69 Dart

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L

lhearold

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Location
Lecanto, Florida
Well, been working on this thing now for the last 4 years or so. Did a lot of mockup work on the transmission crossmember and steering column before I even started doing any work in the car. Last August I finally got around to gettin it media blasted and the body work started. Its now in paint, a metallic bright white with the interior and under-hood in Chili pepper read. Slow going since I only have time to work on it for a few hours a week. Ya'll know how it is, got to put food on the table before playing with the toys.... These pics are the latest Feb-Mar 08). Will post the older ones next.

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This is what it looked like when I got it in 2002. Doesn't look too bad. Sun-burnt up interion from the heat in Palm Springs. Not much rust. Was a /6 auto car. what the pics don't show though is that the whole fron end was off to the left about 2 inches at the top (frame rails straight) where the PO smacked something. Also doesn't show the lousy body work or 2-3 gallons of bondo that I removed!!

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Here is the car getting getting stripped and all the extra holes welded up and the floor modified to tha A518 tranny. Looks like a real hulk don't it!!! The things that you can use a garden tractor for are endless HAHA......

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Naturally the days that the media blast guy could show up were the hottest of the summer so the poor SOB almost died of heat stroke. Sucker drank up most of my beer in an attempt to recuperate!!! Notice the finished product of the floor mod. Will look better once its seam sealed and painted.

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Blasting done!!! Now installing the roll cage and trunk mods for the fuel cell. One shot gets me at my best angle..... Then the hard work begins. Used Zero rust on the whole car, then epoxy primer, then did almost 2 months worth of body work. The PO was a kid that got the car from his grandfather and I think he tried to make sure that there was a large dent in every panel!!! But, finally done and started putting paint on it. Put on 2 coats of bright white basecoat then put about 1/2 ounce of metallic in the first coat of clear. Has 4 coats of clear over it. Actually came out better than I expected. Seems to pick up the color of whatever is close to it. This was in December 1007..... Since that time its been slow going since job and short funds have put a hold on the project. Installing a lot of the little stuff under it like brake and fuel lines while its on the rotissarie since its easier..

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The engine is a magnum based 408 CI stroker. Eagle forged drank and rods, Keith Black pistons, Comp Cams roller cam ( almost the same as the MOPAR crate engines profile). I'm using EFI from a place in Massachusetts close by called Mass-Flo EFI. I've seen his stuff and it works well without a lot of tuning. We'll see! Tranny is an A-518 thats been rebuilt and beefed up to (hopefully) handle the 475 HP that the engine is supposed to put out. I've customed designed a controller for the tranny since no one had one and during the mockup runs I didn't care for the vacuum operated setup because I didn't have enough control over when the TC lockup and OD shift took place. THis will read info from the TPS and VSS and control both up and down shifts per input that I make into the eprom in the module. If anyone is interested let me know. I plan on making some of these units since nothing is available at present.

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wow looken good! keep up the good work and keep the great pics commen
 
If, when you say "going to work everyday holds up the project", and you're not doing that kind of work for a living, you've missed your calling. That is absolutely wonderful work you're doing there. Very professional, neat, straight, clean work. The quarter panels look fantastic, and I know how difficult getting them that straight can be.
Please keep the pictures coming, and keep up the awesome work. You sir, can use pictures of this work on your resume when applying for work at a restoration shop.
I wish you lived closer to Connecticut, I would love to stop by and see that car in person.
Congratulations to you!

George
 
Here are some older pics of the mockup of the steering column. I used a 89 Jeep Cherokee tilt unit. Its basically a GM column but it does have MOPAR markings on it for the sake of keeping the car "pure MOPAR". THe U-Joint and 1" double-D shaft are from Flaming River. Most MOPAR steering boxes have a 5/8" shaft but the spline pitch is different than the standard 5/8" so MAKE SURE and get the U-joint for the MOPAR. Its called a 5/8C X 1" DD. THe spacing of the mount ears under the dash is real close. Since my car is being totally re-done I chose to drill out the holes in the mount flange under the dash and use 3/8" bolts but if you are just putting in the column, then a couple of 5/16 nuts with the threads drilled out will keep it centered perfectly. The bottom of the column had a mount flange that needed to be removed. Be careful since its easy to cut thru both the flange and the column. Its also a smaller diameter than the stock column so the plate that goes around the stock column is too large. A piece of 3/8" fuel hose works great to close the gap and keep dust, dirt, and fumes from coming up around the bottom of the column. Wiring is a job but pretty straight forward. Again since my car was being completely redone and I'm using an after-market harness it wasn't a problem but if you are staying with the stock harness then you will need to do some splice work. Its easier if you can get an old turn signal switch and cut off the plug with about 6 inches of the wire. Splice this into the new column and then just plug into your existing harness. If you want to use the column mounted dimmer then its better to put relays under the hood for the headlights and just use the dimmer to trip the relays. I'm still playing with the wiper switch setup. Getting them to work is not the problem, can even get the delay feature in the column to work. Parking is the problem since the GM style switch doesn't seem to provide a hot side in the off position to park the wiper motor. Been talking to some electronics guysd though and might be able to get it to work.

