure if this will help or not, but here is our subframe connector/emergency brake cable mod. I made a pass through tube.

1969 Valiant build.
3 Generation Project

 

[rod7515]

Valiant69er, thanks for those pics. Yes that will help when I finally get around to getting the brake done.
I havent had but one night to work one the dart since I moved it down to dads. But on Tuesday night I was able to spend some time and I got the Collectors on the headers then I installed the TTI x-pipe into place. I put on my mufflers that I had bought on ebay ($15 each). They were very small, the body was only 5" long and 9" wide. The inlet and outlet are both offset and there is one piece of baffle inside. I started it up and there was very little difference in the sound at all. Still sounded like the headers were open. So I came home and ordered a set of flowmaster 40's. I had them on my stoked 383 vette and really liked them so I am hoping they sound as good on this stroked 408. They came on Saturday and I hope to get them on tomorrow night to see how they will sound. I will say that the Dart was extremely louder with open headers then my vette was so I am a little nervous.
Ive made some hangers for the mufflers since the ones from TTI for 3" are $75 a pair.

The clamps were part of the TTI x-pipe kit and the hangers are from NAPA @ $3.70 each. I still need to put tops on each one but that is just metal that I have laying around so hopefully no more costs will be added. The next challenge will be to add a tailpipe system. I did some playing around and I think I can make something work but it will take time. I'll get some pics out as I move forward.
Rod

 

[rod7515]

I finally found some time to work on the Dart again. Im finishing up the exhaust and heres where I ended up. I have the TTI headers. TTI X-Pipe, and I ended up with Flowmaster 40 series. As shown above I maade rear hangers from NAPA universal hangers and 3" clamps. Today I made the tailpipes. What makes this more difficult is that I kept the stock fuel tank, moved the rear springs in and the pipe is 3". I decided to take the pipe out behind the rear tires. I used a larger 90* out of the muffler then another 90* but this one was very short, then a straight piece about 13" long on passenger side and 17" long on drivers side. Then I had purchased a 45* that has about 6" on each side after the bend and that seems to be a very good fit. Tacked everything together and will now take it to get a good weld on all seams. I have hangers that I will support the rear pipe in place once its welded. Not sure if I will use a different tip or keep what I have now. Here are some pics of the somewhat finished pipes.

 

[rod7515]

I like the band clamps because of how easy it will be to take apart and change. I didnt weld the 45* pipes on so I could adjust the angle then use the band clamps. Here is the exhaust on the car from the sides and rear. I'lll have to do some slight adjustments once I get them back from welding and attach the rear hangers. They are about 6" behind the rear tires and 5 1/2" back the quarter panel. I'm very happy with the looks! Just need to decide if it gets a different tip but I'm thinking let it like it is.

I will get some pics with the wheels off to show the tail pipe a little better and also some pics of the x pipe. I may have to move the gas tank strap to the underside of the frame but for now it clears. I also have to put the street tires on and make sure they clear as well. More pics to come.
Thanks for looking,
next up e-brake cable re-routing. Not looking forward to that!
Rod

 

[rod7515]

Been all but a month since my last post and that is because with the car not here at home its not as easy to work on it. I took it to my dads which is only 3 miles away but when its colder, and I have to move cars around to get to it, its just easier to not go work on it. SO I made the decision to bring it home on Friday. I had a tough time starting it in the 20* weather since it has no choke and it doesnt like cold weather thats for sure. But its now back here at the house and I can go out and work on it anytime I find a few extra minutes. I didnt get to work on the emergency cable routing so I will do that here at home. I have a lift here but its a max jax which only lifts the car to about 4' off the ground.
Down at dads I bought 2 different lifts to put in which makes it easier but here at home I dont have the ceiling clearance. Im going to need some help with body work later this winter as I am going to tackle the completion of the quarter panels. Im excited to get it completed this year and get some driving and racing time on it. The little bit of moving it from one garage to the other I can see that steering radius is going to be a problem. Lots of backing up when you cant swing a corner. I will get the car in the air this week and take some pics of the exhaust and get them posted as I promised earlier. Thanks for reading along in my build. Sometimes you feel as though no one is listening
or cares!
Thanks Rod

 

[CudaDust]

We are here! Just reading looks good!

 

[rod7515]

A few pics of the exhaust. Its a TTI system from the headers to x pipe, then I went with flowmaster 40's and of course the dreaded home made tail pipes to clear the tank and springs that were moved in.

 

[rod7515]

 

[5.2jeepyj]

sweet car I love it

 

[rod7515]

Starting to work on front fenders. Found that they had some questionable decay just behind the wheel wells. Thought about just putting some short haired fiber glass to smooth it out and hide it but thought Ive gone this far I should cut it out and replace with patch panels. Here are some pics of what I found before and after sandblasting.

