1970 Swinger 340 Hemi Orange 4 speed

[Captain Canuck]

Looks like you are getting a good start! Those NOS inner fenders was a great score and all the other parts you have collected look to be in great shape as well. Keep us up to date on your progress! I'm looking forward to watching this one transform back to its former glory!

Andy

 

[48james]

Awesome project. If your doing a stock build you couldn't ask for better options.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Thanks guys, my plans with this car is to have the underside just as nice as the top. I will go full tilt with it in the springtime, since I can't really do much when it comes to sandblasting it in the winter time unless I can get a heated enclosed trailer to transport it from the blaster to my house.

Haha yeah I've got an awesome GF who lets me store parts in the house (in the spare room)

Yeah it has the perfect options that I wanted! I have been looking for an EV2 swinger for years, to restore and this one has the four speed and factory black interior with the black stripe which is exactly what I wanted! (I didn't want a fully optioned one but I would have settled for any EV2 340 car at the time) if I were able to buy one new back in the day this is exactly what I would have ordered. I'm also picking up some original 340 (14" x 5.5") dog dish rims for it right away. I can't find the build sheet for the car yet, but judging by its low options it most likely came with these rims originally and I just love the way the steel rims look being colour matched. I will also get a set of the original whitewall Firestone wide oval tires for it. I want this car to look 100% correct with the exception of a 408 stroker.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Havent got much done to it over the holidays. Today I cut the remaining spotwelds out for the lower part of the doner one(someone cut the holes in the front to large while drilling out the spotwelds, but it will be no big deal to fix) I bead blasted it an just sprayed some red oxide primer on it so it doesn't rust in the meantime, when it comes time to weld it on I'll strip it with gunwash and prep it properly. I also did the hood latch support.

EDIT: I guess I should have looked into this lower support mount better... It doesn't have the dart lower valence tabs so it won't work. Anyone out there have a dart one they want to trade?? This one came from a 1976 duster 360.


Next week I plan on ordering the sheet metal from AMD. Full quarters, trunk extensions, outer wheel wells, rocker panels, door striker panels and possibly the full floor pan if I have enough $$ I also need to buy a rotisserie.

This thread will have hundreds of pictures when I'm done, since I plan on fully documenting this build.

 

['70DartSwinger]

Nice car, ill be following your build! I too have a 1970 dodge dart swinger 4 speed

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Nice car, ill be following your build! I too have a 1970 dodge dart swinger 4 speed

Awesome! Is it a Hemi orange car?

I just bought a brand new Millermatic 140 welder . I'll have it Wednesday. I was just gonna borrow my dads Miller 250 for this car, but it's too big to lug around and It's kinda hard to adjust and weld sheet metal with. I'm also gonna pick up a miller spot welder for this project... I can weld about 50% of the car with it and it will look factory. My Dad has always wanted one and so have I, so this car is the perfect excuse to buy one!

 

['70DartSwinger]

Its currently orange previous owner painted it that colour back in 1978 But its a factory plum crazy purple with a black out hood.
I look forward to all the pics you can post along your process!

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Its currently orange previous owner painted it that colour back in 1978 But its a factory plum crazy purple with a black out hood.
I look forward to all the pics you can post along your process!

Sounds like a nice car, I'd like to see some pics of it!

I got my welder today! I also picked up a new helmet... I just need the tank and stand and I can start using it.

 

[mopar79sean]

Subscribed and very interested in seeing your build!

I'm currently working on a plum crazy 70 Swinger 340 clone and also have an original 340 4 speed yellow 70 Swinger.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Subscribed and very interested in seeing your build!

I'm currently working on a plum crazy 70 Swinger 340 clone and also have an original 340 4 speed yellow 70 Swinger.

Good luck with your build!

Nice! I'd like to see some pics of your build, do you have a thread started here or pics of your 70' Swingers?

I was going over the car today to see if it needs anymore sheetmetal and found this... It appears the drivers side motor mount is completely had, so somebody's fix was to bolt a bracket to the frame rail and attach a cable to it that bolts up to the cylinder head, :???:

I've had two A-bodies now where the inner fenders have been smacked in with a hammer on both sides around the shock tower (seen in the pic above) was this for old school headers or a big block at one time??

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Picked up a spotweld cutter since I'll have a few hundred spotwelds to be cutting in the next few months.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up my SBP 14" x 5.5" steelies and my full floor pan should be here this week hopefully. I also ordered a BE&A Rallye dash bezel and indicator lenses... My rallye dash is hacked and faded. I'm also getting the front and rear oem valences, hopefully ill get them in the next few weeks. It's a slow process but I'm collecting parts piece by piece. I can't wait till spring so I can get the car stripped and blasted.

