65 Dart Wagon Conversion to a Sedan Delivery

[65 Dartman]

My buddy brought over the front half of a 66/67 Charger console since I’ve voiced concerns about probably needing to construct a console. So time to test fit seats and console. I lose the buddy seat but still keep an armrest plus storage below it. There’s space under the front to install the modules for the power door locks. The radio will have to go in the dash where they’re originally located. I am leaning towards a Winters 257-1 floor shifter. Thoughts on using this B Body console; my buddy said it still keeps it all Mopar lol!

 

[75slant6]

I think it’ll look good!

 

[GGs66GT]

A & B body consoles from '66 up I think are the same size and the B's are a bit fancier .
In '66 the A body bucket seats got narrower to accept the B body console .

Yep it looks good in there

 

[65 Dartman]

I didn’t really notice it when fitting the seats, but now I notice that the back of both seats are different heights. The passenger seat is from a 66 Dart with stock brackets that bolt to the seat and floor. The driver’s seat is bolted to a power rack from a 68 C Body wagon. Would you do what’s needed to raise the rear of the passenger seat to match the level of the driver’s seat?

 

[65dartcharger]

I didn’t really notice it when fitting the seats, but now I notice that the back of both seats are different heights. The passenger seat is from a 66 Dart with stock brackets that bolt to the seat and floor. The driver’s seat is bolted to a power rack from a 68 C Body wagon. Would you do what’s needed to raise the rear of the passenger seat to match the level of the driver’s seat?

If it was possible yes! Is is possible to re-arrange the seat brackets so you will get a correct height of the seats or do you need to make changes in the floor?

 

[65 Dartman]

If it was possible yes! Is is possible to re-arrange the seat brackets so you will get a correct height of the seats or do you need to make changes in the floor?

Nothing has changed on the floor where the seat brackets mount. I might have the rear seat adjuster too low, which I will check. Otherwise a couple of spacers to raise the back up will do the trick

 

[65dartcharger]

Nothing has changed on the floor where the seat brackets mount. I might have the rear seat adjuster too low, which I will check. Otherwise a couple of spacers to raise the back up will do the trick

I know Johan added some large thick washers and it worked fine.

 

[65 Dartman]

A & B body consoles from '66 up I think are the same size and the B's are a bit fancier .
In '66 the A body bucket seats got narrower to accept the B body console .

Yep it looks good in there

Thanks! I thought the A Bodies used the coffin consoles starting in 66. I know the 66/67 A Body seats are definitely not as wide as the 65-earlier seats in comparing my 66 seats with the set of 65 seats I have

 

[65 Dartman]

tell us about the round emblem! I guess I missed that.

Here’s the story behind that round emblem - in 2004 I won the wagon on eBay. After winning it, I was corresponding with the lady owner concerning the wagon, title, etc and she tried to give me all the info she knew about it - 6 cylinder, automatic, no radio, front seat pretty well torn up on the driver’s side - would need some cushions or something since I told her we were planning on driving it across country. She said the previous owner had brought it back to LA from Mexico and sold it to her. The VIN indicated is was built in LA so who knows how, when or why it ended up in Mexico before her. Anyway a new job canceled the plans to attempt a cross country drive. I contracted with a transport company to haul it back from LA to here in VA.

Fast forward a month or so later when it arrived. I did drive it from where we met the transporter back to the house - maybe 4 or 5 miles. Like a new kid with a toy, I went though it looking for the broadcast sheet and anything of importance. In the glove compartment I found the CA registration, other paperwork AND this dirty emblem:

An online translator said the writing decoded to High (ALTO) Performance (RENDIMIENTO) with I’m sure the 225 representing the 225 slant 6. I have no idea who made the emblem or why. I put the emblem away as the plan was to V8 the wagon. Later I thought why not do a hot slant and use this emblem. So I started scouring eBay for another one. i did find another one which was already painted. The seller was from Mexico which made sense since the one I had was Mexican. He offered me another one which was also already painted.

Fast forward to 2015 or so - youngest son begged me go with a V8 and not a slant (he’s probably gonna end up with the wagon; oldest son wants the 47!