The above were after sandblasting to see how bad this really was. Of course its to bad to just cover up so tonight I decided to start the repair. I cut the drivers side out and cut a rough patch panel from some material that was left over from the rear quarter replacement panels. The one thing I did find tonight is that metal from the rear replacement panels is not near as thick/heavy as the original metal is. Here are some pics of the cut and patch panel before weld.

Hopefully in the next few days I will get a chance to fit the panel and weld it in. Its my first time for this kind of work. Any other welding on body parts has been in areas where it couldnt be seen. Not sure how this will turn out!
More pics to come!
Rod

 

[zkx14]

Got over to Rodney's to check it out this morning...
Looking awesome. And sounds like a real beast! Keep it up!

 

[rod7515]

Yep ZKX14 showed just as I was putting out a welding fire! lol I need a bigger place to work. Got the first fender welded up. Going to try finishing it completely before I move on to the other fender. That way I can use the non welded fender for an Idea of how much arc should be in the lower side. Here are some pics of the welded patch.

 

[zkx14]

Yep ZKX14 showed just as I was putting out a welding fire!

I was going to ask you if you got rid of the evidence and let it go at that, lol but now the cat's out of the bag. Saw a nice little flame through the window as I approached. Thought maybe he got a wood stove. Was out in seconds. Just a little excitement

 

[zkx14]

And that repair looks great!

 

[rod7515]

Hey Keith, that could have been a wood stove! lol.
I went back out tonight and was going to mix some mud and start the filler process. But since the lights were out I decided to put a light on the welds. Then I proceeded to chase small holes and when I was finally done rewelding and working the panel as flat or curved as I could I decided enough for the night. Tomorrow is a Monday night grandkids watching as is every Monday night for a while so I wont get out until at least 9 o'clock which may mean not at all! Any suggestions on mixing filler and applying it in the next few days is greatly appreciated.
Thanks Rod

 

[rod7515]

Well I finally got back out to the shed and spent a few hours on the fender that I welded in the patch. After banging and beating to get the metal as close as I could to where it should be I mixed some short hair fiber glass and covered the area with the glass filler. I used the glass filler because it is water proof. One thing I found is that the glass is much harder to sand! Once the first layer was on and sanded down I mixed up another batch of of regular putty and finished spreading and sanding. Still had a few low spots so another mix of putty and this time things came out good. My hardest part was the flare around the wheel well where it blends into the lower section. and keeping a good body line. Here are some pics as I went:

After that area was completed which took me about 5 - 6 hours and many re putty and sanding I decided I was going to weld the holes for the trim belt line shut. I had at one point filled them with a small metal plug then glued that in with 3m 8115 bond. I decided to weld because I saw a 70 dart that someone had just filled the holes with a putty and over the years the repair shrunk and became very visible. Well I knocked each one out then welded the holes shut. I was careful to not over heat the metal by welding a small spot then blowing compressed air on the weld. Moving to another spot and repeating back and forth until all holes were filled. Oh one other thing I used some small pieces of brass that was given to me to use by one of our members here (zkx14) Thanks!
Before welding these small holes shut I placed a small ball peen hammer in the hole and tapped it down slightly with another hammer so the welded area would be just a slight lower then the body. Once welding was completed I ground down the welds and started filling each area with glass again. Ruffed it in and then more filler. The problem I ran into was at the front of the fender there are 2 indentations and from grinding I lost the small belt strip that is about 1 1/4" wide so I had to ask some questions in the body area of this forum on best methods to rebuild those lines. Got some great info and then went to You tube and watched some videos and then back at completing these areas. Here are some pics of these areas:
You can see the body line area and how I used tape to help rebuild that line hopefully straight!:

Lastly I needed to finished the edge inside the engine compartment area on the fender that I welded a new piece of metal in about 2 years ago and never completed. You can see the filler applied but I didnt take any pics of it when done. Not sure why except I forgot!

I then finished sanding the front headlight area and I think that should complete the work on this fender. Now I just need to get primer on it.
My next area is going to be the drivers door so I can put the door and fender on the drivers side of the car before starting the other fender and the rest of the passenger side.
Thanks for following and feel free to comment on anything you see I should think about doing differently as this is my first attempt at anything like this.
Thanks Rod

 

[360DartGT66]

I need to do exactly that repair in the last pic on both my fenders. I'ts been done by the PO but terribly so. Looks awful.

 

[rod7515]

Finally got to get back at working on the car. But while being to busy to work on it Eastwood continued to send videos of products and I finally broke down and bought something. Ive always thought I would need a stud gun but didnt want to spend $200-$300 on one. Heres what I settled for

I had a chance to try this on Wednesday night and it work pretty well. It was on sale for $79 and I dont have to borrow and return one now from anyone. So I attacked the front fender dents as you can see below:

Welded on the stud.

Attached the 3 LB slide hammer that came with the kit and did some pulling

Once pulled out I cut the studs down then took my grinder and ground down. I did use compressed air to blow on welds and grinding area to cool down metal trying to keep metal from warping.
So this is as far as Ive gotten until next week. I will post pics once this section of the body is done.
Thanks Rod