Nice to hear from you again.
MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
- Thread starter MuuMuu101
- Start date
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I still stop by from time-to-time. I relaxed on working on getting OT for a little bit and decided I should get back into my creative side.
With about a day of designing, 3 days of printing, and $10 in material I might finally have a design for my dash cluster. I had to print it out in 4 pieces because I didn't have enough room in my build volume. I'm very happy with the side pieces. The top piece, I may reprint in a different orientation. The fit isn't amazing, due to the tolerances of the printer though. It seems like it's going to be a pain to glue together. I might end up 3D printing braces to hold everything together while gluing, so it doesn't move around too much.
Besides, that, I'm pretty happy with the look. I think the gauge cluster looks pretty cool. It came with a plexiglass cover which I can't use because it is too big for the opening. I'm not sure if I want to leave the electronics exposed or if I want to get a thin piece of plexiglass and glue it into the printed housing. I added a channel that goes all the way around the perimeter of the printed housing.
With about a day of designing, 3 days of printing, and $10 in material I might finally have a design for my dash cluster. I had to print it out in 4 pieces because I didn't have enough room in my build volume. I'm very happy with the side pieces. The top piece, I may reprint in a different orientation. The fit isn't amazing, due to the tolerances of the printer though. It seems like it's going to be a pain to glue together. I might end up 3D printing braces to hold everything together while gluing, so it doesn't move around too much.
Besides, that, I'm pretty happy with the look. I think the gauge cluster looks pretty cool. It came with a plexiglass cover which I can't use because it is too big for the opening. I'm not sure if I want to leave the electronics exposed or if I want to get a thin piece of plexiglass and glue it into the printed housing. I added a channel that goes all the way around the perimeter of the printed housing.
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belmateo
Well-Known Member
Have you considered using the stock face plate and attach to that? That way your dash trim looks uniform.
I did and mocking it up, it may have fit. However, all of my other dash trim was cracked and chipped to pieces that it wouldn't make sense. So, I 3D printed one.
So, I know I've been pretty quiet on FABO for the past year. 2020 has been quite a bit crazy. Luckily, both my wife and I have been employed and haven't experienced any financial hardship due to COVID. If anything, our work has been more busy. Since July, I have been putting in quite a bit of OT at work as my project is wrapping up toward the end of next year. This hasn't left me much time or energy to work on the Dart as it's been sitting at my mom's house 20 miles away. And as my wife and I predominantly work from home still, we're starting to realize that we are outgrowing our small townhouse pretty quickly so we've been working towards saving for the next house.
With all that being said, there has been a lot of positive things have been going on in our life. Back in August of 2020, my wife and I decided to adopt a rescue puppy, Hershey! He's currently about 8-9 months old. We don't know what breed he is, but we took a doggie DNA test and will know the results within a couple of weeks. If you know me from Moparts, the running joke was that I always wanted a dog.
Shortly after adopting Hershey, I decided to take the Dart from my mom's house and have a shop to start working on it. When I started getting into the wiring for the dash, it was just a complete rats nest. I had the shop rewire the entire car and install a Holley Sniper EFI kit I already had most of the parts for. The shop did a fantastic job and I finally have the car running again. The owner is super awesome and is constantly checking in on me and giving me pointers through text as I go through the rest of the car. Now, that the Dart is running, my wife and I finally made room for it in our garage. I can actually work on the car in the comfort of my own home!
Lastly, my wife also found out we're pregnant and expecting a boy this coming May! This will be our first born. So, we're pretty excited.
And so the plan for 2020 is to get the Dart sorted and to get as much seat time as possible. I'm currently working in the interior to get it looking more presentable and hide the exposed areas. I basically stripped the dash frame and everything underneath the dash and now I'm going back in to 3D print plates and brackets. My coworkers have all been getting into autocross and have been inviting me, so you'll most likely see the Dart in action this year.
I removed my removable door bars from the car. When pinned it was almost impossible to crawl out of the car so we mostly left them unpinned which always made me feel unsafe because if I were to get into a crash they would swing into the occupants of the vehicle. Plus, they were so annoying to open and close. I think I'm going to leave the cage a 4-point cage when I drive on the street and autocross and install them when I go on a road course. Not that it matters, but they weighed 16 lbs each.
