''I'm going to fix it up someday'' The resurrection of a '74 Dart Sport......

[Dartnut]

Well, i decided to put a mini starter on it, it fits and works good.......
I got it used off of a 1990 Dodge pickup.
The only mods i ended up doing was to flip the starter wire connections and run them out of the front of the starter.
That way they were away from the exhaust manifold more and ran them beside the block up to the battery instead of under the steering shaft.
That gave a lot more positive cable to work with, the location of the connections on the mini starter opposed to stock is a lot lower and forward of the stock placement..

 

[Dartnut]

Well, i finally got the exhaust system hooked up at the muffler shop.
They had to make new head pipes and fit everything.
It sounds pretty good with the summit turbo mufflers and stainless tips! :glasses7:
They also installed a balance tube.
They had to bend the gas tank a little bit for the pass. side tail pipe.
The pics could be better, i had to snatch a few on the hoist at their shop real quick!

 

[71Racer]

car's looking great,bet you cant wait to drive it? the exhaust look very nicely done,are those crome or stainless tips?? so whats next on the car?:burnout:

 

[mwls73duster360]

great progress

 

[Dartnut]

car's looking great,bet you cant wait to drive it? the exhaust look very nicely done,are those crome or stainless tips?? so whats next on the car?:burnout:

Thanks for the compliment.
Actually, i have driven it for about 6 blocks back from the muffler shop. Actually, it's the first time the car has been driven for almost 27 years!
All i can say is, 2:71 gears, tall 15'' tires, and a 4 speed is not a great combo.
I was lucky that there was snow on the ground and i was able to get it spinning a little when i started out from the stop signs. The sure grip in the rear end works good though, and it's actually pretty good in the snow! :cheers:
It would be an awesome gear on the highway if you wanted to drive over 100 mph. :glasses7:
In town, at about 25 mph it was barely above idle in first gear. :banghead:
The tips are polished stainless, not chrome.
I got them from a friend of mine as a early Christmas present (thanks again Rob if you are reading this!) they are 2 1/2'' inlets to match the tail pipes. He got them from P&G Classics.
The exhaust sounds and looks good with no rattles or pipes hitting, so i am happy with the job.

The next step on the car is to tie up some loose ends on it like panel alignment, trim, antenna, and maybe install the hood scoop.

 

[Dartnut]

great progress

Thanks, it's been a lot of work!
It's nice of you guys to appreciate the time it takes to build up a car, let alone the expense.
It also is a lot of fun as well!

 

[Newf]

I love your story and i'm very glad that you decided to share it on this site. Being a mid 70's born kid who grew up without a vehicle of any kind I can only imagine what it must have been like by hearing stories like yours and from others posted on sites like these. That being said I am about to undertake a journey to restore one of the 72' Demons that I have aquired in the past year. Its great to have a place like this to turn to for the inspirational stories which the younger crowd need to keep this hobby and love of Mopars alive.

Thanks again and Can't wait to see it finished!:cheers:

Joe

 

[Dartnut]

I love your story and i'm very glad that you decided to share it on this site. Being a mid 70's born kid who grew up without a vehicle of any kind I can only imagine what it must have been like by hearing stories like yours and from others posted on sites like these. That being said I am about to undertake a journey to restore one of the 72' Demons that I have aquired in the past year. Its great to have a place like this to turn to for the inspirational stories which the younger crowd need to keep this hobby and love of Mopars alive.

Thanks again and Can't wait to see it finished!:cheers:

Joe

Thanks for the compliment, Joe.
I have learned a lot on this site and it has been instrumental to me to build this car.
If you haven't noticed, i don't ask many questions here on FABO. It's not because i know it all (far from it!), it's because i'll do research on here and usually come up with the answers i need for any problem as it arises.
Younger people like you getting in to the hobby is only going to make it better for everyone.
Yes, start a build thread when you start on your car, you won't believe how much it inspires you and others to get work done on their cars! :cheers:
P.M. me if you need any advice, my door is always open.
As for my car, i can't wait until it's finished either!
Then it will be off to another project.......

 

[Dartnut]

Well, i decided to get back at 'er and cut the holes in the hood for the scoop.....
The yellow hood is an original off of a '73 Dart Sport, it's bent pretty bad, but will make a good pattern for the holes and stripes to come later. :glasses7:

 

[Dartnut]

Well, seeing that this hood isn't very good wit some bondo issues etc. i just cleaned up the underside and sprayed on some tremclad green.
It looks better than it was, and i plan on doing the body right in a couple of years when i can afford a good paint job on the car. The hood will be replaced then.
I'm just trying to make the car look better than it was and then drive it! :burnout:

 

[dustermaniac]

Just read the whole thread. Great to see you have taken what most would consider a scrap heap and brought it back from the dead!!! Awesome job! I applaud you for not scrapping that Dart and I am sure you will enjoy it as you cruise around this spring and summer!! My car is sitting and has been for almost 2 yrs now. I need to start the disassemble and get to work on it. I plan on gutting it out this spring and rebuilding it (again).

