Help with 1970 Dart restoration please.

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Road Grabber

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I need some parts to move on with my current stage of restoration and need to locate:

Vendors for:
1. a correct emergency brake cable setup without an intermediate cable. The one I see at least on Mancini doesn't look the same as in the picture.

2. Fender, front and rear valance bolt & U-nuts. Vendors claim that the The zinc phosphate finish is much more durable, resists corrosion and takes paint better than the OEM black oxide.
Ay opinions on this?

3. A passenger side fiberglass fender extension

Body assembly:
I am trying to bolt the body together and send it to the body shop to complete the panel assembly and at least prime it so it will be sealed for the winter. I was hoping for some input because I don't want to purchase fasteners that aren't going to look right. It's never been assembled since I purchased the car but I believe the panels I need to be able to assemble should include:

Fenders, doors, hood, front valance, hood latch assembly, trunk, fender and quarter extensions and rear valance? Am I missing something? Always been a B-Body man till now...

Thank you in advance for your input.
 
I have bought bolt kits from the above ebay seller as well. Quality was good.
 
el5dart said:
inlinetube.com for the parking brake assembly $116.00

front valence kit $11.49: FITS 70 71 72 Dart Swinger & 71 72 Demon Front Valance Bolt Kit | eBay

got the rear valence bolt kit from the same guy for $19.68
Click to expand...

Thank you. I am familiar with Inlinetube. I will check them out.

Any suggestions for the parking brake handle for parts? I figure install the parking brake ot at least have some braking while loading and unloading the car from a trailer for transport.

I noticed there is a grommet for the cable where it goes through the fire wall? Is that something extra?

It's been tough buying a car apart....I learned B-bodies while stripping them years ago. I didn't get that experience this time.
 
i asked inline tube about the firewall grommet. they said it didnt come on the parking cable so i bought one, but when i got the parking cable kit it had one on there. i dont see why they even sell it because theres no way to put it on unless your assembling the whole cable from scratch

your parking brake will work if the dash is in the car and everything else is hooked up.

i got a couple handles i didnt use because the plastic handle was bent from years of people pulling on it. but i had a nice straight one in a parts car.

i also got my front fender bolt kit from that ebay seller. it was around $46
 
el5dart said:
i asked inline tube about the firewall grommet. they said it didnt come on the parking cable so i bought one, but when i got the parking cable kit it had one on there. i dont see why they even sell it because theres no way to put it on unless your assembling the whole cable from scratch

your parking brake will work if the dash is in the car and everything else is hooked up.

i got a couple handles i didnt use because the plastic handle was bent from years of people pulling on it. but i had a nice straight one in a parts car.

i also got my front fender bolt kit from that ebay seller. it was around $46
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when I removed the cable I noticed that the grommet was fixed but then saw it for sale. Thanks for the information. Anything that helps prevent doing things over or returning is appreciated.
I might not install yet if there would be overspray underneath.
I will inspect the brake handle. Thank you for the help.
 
There are more than just the end bolts holding on the valances. I can tell you that they ommitted a couple bolts on the later ones (around 73) but even those had more than just the end bolts.
 
IMHO... I'd get most of the stuff you want to put on the car before paint, painted first, and then install it. Have the bolts painted stuck in a cardboard box at the same time. My 70 GT is going to the shop like this:
2020-05-17 13.21.44.jpg

2020-05-17 13.22.01.jpg

and all the rest is painted separately at the same time and then installed afterwards
 
str12-340 said:
IMHO... I'd get most of the stuff you want to put on the car before paint, painted first, and then install it. Have the bolts painted stuck in a cardboard box at the same time. My 70 GT is going to the shop like this:
View attachment 1715597067
View attachment 1715597068
and all the rest is painted separately at the same time and then installed afterwards
Click to expand...


Yes that I believe there is merit do it that way. I plan on discussing that with the paint guy. At least paint the inside edges before assembly. I have painted bolts before but it does require some touch up after tightening.

I've seen youtubes on people assembling the fenders and other valances. I do think it takes a steady hand and some help putting things back together though without scratching or nicking anything. I'm sure there's many opinions on assembly before or after paint.

At this point I am familiarizing myself with the car and making sure I have everything. I have always been a B-body man until now. I received the car apart and never had the opportunity to know how it comes apart. It had been apart for so long. Some mating surfaces were dented and had to be straightened before assembly. Until I put it together I would not have know about any problems. I'm doing this with extra bolts and nuts. Sort of a dry run. I'll hand over the new stuff to the body guy.