The wheels and tires for this car are just not right. The rear tires sidewalls were rubbing so bad under hard cornering that it shaved off the lettering and specs from the sidewall. The front tires got cut up back when I had 1.06" torsion bars. Since then I have installed 0.5" offset shackles, 1.18" torsion bars, and I "pulled"/"rolled" the front fenders a little bit. I swapped the wheels front to back and now everywhere rubs a little bit instead of the front being ok and the rear being really rubby. I really need new tires and at the very least get both wheels machined to a +35mm offset. We'll see what solution I come up with.
With all that being said, there has been a lot of positive things have been going on in our life. Back in August of 2020, my wife and I decided to adopt a rescue puppy, Hershey! He's currently about 8-9 months old. We don't know what breed he is, but we took a doggie DNA test and will know the results within a couple of weeks. If you know me from Moparts, the running joke was that I always wanted a dog.
Shortly after adopting Hershey, I decided to take the Dart from my mom's house and have a shop to start working on it. When I started getting into the wiring for the dash, it was just a complete rats nest. I had the shop rewire the entire car and install a Holley Sniper EFI kit I already had most of the parts for. The shop did a fantastic job and I finally have the car running again. The owner is super awesome and is constantly checking in on me and giving me pointers through text as I go through the rest of the car. Now, that the Dart is running, my wife and I finally made room for it in our garage. I can actually work on the car in the comfort of my own home!
Lastly, my wife also found out we're pregnant and expecting a boy this coming May! This will be our first born. So, we're pretty excited.
And so the plan for 2020 is to get the Dart sorted and to get as much seat time as possible. I'm currently working in the interior to get it looking more presentable and hide the exposed areas. I basically stripped the dash frame and everything underneath the dash and now I'm going back in to 3D print plates and brackets. My coworkers have all been getting into autocross and have been inviting me, so you'll most likely see the Dart in action this year.
I removed my removable door bars from the car. When pinned it was almost impossible to crawl out of the car so we mostly left them unpinned which always made me feel unsafe because if I were to get into a crash they would swing into the occupants of the vehicle. Plus, they were so annoying to open and close. I think I'm going to leave the cage a 4-point cage when I drive on the street and autocross and install them when I go on a road course. Not that it matters, but they weighed 16 lbs each.
The wheels and tires for this car are just not right. The rear tires sidewalls were rubbing so bad under hard cornering that it shaved off the lettering and specs from the sidewall. The front tires got cut up back when I had 1.06" torsion bars. Since then I have installed 0.5" offset shackles, 1.18" torsion bars, and I "pulled"/"rolled" the front fenders a little bit. I swapped the wheels front to back and now everywhere rubs a little bit instead of the front being ok and the rear being really rubby. I really need new tires and at the very least get both wheels machined to a +35mm offset. We'll see what solution I come up with.
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racerhog
RacerHog likes his Mopars
Looks good... Good to hear your back in the drivers seat having a little fun... Keep Chipping at it.... Cheers... 
Not too much of an update. Back to doing a lot of OT at work. Drove the Dart approx. 30 miles today to get gas, drive through the local canyons, and pick up groceries. I've been 3D printing some block-out plate/cell phone holder for the dash. I'm on my 3rd iteration of the print trying to get everything to fit. It should look cool when it's done.
Congratulations on the new baby coming!! Better wrap up anything on the Dart while you have a chance.
JDMopar
Well-Known Member
Congrats on the baby! Now.....I'm goin to Moparts and snoop around and see if you fessed up about Hershey the dog. If not.....I'm gonna need some hush money!
Cute doggy...LOVE those ears!
Thank you! I'm trying to get the Dart to be as reliable as possible. At least it's running and driving. Whenever I have time and energy, I'd like to take one of my original Dart seats and place it in the back for a baby seat.
Congrats on the baby! Now.....I'm goin to Moparts and snoop around and see if you fessed up about Hershey the dog. If not.....I'm gonna need some hush money!
Shhhhhhhhh... Don't tell. Here's a $5.
Thank you! He's a crazy mix. American Bully, Akita, Australian Cattle Dog, German Shepherd, Chow Chow, Stafford Terrier, etc.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Damn, that's quite a mix. How'd you figure all that out?
I tried taking an old suction cup cellphone holder and tried incorporating it into a block-off plate. After 3 failed 3D printing attempts I gave up and just decided to make it a standard block-off plate. I'm happy with how it turned out. Now to design a couple more block off plates.
