Gerahead's 71 Dart

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nice job. i love the 71 front clip. this car is gonna be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks HemiPar. When I got my car, the PO had started to chemically strip the hood and never finished it. There was crap all over it. Since it was a factory ram air hood, I did not want to go to hell, so I too had it dipped. The process was supposed to leave a coating on the surface that would protect it for 6-months. I picked it up the day after it was done and it already had surface rust on it. So I sanded that bad boy right up and shot some DP on it to protect it until I got further along. That was a long time ago and it still looks good. Mine will be a longer process until it is driveable. I will just keep plugging away. Every year it seems that just when I really get the motivation revved up, The weather starts its decline into winter and I have 5-months to think about it again.

I did a single tour (4-yrs) in Uncle Sam's canoe club and followed with a 16-yr stint in the Army National Guard and retired as a MSG/1SG in '99. Thanks for your service!
 
a68postcar said:
nice job. i love the 71 front clip. this car is gonna be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!!!!
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Thanks a68. This is my first whole car restoration and it is serving as the science experiment for the next one, which will need much more work than this one will. I have to keep telling myself that this is going to be a driver when I am done.
 
i drive the duster all the time, rain or shine. i think it is as good to drive as the wifes 08 charger!!!!!!!!
 
Great looking work Gerahead. I've been following and learning a good bit and you have been giving me a goodbit of an idea on what to do on my car when bodywork time comes
 
DarTT said:
Great looking work Gerahead. I've been following and learning a good bit and you have been giving me a goodbit of an idea on what to do on my car when bodywork time comes
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Thanks darTT. I have been following your thread as well. It is good to hear that you are getting some useful information from it. It is easy to read about stuff, but I learn more by coupling that with seeing the results that other people get as well. I appreciate the work that you are putting into your project by trying to do much of it yourself. The jizz that I get from this hobby comes from being able to stand back from a task I just finished and be able to say that I am happy with how it turned out. So unless it is physically impossible for me to do it, or the cost of trying and screwing it up is huge........I'm going to give it a shot. I may have to try it a time or two, but I'll figure it out. L8r

Jim
 
DieWilde13 said:
Nice work! Keep up the good Progress!8)
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Thanksl dieWilde13. When I first discovered this site about a year ago, yours was one of the first project threads that I read through. One thing that continues to impress me about these threads is the quality of the work and the complicated jobs some guys are able to pull off in pretty restrictive facilities. Some without even garages! I think that yours is a good example of that. Great work on your Dart! L8r

Jim
 
greenhornet said:
Lookin' GOOD!!! Don't ya love strippin' metal??? ;)
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Stripping (the metal) isn't really all that bad once I figure out how to do it efficiently. I really like it when I can get down to the bare steel, especially when it is this nice underneath. I am not looking forward to stripping the underside. I know that this is going to be a whole different animal. The upside is that I will have a rotisserie by then and that offsets a lot.

I'm likin' your gasser build. Brings me back to the days when I first got wound up with cars. Been a life long drag racing fan. Nice work! L8r

JIm
 
gerahead said:
Stripping (the metal) isn't really all that bad once I figure out how to do it efficiently. I really like it when I can get down to the bare steel, especially when it is this nice underneath. I am not looking forward to stripping the underside. I know that this is going to be a whole different animal. The upside is that I will have a rotisserie by then and that offsets a lot.

I'm likin' your gasser build. Brings me back to the days when I first got wound up with cars. Been a life long drag racing fan. Nice work! L8r

JIm
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Thanks man, That will be a SWEET Dart when you get it finished, seems like progress goes slow when ya try and do it right, it does for me anyway... The underside really hasnt been that bad under mine now that it has a floorboard, seemed like that took forever....
 
i found out Monday that I should be getting the steel for my rotisserie on Friday. I will be burning wire on Saturday :cheers::cheers::cheers:.

Looks like the site crash last weekend erased a lot of pix on a lot of restoration threads. That really sux, I hope the moderators can successfully restore them. L8r.

Jim
 
Here is a repost of the pix originally with post #42 when I worked out some creases in the end of the left reat quarter panel.
 

