Dad’s 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340

[Dartnut]

Good on you for having your kids involved.
Looks like a fun build, keep it up and posting the pictures of the progress!
How long will it be before the kids lay claim on the car?
You may be creating a monster here!
Now you have another 2 cars to buy and do...........

 

[jcmeyer5]

Last night I worked on the passenger door. I finished disassembly and attacked the unexplained damage to the inner structure of the door. I banged and bent and swore at the door until it appeared to be close to normal. I also made a match piece to weld into the door. It’s not going to be seen, but it bothered me and it was something to do.

 

[pauly]

I have to patch one of my Duster doors, too. Somebody hacked it up for speakers at some point in its life. Car is looking good!!

 

[jcmeyer5]

Working on the door still. I have the inside portions stripped to bare metal, along with the jambs... basically everything but the outside skin. I am working on that now. I took some photos mid-show. This door is truly unmolested - no rust, no collision damage. It has one small door ding that a PO decided warranted a 12 inch area of body filler. I was stripping the body filler when my dad asked why... I showed him the surface rust underneath. I also have a documented paint history on the car now... its had at least 3 full paintings.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Tonight the family was over at my parents to celebrate birthdays for my wife and I. I knew dad had pictures of his original car someplace, and I found the one I was looking for. Dad bought the car in 1972 when he was 17. This is in April 1973. The girl... that’s my mom. Be respectful.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Havent been idle... just busy. I finished stripping the door (using a DA, die grinder with sanding disc, Dremel-type tool with tiny sanding drum, and sand paper). on Monday night, the boy came over to put some epoxy primer on it. He's getting better at this spraying thing. I also sprayed some... recoated the quarter after I sanded through in some (many) spots. I went up and over the top edge towards the trunk. I had some pretty rough pitting there, so I had to blast it first. I nearly cut it out and welded in new metal... that would really have been dumb. Not pictured are the repairs (for rust) I had to make to the passenger side seam where the quarter panel, deck filler panel, and trunk gutters meet. It went well.

 

[jcmeyer5]

So Tuesday was a wash with my son starting in a basketball league. Today was a wash because of the Band Extravaganza with the middle schools and high school. I love my kids, but a) I heard my son play last Thursday, and they played the same thing again, and b) my oldest daughter is in color guard with the marching band, and I've seen all that as well. I didn't need to see or hear it again... but I did... on my birthday... against my wishes. Anyway.

Today I did some cleaning and disassembly of wheel covers (not hubcaps @Alaskan_TA). Knocked a few minor dents out of the wheel covers. The centers will need restored (pitted pot metal), but the main covers are in good condition. I did get some sage advice that yes, the covers will fit on the 14" Rallye wheels I have provided I ditch the trim ring and center cap. I also cleaned (and cleaned, and cleaned) the interior panel for the passenger door. It is in really good shape and wont need to be replaced.

Next on the docket is getting some more filler on the quarter panel before the 7 day window closes on the epoxy. Then we will start dismantling the interior so we can a) clean it, and b) remove the quarter window glass. Probably no more spraying until spring.

 

[jcmeyer5]

I got some stuff done today. Not much. My home built sand blast cabinet needed another light. The original is on the left side shining back and right. Every one that uses the cabinet blast from the right. Lots of shadows. So I added one on the right. No more shadows.

I sand blasted the splash shields, and on the driver side did some hammer work to straighten it out better. If you recall, that fender was nearly obliterated in some sort of accident, so it’s no surprise there was damage to that shield. No pics of those yet.

I also took out the front bench seat. For anyone who tells you it’s 4 nuts from underneath and done, they are wrong. It’s also 2 bolts inside for the seat belts.

pulled the seat to find... a broadcast sheet! In reasonable condition, definitely legible. But not for this car. VH23C1R137778. So if you own this 1971 Plymouth Valiant 2 door hardtop with a 225 1V engine, built in Ontario, Canada and you want your broadcast sheet, let me know.

 

[4spdragtop]

Nice work! Post that broadcast sheet in "lost and found" forum.
Moving right along!

 

[Ted Edison]

Nice work...that's a fun project!!

Ted

 

[jcmeyer5]

So today was about getting the seats and carpet out. Easy enough. Front seat we did last night... 4 nuts, 2 bolts. It has a solitary split in the driver butt area. I think the BS about it having new interior is just that. It’s not in bad shape, but it’s definitely original.

Back seat was easy as well... took arm rests off rear panel, popped the bottom off, bent tabs back, popped the top off. Took out the kick panels. The screws weren’t engaging anything, so I just pulled them out. A few more pieces of trim later and the carpet was free. Carpet is a cut pile (fuzzy) not loop. I’m guessing aftermarket. It’s in good condition, just needs cleaned. Rear seat had another broadcast sheet in it... for the same 1971 Valiant.

