1967 Dodge Dart 270

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Hello All, It's been a hot minute since my last update. As usual my plans got derailed because.....me! Instead of paint and body work, I decided the car needed more displacement. Picked up a 360 Magnum out of a '98 Ram. I initially wanted to convert it to a carb, but later opted for a Sniper EFI kit instead. The engine is rebuilt and back together with remanufactured heads. While the engine and transmission are out, I am tackling a refresh of the front suspension and the replacement of the torsion bar crossmember. I have switched primarily to video for documenting the progress but will try to get more pics up here.
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Very cool. I went the same route with my 67. After doing the math and considering hopping up the 273, decided it was more fiscally prudent to just build a Magnum and get the hp I wanted.

https://dougritchie.smugmug.com/Dart/i-RpFzMwH/A]
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make sure and remember that 360s are externally balanced from the factory, don’t throw that together with the 273s converter without a externally balanced B&m flex plate, or stock 360 converter.
 
@MassDart. Looks good. Is your air cleaner height a result of the carb, air cleaner, or both? I have a Holley Sniper with a 1" drop base and it sticks up much higher than yours does. I am a touch worried about hood clearance.

@JCFcuda I was actually fortunate enough to find a B&M 10241 specifically for the 360 Magnum to A904 union. The other thing I needed was the crank register adapter which I an getting from another FABO member, slant_six.
 
That air cleaner also has a drop base to give me clearance in case the Speedmaster knock off air gap intake is too high.

I also was able to get the correct B&M.
 
Good evening all, Since I have the engine out, I am going to take care of some much needed structural work. I am currently ripping the suspension out and will give it a refresh while it is out. Also going to tackle the floor pans and replace the torsion bar crossmember which is a hodgepodge of home repairs and one of the TB keys is not clocked correctly. I am waiting for a ball joint socket to finish removing the suspension. While I wait, I am starting to look at body work. Not sure if this was the best place to take my first trip down the sheet metal welding road but.....what the hell. Let's do this! The patch panel was already there and riveted in place. It just needed a bit of trimming, then welded in place. The weld itself needs ground down a bit more but overall it looks decent for my first attempt.

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i take it you used a 'hard' grinding disc to clean the welds up? they come out much flatter/smoother if you use a flapwheel. they come in different grits and if you've not used them before they look like a lot of squares of emery paper glued to the backing disc in a circle/ring.
neil.
 
@mygasser I used a combination of flap disk and hard grinder. Used the flap disk to get the bulk of the weld off, then used the hard disk to try to feather the rough edges to the panel. The weld bead still needs ground down down a bit and I plan to use the flap disk for that.
 
if using both (i do too) it's quicker to take the worst off with a hard disc then smooth it with the flap wheel as it won't leave marks as deep in the metal and will blend it together nicer.
neil.
 
Thank you. I have 3 more patches to do. I will give that a try on those.
 
Holy Crap! I can hardly believe it's been almost a year since I have posted an update. Things have moved along since my last visit to this particular post. I will post supporting pictures as I can, though a lot of this is covered on my YouTube, so here goes.

I yanked out the dash and got to work getting it refreshed. Before:
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After:
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Not perfect but far better than it was. Pulled the windshield and replaced the gasket/locking strips while I was at it. Windshield was leaking at the bottom corner on the passenger side.

Next I cut out the rotted front floor pans and torsion bar crossmember, then got fresh metal installed. My welding is getting better. =)
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After a few more patches, a good sanding, a fresh coat of primer, and strategic use of seam sealer. I lined the floor with sound deadening/heat resistant material. The tunnel got done too.
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From there, I refreshed all the doors and gaskets in the heater box, then reinstalled the interior.
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The door cards and rear seat cleaned up well. I was hoping to have the seats done by now as well. I have all the filling, but 30-34 weeks for the covers so I won't see them until November/December. Booooo!

My current project is replacing the upper control arm mount/ shock tower assemblies. I discovered how rotted it was when I removed the front suspension for a bushing/paint refresh.
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This is my first major frame work on the car and I really didn't want to hose it up so I built a jig to help me get the new part where it belongs.
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I figured this would ensure I got the angle correct for the control arm mount. I also took measurements from the shock mounting hole to reference points covering the x, y, and z planes of movement. Between the jig and the measurements, I am pretty confident it's where it needs to be. To be continued in another post......

