My 1972 F7 Dart Swinger
- Thread starter j_anderson
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ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
MH,Take a minute and think it over unless your covers are shabby. I changed my original white interior to black years ago just because they were so hard to keep clean. I've always regretted it, especially after seeing these two at Carlisle about 8 years ago.
ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
I sprayed my original white seats black almost 50 years ago. AWFUL! It came out like flat black on the vinyl but gloss on the backs. You could breathe on the seat backs and it would scratch off.
Soaking the last of the seat tracks in evaporust but making good progress on restoring the bucket seat set I picked up a few weeks back. I picked up the passenger seat frame from the powdercoater today and I'm about to get started putting it back together.
Got both sets of tracks rebuilt and ready
I got the passenger seat back foam repaired. There was a chunk missing. I cut out the bad, glued new in, cut it to shape then skinned the seat foam with fiber to help fill out the covers.
Started putting the new covers on and found some sewing issues with the seat backs. both of them have loose stitching along the side of the headrest pad and one of them is missing about 3/4" of stitching along the same seam.
Around the back, the listing wire pockets aren't sewn the same as the factory covers. Legendary stopped the stitching at the bottom edge of the panel that holds the seat medallions. The factory sewed them all the way to the top of the panel. Without them being sewn all the way up, there isn't anything to hold the seam down in the foam between the back and the bolster.
Here's the original and how its sewn
The seat bottoms seem ok. I got the passenger side finished and it turned out great. I skinned the bottom foam with fiber as well.
Started putting the new covers on and found some sewing issues with the seat backs. both of them have loose stitching along the side of the headrest pad and one of them is missing about 3/4" of stitching along the same seam.
Around the back, the listing wire pockets aren't sewn the same as the factory covers. Legendary stopped the stitching at the bottom edge of the panel that holds the seat medallions. The factory sewed them all the way to the top of the panel. Without them being sewn all the way up, there isn't anything to hold the seam down in the foam between the back and the bolster.
Here's the original and how its sewn
The seat bottoms seem ok. I got the passenger side finished and it turned out great. I skinned the bottom foam with fiber as well.
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ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
Great attention to detail. I'm sure I mentioned before that I think Legendary is overrated but at the same time I have to give them credit for not coming apart with all the abuse and force I had to use when I redid mine. I can be pretty picky but I was really aggravated with the guy I PAID to install mine.
I worked at an upholstery factory for about 5 years a while back. We only did home furniture but the concepts are the same. the only difference really is how the covers are attached. Staples on sofas and chairs and hog rings on metal-framed auto seats. I was an upholsterer there. We got all of our pieces as kits. So, we'd pull the sewn covers out of the bin and put them on the piece. I never learned the cutting or sewing side of the process. Wishing now that I would have. I would have just made my own covers..
That loose stitching may never unravel or get worse but it doesn't look good and if it does unravel or open up, the cover would have to come back off. Gotta make sure it's right the first time!
ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
Did you have it stitched tighter, then? When I was a young man, I had an interest in upholstery. I bought a beginner upholstery kit out of one of the car mags but never followed up on it. I think I probably got wrapped up in a girl or something.
I have reached out to Legendary to fix it. I'm hoping they contact me back today and I hope it doesn't take as long as a new order...
ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
Hey Jason, Looking back on this thread, I just realized it's only been a year since you had your bench seat redone. Good to know I'm not the only one that waivers with decisions. 
On another point, seeing your tracks (Great work), I'm assuming you got the roller.
On another point, seeing your tracks (Great work), I'm assuming you got the roller.
I knew from the start I wanted buckets but I just couldn't find any. In an effort to keep moving forward, I re-covered my bench. I will put it in storage and cover it up. Since it's the original, it will go back in the car when the time comes to sell it.Hey Jason, Looking back on this thread, I just realized it's only been a year since you had your bench seat redone. Good to know I'm not the only one that waivers with decisions.
I did get the roller and ball bearings. Thank you!
I talked to Legendary today. They issued me an RMA to return the covers for repair. I had to ask for shipping to be covered on the way back to them... Had I not mentioned it, It would have been on me to pay to get the covers shipped back to fix THEIR mistake. The guy on the phone was sort of an arrogant prick. I won't ever buy from them again.
ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
There you go. Not a fan. And they're pretty much the only game in town so they get away with it.
