Dodge Dart Lite

-
Hyper_pak said:
I was looking at the profile of the car yesterday and thinking the same thing!
Dodge stretched the front end out and it looks a little weird to me.
If you look at a 70 Swinger, to me that front looks perfect.
I think I can make a couple of adapter plates and move the canisters back an inch or so.
Then I don't need to replace those missing bumper fillers either.
On the back, not sure how to do those without replacing the mount back there.
Click to expand...
Probably be easier to weld a cage nut cut off an earlier car into the frame rail and mount a 73 bracket bumper.

The rear isn't that hard to fab a bracket and mount a 73 bracket bumper and eliminate the weight of the oil cans and move the bumpers closer to the car.

I did just that on a 75 dart swinger and about to do it again on a 75 duster.
 
That car is very rare, and restored correctly could be worth quite a bit. Also a great show piece with unique history. I would keep it all original and slowly hunt down parts
 
mygasser said:
that's not how the lock set was i fitted to my valiant. that's why i said it. :thumbsup:
neil.
Click to expand...
From the owners manual.

KEYS.jpeg
 
Princess Valiant said:
Probably be easier to weld a cage nut cut off an earlier car into the frame rail and mount a 73 bracket bumper.

The rear isn't that hard to fab a bracket and mount a 73 bracket bumper and eliminate the weight of the oil cans and move the bumpers closer to the car.

I did just that on a 75 dart swinger and about to do it again on a 75 duster.
Click to expand...
I don't have any parts cars around here.
If I just move the front one back it can be put back if the next owner wants to.
 
TF360 said:
That car is very rare, and restored correctly could be worth quite a bit. Also a great show piece with unique history. I would keep it all original and slowly hunt down parts
Click to expand...
I understand it's got some value and it is "rare" for what that is worth.
I just like them and the plan is running and driving.
At that point I will see how much money I have spent.
I still have a race car addiction I have to deal with!
 
I did some more cleaning today.
I cleaned under the hood.
I removed the drivers vent box to suck all the Arizona muck out of the cowl.
I used a 273 water pump/intake hose and my vacuum to get around the cowl flange.
Man there was a lot of stuff in there!
Any readers have any 76 parts let me know what you have!
 
Of course you omitted pictures. We'll forgive you this once. [I had to post something, relevant or not, to subscribe.]
 
mpgmike said:
Of course you omitted pictures. We'll forgive you this once. [I had to post something, relevant or not, to subscribe.]
Click to expand...
HAH, I didn't think taking pictures of sucking muck out of the cowl would be very interesting!
Or removing the rusty battery tray.
Or trying to get into the trunk.
Or waxing the hood.
Or cleaning the wheels.
Or cleaning the fender wells.
Or, or, or, I think you get my drift.

I do appreciate all the folks following along the process.
 
mygasser said:
doors and trunk are one key and ignition is another.
Click to expand...
My 69 and 72 doors and ignition keys are the same. The trunk are different. Get a little guy to crawl thru the divider and use a 1/2 inch wrench to remove the lock mechanism or catch, which ever one is easiest to remove. As others have said, get a trunk key and have a locksmith rekey it. You can buy a keyed set online for around $20.00 or remove one from another car you may have. Don't sweat it!!!!!
 
mbaird said:
Looks to be R4 red.
All Dart Lites and Feather Dusters were 833 O.Ds I believe.
Cool project ! I think if built and tuned correctly 30+ mpg is attainable.
Click to expand...
I had a Feather Duster with an auto years ago.
 
To me, these cars are cool for their "weird" factor. They were the last year of the A body and they threw what they had to get them to be more fuel efficient. The one that I have was built 11-75 so it could have been a 4 wheel drum model. The rumor that I heard was that after January 1 1976, front disc brakes were standard in all models. Is that right? Mine has a 7 1/4" axle with the big bolt pattern so it probably had front discs since I've never seen big bolt drums used on these cars. Mine is heater only....it isn't even coded for a radio and that surprises me.

DL 8.JPG


The demo derby bumpers defy weight conscious fuel economy efforts. The Dart Lite and Feather Duster had some aluminum brackets but not the full width impact beams, those were still steel. The A body line was already spartan compared to the C bodies so where else could they reduce weight?

Mine was stripped of every "Dart Lite" special part and has no title so it is essentially worthless to rebuild.

DL 16.JPG


Even the rear bumper is for a sedan/Swinger and not a Dart Sport.
 
No. 4 wheel drum brakes were used all the way through the 76 model.
 
Kern Dog said:
I'm not the only one that thinks the other way, see the last post in this thread #54.

Front end rebuild....buy new or rebuild?

The feds had a habit of mandating things on January 1st.
I'm not 100% sure either way.
Click to expand...
I am. I had a 76 dart with small bolt pattern and drums all the way around. So did Bruce (70-71Dartgtreg) RIP.
 
I had a 1976 with 4 wheel 9" drums but it was long before I thought about build dates or option codes.
Are you certain of the build date of the car?

If you believe google and AI answers, it is somewhat vague...

1731220147421.png
 
Kern Dog said:
I had a 1976 with 4 wheel 9" drums but it was long before I thought about build dates or option codes.
Are you certain of the build date of the car?
Click to expand...
I am of the one I had. It was June of 76. I don't remember what Bruce's was. He had two. The other was a slant 6 cop car. With big bolt pattern and discs on the front of course. I wish I knew what happened to that car.
 
There were a few stubborn pricks on Moparts that swore that there were no drum brake A body cars built for 1976. One dipshit based his claims on parts books that didn't list front drum parts for the year. A few members chimed in with posts about drum brake cars they had only to be met with claims that their cars must have been swapped TO front drums by a previous owner.
With car stuff, I try to make sure that I am right before I make absolute statements. I'm still not 100% on this. Maybe there was no Federal mandate but was there an internal Chrysler decision? The AI search I did showed the last 4 wheel drum vehicle was a 1980 Jeep CJ 5. Not everyone jumped on the front disc bandwagon right away.
 
Kern Dog said:
There were a few stubborn pricks on Moparts that swore that there were no drum brake A body cars built for 1976. One dipshit based his claims on parts books that didn't list front drum parts for the year. A few members chimed in with posts about drum brake cars they had only to be met with claims that their cars must have been swapped TO front drums by a previous owner.
With car stuff, I try to make sure that I am right before I make absolute statements. I'm still not 100% on this. Maybe there was no Federal mandate but was there an internal Chrysler decision? The AI search I did showed the last 4 wheel drum vehicle was a 1980 Jeep CJ 5. Not everyone jumped on the front disc bandwagon right away.
Click to expand...
That is really odd, I have never seen a Jeep CJ newer than 76 that did not have disk brakes. And I have had a bunch of Jeeps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top