InTheDart
Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2009
- Messages
- 8
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Very new to the forum, but wanted to check in. I'm sure that you get noobs around here all the time. Here goes, and thanks in advance for letting me spill my story...
First of all, lifelong resident of Phoenix, AZ. Enjoy the valley and the sunny weather. Greetings to everyone out there.
1972 Dart Swinger
Bought the car for $500. Talk about impulse buying. This takes a bit of time to break down, but try to keep up. I was looking for a dad-son project with my 17yo. He was excitied about it, but was leaning Charger all the way. Funny how things pan out. After much looking and not much satisfication we bought a 74 Dart Swinger for $800. No motor no tranny, just straight body. Passenger side floor missing but other than that typical desert surface rust. The VERY next day, a Mopar "friend" found a 72 Dart (and the A-body we really wanted to start with) on Craigslist. A definite improvement project.
After last minute negotiations with the finance minister (my wife), she says "you know you really want it. Go get it!" Talk about melting a guy's heart. I love my wife. The rest is history.
In typical ABO fashion I will post all the crap I possibly can to let the veterans weigh in. It was an original v8 318 car from the factory. That's what I gathered from the VIN.
The previous owner said the car came to AZ via MI. His uncle had it sitting in his yard for about 6 years. Six years from what paritcular starting date I do not know. It had been sitting in the owners yard for almost another 5. At some point it was decided that the car was to be a spray can street dominator. Not much occurred on that front apparently, because he was in an obvious and desperate hurry to be rid of it. Of course, the 2 pony cars sitting in his garage spoke volumes. What I saw spoke of potential, and after said Mopar buddy's evaluation gave a thumbs up, the 72 is currently sitting in my garage.
After several serious months of it sitting in my driveway and ignoring it (not to mention the OTHER Dart) we finally saw action. Honestly, I was waiting for my son to get it rolling. After all it was his baby and I would get lost in it personally or drop it althogether if he hadn't.
Ever stare the devil in the eye and say "Holy crap"? We wanted to learn about the car as we were doing it. By the way, we expect this to be a daily roller by the time we're finished. No lofty ambition there.
To date we have disassembled the front body, removed the engine and tranny (a 360 from a 78 Grand Fury cop car), removed seats (interesting! Those look like the buckets from a 78 Grand Fury cop car), cleaned up the major dings in the trunk lid and lower quarters, sanded, scrubbed and primed everything we have worked up to the doors and the rear hood column.
I regret that I have no photos to post yet. We have done quite a bit, but the digital camera is my wife's, and is not always available. Then where does she put those pictures? Hope to have some on here soon.
Motor/drive train:
Ideally, we would like a 318 as intended, with a tougher 8 3/4 rear end. I can't afford a lot on it, just something that I know runs and can be rebuilt at some stage. I can't even talk about performance other than that good old factory goodness. The 360 is intriguing, but again don't know enough about it. That's what you engine guys are for.
Suspension:
Right now it's looking pretty stock. The previous owner had some racing shocks installed and it gives the car a bit of lift in the rear. Would like to change to disk brakes.
Interior:
It came with bucket seats and rear bench seat. Both need recovering, but I want similar to the original split front bench.
needs carpet.
needs headliner.
needs dash pad.
door panels are all serviceable if I want to recover them. Also have another set from the 74.
Entire dash and instrument cluster needs work. Most in good shape, though.
Body/chassis:
stock hood.
need grille, headlight bezels are in good shape.
no radiator.
no heater core.
scores of other miscellaneous items including electrical and wiring.
It's great to be a part of this forum.
Steve
First of all, lifelong resident of Phoenix, AZ. Enjoy the valley and the sunny weather. Greetings to everyone out there.
1972 Dart Swinger
Bought the car for $500. Talk about impulse buying. This takes a bit of time to break down, but try to keep up. I was looking for a dad-son project with my 17yo. He was excitied about it, but was leaning Charger all the way. Funny how things pan out. After much looking and not much satisfication we bought a 74 Dart Swinger for $800. No motor no tranny, just straight body. Passenger side floor missing but other than that typical desert surface rust. The VERY next day, a Mopar "friend" found a 72 Dart (and the A-body we really wanted to start with) on Craigslist. A definite improvement project.
After last minute negotiations with the finance minister (my wife), she says "you know you really want it. Go get it!" Talk about melting a guy's heart. I love my wife. The rest is history.
In typical ABO fashion I will post all the crap I possibly can to let the veterans weigh in. It was an original v8 318 car from the factory. That's what I gathered from the VIN.
The previous owner said the car came to AZ via MI. His uncle had it sitting in his yard for about 6 years. Six years from what paritcular starting date I do not know. It had been sitting in the owners yard for almost another 5. At some point it was decided that the car was to be a spray can street dominator. Not much occurred on that front apparently, because he was in an obvious and desperate hurry to be rid of it. Of course, the 2 pony cars sitting in his garage spoke volumes. What I saw spoke of potential, and after said Mopar buddy's evaluation gave a thumbs up, the 72 is currently sitting in my garage.
After several serious months of it sitting in my driveway and ignoring it (not to mention the OTHER Dart) we finally saw action. Honestly, I was waiting for my son to get it rolling. After all it was his baby and I would get lost in it personally or drop it althogether if he hadn't.
Ever stare the devil in the eye and say "Holy crap"? We wanted to learn about the car as we were doing it. By the way, we expect this to be a daily roller by the time we're finished. No lofty ambition there.
To date we have disassembled the front body, removed the engine and tranny (a 360 from a 78 Grand Fury cop car), removed seats (interesting! Those look like the buckets from a 78 Grand Fury cop car), cleaned up the major dings in the trunk lid and lower quarters, sanded, scrubbed and primed everything we have worked up to the doors and the rear hood column.
I regret that I have no photos to post yet. We have done quite a bit, but the digital camera is my wife's, and is not always available. Then where does she put those pictures? Hope to have some on here soon.
Motor/drive train:
Ideally, we would like a 318 as intended, with a tougher 8 3/4 rear end. I can't afford a lot on it, just something that I know runs and can be rebuilt at some stage. I can't even talk about performance other than that good old factory goodness. The 360 is intriguing, but again don't know enough about it. That's what you engine guys are for.
Suspension:
Right now it's looking pretty stock. The previous owner had some racing shocks installed and it gives the car a bit of lift in the rear. Would like to change to disk brakes.
Interior:
It came with bucket seats and rear bench seat. Both need recovering, but I want similar to the original split front bench.
needs carpet.
needs headliner.
needs dash pad.
door panels are all serviceable if I want to recover them. Also have another set from the 74.
Entire dash and instrument cluster needs work. Most in good shape, though.
Body/chassis:
stock hood.
need grille, headlight bezels are in good shape.
no radiator.
no heater core.
scores of other miscellaneous items including electrical and wiring.
It's great to be a part of this forum.
Steve
