Ben440ny
Well-Known Member
Hello All,
This is a direct re-post from the Member Restorations forum so I can introduce myself. Thanks for the tip Swinger340Canuc!
I'm a new member to the forum but I have been reading for a couple of years. This is such a great resource with such helpful members! Just a quick background on myself. I come from a New York Mopar family. Been working on/racing Mopars with my father and uncle for several years. See benrepair.com for pictures. Between the three of us, here is our fleet:
1953 Dodge Coronet with Red Ram Hemi (Burgundy)
1968 Dodge Dart 270 Slant 6 All Original (B5) Lil Rusty, Original
1968 Plymouth Barracuda 413 727 (Red)
1968 Dodge Dart GTS 440-6 4 Speed (Green)
1969 Dodge Dart Convertible Slant 6 All Original (B5)
1970 Plymouth Duster 340 727 drag car (Plum Crazy) H Code 11.15@122
1971 Plymouth Duster 440 727 drag car (Panther Pink) 10.76 @126
1973 Plymouth Duster 318 904 (Brown) For Sale? Very little Rust, Original
So as you can probably tell, we are pure A-Body people with 3/4 of these cars in my family for 20+ years. Anyways I move to the Los Angeles area about a year and a half ago and have been hunting for a rust free Mopar ever since. I finally found her!
Meet my 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger (318/904) Originally gold with a white vinyl top. Now red/surface rust with a little flame job on the hood haha. Got lucky with this one because she came with power steering and front power disc brakes, electronic ignition, all trim intact, turn signals on the hood, and barely a spot of real rust on her. Also, super fair price!
So here is the list of things currently wrong with her:
Several gauges out on the dash. Dashpad cracked.
Carb seems a bit tired. Took the top off, accelerator pump seemed to be sticking, spring had a little corrosion, but overall the carb looked clean. Don't have a tach yet, so I adjusted the idle and mixture by feel. Seems to be idling a little high but at least it's no longer shutting off on me.
Nasty dent passenger side fender, needs a new turn signal as well.
Column shift linkage is loose (Took a look, got 2 broken plastic bushings on the axle that the shifter arm pivots on, also is the shifter arm supposedto be a little kinked or dead straight?) Anyone know where I can get those bushings?
Needs washer fluid reservoir. But the little pump still works!
Paint is dead, surface rust on roof where vinyl top once was.
Should I have a coolant overflow container? Did one come stock?
Trying to get her in better running driving condition, and then my plan was to move onto body work and paint. Then down the line I would hop up the little 318 with a set of 360 heads. Been reading some great articles on different combinations. My game plan is to build a moderately fast drive it anywhere car. Might even consider suspension upgrades down the line for nostalgic road racing if budget permits.
Anyways, I am looking to befriend any Mopar fanatics on the West Side of LA who know of good junkyards where I can track down parts or who know reasonably priced body guys. As you have probably guessed, being only 24, I'm on a budget. I was thinking of attempting to do 90% of the body prep work myself and then leaving it to the professionals to paint. This is my first ground up restoration so any tips would be appreciated. As much as I have learned over the years working with my pops, I am still a relative noob when it comes to doing all of the work myself. I suppose my first question would be, anyone have a chemical paint stripper to reccomend?
Thank you in advance for your help and interest. I promise my future posts will not be nearly as long winded.
-Ben
This is a direct re-post from the Member Restorations forum so I can introduce myself. Thanks for the tip Swinger340Canuc!
I'm a new member to the forum but I have been reading for a couple of years. This is such a great resource with such helpful members! Just a quick background on myself. I come from a New York Mopar family. Been working on/racing Mopars with my father and uncle for several years. See benrepair.com for pictures. Between the three of us, here is our fleet:
1953 Dodge Coronet with Red Ram Hemi (Burgundy)
1968 Dodge Dart 270 Slant 6 All Original (B5) Lil Rusty, Original
1968 Plymouth Barracuda 413 727 (Red)
1968 Dodge Dart GTS 440-6 4 Speed (Green)
1969 Dodge Dart Convertible Slant 6 All Original (B5)
1970 Plymouth Duster 340 727 drag car (Plum Crazy) H Code 11.15@122
1971 Plymouth Duster 440 727 drag car (Panther Pink) 10.76 @126
1973 Plymouth Duster 318 904 (Brown) For Sale? Very little Rust, Original
So as you can probably tell, we are pure A-Body people with 3/4 of these cars in my family for 20+ years. Anyways I move to the Los Angeles area about a year and a half ago and have been hunting for a rust free Mopar ever since. I finally found her!
Meet my 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger (318/904) Originally gold with a white vinyl top. Now red/surface rust with a little flame job on the hood haha. Got lucky with this one because she came with power steering and front power disc brakes, electronic ignition, all trim intact, turn signals on the hood, and barely a spot of real rust on her. Also, super fair price!
So here is the list of things currently wrong with her:
Several gauges out on the dash. Dashpad cracked.
Carb seems a bit tired. Took the top off, accelerator pump seemed to be sticking, spring had a little corrosion, but overall the carb looked clean. Don't have a tach yet, so I adjusted the idle and mixture by feel. Seems to be idling a little high but at least it's no longer shutting off on me.
Nasty dent passenger side fender, needs a new turn signal as well.
Column shift linkage is loose (Took a look, got 2 broken plastic bushings on the axle that the shifter arm pivots on, also is the shifter arm supposedto be a little kinked or dead straight?) Anyone know where I can get those bushings?
Needs washer fluid reservoir. But the little pump still works!
Paint is dead, surface rust on roof where vinyl top once was.
Should I have a coolant overflow container? Did one come stock?
Trying to get her in better running driving condition, and then my plan was to move onto body work and paint. Then down the line I would hop up the little 318 with a set of 360 heads. Been reading some great articles on different combinations. My game plan is to build a moderately fast drive it anywhere car. Might even consider suspension upgrades down the line for nostalgic road racing if budget permits.
Anyways, I am looking to befriend any Mopar fanatics on the West Side of LA who know of good junkyards where I can track down parts or who know reasonably priced body guys. As you have probably guessed, being only 24, I'm on a budget. I was thinking of attempting to do 90% of the body prep work myself and then leaving it to the professionals to paint. This is my first ground up restoration so any tips would be appreciated. As much as I have learned over the years working with my pops, I am still a relative noob when it comes to doing all of the work myself. I suppose my first question would be, anyone have a chemical paint stripper to reccomend?
Thank you in advance for your help and interest. I promise my future posts will not be nearly as long winded.
-Ben
