69 under construction / 440

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While I'm waiting on the back seat to be finished and for Al ( best Mopar engine guy ever ) to make it over to fire up this 440 I thought I would figure why this fuel gauge isn't working now that its full of fuel . After a bunch of continuity tests decided to pull the cluster out and run some diagnostic tests with the help of my son Adam. Also with the help of the valuable advice from Dana67 , thx btw. Hopefully we have it figured out and it seems to be some loose connections on the studs where it attachs to circuit board so I'll put it back together and see what happens. That cluster is a sob to get out when its in the car , air was blue with 4 lettered words lol.
 
As of the last week of June the 440 Dart came to life , runs great . 3" exhaust all the way to the back sounds great . No real issues other than she's running on the warm side so started with a couple of soft countermeasures ie: took electric fan setup off the engine side , mounted a mech fan , put two 10" pushers to the front. Worked slightly better but not what I'm looking for. Did some research and with the advice of a few fabo members I have a new plan.

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Trying a different setup to improve cfm flow and heat transfer efficiencies. Pulled the champion rad ( 3 x 3/4" cooling tube rows) and replacing with coldcase BB rad ( 2 x 1 1/4" rows) , adding a modified factory type shroud with the mech fan , putting 16" spal pusher on the front of the rad , had a local hvac dude I know fab me a scoop to pull more air into the rad ( don't have a metal break and wanted it look decent)due to the bumper blocking 1/3 of the air flow , going to attach airvac kit to the rad when refilling to ensure 100% of the air is out .

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1969dodgedart said:
Trying a different setup to improve cfm flow and heat transfer efficiencies. Pulled the champion rad ( 3 x 3/4" cooling tube rows) and replacing with coldcase BB rad ( 2 x 1 1/4" rows) , adding a modified factory type shroud with the mech fan , putting 16" spal pusher on the front of the rad , had a local hvac dude I know fab me a scoop to pull more air into the rad ( don't have a metal break and wanted it look decent)due to the bumper blocking 1/3 of the air flow , going to attach airvac kit to the rad when refilling to ensure 100% of the air is out .

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seal the area between the rad. and front , like all the new cars , forcing the air into the rad. , instead of having a path over it into the engine bay .
Helped mine ...
 
famous bob said:
seal the area between the rad. and front , like all the new cars , forcing the air into the rad. , instead of having a path over it into the engine bay .
Helped mine ...
Click to expand...
Yup , working on it. That's why I added the scoop on the bottom of the bumper cuz if you look at newer cars they have allowed for air flow above and below the bumper beam.
 
1969dodgedart said:
Slowly moving forward, I should have bought new amd quarters instead I bought some aftermarket ones from a local parts swap and man they were a mess as far as damage, not a great fit and I had to use way too much filler to get them decent.

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Metal work and finished product looks good. That AMD metal is definitely some good stuff. I found it fits better than anything else when I did my build. I replaced the lower quarters on my Demon along with the trunk extensions with AMD and it fit pretty good.
 
Finally my rear seat was finished today , this is the second time ( different upholster)it was done. First time was a mess and this time I'm about 75% happy ( missing 440 logo I wanted in the center of the back seat ). After a year of waiting between the two upholster's just glad to get installed. Between this rear seat issue and the dude that did the final sand and paint it's been brutal. I'm sure there's lots of us have had similar issues, hard to find honest quality people today.

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That sucks about the logo, altho seats look great! Dad had his 58 Apache seats done, and the upholsterer added a nice touch. Local guy too about by Valentia.
1969dodgedart said:
Finally my rear seat was finished today , this is the second time ( different upholster)it was done. First time was a mess and this time I'm about 75% happy ( missing 440 logo I wanted in the center of the back seat ). After a year of waiting between the two upholster's just glad to get installed. Between this rear seat issue and the dude that did the final sand and paint it's been brutal. I'm sure there's lots of us have had similar issues, hard to find honest quality people today.

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When I reassembled the Dart I bought a new E brake handle due the old one being fairly rough. A couple weeks back I was setting up the e brakes and when I pulled on the handle it broke at the set pin . So I asked my son Nic to machine a new one out of aluminum. Turned out awesome. Top handle in lower picture.

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Dealing with a huge set back right now with the paint on the Dart. To sum up what has transpired since I got the Dart back : spent a year and a bit trying to find the right person originally to do the final block sand / paint ( approximately 80-100 hrs of time to finish including spraying/ masking imo ) , sent the car to this master restorer apparently with an agreement on price and expectations, 2 wks in the price changed ( went up about 10% ) , a couple days before pu the price more than doubled ( even though I've been out of bodywork trade for 25 years + should have finished myself but doubted my fading eyesight and skill) with a threat of no money no car returned, so after a discussion I pd the amount with a promise the car was awesome, loading the car on the tilt n load we noticed a couple issues right off but seemed to be minor, once home noticed cc was still soft ( easier to cut/ buff for the polisher) . Started putting the car back together and noticed a host of other issue's: cowl fins only had paint on one side , bottom flat part of the rockers where I had put gravel guard on had no paint , plus a host of other issue's. Tried contacting said zero but only got crickets in return. Presently found an awesome guy to fix all the issue's, it was agreed that it was just easier to reshoot the whole car. This past week when Joe went to throw down a coat of white underneath the orange we had another setback. Found out the cc was thin in numerous areas and was having a reaction with the orange underneath further more when Joe started sanding white base it actually sanded orange . Now we are rewater block sanding the whole car with 400 , then Joe will shoot with a good 2k primer / sealer and resand. So by Wednesday this week should have colour/ cc on.

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I hate that for you. Just a risk with everything these days, but way too frequent on old car work. Good luck on this run turning out well.
 
Damn! Sorry to read. Remarkable the lack of integrity shown...its a beautiful car and someone with great skills would/should be proud to put there touches on it.
 
Master restorer is a guy named Cory Harrison from Woodville ( with a partner just purchased Thompson & Hartle Autobody of Fenelon Falls). Hopefully he doesn't trash Thompson and Hartle's good reputation. ( I apprenticed there for 3 yrs out of high school).
 
Thats too bad for you! I feel with you!
Its hard to find good people these days. Here in Germany as well!
But i hope all turns out well!
 
Got the Dart back today , round 2. I'm absolutely blown away how good of job Joe did ( wish I had of found him in the first round). Few small things to tidy up then certification for the road . The expensive part starts after that ..... putting fuel in it !

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