gregpurcell
Greg Purcell
A Christmas Sled Story
Back in August a good friend of mine buys this 74 Dart Sport daily driver "project" from a guy in Jacksonville. It really was a legit car, running and tagged and insured. EXCEPT that the seller was keeping the engine, trans, rear, tires & wheels and (oh yeah) the front seat!
Well my buddy, who already has three solid projects in the works, sees this as a quick "weekend job" to plug in a built 318 that he has laying around the shop and create a "beater/cruiser" and, although I should have tried, I didn't talk him out of it! My Bad!
Less than a week after he gets back from Jax with the car, he calls to tell me that disaster has stricken! Apparently he found a pristine "unadvertised" 67 Charger locally (one of his bucket list vehicles) and he needs for the Dart to go away quickly.
Because I do parts, I don't want a whole car. He paid too much, so it wouldn't be profitable as a parts car and it really seemed too nice to strip out.
But, in his zeal to move me on it, he opened his shop and started piling in extra parts with the car until it became impossible for me to refuse (and because he looked so pathetic begging me to take it)
Fortunately I had a 75 Dart parts car with a lot of the items needed and I had a low mileage 74 360 RV mill that's been laying around in the way for a couple of years. To make a long story short: I caught the "put it back together as a daily driver" bug!
Since September I have been cleaning and painting parts and putting them on the Dart. The engine was what we used to call a "redneck rebuild". You take a (hopefully) good engine, strip off the valve covers, oil pan, timing cover, and all the bolt ons, then head for the car wash!
If you are good, and you take the time to sandblast and paint all the externals, install a new timing gear set for good measure, put the degreased long block back together with new gaskets and paint it, you can achieve a "rebuilt" engine look!
I spent several weeks detailing the engine, clear coating the new bolt ons like the fuel pump and repainting alternators, steering pumps, brackets and pulleys and the like.
As fate would have it, the engine swap was minor labor compared to the interior! The car was a gold exterior/cream interior with a mixmatch of dyed and painted parts (not to mention an ugly blue ripped up blue bench front seat). Much of that had to be repainted/dyed, cleaned up, replaced and generally re-engineered at a cost of time beyond my wildest imagination. The gauges were cracked. I replaced them with a cleaned up set. The dash pad was exploded. I had one with just a minor crack, and I reused the carpet cover theprevious owner had on the bad one.
My original game plan was to get the car running and drivable by October, license it and have everything fixed and ready for some Father/Son Christmas gift. I failed.
I recently got sick for two weeks and couldn't work, so I'm out of time and money to spend on it. I need to sell it like it is and I'm looking for money in the mid $3600 range
I have only had the car running 4 or 5 times. I've literally driven it up and down my street twice.
I haven't solved or nailed down any of the post swap issues that you always get with a swap. There is intermittent lifter clatter. It takes about 15 seconds to pump oil pressure when cold. The first time I drove it, the 904 slipped badly, I put more fluid in it and it worked fine. The front end probably needs alignment. The AC is all there but needs vacuumed and charged. The blower motor quit (I have another)
The car has potential. It has rust in the usual places. The frames are good. The passenger pan needs replaced due to the ac dripping. The rest of the floor has been wire brushed and coated with POR 15. The few minor pinholes are easy to patch. I have an extra front clip that goes with it. I'm looking to sell it as is in the $3600 range.
Back in August a good friend of mine buys this 74 Dart Sport daily driver "project" from a guy in Jacksonville. It really was a legit car, running and tagged and insured. EXCEPT that the seller was keeping the engine, trans, rear, tires & wheels and (oh yeah) the front seat!
Well my buddy, who already has three solid projects in the works, sees this as a quick "weekend job" to plug in a built 318 that he has laying around the shop and create a "beater/cruiser" and, although I should have tried, I didn't talk him out of it! My Bad!
Less than a week after he gets back from Jax with the car, he calls to tell me that disaster has stricken! Apparently he found a pristine "unadvertised" 67 Charger locally (one of his bucket list vehicles) and he needs for the Dart to go away quickly.
Because I do parts, I don't want a whole car. He paid too much, so it wouldn't be profitable as a parts car and it really seemed too nice to strip out.
But, in his zeal to move me on it, he opened his shop and started piling in extra parts with the car until it became impossible for me to refuse (and because he looked so pathetic begging me to take it)
Fortunately I had a 75 Dart parts car with a lot of the items needed and I had a low mileage 74 360 RV mill that's been laying around in the way for a couple of years. To make a long story short: I caught the "put it back together as a daily driver" bug!
Since September I have been cleaning and painting parts and putting them on the Dart. The engine was what we used to call a "redneck rebuild". You take a (hopefully) good engine, strip off the valve covers, oil pan, timing cover, and all the bolt ons, then head for the car wash!
If you are good, and you take the time to sandblast and paint all the externals, install a new timing gear set for good measure, put the degreased long block back together with new gaskets and paint it, you can achieve a "rebuilt" engine look!
I spent several weeks detailing the engine, clear coating the new bolt ons like the fuel pump and repainting alternators, steering pumps, brackets and pulleys and the like.
As fate would have it, the engine swap was minor labor compared to the interior! The car was a gold exterior/cream interior with a mixmatch of dyed and painted parts (not to mention an ugly blue ripped up blue bench front seat). Much of that had to be repainted/dyed, cleaned up, replaced and generally re-engineered at a cost of time beyond my wildest imagination. The gauges were cracked. I replaced them with a cleaned up set. The dash pad was exploded. I had one with just a minor crack, and I reused the carpet cover theprevious owner had on the bad one.
My original game plan was to get the car running and drivable by October, license it and have everything fixed and ready for some Father/Son Christmas gift. I failed.
I recently got sick for two weeks and couldn't work, so I'm out of time and money to spend on it. I need to sell it like it is and I'm looking for money in the mid $3600 range
I have only had the car running 4 or 5 times. I've literally driven it up and down my street twice.
I haven't solved or nailed down any of the post swap issues that you always get with a swap. There is intermittent lifter clatter. It takes about 15 seconds to pump oil pressure when cold. The first time I drove it, the 904 slipped badly, I put more fluid in it and it worked fine. The front end probably needs alignment. The AC is all there but needs vacuumed and charged. The blower motor quit (I have another)
The car has potential. It has rust in the usual places. The frames are good. The passenger pan needs replaced due to the ac dripping. The rest of the floor has been wire brushed and coated with POR 15. The few minor pinholes are easy to patch. I have an extra front clip that goes with it. I'm looking to sell it as is in the $3600 range.