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Thanks George. I used to do this for a living. My first career was the U.S. Army for 20 years then I retired and ran 2 restoration shops in Central Texas. One in Austin, The Auto-Bahn, that just did European, and Central Texas Customs in Killeen. This was back in the late 80s. An untimely divorce gave all my assets to my ex-wife who ran them into the ground in less than a year. Meanwhile I picked up my third career with GTE government Systems Division. Put in about 8 years withthem and then went out on my own. I'm now "semi-retired" and running a computer consulting firm in Massachusetts. Have always been a MOPAR man though....
 
Well sir, your work shows your experience.
Thank You for your service as well.

George
 
Well its been a while but its coming together, AT LAST!!! Should be going to the muffler shop Monday then to the alignment shop later in the week, weather permitting since its the beginning of December in Massachusetts! Would have been done a couple of weeks ago but there were a few gliches that we didn't anticipate, like no reverse because MP A518 shift kit instructions has an extra ball in the reverse passage, and the air cleaner issue that is in the process of being resolved with a custom piece that will offset the cleaner forward about an inch to clear the hood support. Hopefully I can get the carpeting and door panels done during the winter and be ready for the spring!!

Larry

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Awesome car, very nice work, Not trying to step on anybodys toes here but I have to say I'm not a big fan of the engine bay color though. Other than that I love the car!!
 
charger70 said:
Looking good!!
some of that looks awfully familiar too :thumblef:
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Looks good. I think what keeps a lot of people from doing the A518 conversion is the amount of work that needs to be done on the tunnel for it to fit. That and a lot want the originality. But since mine was beyond the stage of a restoration, and not rare on any front, it was a prime candidate for the mod. May I ask, what A/C compressor are you using? The one I have must be an oddball and no one carries a replacement for it for under 500 dollars. So, needless to say, my A/C is on hold for a while!

Larry
 
moparsegura said:
Awesome car, very nice work, Not trying to step on anybodys toes here but I have to say I'm not a big fan of the engine bay color though. Other than that I love the car!!
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I once had a Valiant with a white engine bay and if someone 2 towns over got grease on their hands it seemed to wind up showing on my white engine bay! the Chili-pepper red was actually my second choice. I was leaning toward black but when I started looking around, everyone has a black engine bay. So, red it was, to match the interior.

Larry
 
lhearold said:
Looks good. I think what keeps a lot of people from doing the A518 conversion is the amount of work that needs to be done on the tunnel for it to fit. That and a lot want the originality. But since mine was beyond the stage of a restoration, and not rare on any front, it was a prime candidate for the mod. May I ask, what A/C compressor are you using? The one I have must be an oddball and no one carries a replacement for it for under 500 dollars. So, needless to say, my A/C is on hold for a while!

Larry
Click to expand...

Hi Larry
Its a 95 and newer type, and uses a different mounting bracket. (I think the 4 bolts are closer together on yours) I think they use the same pullys though.
I have a junk 5.2 from a 93 van that has a pump that looks like yours.

I went down to a local "pull-a-part" and took the compresser off a sealed system for 60.00.

I did a NAPA search and it seems from 93 to 95 they were different depending on 5.2 or 5.9 and truck or van .
Mine is 215.00 rebuilt thru NAPA.

Was alotta work, but it was worth it to me.
 
Nice!!!!!!!!!! That is going to be righteous!

Great car! You didn't mention the front suspension. I saw the disk brakes but you didn't mention the rest. Anything special? Just curious.
I love your choice of white. Most people would avoid it but it looks GREAT! I really love the color under the hood. That is a lively color.
 
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