I was not able to get the timing and idle set correctly. I had an issue with the carb and with the added issue with timing, I took the car over woodruff carb. Dave graciously agreed to take a look. He fixed the issue with my carb and installed a lockout plate in my distributor. Then he set timing as best he could but he put 60 something advance in it and said it wanted more. Vacuum was maxed out at 9" and it wouldn't idle without keeping foot on the gas. He suspected the timing was off a tooth.
I brought the car back and over the last two weekends, I have torn it apart to have a look. At first look, everything looked correct. I set the engine at TDC using the mark on the timing cover and the OE scribed line on the dampener. Timing marks were in alignment, rotor pointing to bolt on #1. Not wanting to put it back together without fixing anything, I walked away to research things and think about it then tackled it again this weekend.
I had the engine set at #1 compression stroke, put a piston stop in and rotated until it stopped and made a mark, rotated back the other way until it stopped and made a mark. Next, I measured the distance between those marks with calipers, divided by 2 and drew my new mark.
It appears the original dampener timing mark was not accurate. With the engine set at true TDC, I can see the timing marks on the chain sprockets are no longer aligned. Now, I have purchased a brand new dampener from Blueprint Engines and when I compare my original to my new, the 0° mark is in the same spot. So, I don't believe my original dampener slipped but I can't explain why both dampeners' marks are off by about 10°.
I bought the used cam and helped my dad assemble the engine 20 years ago. It sat on a crate in the corner of the garage until I got it installed in the car after the body work was completed. I was told it was a Mopar performance purple cam. I have done a ton of reading on those and it seems there were some quality issues in the late 90s and also a couple different SB MP purple cam grinds. So, I am still not sure what exactly I have.
Since I'm already torn this far apart, I am just going to pull the cam and see if it has any identification numbers stamped on it.
So, great people of the forum, is there something else I've overlooked when finding true TDC using the piston stop method that could explain the timing mark on the dampeners being that far off? The car is an hour away at the shop where I store and work on it. It will be the weekend before I make back to the car but I wanted to pose the question here.
I brought the car back and over the last two weekends, I have torn it apart to have a look. At first look, everything looked correct. I set the engine at TDC using the mark on the timing cover and the OE scribed line on the dampener. Timing marks were in alignment, rotor pointing to bolt on #1. Not wanting to put it back together without fixing anything, I walked away to research things and think about it then tackled it again this weekend.
I had the engine set at #1 compression stroke, put a piston stop in and rotated until it stopped and made a mark, rotated back the other way until it stopped and made a mark. Next, I measured the distance between those marks with calipers, divided by 2 and drew my new mark.
It appears the original dampener timing mark was not accurate. With the engine set at true TDC, I can see the timing marks on the chain sprockets are no longer aligned. Now, I have purchased a brand new dampener from Blueprint Engines and when I compare my original to my new, the 0° mark is in the same spot. So, I don't believe my original dampener slipped but I can't explain why both dampeners' marks are off by about 10°.
I bought the used cam and helped my dad assemble the engine 20 years ago. It sat on a crate in the corner of the garage until I got it installed in the car after the body work was completed. I was told it was a Mopar performance purple cam. I have done a ton of reading on those and it seems there were some quality issues in the late 90s and also a couple different SB MP purple cam grinds. So, I am still not sure what exactly I have.
Since I'm already torn this far apart, I am just going to pull the cam and see if it has any identification numbers stamped on it.
So, great people of the forum, is there something else I've overlooked when finding true TDC using the piston stop method that could explain the timing mark on the dampeners being that far off? The car is an hour away at the shop where I store and work on it. It will be the weekend before I make back to the car but I wanted to pose the question here.
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ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
Wow, Good work. I hope I don't experience anything similar because I'd be LOST. Pretty impressive of Dave to work with you through that. How close are you to them? On another point, If you get a minute can you take a couple of pics of your hose and vacuum lines and possibly some rough measurements as I am starting fresh, not having a factory air cleaner and hoses on my car in 40 plus years. Just got it back from the powdercoater.
Dave is about 4.5 hours from me. I trailered the car over there and went back a few weeks later to pick it up.
That looks nice! I can't help you with the measurements you need. I have the unsilenced air cleaner without doors or vacuum hoses
ajarofclay
Well-Known Member
Ahh, Okay. I was just hoping to save some time or miscalculations. Yeah, I think they did a pretty nice job. It was worth the time and cost of paint etc.
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