Gagster's 71 Swinger

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Yep. Sure is. That's what happened to the original engine from the car. The water jacket was blown out into the lifter valley. By the time I shut the car down I had about 3 gallons of funk in my oil pan. :-(

That's why I ended up building the new 440 for it. Since the new motor isn't date-code correct I figure there's no shame in pulling it right back out. The rest of the car is salvageable. That original block was basically only good for holding papers down on a windy day, keeping doors from swinging closed, or maybe keeping a small boat from drifting away. I also have a set of '67 closed-chamber heads that are so rusty I can't even get 2 of the valves out. I thought those heads on the broken block would make a killer coffee table base. :D
 
Yep. Sure is. That's what happened to the original engine from the car. The water jacket was blown out into the lifter valley. By the time I shut the car down I had about 3 gallons of funk in my oil pan. :-(

That's why I ended up building the new 440 for it. Since the new motor isn't date-code correct I figure there's no shame in pulling it right back out. The rest of the car is salvageable. That original block was basically only good for holding papers down on a windy day, keeping doors from swinging closed, or maybe keeping a small boat from drifting away. I also have a set of '67 closed-chamber heads that are so rusty I can't even get 2 of the valves out. I thought those heads on the broken block would make a killer coffee table base. :D

WOW I hate to hear that.
 
Yep. Sure is. That's what happened to the original engine from the car. The water jacket was blown out into the lifter valley. By the time I shut the car down I had about 3 gallons of funk in my oil pan. :-(

That's why I ended up building the new 440 for it. Since the new motor isn't date-code correct I figure there's no shame in pulling it right back out. The rest of the car is salvageable. That original block was basically only good for holding papers down on a windy day, keeping doors from swinging closed, or maybe keeping a small boat from drifting away. I also have a set of '67 closed-chamber heads that are so rusty I can't even get 2 of the valves out. I thought those heads on the broken block would make a killer coffee table base. :D
terrible shame, but that would make a pretty cool coffee table. I dont think that is remotely fixable and if it is, it wont last long
 
Exactly. But power wash it, pop some junk 915 heads on there with an OEM 4bbl manifold, paint it up purty, dress with a splash of chrome and pop a thick piece of glass over the whole shebang. Just don't ask me to move it so you can mop the floor. Trust me. there will be no dirty spots under it. :p
 
old tired rebel/ Cliff - Yeah- we were disappointed to find that the original block was so bad, especially after being told it "ran just fine".
 
I know it's been a while since I posted an update, but I just thought I'd throw out there: I've definitely decided to go with the 440 I built for the Fury, and I'm getting the doors sorted out. I also ordered a firewall gasket kit and a heater box gasket kit. This weekend I should have the doors back on and painted. Next month I'm gonna order the headliner and front/back glass gaskets. Once I have those, this car is getting banged back together in short order. Stay tuned! I'm not dead yet! BA, you'll be interested to know I pounded a lot of the dents out of that door. It's not perfect and it will have some mud in it, but it's looking more like part of an actual car. Some day I'm sure it will still get replaced.
 
Painted the dash, inside door panels, and some misc. brackets and whatnot today. Doesn't seem like much but I'm happy to be making progress. Now that the dash is painted I can start getting the gauge cluster back in, heater controls, etc. My heater box and firewall gasket kits should be here early next week. :D

Tomorrow starts the fun of trying to finish smoothing out that right door. There's no way it's going to look "good". The best I'm going to be able to hope for is "passable". I figure I should be able to have the door mostly filled and both doors, hinges, battery tray, and a few other odds and ends painted by the end of the weekend.

Fingers crossed!
 
#!$*!&)(#~_)!!!!

For the love of Chrysler! This is the PITA part about putting together a car you didn't take apart yourself.

Could somebody _PLEASE_ post a picture of the horns mounted on a 71 dart? I'm sure I've got the right brackets, and I _think_ one of them is in the right spot. I have no idea where the other goes.
 
#!$*!&)(#~_)!!!!

For the love of Chrysler! This is the PITA part about putting together a car you didn't take apart yourself.

Could somebody _PLEASE_ post a picture of the horns mounted on a 71 dart? I'm sure I've got the right brackets, and I _think_ one of them is in the right spot. I have no idea where the other goes.

