68 Dart Project.

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Go Mango said:
Congrats on a great project! It's awesome the grandson is helping. Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses.
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Thanks Mango! Having fun at it and doing my best to not miss anything along the way. The grandson hasn't been around that much as of late. Between school, living out of town and hockey season. And of course goofing around with his buddies, the days are full for him. In the summers though he's with me everytime we head to the track. He's my official pit manager. He's 11, at 13 there is a junior street class that he is focused on. He has said to me, papa, the Dart is going to be a street car, I'll race that! What the hell!

Pit Manager, age 8.
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Malex said:
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Thanks Mango! Having fun at it and doing my best to not miss anything along the way. The grandson hasn't been around that much as of late. Between school, living out of town and hockey season. And of course goofing around with his buddies, the days are full for him. In the summers though he's with me everytime we head to the track. He's my official pit manager. He's 11, at 13 there is a junior street class that he is focused on. He has said to me, papa, the Dart is going to be a street car, I'll race that! What the hell!

Pit Manager, age 8.
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Encourage him all you can, and cherish the times you have together! Looking forward to seeing more posts from you.
 
Got some more time in on the Dart yesterday. Removed all the windhow trim clips that I've been avoiding..

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The rear window was the worst, the clip removal was the easy part, all that bloody old urethane was terrible to get off - of me included.
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Found some corrosion hiding on the inside of the pillar. Was easy to cut out and weld/shape a new metal piece in, finished off with a little fiberglass filler. The only bad spot on the window ledges.
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The bottom of the door post had some corrosion as well. Replaced the area with new 18 gauge, finished off, will be good as new. The rockers are great on this old Dart.
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Next up is to close up the heater fan hole on the firewall but that has to wait, gone for a couple of days. Roll bar will be next week.
 
Summit’s price was good as what’s out there and 51 bucks off of that so the Dart has Christmas presents coming..

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Back to work on the Dart again today. Welded in boxes for the main hoop of the roll bar.

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Made sure that there was adequate room for the rear seat. It will be close for the window crank to clear the main hoop bar, may have to pop off the knob or get a shorter crank. Upholstery on the rear seat is 100%. Still has the build sheet stuck under the springs too.
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Getting close to dragging out the JD2 tube bender!
 
mopowers said:
Nice work. What's the hole for?
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Thanks Mopowers. I'm using the hole to locate the main hoop at the base, will insert and weld. Allows a little bit of height adjustment too.

I did the bar on the Plymouth the same way, worked out well, easy to weld close to the pillar. Just the way I do it.

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Spent some time on the main hoop today.

Got the bender set up and making my first bend. I secure the bender to the floor drain grate. With in-floor heat, I'm able to avoid having to drill into the floor this way.
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Main hoop matches my template. The bottoms were intentionally made a little long, trimmed later, as they insert into the boxed sections in the car.
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Main hoop in place, rear winder crank barely clears, allowing rear side windows to remain functional.
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Main hoop in place, headliner will be snug against.
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Rear bars are next up, then to weld things in place. Looks like for a 6 point bar a fella needs about 40' of tubing.
 
abdywgn said:
does the bottom of the bar go thru the floor to a plate welded under the car?
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No it doesn't. The plate is welded at the frame connector, rear floor section and inner rocker, which the tube runs through and is welded to. A torque box on the inside.
 
Made the rear bars today. 36 degree bend put them through the speaker holes nicely, no problem fitting the rear seat.
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A couple of 6" flat plates and things can start getting welded up.
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A picture off of the net, liking the door bar location. Very manageable, simple, no swingout needed, will likely go with this.
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Did a little wheel opening planning at the end of the day. Threw a wheel into place and blacked out the area that will be removed. A long ways to go, getting this right and templates made before cutting the old quarter off.
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Malex said:
Made the rear bars today. 36 degree bend put them through the speaker holes nicely, no problem fitting the rear seat.
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A couple of 6" flat plates and things can start getting welded up.
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A picture off of the net, liking the door bar location. Very manageable, simple, no swingout needed, will likely go with this.
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Did a little wheel opening planning at the end of the day. Threw a wheel into place and blacked out the area that will be removed. A long ways to go, getting this right and templates made before cutting the old quarter off.
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I did my front door bars the same way, still made the drivers side removeable tho. "sure helps working under the dash at 72 yrs of age---
Question: why run a back seat , if u can`t get in it because of the crossbar ? Has to have a crossbar to be legal-----
 
famous bob said:
I did my front door bars the same way, still made the drivers side removeable tho. "sure helps working under the dash at 72 yrs of age---
Question: why run a back seat , if u can`t get in it because of the crossbar ? Has to have a crossbar to be legal-----
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No swing out on this Dart and it'll have a back seat with seat belts.