Thanks for the advice!
 
str12-340 said:
IMHO... I'd get most of the stuff you want to put on the car before paint, painted first, and then install it. Have the bolts painted stuck in a cardboard box at the same time. My 70 GT is going to the shop like this:
View attachment 1715597067
View attachment 1715597068
and all the rest is painted separately at the same time and then installed afterwards
Click to expand...

By the way, don't want to sound like an idiot but what is the difference between a GT Dart and a Swinger? Was is a 318 engine?

My dart is a 340 Swinger. Are there 340 GT Darts?
 
No 340 Dart GTs in 1970. All 1970-71 GTs were made from a 1970 Dart Custom 2 door (LH - high level trim). These are all, to my knowledge, bucket seat/console cars whether standard or automatic. On the fender tag it is the A65 option. Because of that, about 50% of the ones that I come across have had a 340 or 360 installed - what would you have done with a 2 door hardtop, bucket seat /console Dart in 1980 when the 318 wore out? 1970 Swinger 340s are LM (medium trim cars) to start, where the rest of the Swingers are LL (low trim) cars. The car in my avatar is a 1970 Dart Custom that I put a 340 in in 1978. It was way easy to go from 318 to 340! The most obvious give away on the out side are the Dart GT badges on the quarters where yours says Dart Swinger. Just like one of the give aways to a real Swinger 340 is the Dart Swinger badge on the trunk lid (ALL the rest of the Darts had Dodge script like is on the hood)
 
Road Grabber said:
Yes that I believe there is merit do it that way. I plan on discussing that with the paint guy. At least paint the inside edges before assembly. I have painted bolts before but it does require some touch up after tightening.

I've seen youtubes on people assembling the fenders and other valances. I do think it takes a steady hand and some help putting things back together though without scratching or nicking anything. I'm sure there's many opinions on assembly before or after paint.

At this point I am familiarizing myself with the car and making sure I have everything. I have always been a B-body man until now. I received the car apart and never had the opportunity to know how it comes apart. It had been apart for so long. Some mating surfaces were dented and had to be straightened before assembly. Until I put it together I would not have know about any problems. I'm doing this with extra bolts and nuts. Sort of a dry run. I'll hand over the new stuff to the body guy.

Thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...


Somewhere, years ago, I got a set of sockets with soft plastic inserts in them, just for this purpose. You still have to do some touch up, but not nearly as much. Let the parts sit for 30 days or so after paint before you bolt it all together to let the paint cure well. (be sure to do that before you install your butt stripes too - I didn't once and the paint off gassed under the stripes and it took months to all come out.)
 
str12-340 said:
Somewhere, years ago, I got a set of sockets with soft plastic inserts in them, just for this purpose. You still have to do some touch up, but not nearly as much. Let the parts sit for 30 days or so after paint before you bolt it all together to let the paint cure well. (be sure to do that before you install your butt stripes too - I didn't once and the paint off gassed under the stripes and it took months to all come out.)
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My Tag:

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Thanks for taking time to shed some light. The car had most of the quarters removed so I never got to see where the emblems belong. That means I should have "Dart Swinger" emblems on each side of the quarters? Since I don't have the original to go by I will have to see if they have templates to help locate them on the new quarters. I want these holes drilled before paint. I don't want to drill them afterwards for sure.

My trunk should have what emblem(s)? Dart Swinger?

Anything on the fenders or some place else? What about the hood? I know it has hood scoops with "340".

The car came with auto, bucket seats and console.

I'm curious what the added trim features were as opposed to a Dart Swinger. These were exterior trim pieces? Side moldings? Hood, fender moldings?

The hood has a trim piece along the front. Also in the fender extensions.

My dodge charger has interior padded doors. Did the interiors have any padding any where?

Thanks for the A body education.
 
So LM23 at the bottom is a Dart (L), 2 door hardtop (23), Medium trim (M) - which tells us this could ONLY be a factory Dart Swinger 340 and confirmed by the H (340) engine code. All this is also part of your VIN # in the corner of the dash. Door panels had a little padding to make the fake stitch lines stand out. If you need me to, I can take pictures of the door panels and the seat upholstery your car should have (all available from Legendary, but sometimes they mess up the applications in their catalog). No fender badges except for the little gold pentastar on one side (see photo). Quarter emblems are the same on ALL Swingers and the same emblems (DART and Swinger) also go on the trunk lid on a Swinger 340. I can make you some cardboard templates. Drilling the holes is tedious. Little plastic retainers go in the holes first, but if the holes are the tiniest bit off they can break the emblem when you go to press it in the holes. I'd get some old useless pitted emblems and use them to get the holes just right. I might have some pitted ones you can have for the cost of postage. I have an original Swinger 340 trunk lid I can use to make the pattern.