Now fast forward to 2020 when the body conversion from wagon to panel wagon
Is complete. I find these emblems in a box in storage and wondered how I could change the 225 to 273 as that’s the motor it’s getting. I thought these emblems would definitely be something different. I sounded out my mentor and friend @65dartcharger who said if I could do it, go for it. Looking around on good old eBay, I found a guy selling all sorts of numbers (273, 218, 340, etc) to use wherever one wanted.

So I carefully milled off the 225’s, test fitting the 273 numbers before finally deciding on the more diagonal placement of the left emblem.

And here was the final result after affixing the emblems and a coat of gloss black in the middle

Ulf sent me the measurements from his DartCharger where the DartCharger emblems are placed which is where my ALTO RENDIMIENTO 273 emblems are located.

Since the wagon is now a 1 of none so right or wrong, I can take what ever liberties I want with it. Since I like them, guess that’s what matters.

 

[Hyper_pak]

Super cool story! 1 of 1! Thanks for the back story.

 

[65dartcharger]

I showed it for a friend of mine and he asked me right away; - Have you found another factory Dart Charger? They look great and your car is more and more turning into an international Mopar masterpiece!

 

[RustyRatRod]

Purdy cool man. Comin right along.

 

[ragtopfury]

Nothing has changed on the floor where the seat brackets mount. I might have the rear seat adjuster too low, which I will check. Otherwise a couple of spacers to raise the back up will do the trick

I don't know if it spacer the passenger seat height to match, Don. If your power rack is the 6 way rack, that is. It is designed to have height adjustment to fit the driver. Unless every future driver likes the seat at the same height, they will never always be the same. I had a matched set of split bench, power driver seat from a 74 Newport and they were never the same.

On the other hand, it will be the next owner's issue to make the height match for him/her. Lol

 

[65 Dartman]

If your power rack is the 6 way rack, that is. It is designed to have height adjustment to fit the driver. Unless every future driver likes the seat at the same height, they will never always be the same.

On the other hand, it will be the next owner's issue to make the height match for him/her. Lol

The power rack switch looks to be just 1 knob for back and forth and the other one for up/down. I will confirm that hopefully tomorrow. If it has a tilt feature, all the more better Once the next owner takes ownership, I will care less of course.

 

[65 Dartman]

Just a minor update - I kept thinking something didn’t look exactly “right” on the inside. There is an “access panel” that accesses absolutely nothing on either side. The white paint gives some definition against the interior blue paint.

EDIT: That’s my helper (the wife) touching the terminals of the rear courtesy light wiring to a battery so I could make sure they work.

I felt the white ought to extend to the door. So fabricated left and right side extensions the other day and etch primed and painted them white yesterday and installed them today. I think it “finishes”the inside walls.

 

[65 Dartman]

Next on the “to do list” is find a home for my modular fuse and relay panel I sourced from the UK

 

[65 Dartman]

I had bought the B & M Z Gate shifter when it was on sale for $97 plus tax at Advance Auto a couple of months ago. After buying it I got to really looking at it and decided it didn’t come close to even looking similar to a stock or even period correct shifter.

So back to the drawing board and I finally narrowed it down to the Winters Sidewinder and Hurst Promatic, finally settling on the Promatic. It arrived a couple of days ago so now it’s time to get started on fitting it to the car in conjunction with fitting it to the B Body console

First To do this, mounting brackets need to be fabricated to secure the console at the rear and in the middle. After making the brackets, got each set installed and welded to the tunnel and secured the console to them.

EDIT: I will eventually make a cover plate to finish the rear of the console where these brackets are.

The shifter body looks like it needs a flat surface to secure it. So I fabricated a flat panel that is secured at the front by screwing it to the tunnel at the front and tying it in to the center console support bracket in the middle. Besides the shifter it will be a good olace to install the powrr door lock modules.

The shifter sits very well on the flat surface, although it it might be just a bit taller than I’d like. I’ll have to think about this.

with the little console parts it comes with

to use the B Body’s top plate is going to require some modifications (like cutting a large hole in it).