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After cutting out the rot, patching the frame rail on both sides, and a metric butt ton of trimming and fitting...
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I got the new mount welded in, along with a new inner fender. Somehow I failed to get progress pictures of that but here's the installed and painted Driver's side. still need to hit it with some seam sealer but that'll be once both sides are done and I am ready to reassemble everything.
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Decided to play around with the surface conditioning tool I picked up from harbor freight while I have the fender off.
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Trying to decide if I want to get some paint on it this summer, or wait till after the car show season and take the winter to make the body super straight. I still have to do the passenger side control arm mount/inner fender. Once that's done, I will probably drop and paint the K member. It cleaned up pretty well and I would like it to stay that way.

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I also want to give the engine bay a fresh coat of paint before I move on to the rear of the car. I picked up the appropriate...ish colors from The Coating Store. I used their Dark Blue Poly (1968 - EE) for the dash and I am using Bright Blue Poly (1968 QQ). Only one place makes the 1967 Bright Blue Poly(88) color and for the price of a gallon of that, I got a gallon of base, a gallon of clear, and a gallon and a half of primer in the 68 color.

Anywho, once the front clip is done, Gonna move on to the rear. Rear crossmember, crossmember extensions, trunk extensions and rear leaf spring mounts get here today. I already have the lower quarter patch panels.
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I am getting excited as I can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel. There's a lot of work to do yet but most of the "hard" stuff I was concerned about is behind me. She's close to being ready to put back together and on the road again!
 
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Actually, This is in really good condition for Maine from what I have seen. I have been looking at both B-Body and E-Body cars in the area for the "next project" and they are far more rotted out. This one was a daily driver until 83, then parked 15 years in a storage unit then 15 years in a barn until I bought it in 2021 so she was mostly out of the weather. You can tell she was a winter driven car though.
 
I admire you taking this project on. Some of my projects have had rust issues. For a veteran like yourself you work through it. I am afraid that a person of lesser skills would stop in their tracks!!! Continue on I will be watching.
 
Thank you, but I am very much a noob when it comes to working classic cars. Most of this I am doing for the first time as this is my first project car. It is really a matter of researching several different ways to do what it is I want to do. Then It's just picking the method, or combination of methods, that meet my tools and skill level. I have an image in my head of what I want the end product to be so I just research, work, and most times...rework till I can get it there.
 
It worked so-so. On the factory assemblies, the rod can pass though front to back no problems. The replacements are built slightly different and the rear mount sits about 1/8th inch higher so the rod will not pass all the way through. I was definitely a bit grumpy when my genius plan was foiled by a design adjustment.
 
I mentioned the end game image I have for the Dart. It's mostly in my head, but kind of "on paper" as well. My inner nerd found a 3D model of a 1968 and altered it in Blender (3D modeling software) to get it as close as I can to the vision in my head. We're getting there slowly but surely.

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Got her cleaned up, primed, and back together over the last few weekends and actually got her up and running Monday. Thing runs like a sewing machine and holy crap is it a power improvement! Much more fun to drive. She rides a good bit stiffer with the new bushings and thicker torsion bars though. The alignment came out pretty good! Managed -.5 degrees of camber, 1/8 in of toe in, and a little over 5 degrees of positive caster. Better than the 0 to -1 the FSM calls for. Now just gotta get the sway bar installed, then it's off the fix the rear end. I have the rear crossmember, trunk extensions, crossmember extensions, and lower quarter skins to do next. Gonna driver her and enjoy the rest of the season though before I tear things apart again. Well, at least till after Darling's All Mopar Car Show on the 14th of September. =).

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Looking good. Thinking of blacking out the grill and hood letters on my 67 as well. Trying to decide on blacking the trunk trim or not.
 
I am definitely blacking out as much of the trim as I can. I am doing all my blackout with plasti-dip so it can be undone if need be. The one thing I am torn over is a bumble bee stripe. I know the 67's didn't have one but I like them. I am thinking a white ghost stripe instead of a solid one. Might be a decent compromise.
 
Sean Officer said:
I am definitely blacking out as much of the trim as I can. I am doing all my blackout with plasti-dip so it can be undone if need be. The one thing I am torn over is a bumble bee stripe. I know the 67's didn't have one but I like them. I am thinking a white ghost stripe instead of a solid one. Might be a decent compromise.
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Ghost Stripe might indeed be cool. I'm also trying to decide on blacking out the rocker panel stainless or not.....I know lots folks prefer to leave those off but I like em.
 
Troub said:
I'm also trying to decide on blacking out the rocker panel stainless or not.....I know lots folks prefer to leave those off but I like em.
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Rocker panel "stainless" is aluminum.

Black anodized?

And if you or anyone else doesn't want them give me a PM! :rolleyes:
 
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