67 Dart Convertible Rescue

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Update....

My buddy and I thought it would be a good joint project so we went in together Unfortunately that has not paned out since I am still working and he is retired. He has lots of time but lots of other projects. And I don't have the time with the car being an hour away.


The car sat at my buddies place for a little over a year now.


My daughter got bit by the A body bug this year when she took my convert to Good Guys while I was recuperating from double knee replacement. I talked with my buddy and he sold me his interest in the dart.

now my daughter and I are going to bring it back to life as a father / daughter project.

it will be plumb crazy, with a black top and black interior. (note the purple bed frame hanging from the ceiling, purple is her favorite color)

I got it to my garage (the minivan got kicked out to the driveway!) and we started cleaning out all the decades of crap!

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the trunk was first.

2 tires, one looks like it was the original spare.

17 (yes I said 17) lbs of dirt!
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And a bunch of misc parts and pieces!

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it will need a quarter patch on the passanger side, the driver's side seems solid right now.

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Still need to vacuum it out (the black specs are not holes they are pieces of the trunk seal that popped all over the place as I pulled it off.)

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Started cleaning out the interior, looks to be about the same amount of dirt in there too.
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Fred Flintstone called... He wants his car back....

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Of all the parts that were removed from this car it amazes me the unubtainium parts that are present.

Like the the dist cover trim.

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The rear seat bottom is rusted to pieces. Hard to find so it might get repaired

The seat back faired better.

Interesting thing I found was 20 or so thin wires with an eyelet at each end. They seem to have come from the rear seat. (don't know if it is back or bottom?)

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The rear seat belts were there, on one the buckle was rusted to about 1/2 of its original part.

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One floor fastener spins , ( it was that way when I tried to turn it!)

The other 3 came out without much fuss.
 
Those eyelet wires help to titen up the springs under the seats.
 
I pulled a valve cover and the engine must be a 68 or later it has hydraulic lifters. So is it a 273??? 340???
 
Look at the seat from the underside, the wires attach the crinkled springs to provide tension.
 
69conv said:
What piece of gt trim are you missing?
Click to expand...
Driver's side fender top.

( I have lots of 67 GT parts that I have been collecting for my other car as spares so I might have 1 already but.... )

I'll be putting together a wanted ad with all the missing parts at a later date.
 
69conv said:
look at the side of the block for engine size
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I will once I get the boat anchor out of the car. Somewhere along the decades it has been sitting in the weather, it got a bath or 1000 and it is currently frozen up solid!
 
Last edited:
Maybe hit the worst spot with a wire brush and see how deep the rust goes. You might be surprised.
 
69conv said:
Maybe hit the worst spot with a wire brush and see how deep the rust goes. You might be surprised
Click to expand...
On the seat base...

The metat is not there!

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On the front floor boards I can put my foot through it on the pass side. And some large pinholes on the driver's side.


But thanks for the optimism!
 
Ouch!. I tried to blow up the pic and it pixelated. Replacement time.
 
I might have to get another rear
seat and splice in parts to the convert seat.

I'll get all the seat padding off today and see what's left

Bad part of spring metal is it seems to rust easier than other irons
 
Yeah, the vert parts are all different. I had a tough time with arm rests and panels.
 
69conv said:
Yeah, the vert parts are all different. I had a tough time with arm rests and panels
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The ABC motorsports out of az rear arm rest pads are a good replacement BUT the spring metal tabs are too brittle. I have snapped 2 just installing them.

I hear the side panels for darts are spot on, just wish they had the chrome strip installed.

I'm in the process of getting the panels out right now.

One has a hole the other is in pretty good shape
 
After I have been through a restoration or 2 it makes me appreciate any good looking old cars going down the road!
 
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