Here are some pictures of my 1970 Swinger (no 340). When I got it painted in 1998, they did not make the Dodge script that goes on the hood and trunk and I had a Swinger 340 lid and you could get the dart and Swinger script so I did that (even though it's not 'right'). The Dodge Hood Script and the dart and swinger script is available new and is even better than the original because the metal is different and doesn't pit (available from several sources).
IMG_1739.JPG
IMG_1172.JPG


So I think this is the list of trim for GT/Custom:
trunk lid edge trim that runs onto the rear fender extensions
stainless molding at the bottom edge of the side windows (outside)
wheel well moldings
the trim that the top of the door and rear panels fit into is Stainless instead of painted body color
They had the same instrument cluster as the LL Swingers (not a rallye cluster like you have ) but the bezels were wood grain and covered all the way over to and across the glove box door (LL cars are silver and only go to the far side of the radio/heater)
The glove box door has chrome "Dart Custom" script on Customs and even on all GTs.
Some of this extra trim could be had on an LL or LM Swinger at additional cost, but was standard on GT/Custom.
The seats (buckets on GT and Bench for Custom) are much nicer, usually two tone, and are the same seats for a Swinger 340, but only if you got bucket seats. if you had a bench seat Swinger 340 you got the low level seats like an LL Swinger.

What color is your interior and exterior?
 
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By the way, I'm happy to help you with this stuff. My Dad bought my 70 Dart Custom new in 1970, so that's when i started working on them (at 14). I have a 70 Custom, a 70 Swinger, and a 70 GT. Lots of folks have helped me out over the years (including today on FABO) , so I like to return the favor. The other real expert on here is Joel Cooper up you way in (I think) Connecticut. He has been a 70 Swinger expert for decades. I'll get you his FABO handle. He is currently restoring one of the handful of 1972 Dart 340 cars sold at only 2 Canadian dealerships.
 
str12-340 said:
By the way, I'm happy to help you with this stuff. My Dad bought my 70 Dart Custom new in 1970, so that's when i started working on them (at 14). I have a 70 Custom, a 70 Swinger, and a 70 GT. Lots of folks have helped me out over the years (including today on FABO) , so I like to return the favor. The other real expert on here is Joel Cooper up you way in (I think) Connecticut. He has been a 70 Swinger expert for decades. I'll get you his FABO handle. He is currently restoring one of the handful of 1972 Dart 340 cars sold at only 2 Canadian dealerships.
Click to expand...

Nice ride! It's great having cars you grew up with.

That would be great please send his contact info.

I do have bucket seats with console. Rallye dash. I'm not sure about the wood grain. This stuff is still in boxes. I'll take any information from any source. I used to get info and share stories hanging out at the car shows years ago but with this virus everything has been cancelled.

What's really changed is the parts availability but the unbelievable cost of parts.

I really appreciate the info. The quarter template would be great. I believe I have old emblems but I will check. I have the original trunk so that template is not needed but definitely the quarter panel.

The car has black interior with the painted moldings for the door panels.
Th exterior is the sublime green. The hood scoops were painted green as well.
It had the black stripe across the back down the quarter extensions.
It has a special lighting package but I don't know what's included with that. It does have a map light switch on the drivers side under the dash...

Original engine and trans. A/C, 323 posi. Black top.

I have to look for a source for the plastic inserts you mentioned.

Any advice for what to do about the dash VIN tag? If I keep it original after glass beading it will look old next to a freshly painted VIN tag.

Thanks again
Jim
 
Are you talking about the fender tag that you sent a picture of, or the dash VIN plate that is under the windshield on the top of the dash frame?

Late this coming week, I'll shoot you some pics of what your door panels and seats should look like. The black seats weren't 2 tone, just two different materials, but both black. I really like your color combination!
 
This is my Dart Custom with a non-original 340. One nice thing about doing a car that was originally a 318 is that nobody cares how much you modify it!
IMG_1156.JPG
IMG_1161.JPG
340 11-06 b.JPG
 
str12-340 said:
This is my Dart Custom with a non-original 340. One nice thing about doing a car that was originally a 318 is that nobody cares how much you modify it!View attachment 1715598667 View attachment 1715598668 View attachment 1715598669
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That is Swwweeeet.... That must be over the course of many years?

Never saw that carb setup on a 340. Did you dyno test it?

Are those exhaust tips stainless? I was thinking about stainless tips but the last time I saw them they weren't formed correctly. Did you use a stainless exhaust system? Any vendor info would be helpful too.

What did you use to treat the exhaust manifolds? I have heard of graphite?

I would appreciate the interior photos.

If you have a chance I could use photos in the engine compartment for clamp, fasteners, etc. Horn location, wiring routing , clips.....

