1973 Dart Swinger for a Young Gun

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challengergary

challengergary

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Location
Port Saint Lucie, FL
As some of you may know - I recently became "unemployed." Instead of return to the "corporate grind," I decided to take on some resto work and continue to do vehicle graphics to see if I can make ends meet while we wait for our house to sell and return to Florida.


Here is the first project in my shop since going full-time,it is a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger that I have been tasked to tackle the body and paint on. The owner is a 18 or so year old College kid. He and his Father are building a 360 to drop in it. I plan on having my portion of the car done within the next 2-1/2 weeks. If not, I am loosing money (LOL).

I will also be posting daily updates on my website www.challengergary.com

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Just one day at a time Gary ... we're all pulling for ya!

I'm sure you'll make the kid, his dad and yourself all very proud. :-D
 
Busted a move on the Dart today - pulled bumpers, straightened out bent up lower rad support, removed rear glass, welded patches in on the trunk channel and filler panel, sanded down deck lid, roof and pass qtr, and then first primed it all...

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Lookin good Gary...I busted out of the corp grind 15 years ago. Played alot of music to keep the bills somewhat paid while my sign shop grew. good luck to you and have fun..
 
GTGrinly - funny - I used to have a sign shop down in Florida as well. Sold it to join up with a "Good Company." What a crock of $h!T they sold me. I was doing very well before when I had my little sign shop. Probably go back to doing what I was before and stick with it this time. My Dad once told me, "If you are going to work for an @sshole, it may as well be you." He had it right!
 
Holy cow Gary, what time did you get up??? That's quite the full day! (For a second I thought I was looking at Uli's resto thread from Germany ... you could give him a run for his money. :-D) Looking good!

challengergary said:
... My Dad once told me, "If you are going to work for an @sshole, it may as well be you." He had it right!
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!!! That's what that evil redheaded bi*ch I work for says too.
 
I appreciate your dad's advice. You one motivated dude. Keep up the good work but remember to leave yourself some down time. I ran my own small business for ten years. Loved the work, hated the slavedriver I had for a boss (LOL).
 
You don't know how bad a slave drivin' boss you can have until your self employed.
 
Excellent start Gary!

I have a 1971 factory Plymouth Duster 340 in my garage - languishing, because I am working long hours for the man!

I wish I was in your neighborhood because I'd give you my car to do all the stuff I've put off for the last couple years...like a minor patch in the spare tire wheel (very center of the spare tire well - the rest is fine), and a bunch of odds and ends, nothing huge but needed to get this thing back on the road!.

I remember that 1971 Duster you had for sale a while back - it was rust-free and straight, with your graphic - stripes package. That was a great buy, with new paint to boot!

I'm up in the Northern VA. area, so if you want to do the tourist thing up here in DC, I got a couple days of work for ya!
 
Finished roughing in the body yesterday - it really is a clean car. The owner came by to watch what I was doing for a few hours. Had he stayed longer, I am sure he would have been shocked by the end of the day 8)

Today I will be block sanding the car ALL DAY... :ncool:

BTW - It was so hot in my shop yesterday, I lost 6 lbs while working even though I drank nearly a gallon of H20!

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No updated pics this morning - it still looks the same (in pictures). I spent yesterday block sanding, finding & fixing the dimples & waves, and then re-priming. Also, stripped the engine compartment, removed door weather stripping, and started to prep the trunk for paint.

Goal for today - finish body work (1 final block & then re-prime) and then shoot the trunk, deck lid and door jambs and trunk lip. Tomorrow will be prep and paint underside of hood and engine compartment...
 
Made good progress yesterday but a trip to the paint store and Home Depot really slowed me down. Got the door jambs, underside of decklid and inside of the trunk painted as planned. Also started to straighten out the beat up rear valance.

Today, final body work and paint the engine compartment and underside of hood (if time allows)...

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Nice work Gary.I am self employed also.Can't make myself take time off but I have cut back on my hours.I probably missed it ,what color was that? I think you'll do just fine,keep up the good work.8)
 
The color is FE5 rallye red. Did not get quite as much done today as I wanted to. Had a decal customer stop by and that took up a couple of hours. I did get the rear valance fixed and block sanded the whole car again plus glazed in the remaining low spots.

Owner and his dad came by as well. They seem very pleased with it thus far. Owner even joined FABO!

Weather slowed me down a little too - heat index hit 111! Don't worry, I drank a full gallon of water today. Now it's time for some nice cold frosted barley pops!
 
WoW Gary,no wasting time!Waiting to see the finished product.Keep at it,drink lots of water in this heat!
 
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