 

[65dartcharger]

I had bought the B & M Z Gate shifter when it was on sale for $97 plus tax at Advance Auto a couple of months ago. After buying it I got to really looking at it and decided it didn’t come close to even looking similar to a stock or even period correct shifter.
View attachment 1715684681

So back to the drawing board and I finally narrowed it down to the Winters Sidewinder and Hurst Promatic, finally settling on the Promatic. It arrived a couple of days ago so now it’s time to get started on fitting it to the car in conjunction with fitting it to the B Body console
View attachment 1715684427
First To do this, mounting brackets need to be fabricated to secure the console at the rear and in the middle. After making the brackets, got each set installed and welded to the tunnel and secured the console to them.

View attachment 1715684683

The shifter body looks like it needs a flat surface to secure it. So I fabricated a flat panel that is secured at the front by screwing it to the tunnel at the front and tying it in to the center console support bracket in the middle. Besides the shifter it will be a good olace to install the powrr door lock modules.

View attachment 1715684689

The shifter sits very well on the flat surface, although it it might be just a bit taller than I’d like. I’ll have to think about this.

View attachment 1715684684

with the little console parts it comes withView attachment 1715684685

to use the B Body’s top plate is going to require some modifications (like cutting a large hole in it).

Looks great. Are you gonna use the side lamps in the consol? You could connect them to the door switch?

 

[moparmat2000]

B body consoles were always cool. I always loved the floor lighting they had in them.

 

[moparmat2000]

As far as the seats go, I would recommend not mixing those years. A 66-67 seat frame is different from 68-69. Your better off finding a second frame from whichever year to match the one you decide to use.

 

[65 Dartman]

Looks great. Are you gonna use the side lamps in the consol? You could connect them to the door switch?

Yes, , I most likely will use them

B body consoles were always cool. I always loved the floor lighting they had in them.

My longgone 69 Charger had them, lit up the floor pretty good.

As far as the seats go, I would recommend not mixing those years. A 66-67 seat frame is different from 68-69. Your better off finding a second frame from whichever year to match the one you decide to use.

Both seats are from a 66 A body. The driver’s seat bottom will be installed to a power rack from a 68 Chrysler wagon.

 

[65 Dartman]

Continued working on the console, i need to do something about the circled area in the picture. This would normally have a side piano hinge cover that matches the front cover.

By using this console I lost the buddy seat with the folddown armrest. So I thought about it for several days and decided I would try and use the folddown section of the seat. It was too long to fit so after stripping it down, i ended up modifying the internals by shortening everything by about 4 inches. I added a piece of metal that fits the front and side ledges to the bottom of the now shortened armrest. Last thing to do and find is a suitable size hinge and install it at the rear to lift the armrest from the front to access the storage area under the armrest.

 

[65 Dartman]

Ulf @65dartcharger and I were discussing where to install my engine compartment headlight relay/fuse panel. The maxi fuses are from the alternator to 12 power, power to the 2 relays, and 2 power wires to the ignition switch and 1 power wire to the headlight switch (all based upon my modified J Body dash harness). We were thinking under the battery tray if it would fit.

First - the panel and it’s box attached to the underside of the tray. Fuse cover facing down - Impossible to check on fuses if needed

Second - fuse cover facing out, which is much better. Won’t know if there’s any interference until the engine and power steering box/pump gets installed.

Looking down it does stick out a bit past the tray, but the fuses/relays are easily accessible

What do you think?

 

[65dartcharger]

Ulf @65dartcharger and I were discussing where to install my engine compartment headlight relay/fuse panel. The maxi fuses are from the alternator to 12 power, power to the 2 relays, and 2 power wires to the ignition switch and 1 power wire to the headlight switch (all based upon my modified J Body dash harness). We were thinking under the battery tray if it would fit.

First - the panel and it’s box attached to the underside of the tray. Fuse cover facing down - Impossible to check on fuses if needed
View attachment 1715687890

Second - fuse cover facing out, which is much better. Won’t know if there’s any interference until the engine and power steering box/pump gets installed.


View attachment 1715687889

Looking down it foes stick out a bit past the tray
View attachment 1715687892

What do you think?

I think that the placed is covered and you get a cleaner engine compartment. But when I see the pictures I think there wouldn't be a problem för the power steering pump but what about the radiator? I can get a picture from one of my cars so you can compare the space.

 

[65 Dartman]

Since the battery tray and radiator never interfered with each other, I doubt there’ll be a problem with any interference with the relay center