1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr

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Bit of a bump here.

Heading into the offseason for car work right now and I'm in school, so things are paused on the car.
Havent done anything to it since the last update except drive it and enjoy having it.
Next summer we'll start working on it some more.
It needs some carb tuning, either a new battery or a new alternator, and some more odds and ends.

Just picked up a new steering wheel for it on Sunday night off of ebay.
grt-990.jpg

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRT-990/?image=large

Its the wheel I've wanted since we bought the car, and considering I paid a little over half of what Summit wants for it shipped, I can't complain.

Currently on the lookout for a new set of wheels and tires for the car, I'm not a big fan of the Magnum 500s and I want something a little different that you don't see every day.
Plus the car is begging for new tires, the ones that came on it are pretty badly dryrotted and in need of replacement.

Just to prove I had it out this summer and to show off its current condition, heres a fresh pic:
IMG_3370.jpg


I'm hoping to have it painted a basic color this summer, so that I can move on from the ugly flat black look.

I'm excited for the car's future.
After having to put the build on hold due to financial concerns this summer, it'll be good to start getting more work done!
 
Overall,it looks to be very solid! Have fun and remember safety first. Too bad your not closer. I have a ready to run 360 with 64 000 miles that would drop right in. I even have the correct tq for the swap to mate it to a 904!.

Thats what I would do.360,904. Basic combo that wont break your budget.
 
sneke_eyez said:
Bit of a bump here.

Heading into the offseason for car work right now and I'm in school, so things are paused on the car.
Havent done anything to it since the last update except drive it and enjoy having it.
Next summer we'll start working on it some more.
It needs some carb tuning, either a new battery or a new alternator, and some more odds and ends.

Just picked up a new steering wheel for it on Sunday night off of ebay.
grt-990.jpg

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRT-990/?image=large

Its the wheel I've wanted since we bought the car, and considering I paid a little over half of what Summit wants for it shipped, I can't complain.

Currently on the lookout for a new set of wheels and tires for the car, I'm not a big fan of the Magnum 500s and I want something a little different that you don't see every day.
Plus the car is begging for new tires, the ones that came on it are pretty badly dryrotted and in need of replacement.

Just to prove I had it out this summer and to show off its current condition, heres a fresh pic:
IMG_3370.jpg


I'm hoping to have it painted a basic color this summer, so that I can move on from the ugly flat black look.

I'm excited for the car's future.
After having to put the build on hold due to financial concerns this summer, it'll be good to start getting more work done!
Click to expand...

Im wondering what the diameter of that wheel is. I have manual steering and might need a little more cranking power from a bigger wheel.

It looks very similar to a tuff wheel.
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys!

I'd love to drop a 360 in it, but for now the engine is actually running quite well, so I'm just going to keep driving it with the 318.
I don't mind it at all, it'll burn the tires all I want, and for now, thats all I need.

@needsa: The wheel is a 14.5'' diameter wheel.
It doesnt look exactly like a tuff wheel, but I think it actually looks a little bit better, plus its unique, and I'm trying to have things on my Dart be unique, not the same old things you'd see at every cruise night.
 
sneke eyez,
Sooo glad your posting again. It's good to see another father /son project like ours out there. The car show you are at looks so much better in that grass feild stting than ours was in that dirty city parking lot. Too bad we couldn't have shown our car together. Please post more often and with pictures. How is the "Hammerlite" coating working? We plan to do that this spring to the floor and trunk as well this spring.
Like you, my son would love to drop a bigger motor in there. But for now, (while in H.S. and for insurance reasons) the 318 is plenty, besides, we have a spare and possibly a 318/904 trans combination coming after the first of the year.
 
Button said:
sneke eyez,
Sooo glad your posting again. It's good to see another father /son project like ours out there. The car show you are at looks so much better in that grass feild stting than ours was in that dirty city parking lot. Too bad we couldn't have shown our car together. Please post more often and with pictures. How is the "Hammerlite" coating working? We plan to do that this spring to the floor and trunk as well this spring.
Like you, my son would love to drop a bigger motor in there. But for now, (while in H.S. and for insurance reasons) the 318 is plenty, besides, we have a spare and possibly a 318/904 trans combination coming after the first of the year.
Click to expand...

Thats the real beauty of the 318,people give them away. You've got a virtually inexaustable core motor supply as well.
 
Button,

I'm glad I'm posting again as well.
I've been following your thread closely and have been disappointed I could not update this thread the same way.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have any actual updates done to the car for a while.
I'm in college full time and I live at school, so it doesnt offer me a lot of time to wrench on the Dart right now.
Still, what little free time I do have allows me to scour the internet and FABO for parts and information related to the car and the things I'd still like to do to it.

I've wanted that Grant GT wheel for the car since I first started looking at steering wheel replacement options when we bought it, and I just waited until I found a deal on one.
Now I'm doing the same thing in looking for wheels and tires for the car, taking my time and looking for several specific wheels that I like and that I dont see at every cruise night.
Considering that we really do need new tires before next season, I'm on a slightly more limited time schedule, but thats alright, I've got all winter to look.

There aren't a whole lot of other specific things I want to do to the car, other than paint it.
The rust hasn't been entirely controlled in the rear quarters yet, as the novice bondo work we did during the summer of 08 is starting to bubble out in some places.
I'm thinking right now that since we really don't have the money to have the new rear QPs that we bought hung on the car and have it professionally painted, we might redo the bondo to the best of our ability, do the prep work on the body ourselves, and then get it painted a good basic color by either one of my friends or have a Maaco $259 Ambassador paint job done.
I'm a huge LH (Intrepid, 300M, Concorde, LHS) enthusiast, and there were some pretty good looking factory colors offered on those cars, so I'm thinking of having it painted an LH color just for something different, and because the paint won't be terribly expensive, being a factory color and all.

The Hammerite rust cap paint has been working great to protect our floors.
We haven't had any more rust issues with the floor or the trunk, so I would definitely recommend it.

I'll continue to update the thread as time goes on and I have more ideas for the car, and once I find a set of wheels, I'll definitely be posting about those as well.
 
haha, wow, called out in my own sig thread! You certainly are right though, its been too long!

Well, I put the Grant wheel in, as well as put a remote mirror I had lying around on, but it came off of a 74 Valiant with the vent windows and therefore didn't work properly.
I left it on for now, after securing the remote mech to the inside of the door panel.
I also wrapped some pieces in the driver's door that were rattling with sticky backed felt to keep them from rattling. Small thing, but a BIG difference in driveability of the car.

Pics:
Old wheel:
IMG_4033.jpg


New wheel, complete with Mopar centercap:
IMG_4036.jpg


Old, cheapo mirror v. remote mirror comparo:
IMG_4039.jpg



As some of you may know, the passenger side rear window shattered at my workplace not too long ago, so I needed to replace it. I ended up cutting myself a piece of plexiglass and making one out of that for now, but I already got myself a nice used window and just need the time to replace the plexi one.

Other than that, its late and I'm tired, but I will say one thing, this summer I'm going to do all my own bodywork, roll paint this car using the moparts $50 paintjob, and hopefully emerge with a nice result. I dont know what color I want to do yet, that is still totally up in the air and will depend upon what I think will look good over my bodywork.
 
hey i am also getting a 1974 dodge dart swinger and it has the same rust problem on the floor board and i was wondering what kind of sealer you used
 
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