Gag,
This work? It is also from a 71 Swinger. L8r

Jim
 

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Perfect. Thanks, Jim! I actually had the one I thought was in the right spot bolted to the correct holes, but on the outside of the core support. The other set of holes looked the same, but I didn't figure there was any way the horn actually went there. Moved to the inside, it makes perfect sense. :)

You would not believe how that was frustrating me. Heh. I feel a bit foolish now.
 
Perfect. Thanks, Jim! I actually had the one I thought was in the right spot bolted to the correct holes, but on the outside of the core support. The other set of holes looked the same, but I didn't figure there was any way the horn actually went there. Moved to the inside, it makes perfect sense. :)

You would not believe how that was frustrating me. Heh. I feel a bit foolish now.


I am afraid that I am may be in the same boat. My car was largely disassembled by the guy that I bought it from and he did a poor job (really no effort) in marking and identifying parts as they were removed. I have been able to collect some reference pix (like the one I sent you) along the way from similar cars. They have been very handy at times. Good luck and be glad to help when I can. L8r

Jim
 
So, I've been negligent in my duties to post car pr0n. Partly that's because the stuff I've worked on isn't terribly photogenic. Partly it's because I've had other priorities, and partly it's because when I have worked on the big, easy to photograph parts it's been really slow going.

Small stuff, stuff I didn't get many pics of:

Dash:
Disassembled dash, disassembled gauge cluster, disassembled gauges, cleaned them, re-painted the needles, reassembled the cluster, painted the dash, ash tray, and glove box hinge

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Misc parts:
blasted and painted hood latch, horn brackets, horns, blower motor ring, battery tray and brace, bumper jack, some little rod doodad that I don't know what it is, maybe a couple other bits that I'm forgetting right now

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Doors - the last of the body and paint!
Stripped all the guts out of my doors, primed both doors, both sides each, painted the interior exposed metal bits of both doors black to match the newly painted dash, filler skim coat, sand, high-build, sand, high-build, sand and several coats of green on the driver's door. This came out great. One of the best panels on the car. Passenger's door was totally caved in, creased up, metal munched in one spot. I beat the worst of the dents out with a 5lb sledge and a chunk of 2x4, did some hammer and dolly to smooth some of the easier bits, then filled that door with about a half-gallon of mud. It's a sculpture to be sure, but then I always knew I was going to have to replace this door eventually. This was really just an adventure in playing with bondo. The whole thing will get junked eventually.

Driver's door is on the car. Passenger door still needs a bit more sanding, some epoxy primer and then it'll get some green paint and get hung.

Pics of the driver's door in place really show the difference between the body which only got one coat versus the door that got several. That's ok. Once the parts are all about how I want them, the whole car will get scuffed and a few more coats of green anyway.

Bare with me, guys. This is my first ever body and paint work. I recon I'll have to redo a bunch of it eventually if I want it to be nice.

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(EDIT: It was almost dark when we took these. In real light it looks a lot more flourescent. More like an actual Limelight. In this "nearly dusk" light the car looks like I painted it "SplitPeaSoupLight")

Got the right fender extension on finally. It's just a test fit because all the studs are broke off the back of it. :(

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And last but far from least, I had Mrs. Halfront add a nice touch to my emblems. I need to buy her a good set of miniatures brushes so she can trim them out with a fresh coat of black around the edges, but this should give you an idea where we're going with it.

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Still saving up for the headers and motor mounts to put the firebreathing 440 in the old girl. In the meantime, I've got my firewall gasket kit and my heater box kit from DMT so I'll work on some more boring stuff. As long as I get my new headliner in and all the glass in place before nasty weather, I'm happy. :D
 
That is coming out great. And the Sublime really fits the body lines. Tell your wife she has more patience than I do and talent to do up your emblems, they look great.
 
Today's progress...

Sanded out the runs in the C pillar and re-painted it, put another couple coats on that whole quarter since it looked so thin. Put a couple more coats on the deck lid as well.

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Once again, the day's progress pics were taken at dusk so the limelight looks more like pea soup, but at least you can see the color is more uniform and the paint job looks a little better. I can't find any good close-ups of the nasty runs in the C-pilar but believe me... they were embarrassing.

I also got the passenger door painted and hung:

Before:
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Dents punded out as good as can be without a stud welder and a slide hammer, filler slathered in like it's going out of style, and some primer:
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It still looks like crap, and I'm going to have to replace the door, but at least the big hole in the side of the car can be closed up to keep the leaves off the floor. :happy8:
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I also went back over all the fender bolts and stuff that I missed the first time through.

