1972 Canadian H-Code 340 Dart Swinger Special Resto - Finally started!

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 18, 2015

Hemiorangeswinger said:
That sucks they dented your hood... Sounds like terrible luck! Did they at least take responsibility for it? I feel almost responsible for the bad luck you had since I recommended them to you. That's weird the seam sealer failed! Maybe they had to soak yours longer to get the extra paint/bodywork off?

Not to worry Randy I was yanking your chain, lol. They had a hard time getting the sealer under the black paint off so the parts spent a lot of time in the tank which probably loosened up some of the sealer supports, some of them were probably missing for a long time. I replaced them tonight with the Fusor direct to metal seam sealer I have, I'll let them cure up so the hood has the proper support before I do any more sanding on it. The dent was unfortunate but "stuff" happens and it came out without to much work, I'm not loosing any sleep over it and will take my doors to them when I get the quarters on, good guys!

j061093409 · Aug 18, 2015

nice hood! plus all your parts look rust free.
looks like you are missing one of the bumper plates that slides into the hood as a reinforcement when shut. have some if lost.

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 18, 2015

j061093409 said:
nice hood! plus all your parts look rust free.
looks like you are missing one of the bumper plates that slides into the hood as a reinforcement when shut. have some if lost.

Thanks Joel, I never noticed the plate, I wonder if it fell off at the dipper. I'll take a look at some pre dip pictures and see if it was there. I'll take you up on a plate next time we exchange parts. Did find a couple small holes on the lower back of the fenders, I'll have too do a bit of metal work on those spots.

Hemiorangeswinger · Aug 19, 2015

Swinger340Canuc said:
Not to worry Randy I was yanking your chain, lol. They had a hard time getting the sealer under the black paint off so the parts spent a lot of time in the tank which probably loosened up some of the sealer supports, some of them were probably missing for a long time. I replaced them tonight with the Fusor direct to metal seam sealer I have, I'll let them cure up so the hood has the proper support before I do any more sanding on it. The dent was unfortunate but "stuff" happens and it came out without to much work, I'm not loosing any sleep over it and will take my doors to them when I get the quarters on, good guys!

Haha well I'm glad you're happy with what they did! I know everything they've done for me I was more than happy!! You definitely could never get the parts that clean with any other method. That's probably what killed the old seam sealer.. I'm gonna drop my trunk off there next weekend so i don't have to strip the sublime green off with sanders. How do the back side of your fenders look?

They are really nice guys and I plan on getting a lot more stuff dipped as time goes on. They did my K-frame and it cleaned it spotless inside and out. Your doors should turn out good too. I had them do my door shells when I took the skins off and they were spotless.

Three40 · Aug 19, 2015

Wow Swinger340Canuc!!! Great job on such rare piece. Glad to see one of the very few Canadian 72 Swinger Special 340 cars being brought back to its former glory. Do you know if any of the 72 340 Swinger Specials had the black Demon stripe(V21) on the hood around the scoop? Awesome car, great job on the restoration and please keep the pictures and updates coming! Subscribed!!!

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 19, 2015

Three40 said:
Wow Swinger340Canuc!!! Great job on such rare piece. Glad to see one of the very few Canadian 72 Swinger Special 340 cars being brought back to its former glory. Do you know if any of the 72 340 Swinger Specials had the black Demon stripe(V21) on the hood around the scoop? Awesome car, great job on the restoration and please keep the pictures and updates coming! Subscribed!!!

Thanks for the nice comments Three40, going to give this car the best I'm capable of. The 71 and 72's only came the way the two below appear, the yellow one being scatpacker's 72 as far as I know.

Captain Canuck · Aug 23, 2015

Wow.... Great work!
I just found this thread.
Now I have two resto threads (yours and Randy's) to keep up on.:cheers:

Crosstown 340 · Aug 23, 2015

My first post on FABO ! :blob:

The progress pics of your car are going to give me inspiration on my new project ! Another '71 in the States. I will be doing a complete restoration as well. So all of your progress pics are going to be a super reference !! :burnout:

j061093409 · Aug 23, 2015

OK now I have to find a second body shop so I can work on my 71 also!!!

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 23, 2015

Captain Canuck said:
Wow.... Great work!
I just found this thread.
Now I have two resto threads (yours and Randy's) to keep up on.:cheers:

Thanks for checking out my thread Captain Canuck, won't be quite as extensive as Randy's but maybe some followers can pick up some info and maybe some can post some tips back to me, I'm always learning tips and sources etc. from other members.

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 23, 2015

Crosstown 340 said:
My first post on FABO ! :blob:

The progress pics of your car are going to give me inspiration on my new project ! Another '71 in the States. I will be doing a complete restoration as well. So all of your progress pics are going to be a super reference !! :burnout:

Great to hear from you Crosstown 340, welcome to the Canadian Special Club, I heard from Joel (j061093409) that someone in Michigan had snapped up the green Special from southern Alberta. I'm really happy that it's going to get restored and isn't going to just sit around anymore, now Joel's going to have to sell his house or himself to get his 71 done as well, LOL.
Hope the thread helps you out some and members Cliff Guinand, Kevin(scatpacker) and Joel(j061093409) know more then I do about these cars and are a great resource for you.
Keep in touch, Danny.