Got the roll bar finished up today. Side bars have a 10 degree kick out at the top to maximize bucket seat space. Bars will also clear the arm rests. Rear window cranks clear the main hoop as well. Any big under dash work will start with a bucket seat removal.
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Rear trunk area just needs epoxy primer now and some fine finishing. A battery box bracket still needs to be built, master kill switch and fuel pump relay/electrical panel located
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Will move to the firewall next, got some heater motor / hose holes to eliminate.
 
Making more progress on the Dart. Here's the latest.

The Dart is now a heater delete car.
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The rear shape and cut has been made on the old quarter. The damage on the quarter throws the view off a little. This is a 28.5 X 10.5 on a 10" rim propped up. Wheel opening is flush with the front of the tub.
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Temp plates are made, ready to mark out the new quarter panels.
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Template in place. These are flexible plastic advertising signs off of a city bus. Easy to cut and keep in place. It's about time to start cutting off the left side quarter, another big mess coming.
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Malex said:
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Thanks Mopowers. I'm using the hole to locate the main hoop at the base, will insert and weld. Allows a little bit of height adjustment too.

I did the bar on the Plymouth the same way, worked out well, easy to weld close to the pillar. Just the way I do it.

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those boxes are nice and strong looking, and very well done , nice work, but it would be stronger in a roll over if the uprights on the main hoop were sitting on something solid, instead of just the welds to keep it from collapsing. I bet it wouldn`t pass a full nhra tech "if" they could see inside it .
 
famous bob said:
those boxes are nice and strong looking, and very well done , nice work, but it would be stronger in a roll over if the uprights on the main hoop were sitting on something solid, instead of just the welds to keep it from collapsing. I bet it wouldn`t pass a full nhra tech "if" they could see inside it .
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Hi Bob. I'm not building a full-out race car Bob, that's why it's going to have a rear seat! But, a 6X6X.125 flat plate welded or bolted to a 18 gauge floor board passes tech. Thinking about it though, myself nor tech would be too worried about this bracket collapsing through an 18 gauge floorboard. The door bars, rear bars triangulate together to keep that from happening.
Time to go play!
 
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Great work , Malex . I , too , have a 6point roll bar, in chrome-moly, with swing out door bars . I kept the rear seat only because to give it a finished look . I can't roll down my rear windows either , bummer ! Suggestion : the rear seat is a bear to install . Have someone split the rear seat at the hump , finish it off and the rear seat will fall in place .
 
383Scampman said:
Great work , Malex . I , too , have a 6point roll bar, in chrome-moly, with swing out door bars . I kept the rear seat only because to give it a finished look . I can't roll down my rear windows either , bummer ! Suggestion : the rear seat is a bear to install . Have someone split the rear seat at the hump , finish it off and the rear seat will fall in place .
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Scampman thanks so much for the heads up on fitting the rear seat! Will give it a trial run here right away to make sure. That is what is great about a forum like this, help along the way from others that have been there / done that. I believe that the backrest needs some frame alteration because of the mini tubbing??
When I was building the main hoop I had the rear window cranks on, the hoop ended up being about 1-3/4" inward from each side panel. The cranks just scrape by on each side, allowing the rear window operation. I kicked my door bars out 10 degrees at the top to keep them closer to the door panels, the bend at the top is noticeable and looks pretty good too.
On my 64 the rear seat is also a bugger to get in place too but it does go. I've only had to take it out once thank goodness!
Been finishing up the trunk planning, just have to figure out a spot for a plate that the fuel pump relay and a couple other electrical items will attach too. The kill switch will be push/pull and sneak out between the tail light/deck lid area just over the bumper. I hope there is room.
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Thanks for the compliment too! This is a one-stop back yard build, including paint. For a little humor I have one car show sign that fits all my cars.

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Got more done on the Dart today. It's been 7 weeks now since I started on this project. After Scampman's pointer about checking the rear seat for going into place I got right on that. It actually went in pretty good, with the rear side windows down. The mini tubs do interfere with the rear seat back and holds it ahead a little.

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The seat backrest frame needs some mods. Need to cut and move over the curved section. What I cut out I'll reinstall on the other side, will be good after that. The lower cushion still has the build sheet jammed in, some of it will match the car when I'm done.
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Started on the left side quarter panel today too. AMD has quarters headed my way so might as well get going on that. Before the new quarter goes on the fender and door will be installed. Will get the car blocked in place before the new quarter goes on too.
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You are welcome . Glad to help . That rear seat looks good . Remember to remove the arm rests before you remove or install the rear seat bottom . I'm staying tuned to this build and I love the "My Car". lol !
 
I stole this and it is going on the dash of my Dart at every car show/cruise in that I go to next summer!

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