The floors are solid as expected. What little rust I found is strictly surface and formed under something that was sprayed on the metal. I’ll scuff and encapsulate. Here be fotos

 

[jcmeyer5]

Cleaned the rear seat. Not thoroughly, just some Dawn and warm water.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Busy days lately. I’ve carved out a few hours to disassemble the driver interior. Arm rest is shot, so I will end up getting a new set for the front. The vinyl on the door panels is in good condition. In a couple places the vinyl came unglued. I fixed the rear panel yesterday. Just a bit of cleaning and glue. Not 100% perfect... a couple wrinkles... but I am more than happy with the results.

 

[jcmeyer5]

So it’s been a few since my last update. I’ve been working on mundane stuff. Checked over the suspension, and it’s solid. Front brakes actually look good. Gonna need to work on the plumbing, which is a mess. Got the engine and transmission out of the car! Good news, it’s the original engine! With the interior being switched around, I was half expecting it to be a replacement. Nope, VIN number stamped (well, half stamped) above the pan rail on the passenger side matches the car. I also think this engine was originally red. I’ve looked, and so far can’t find a hint of bluish or orange. Which is good, because that is the color we want to paint it.

 

[Space Duster]

My dad had a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 back when he was a senior in high school and freshman in college. He sold it while in college to help pay for college. That was back in 1974. He loved that car, but knew he was better off getting his degree. His car had a 4 speed, bench front seat, signal indicators on the fenders, B5 Bright Blue Metallic with a white vinyl top - NO stripe.

Back in 1997 (I was 20) he wanted to get another car. He searched and searched, and the only one he could find that hadn’t been chopped up to be a race car was in South Carolina. We flew down there and purchased the car. It ran and drove, but the speedometer didn’t work and the gas gauge was stuck on empty. He bought it, and we drove it all the way back to Indiana that night. We timed ourselves between mile markers to keep speed. We stopped every 150 miles for gas. Made it home. It is a real Swinger 340 with a bench seat, 4 speed, T5 Copper Metallic with a white vinyl top and a white stripe. No signal indicators on the fenders. It has since been painted an awful orange, and has signs of body filler on the driver front fender and door.

22 years later, and I am finally starting to work on it. Here is what we started with (just got done washing it)

View attachment 1715406149

View attachment 1715406150

My Dad had one it was an automatic.

 

[jcmeyer5]

So... been a few. We are working on the engine. We pulled it outside this week to power wash it before we open it up. It ended up that we found the water jackets full of crud. Here’s the boy hosing her down. We will be tearing this down completely.

 

[jcmeyer5]

So... we are going to pull it all apart. Actually we already have. The motor appeared to be blueprinted and balanced. It has some sort of Mopar Purple cam. It also has forged L2316 pistons and has been bored 0.040 over. The main journals on the crank are 0.010 under, and the rod journals are standard. It has a newer Melling oil pump and pickup. I don’t think I need much for this engine. Expansion plugs are steel, and one rusted through, so I’ll get a set of brass ones. Cam and lifters look good, so those will go back in. I’m gonna take it to work tomorrow and have it measured to see what it is.

Good times. More pictures this week.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Camshaft time. As I said, this is supposedly a Mopar Purple. I brought it to work where we have a standing micrometer (whatever its called). I zeroed the micrometer on the heel, and them measured the lobe. I got 0.312" of lift on the cam (both intake and exhaust), which translates to 0.468" at the valve. I dont see a 0.468" lift. I see a 0.474" lift. I would need 0.316" lift on the cam for the 0.474" at the valve. Nothing else is close. Of course, I am only looking at Mopar cams... it could be another cam. Howards has a 0.465/0.465 camshaft... but they would mark their cams. It is there any other way to verify what this is? There are no stamps on it. The only other indicator is a red paint mark on the back end of the cam. The cam also had a 2* offset key. It appeared to be put in to retard the cam.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Well, today didn’t go as planned. We were going to start washing out the block, but I had some stubborn gallery plugs. Ended up getting the out by welding nuts to them and using a ratchet. The heat from welding probably did most of the work

 

[jcmeyer5]

Just FYI, that rear cam bearing will come out. Lisle didn't include the #1 mandrel that I need to do it (I got 2 of the #2 mandrels). They are sending it out.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Engine is going back together. Crank, camshaft, and pistons are in. Freeze plugs and gallery plugs are in. New timing set tomorrow. Heads have been checked by the machine shop. Exhaust guides were good, but it needed new intake guides. Those are done. Here are some pictures.

 

[mpgmike]

That's odd, usually the exhaust guides go first. Perhaps they were redone sometime in the past.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Sorry, yeah, they were done previously.

 

[jcmeyer5]

So it was beautiful weather here today, so I took advantage of it as best I could and got some stuff done. First was getting black epoxy on some under hood parts (motor mounts, transmission mount, engine pulleys, fan, alternator brackets, and clutch fork )...

After that, I rebuilt one of the cylinder heads. Yesterday I painted them along with the timing cover. Forgot to take pictures. Using Eastwood’s ceramic engine paint. I used it on my Mustang and it worked very well...

Tomorrow I hope to get the other head done and paint the bellhousing and damper.

 

[jcmeyer5]

The boy and I painted the engine block today. We did things a little backward. Probably should have painted before starting to install parts, but we made it work.