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Here is a repost of the pix originally with post #43 when I stripped and squirted epoxy primer on the inside of the deck lid.
 

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Here is a repost of the pix originally with post #48 and 49 when I stripped the outside of the deck lid. First trying unsuccessfully with my DA and then finishing off with 3M spun fiber disks to remove almost all the paint and then revisiting with the DA before of PPG's battleship gray primer.
 

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Man, I am stoked. My buddy dropped off most of the steel for the rotisserie this afternoon around lunch time. :eek:ccasion: I am jazzed beyond belief!! I just got finished printing out the plans and will go do an inventory of what I have. I know that I have the pieces to get started on the main structure. Take a quick look to see what drill bits I may need to go get and take a tally of the nuts and bolts needed :read2: to complete it all and I'll be set to start gluing tubing together. Someone pinch me, I can't believe the day has finally come. Play time is over, back to work. L8r

Jim
 
I made a trip this morning to a boneyard where I knew they had a few early 70's Darts with a short shopping list............
-headliner bows
-radio antenna
-upper door panel trim for the front
-retainer brackets for the front marker lights

What I got were the headliner bows and the piece of the trim that goes along the front edge of the hood. I already have a pretty good one of these, but they're hard to find without dents. I guess it is on to other sources for these parts.

I made a trip to the local fleet store with a shopping list for my new project. I picked up over 12 pounds of bolts and nuts that I will ultimately need for the rotisserie. I spent time tonight with a grinder just knocking all the sharp edges and burrs off the pieces so I don't shred my gloves, hands or anything else that comes in contact with them when I start welding this baby up. It now looks like I won't be able to start on it until Monday. Man, this is worse than being away from home on Christmas morning!! At least I know that it is waiting for me when I get a chance to start.
 
gerahead, are you needing the metal part for the door trim? If so I have a pair but will need to be stripped and painted. They are off a 71 Swinger. I would let them go for shipping cost. PM me....
Also the brackets for marker light
 
I guess I wasn't as prepared as I thought to get started. Needed a bigger square to make sure I am putting the big pieces together correctly, a few more clamps, watch grandson play a football game, etc. Well I finally made the first few welds tonight :toothy10:. Before I make a bunch of welds that might need to be ground down and redone, I'm going to have a good friend of mine who actually knows how to weld take a look at what I've done so far to see if I am on the right track. I have only done one of the end piece uprights to the horizontal base. Wadda ya think?
 

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I won't be able to connect with my buddy until later in the week so I got as much done as I can. All the holes are drilled except for the 4 pieces of pipe that the whole apparatus spins on. All the captive nuts are welded in and the big pieces are welded together. Need to add gussets, sand down the inner piece of pipe that is the spinner so that it fits into the outer rotator. Pretty close to the end. Like to get it painted before I mount the car, but who knows how long the nice weather will last! This welding/fab stuff takes a lot longer than I would have thought. But then again......I couldn't settle for the mock up until the pieces were perfectly perpendicular. Anyone seen my meds? L8r.

Jim
 
My buddy was able to get over to my house on Saturday morning and the prognosis on my welding skills was good! Go for it he said. So I spent the weekend slaving away on the fab work. Learned a couple of things in the process.........
- chop saws suck if you need to make a semi-precision cut in thick walled materials
- 2.5 x .188 square tubing gets very heavy fast when you start stickin' pieces of it together
- 8 hours of getting up and down from the garage floor makes an old guy's back really sore.
- I really hate deburring and grinding off mill scale

The two pieces of pipe that were spec'd in the plan that are supposed to form the swivel joint on the end frames don't fit into each other like they are supposed to. :wack: so on to plan B. I had hoped to get it finished this weekend so I could take advantage of some of the last? nice weather on a weekend to paint it as well before I throw the body on it. No such luck. The garage might stay warm enough inside to get it painted though once I get it welded up. L8r

Jim
 
Jim,

I have been checking my stach o parts. I can only find one door trim and one front marker light bracket. if you still would like them let me know and i will ship to ya.
Jeff
 
Jeff,
I'll take a look to see which sides I have and if what I need is what you have, we're on! Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. L8r

Jim
 
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