Finally Some Pictures of my 1969 Dodge Dart GT

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And the progress continues. Now it is starting to look like a real car again.







This quarter on the driver side would already be put on, but we discovered a broken part in the quarter window regulator that we have to try to find a replacement for.



Body man also made a patch for the piece in the trunk floor just forward of the trunk pan. This is a part that there is no replacement metal for.



And trunk pan and drop offs are just about locked down.

 
Real signs of progress now. The trunk pan, drop off extensions, and rear quarters along with the entire new rear end are welded into place.



















Also got patches welded into the front floor pans.




The body lines are starting to come together very nicely as well.




 
Getting ever closer to the paint booth. We are mocking up all the exterior parts and trim pieces to make sure everything fits correctly. The glass and door parts were particularly critical after the radical roof job we did on this thing. Amazingly, all the glass and trim pieces fit perfect. Here the alignment of the quarter glass and channels was a tell-tale sign if we did the roof correctly.







The complete door and quarter glass assembly with vent windows installed would have told the tale if the roof alignment was off. Thankfully, it all went together right.





The taillight and trunk panel assembly showed that the total replacement of the sheet metal on the rear end fit together very nicely. I am glad I went with the trunk trim panel on this build.








Very happy with the fit of the grille and headlight bezels as well.





Now we can just disassemble and get her ready to roll into the paint booth.
 
Getting ever closer to paint. Went to the shop last week and found my car like this. Should be going into the paint booth any day now.





 
Since I posted some preliminary paint pics a few days ago, I will leave those out for now. But today was a huge step forward. Motor and transmission were lifted into the car on the K-member. Heater box assembly was also installed as was the wiper motor and master cylinder and brake lines. Plan is to get this to a rolling chassis in the next few days and maybe even get it running. Then finish painting the outside of the car.










 
AlV said:
You're car is coming along great!
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Thanks Al. After grinding away on this thing myself for about a year and a half, I am glad I turned it over to people that can make real progress. All things being equal, I might have this thing on the road in the next month. Pace has picked up for now, but it will obviously slow down once we get to the last little things.
 
Another day and even more progress under the hood. Much of the main parts around the engine are now in place. Time to go through the wiring harness. Car might be running by this time next week.



Deciding to go with the Orange box. And luckily I was able to track down a new heater valve.



Amazing how much a new wiper motor adds to the look.



Very nice job of cleaning up the rear end and running all new lines.



Checking in from underneath.



Also got the heater box installed. You can see where I made a cover for the air conditioning vent since we removed all of that.



Obviously the radiator assembly.



This picture is for Leanna (CudaChick). First time her amazing artwork has sat on top of my engine. My apologies for the poor quality picture. This was sent to me after I left earlier today.

 
It looks absolutely amazing Carl! :-D Thank you so much for letting me help a little. << hug >> It's a privilege having a hand in such a fine build.
 
Yet another update. In the last week and a half we have completed assembly of everything under the hood with a couple of minor exceptions. All of the wiring harness has been routed and connected. We cleaned up some bad wires and rewrapped everything. After starting it for the first time, we found a couple of minor leaks (lower radiator hose clamp was not on far enough, one of the heater hose connections, around the base of the water neck--the gasket might be on wrong). The worst leak is at the steering box, but it appears to be coming from the return hose nipple, so we should be able to address that as well. All-in-all, it is really starting to come together. Here you can also get a better look at Leanna's work.









We also got the complete new exhaust system installed. The exhaust came from Accurate Exhaust. The only modification we made was welding all the joints rather than using clamps.






And of course we got the entire dash installed. Amazingly all of the electrical stuff in the dash seems to work. Was very happy to see the temp gauge work since it never did work before I took the car apart. Plus all the dash lights and blinkers worked. As an aside, I would appreciate any thoughts on replacing the steering wheel. I like the original style, but its age sticks out like a sore thumb.









And finally, here it is ready for the paint booth.

 
The Dart looks great! Should be a really fun car to drive:coffee2:

Dave,
 
I can hear it singing to me in my mind.... nice to see the progress.
 
Well the last couple of days have been a monumental step forward. After a couple of months of waiting, paint finally got sprayed. The car went from this on Wednesday morning:









...to this today!


















Car will get wet sanded, buffed and polished next week. And then final reassembly can begin. And to think 18 months ago I almost pulled the plug on this entire project and jettisoned the car. Today I really realized how glad I am that I stuck with it.
 
1969VADart said:
Original color of the car was T5 Bronze, but I wanted something more eye popping. Went with the EV2 Hemi Orange from the same year (1969).
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Sounds like we have similar cars. Mine was is EV2 also but was factory T5 also but with no vinyl top. Lookin good
Joe
 
1969VADart said:
Well the last couple of days have been a monumental step forward. After a couple of months of waiting, paint finally got sprayed. The car went from this on Wednesday morning:









...to this today!


















Car will get wet sanded, buffed and polished next week. And then final reassembly can begin. And to think 18 months ago I almost pulled the plug on this entire project and jettisoned the car. Today I really realized how glad I am that I stuck with it.
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Congratulations Gerahead! It is looking great :). I remember when you first started this project and I am proud of how well you have done :)
 
132068Dodge said:
Congratulations Gerahead! It is looking great :). I remember when you first started this project and I am proud of how well you have done :)
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Sorry about screwing your name up 1969VADart. I was looking at Gerahead's restoration prior to looking at your page. Oops
 
Sorry for the crappy pictures, but I had to share these. The guy that I have been working with on this project for nearly three years, sent me a couple of quick phone pics today and I just had to share. The car is getting ever closer to completion.





I had the inside of the doors painted to match the car rather than the standard black. I thought it would give a better contrast with the black interior and door panels. I am not disappointed in the decision. Hopefully more pics to follow soon.

 
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