COdartman · Aug 23, 2015

Awesome job! Can"t wait to see both your Swingers completed:cheers: We should plan a EV2 Dart reunion someday! LOL....

Dave,

Crosstown 340 · Aug 23, 2015

I am all about restoring cars to original, but I have to agree with one of the other folks, I LOVE the look that your car had with the slots and the bias ply tires ...... :burnout:

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 23, 2015

I thought it was pretty cool back in the day and thought it had a muscular look. If this wasn't a Canadian special I might not be as hung up on restoring it to the way the factory made it but I think these cars should be restored to original or as close as one can get since there were so few built and even fewer survivors.

Crosstown 340 · Aug 24, 2015

Agreed !

cliff guinand · Aug 28, 2015

I'm glad all you guys are getting to know each other here on Swinger340Canuck's thread, good stuff. And yes, welcome to Crosstown 340 here, and to the 340 Special brotherhood – don't know if you have yours all warm and cosy in your garage yet, but I know your pumped. Also, there are a few more of us 340 Specials floating around here on FABO, and you know who you are, so chime in and root 'em on. I look forward to seeing your progress Danny, your awesome man. Sorry I missed you all in Red Deer, had a reunion in Montreal to attend. Stay cool man. C

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 28, 2015

COdartman said:
Awesome job! Can"t wait to see both your Swingers completed:cheers: We should plan a EV2 Dart reunion someday! LOL....

Dave,

Thanks Dave, an EV2 reunion, that sounds like a blast! I better get my but in gear, lol!

Swinger340Canuc · Aug 28, 2015

cliff guinand said:
I'm glad all you guys are getting to know each other here on Swinger340Canuck's thread, good stuff. And yes, welcome to Crosstown 340 here, and to the 340 Special brotherhood don't know if you have yours all warm and cosy in your garage yet, but I know your pumped. Also, there are a few more of us 340 Specials floating around here on FABO, and you know who you are, so chime in and root 'em on. I look forward to seeing your progress Danny, your awesome man. Sorry I missed you all in Red Deer, had a reunion in Montreal to attend. Stay cool man. C

Hey brother Cliff, hope you had a good time. Enjoyed the Red Deer Show, seen quite a few cars I never saw before, me and the OLD Guy hung out all day,LOL! It was great to here from Crosstown 340, hope he keeps in touch and posts up some pictures of his new project in its new home. I'm off until the 8th so hope I can get some work on the car done, got some work on my drivers to do as well, later pal.

Crosstown 340 · Aug 30, 2015

Thanks for the welcome guys ! The car isn't home quite yet. I am chomping at the bit to get it home and get a game-plan figured out for the restoration. I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions, and am already getting great information !

Swinger340Canuc · Sep 2, 2015

Finally made some time to spend on the Dart and get the quarter welded on.

First step was to apply the fusor weld thru seam sealer where I'm able to use the spot welder and apply the fusor panel bond where the rear cowl and quarter meet and in the rear window corner.

Then clamp the panel in place,

Now work from the top down starting with the spot welder,

Plug welded the back of the quarter and ground them down smooth,

Then welded up the sail panel seam,

Cleaned the spot welds up a bit and am happy the way they match the factory welds,

The door to quarter match up are where I have had the most issues with these panels so I need to tweak the door jam portion of the panel as I move from top to bottom to try and line up the two surfaces as best as possible so I've left these welds so the panel will move as I make my way down. As you can see I have to plug weld the front of the quarter at the wheel house since the spot welder wouldn't fit in this small space.

Ran out of time today so I'll finish this up tomorrow or Friday.

4spdragtop · Sep 2, 2015

Been a while since I checked this thread out and the work is amazing. I need to do some catching up. Keep up the awesome work!

scatpacker · Sep 3, 2015

OLD guy? I though you and I hung out all day.Nice work, good progress., Will you wait till it's up on rotisserie to weld wheel tubs? Upside down welding, not the most fun.

Swinger340Canuc · Sep 3, 2015

scatpacker said:
OLD guy? I though you and I hung out all day.Nice work, good progress., Will you wait till it's up on rotisserie to weld wheel tubs? Upside down welding, not the most fun.

Come to think of it maybe there was 2 old guys there, lol. I wasn't planning on welding that seam Kev, when I watched the video of Craig Hopkins at the AMD installation centre replacing the outer half like I did he never welded that seam and I don't think he mentioned it, I'll have to double check. I planned on just sealing the seam to keep the water out and that would be it.

Swinger340Canuc · Sep 7, 2015

Finished up aligning the quarter panel to the door surfaces and weld in place, quite a bit of tweaking to get them to match up, not perfect but close and the slight differences can be dealt with in the bodywork phase.

I ended up having to drill and plug weld the lower pinch welds, it seemed to be too much for my spot welder to weld thru three layers and I didn't feel they would hold so went to plan B.