I have no idea what was in the engine compartment. I would have taken photos before disassembly but I bought it apart.

I noticed the hood latch was black? The front valance inside was black?

Thanks for the help.
 
Road Grabber said:
That is Swwweeeet.... That must be over the course of many years? My Dad bought this new as a 318 family car and I bought it from him in 1975.

I was thinking about stainless tips but the last time I saw them they weren't formed correctly. Did you use a stainless exhaust system? Any vendor info would be helpful too. Vendor for tips out of business (((sigh))). No one makes correct stainless tips anymore (one year only item - 1970). If you are doing a real textbook restoration I can sell you a nice pair of original tips, but the inlets are tiny. Back in the day, we would slide a bigger inlet pipe on, mark the tip and cut it off and then weld the new inlet in place. I can sell you a pair of original tips in need of rechroming, you could fix the inlet and then rechrome them...
Accurate Limited (Roseburg, OR) makes factory style pipes, in various diameters - mine are 2 1/4 all the way through. They always fit the first time with no beating and banging. Mine are aluminized pipe, don't know if they do stainless (the pipe on the drivers side is pretty difficult to bend properly, so don't know if they can. Their tips aren't right...

What did you use to treat the exhaust manifolds? I have heard of graphite? The manifold paint comes in a little pot from POR. You apply it with a brush and when you fire the engine, the paint melts into the manifolds, brush strokes disappear.. The best part is they will always flake or get discolored from a water or oil leak or something. Without removing the manifolds, you just touch them up with a brush, fire the engine, and it melts right into the rest of the paint job.

I would appreciate the interior photos. pending

If you have a chance I could use photos in the engine compartment for clamp, fasteners, etc. Horn location, wiring routing , clips..... I'm not very anal about fasteners as long as they look good, but i can take photos of general underhood layout and you can ask particulars when the time comes. I'll use both the Custom and the Swinger to do picture, probably next week. Do you have AC?

I noticed the hood latch was black? The front valance inside was black? Hood latch is black phosphate dipped. Behind the grille is always black so that it disappears behind the grille. At the factory, there was a guys with a gun late in assembly and they just shot it with semi-gloss. I'm usually more particular, but always want none of it to show through the grille. My Custom has a 1971 grille in it, which I always preferred (blacked out louvers), but isn't right.

Are you doing a restoration or building it to suit yourself?
Click to expand...
 

Cool thing about the family car....

I understand about the stainless tips. I do see them being sold now but wouldn't buy them unless I looking at them first hand perhaps at a show or swap meet. I have chrome tips thanks. Just researching options. Last time I looked at the stainless (years ago) they looked too boxy with sharp corners not rounded.

I have heard of Accurate exhaust so it's good to hear from someone satisfied when the time comes. I have had aluminized on another car now 30 years and they are still looking good.

I have spent time looking at pictures of "original" 340 Swingers from 1970 and I don't see much consistency at all from people selling cars. They are pushing the 340 Swinger but I do now notice that very few picture had the Dart Swinger on the trunk. I read two the factory brochures that mentioned the quarter panel emblems but not the trunk. It wouldn't be the first time they were off...

I believe the trunk on the car is original. Not 100% sure because I found three sets of "Dart Swinger" in a bag of emblems but the trunk has three holes that don't match up. The previous owner could have switched the trunk. Would you happen to know which emblem(s) these holes were for?

IMG-3028.jpg


I did see the black paint on the hood latch and bracket so That must be from blacked out grill paint.

I do have AC and the thumb wheel AM radio
 
This is a link for Year One. It lists a Swinger emblem with three studs used for the trunk on some models. I believe this is what I need. I spoke to the previous owner that said that the trunk lid was original. Everything else for the car is matching so I will lean towards this being the correct emblem I need. The holes must be correct since it is a Swinger with 3 holes that happen to fit a "Swinger emblem. To me this means some Swingers may have had just a single Swinger emblem with three studs and not the same Dart & Swinger emblem as the quarters. This doesn't mean I don't think Swingers had two emblems on the trunk. Just that maybe depending on the production date and plant, some cars were manufactured with different emblem placements. If I get the emblem and the hole pattern matches it must be correct for this car.

Maybe I have the only 1970 340 Swinger with this "rare" trunk emblem.. lol

MOPAR PERFORMANCE 1970-1975 Swinger emblem. Three stud em...
 
They had the swinger emblem on the quarter up through I think 71. In 72 they moved to the fender. There are several versions of the emblem. At least two, maybe three. One has an extra stud right behind the flower. I think all the other studs are in the same location. Not sure when the emblem was used on the trunk lid, early for sure. 72+ did not have it.
 
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