Picked up a "unique?" parts dart

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73drtsport

73drtsport

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Hey all,
I picked up another 74 swinger from a guy locally yesterday. Last tabs are from 08 so it's been sitting awhile. Guy said the motor was "tired" and using water when he parked it. It's a 318 auto and the guy swore it had lower gears than normal. Also has factory (I think) 15 inch steelies, was that an upgrade in 74? It's also got a front sway bar which I thought was pretty cool. Oh it also has aluminum "bracing" inside the hood, I'm pretty sure it's aluminum anyways. I think it was a forest service car or something. I decoded the fender tag and there's a few "unknown" codes. Just wondering if anyone knows what they are or where else I can look them up? I decoded it with realdash.net. i'll post pics of the codes etc. It's a pretty neat 4 door, if it wasn't so rusty id fix it up but it's got a lot of parts I can use on my other swingers. Mainly the k member and disc brakes for my 71 slant!

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6 13 in the MDH section of the door sticker, so today is its birthday.
 
The Windsor plant had F codes all there own, if anyone has discovered what they actually mean I have not heard of it yet......

G52 is the driver side chrome mirror with remote.

J42 does not compute, can you post a clear photo of the tag?

Have you searched the car for broadcast sheets yet?
 
The aluminum underhood bracing didn't come out till the '76 model year and was part of the Dart Lite option package. Perhaps the hood was replaced after an accident. Underside aluminum bracing would be crimped along the perimeter to the steel top. Look for any signs or replacement parts. The Dart Lite (Sport only) also had aluminum bumper reinforcements. (Big bracing between the actual bumper and the "shock-absorber" style bumper brackets.) That car has those "5mph" bumpers based on the extra carriage bolts near the upper corners of the license plate area. Non-Lite package cars were steel. Perhaps that was replaced from the same car as the hood.
 
Alaskan_TA said:
The Windsor plant had F codes all there own, if anyone has discovered what they actually mean I have not heard of it yet......

G52 is the driver side chrome mirror with remote.

J42 does not compute, can you post a clear photo of the tag?

Have you searched the car for broadcast sheets yet?
Click to expand...
Oh nice Happy birthday! Yeah i'll post a couple more pics of it. No I haven't had a chance to dig through it yet it's been pissing down rain I hope the sheet is intact.
 
You said "the sheet", but it may have as many as five......

So if you find one, keep checking all the normal places for more.
 
Does it have an inside hood release?

If so, possibly typo for J52
 
Locomotion said:
The aluminum underhood bracing didn't come out till the '76 model year and was part of the Dart Lite option package. Perhaps the hood was replaced after an accident. Underside aluminum bracing would be crimped along the perimeter to the steel top. Look for any signs or replacement parts. The Dart Lite (Sport only) also had aluminum bumper reinforcements. (Big bracing between the actual bumper and the "shock-absorber" style bumper brackets.) That car has those "5mph" bumpers based on the extra carriage bolts near the upper corners of the license plate area. Non-Lite package cars were steel. Perhaps that was replaced from the same car as the hood.
Click to expand...

Interesting, good to know ill have to crawl around that thing and check all that out. I left the car at my brother's so I can't check it out now. It very well could have been wrecked. The guy said that was the original color but he did paint match and repaint it at one point
 
F18 is for a 65-amp alternator and J42 is floor pan dampener (insulation). The K in the VON (K63239) coupled with the 999 paint code almost certainly makes it a service vehicle of some type, but not police. Forest would make sense. Does that seem to be the original color?
 
15" wheels don't sound right to me, were probably swapped on. I dont know of any A bodys with 15's on them but I guess anything is possible. Is there a build sheet in the car?
Anyone know if 15's were an option for the A bodys?

The lower gears would make sense. 15's are usually taller than most 14's so a lower gear ratio would be helpful. 2.76 with a 26" wheel would be sluggish. 8.25 rear or 7.25?
 
I have never heard of an A-body with 15" wheels from the factory, but I have also spent nearly no time dealing with later A-bodies...
 
Very interesting.

Paint looks curious yellow-ish.

around that time fire departments were experimenting with shifting from red to a more visible color like that.
 
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