I'll have my miller spot welder with timer by march hopefully too

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Picked up my steelies today! I got a set of the 14" x 5.5" original 340 rims for the front and a set of old school 14" x 6.5" rims for the rear.. They are chrome and peeling but ill get them stripped and paint them hemi orange. I'm gonna get a set of the dog dish hub caps from BE&A to finish them off. I love the look of these wheels and guessing by the options my car had (high impact paint and four speed only) it most likely had these dog dish rims factory. The wider ones in the back will look nice and fill the wheelwell out more. Ill post up some pics. As for tires I might get some repop Firestone wide oval whitewall tires for the fronts and some M and H old school street slicks for the rear so it looks era correct

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Picked up two gallons of glasurit EV2 base coat today... Very pricey but high quality stuff! They're getting rid of solvent paints so I stocked up on it, waterborne isn't good for the DIY'er. DuPont up here doesn't carry chroma premier solvent anymore, so I went with the next best thing. I'm getting the glasurit clear next since I heard company's are coming out with waterborne clear.

 

[Dartnut]

I love this build.
I almost bought a car identical to yours back in 1981 off a used car lot except it was a column automatic with rallye wheels. If it was a 4 speed, i would have bought it!
Who do you get your AMD panels from?
AMD just released new front fenders for your car, you should check them out.
Dante's had them advertised on their site a few weeks ago.......

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

I love this build.
I almost bought a car identical to yours back in 1981 off a used car lot except it was a column automatic with rallye wheels. If it was a 4 speed, i would have bought it!
Who do you get your AMD panels from?
AMD just released new front fenders for your car, you should check them out.
Dante's had them advertised on their site a few weeks ago.......

Thats awesome, you dont see many EV2 swingers (atleast original ones) I saw the new fenders! I wanted to see how they fit before I order them, so I'm waiting on someone else to try them first, haha.

I'll PM you the guy who can get parts from AMD if you'd like, he charges only 10% above the prices on the AMD site and that includes the shipping and brokage fees. He's northeast of edmonton.

Here's the rims covered in snow.. No curb damage or rust scale, the fronts just need a bead blasting and the rears I have to find a way to strip the chrome since its peeling in spots. Maybe a chrome shop can strip them for me, I have to look into that more.

 

[Tnplumber]

Awesome build, looking forward to all the pics.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Thanks!

I picked up the other gallon of hemi orange today. They say it has a shelf life of two years, and that's my plans anyways on finishing the car so that's not a problem! My dad has paint that is 10+ years old and still perfectly fine. As long as its stored at room temp and sealed properly it will last years! Anyways I got the two gallons of orange and a quart of black for the interior door frames and trim. I think I have enough base to paint two darts, haha. I always like to have extra tho.

The base coat with reducer was a little over $1200. The clear will be $800 plus all the filler, primer, sealer, masking tape, paper, sandpaper and other body shop consumables will probably be another $2000 and this is why body shops charge so much for paint jobs... Materials aren't cheap if you want quality!

 

[Swinger340Canuc]

Looks like your getting right after it HemiOrange, and your right about how expensive these materials are, I'm spraying them everyday and you can waste a lot of money if your not careful. Good move getting some solvent base, I didn't think you could still get your hands on it anymore. Waterborne isn't something that the average guy wants to experiment with its a whole different animal. Enjoying your build so far, keep us informed.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Looks like your getting right after it HemiOrange, and your right about how expensive these materials are, I'm spraying them everyday and you can waste a lot of money if your not careful. Good move getting some solvent base, I didn't think you could still get your hands on it anymore. Waterborne isn't something that the average guy wants to experiment with its a whole different animal. Enjoying your build so far, keep us informed.

Yeah materials are expensive! All I ever hear is people complaining about how much it costs to fix there car and they don't realize what materials cost nowadays.

There are a select few places here in Edmonton that sell solvent still (good quality stuff) but they can only sell it as a cash sale over the counter, they cannot sell to body shops. I bought all the basecoat i'll need for the car since I figured it won't be available at all when it comes time to start painting.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

I got my floor pan and new AMD front fenders! I didn't plan on getting them just yet but the guy had a set of extra ones and the quality of them sold me, they look beautiful and are heavy and the same gauge as the originals with no sharp edges. I'm not gonna know how they fit for a while but it looks like they'll be good...

 

[Swinger340Canuc]

Nice! I've been toying around whether to order my metal from AMD yet but I think since I'm a way off yet from tackling mine it might be just under foot. Maybe I'll just look at yours for a while and that will calm my jitters, LOL.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Nice! I've been toying around whether to order my metal from AMD yet but I think since I'm a way off yet from tackling mine it might be just under foot. Maybe I'll just look at yours for a while and that will calm my jitters, LOL.

I'll be postin up alot of AMD parts over the next few months, haha. AMD stuff looks top notch. I was kinda worried because my dad an I have dealt with Cross Canada parts before and there parts are thin and alot of there stuff is junk but it was all that was really available at the time.

I got my rallye dash bezel from BE&A yesterday too.

 

[Hemiorangeswinger]

Sorry for the blurry pics

 

[dmoore]

Man you ain't wast'n no time at all! Subscribed~!~

 

[crackedback]

Neat project.

I hate to break this to you, but, that pass side inner isn't right for a 70. It's a 72+ piece. It has the dryer recess in it. Early cars were flat in that area.