Before:
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After:
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Oh... And just for grins, I did a number on the bumper jack. I still need to paint the post black, but I think it's a nice touch. Looked like crap before.
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Thanks, Rebel. It's a learning experience for me. This is my car for teaching myself paint and bodywork. So far I've made some very fixable mistakes on the bodywork and fixed a couple of them. The rest are going to get queued up for next spring. Maybe the next time I buy an A body I'll be up to the task of teaching myself metalwork and fabrication. ;-) I have some great ideas for a touring car. I also have this dream of filling out my 'cuda collection with the '68 trifecta. I have my 383S fastaback now. I also want to do a touring notch and a /6 sunday cruiser 'vert. If only I should live that long. heh

I still have hours of futzing around to do with this dart in order to get my doors, fenders, hood and decklid properly aligned. After that I have to get my wiring harness back in, all the little bits I took off under the hood and on the cowl back on, wiper assembly back in, etc, then maybe I can do a headliner and put my front glass in. I ordered the wrong gasket kit for my heater box (AC kit. need non-AC) otherwise I'd have that restored and ready to go back in by now. At the very least I want to get the car sealed back up properly before bad weather comes.

I still have this fantasy that I'll get a motor in the car before winter, but it's starting to look grim. If I take the big block that I built out of my Fury III then I have to scrounge up a ton of money for the 440 A-body headers and find a set of motor mounts somewhere, fatter torsion bars, better brakes, cut the core support for the bigger radiator... I could probably still get a free /6 from a guy I know but I'm not sure I want to do the work twice. Or I could find an el-cheap-o 360 off craigslist and a much cheaper exhaust and not have to futz with the radiator. That's kind of the middle ground approach and it's tempting. If I do either of the small motor options, I don't have a trans to put behind the engine either. Big block with expensive headers or small block or /6... Either way I'm still going to have to save up some coin. *sigh* I dunno....

Between finances, impending autumn weather, and perennial indecision, It's starting to feel like I may never get to drive the car. :p

Anyway... Thanks for the compliment and thanks for following along. :-D
 
I have a feeling you will make it. I plan a 383 BB for my Cordoba then I will sell my 318 and trans. Then I hope to find another Mopar
 
She's come a long way! It's the first one I've seen with the front suspension
and gas tank mounted in the trunk.

Just kidding!.....looks great....love the color.
 
lol! Redneck fuel cell. Throw the old gas tank in the trunk and run a rubber line out where the body plug used to be in the spare well. :D

You think that's creative, wait until you see my touring build. The whole car will be in the trunk!
 
I have a feeling you will make it. I plan a 383 BB for my Cordoba then I will sell my 318 and trans. Then I hope to find another Mopar

I'll trade you a complete 383 (disassembled) and the hopefully rebuildable 727 core that used to live in the trunk of my Fury for your 318 and trans. :D
 
I'll trade you a complete 383 (disassembled) and the hopefully rebuildable 727 core that used to live in the trunk of my Fury for your 318 and trans. :D

We can talk after I move next week If you're not in a hurry. Mine has the A998 trans in it. And I will be driving it to Tulsa.
 
No hurry at all. If you're actually interested, I can get some pictures together over the course of the next week or so. The 383 was a complete long block when I got it. Now it's just got the rotating assembly in the block and the rest of the parts are sitting on a shelf. I even have a 4bbl manifold off my old 72 Charger's 400 that needs a new home.

I can't vouch for the trans, but It looks like it's basically all there. Looks like it was pulled from a junk yard, thrown in the trunk of the fury then lived there for about 10 years.
 
No hurry at all. If you're actually interested, I can get some pictures together over the course of the next week or so. The 383 was a complete long block when I got it. Now it's just got the rotating assembly in the block and the rest of the parts are sitting on a shelf. I even have a 4bbl manifold off my old 72 Charger's 400 that needs a new home.

I can't vouch for the trans, but It looks like it's basically all there. Looks like it was pulled from a junk yard, thrown in the trunk of the fury then lived there for about 10 years.


I sent you a pm.
 
Which wheels would look better on my Dart:

The wheels that are on my 'cuda:
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or the wheels that are on the Fury III?
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