I don't have too much to update on. I've been having issues with my 3D printer that I've been troubleshooting for a week, so I haven't been able to print out a couple more block-off plates. I worked with the digital dash assembly I had and was able to fix the odometer so now I'm reading and recording accurate mileage. I was supposed to go autocrossing this weekend but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen as my dog's training classes was postponed to autocrossing days. I may end up going late-April.
Other than that, I took it for a 25 mile drive this weekend through the local canyons and to the grocery store. I'm trying to make little progress here and there, but we just started nesting as my wife is due in late-May so my focus may be shifted elsewhere.
Other than that, I took it for a 25 mile drive this weekend through the local canyons and to the grocery store. I'm trying to make little progress here and there, but we just started nesting as my wife is due in late-May so my focus may be shifted elsewhere.
67autocross
A new iron curtain drawn across the 49th parallel
The rear springs are sure low...does it bottom out?
My tires end up rubbing on the wheel wells before I bottom out the differential. But it usually only happens when I have someone in the car. I have an extra set of stiffer, AFCO leaf springs I have been meaning to install. The Hotchkis ones are just a little too soft. My car is also a little bit on the heavier side compared to most A-bodies due to my cage.
racerhog
RacerHog likes his Mopars
Glad you got it out for a drive... Looks awesome..... Dare to be different...
Wow, it's been a year since I updated this. Well, not much of an update on the Dart itself. I had a kid and moved across country so, that's why I haven't done much with the car. It's pretty much the same. I drive it once a month on the freeway. The car needs some TLC & "updating." I'm not sure which direction I am going to go though. It's just hard to find the time. For now, I'll try to enjoy it as much as possible.
Had a kid and moved across the country!!!
I moved last year too, but only about an hour away. Still, I know how you feel about finding the time (and I didn't have a kid either!). All new house projects to work on, plus trying to find all my tools and parts to even work on my cars. I went from having a shop to not having one, although my garage is a lot bigger so what was in my old shop is about 50% in the new garage and 50% in storage.
Glad to hear you're still getting the old girl out and driving her a bit though! Love to see some updates when you figure out what direction you're going to go
I moved last year too, but only about an hour away. Still, I know how you feel about finding the time (and I didn't have a kid either!). All new house projects to work on, plus trying to find all my tools and parts to even work on my cars. I went from having a shop to not having one, although my garage is a lot bigger so what was in my old shop is about 50% in the new garage and 50% in storage.
Glad to hear you're still getting the old girl out and driving her a bit though! Love to see some updates when you figure out what direction you're going to go
1WildRT
Well-Known Member
Hershey my butt... Thats Heinz 57..... Good lookin pup.... Congrats on the new kid & hope your liking the move... Gettin outta LA has to be a good thing... Hopefully your liking the new place...
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Where did you move to?
3-D printers are nice.
I would recommend when designing parts, put in a generous radius instead of 90 deg corners.
90 degree on corners become high stress points.
Yeah, the house I bought has been a fixer upper so it's been taking all my energy and funds. There are a lot of "comfort repairs" I need to make so that I can enjoy it more.
I have a "charging issue" right now that makes it difficult to drive the car. I have a new high output alternator installed when I took it to a shop 1-2 years ago; however, I have an underdrive crank pulley. So, at idle, which I had to bump to 1100 rpm to help with charging, my battery is around 12.7 Volts. So, I have a new pulley to install, just no time.
I still have a set of AFCO leaf springs you recommended to me years ago I have to install.
Some of my wheel bearings are worn out. I can hear the 8 3/4 bearings humming when I drive it on the highway.
Also, I am pretty sure I have an exhaust leak somewhere as I get headaches and extremely fatigued after driving the car for too long.
So, lots of "little" stuff to do before I can think about a new direction.
That's the name the rescue gave him. He's a good pup. We still miss LA sometimes because everyone we know is out there. But we like the lack of traffic out here and it's just overall beautiful, especially this Spring. We were also able to afford a single family home. A
We moved to Minnesota.
Just for fun, I decided to open the box that had my new crank pulley in it and it's for the wrong application completely. It wouldn't work. So, I just ordered a smaller alternator pulley for my Powermaster Alternator and hopefully that will be enough to charge the Dart. My current pulley OD is 2.75". The new one is 2.375".
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