 

[adriver]

Thanks for asking.
The funny thing is with this car is that the driver's side was terrible, the passenger side is almost rust free. The car wasn't undercoated from the factory except in the standard spots that all of the cars got.
The undercarriage and frame rails only had light surface rust on them. The only rust through on the car is a small hole in the rocker, some holes down low in front of the rear tire in the quarter, the trunk drop off and bottom quarter on the bottom behind the rear tire all on the driver's side! The rust scabs on the rear quarter are a result of some poor body work in it's past. The door and front fender were also bad on the driver's side too, and i changed them already.
The floor pan on the driver's side wasn't too bad with a couple of holes, but i changed the whole thing anyway. The bottom of the trunk floor where the gas tank mount is had some holes so i replaced it too.
I am buying a partial rear amd quarter for the driver's side up to about the filler neck, i have a new trunk drop off already, and i have a rust free rocker patch to take care of that bad spot.

That is the first thing that I noticed. The whole driver's side of the car took the worst; the other side was much better.
I was wondering if the orientation of the car to the elements had something to do with it.
Perhaps the left rear caught the brunt of the northern plains climate? The other side was sheltered from the storms or had a southeastern exposure.
I wanted to ask about the input shaft on the transmission. Was the 360 crank drilled for it?
How was this handled if it was not?
And the flywheel, did you have to rebalance it?

I run 215 70r 15 tires and have no trouble with clearances on my Dart Sports.
If you are going to drive this car, why not keep the tall gears?
Better fuel economy and doing over 100 mph sounds reasonable to me.

I think there should be some type of award for what you have done with this car.

 

[QuintinMotorCompany]

wow! its coming along nice.

 

[65dartcharger]

Great work you have done with your car. Good luck and keep the pictures coming!

 

[Dartnut]

That is the first thing that I noticed. The whole driver's side of the car took the worst; the other side was much better.
I was wondering if the orientation of the car to the elements had something to do with it.
Perhaps the left rear caught the brunt of the northern plains climate? The other side was sheltered from the storms or had a southeastern exposure.
I wanted to ask about the input shaft on the transmission. Was the 360 crank drilled for it?
How was this handled if it was not?
And the flywheel, did you have to rebalance it?

I run 215 70r 15 tires and have no trouble with clearances on my Dart Sports.
If you are going to drive this car, why not keep the tall gears?
Better fuel economy and doing over 100 mph sounds reasonable to me.

I think there should be some type of award for what you have done with this car.

Thank you for the compliment.
To answer your questions, here goes.
-The rust on the driver's side i can attribute to a car that was driven in the winter with a lot of highway miles that had a lot of salt wash from other vehicles and not a lot of washing the car off to get the salt off the side coupled with rock chips to let the rust take off. It also had some bad body work on the rear of the quarter which didn't help matters.
-The 360 crank was factory drilled for the input shaft bushing, all i had to do was install a new one. It was very easy.
-The flywheel was a factory 360 one, the balance ''balancing holes''were already in it.
The engine runs well with no vibration, so i guess it's right.
-As for the gears, i would prefer a street car that has a compromise between street and highway. I plan to run a 255 60 15 on this car with a factory 15X7 rallye wheel with a b-body 8 3/4 rear end with the spring perches moved in to the factory location. I have a friend with the same set up and the tires are more centered in the wheel wells and the tire size suits the look i am trying to achieve.
The gears will be probably 3:55s.
The 2:71s coupled with the 235 70 15s are hard to drive on in the city. You really have to slip the clutch to get it going off the lights.
I'll do 90% of my driving in the city!
100 mph on the highway is cool too, but the cops don't like that!
-As for an award, i really think that the real reward to me is actually driving the car after the big sleep, but thank you anyway! :burnout:

 

[Dartnut]

wow! its coming along nice.

Thank you, i appreciate the great comments.

 

[Dartnut]

Great work you have done with your car. Good luck and keep the pictures coming!

Thank you, and there is lots more to come!
I plan on driving it in a few months.
And i plan on taking lots more pictures and posting them as i go.

 

[gdrill]

Well, well, I see you have been busy while I was away! Great job on the hood, it will look awesome with the scoop. I will have to come see it in the next couple days.

 

[Dartnut]

Hey George, yes i have been busy on the car!
We'll see you in a few!

 

[Dartnut]

Well, i thought it over and i decided to make the car all one color to get rid of the sun burn. :glasses7:
I do plan on doing a good body and paint job in the future, but for now this will be good enough to drive it and pass inspection. :cheers:

 

[Dartnut]

We cleaned and sanded the bad stuff off, self etch primed the bare metal, and primed the rest so the color would be consistent.
All professional bodymen should look away at this point!
The car will be stripped to bare metal in the future and done right, but this should give the car a few more years of use until then.......

 

[Dartnut]

And here comes the duplicolor KG8 spray bombs! :cheers:

 

[Dartnut]

Unmasked!

 

[Dartnut]

Emblems, hood stripe, trim, and scoop installed.
The driver's fender is original paint. I can't wait to repair the driver's quarter panel and the tail light panel, but i think it looks a little better than it did before! :cheers:

 

[gdrill]

Holy shoot! :tongue10: Forkin' hay bubba, you got right at it. It does look way better in one color. Was the stripe tough to get right? Cool, when is the inspection booked for?!! :thumbrig::thumbrig: