Project- Bills Buggy

[SpeedracerX]

Hey there gang... I have been a member now for over 2 years, and have come to really love my FABO family. I have always enjoyed the resto threads on here, and reading about and seeing what the various members have done with their A-bodies.. I have posted all kinds of questions and general discussions involving my Dart and have always wanted to start a thread to document its progress.. Now I am finally getting to it..

I got 'the buggy' back in 03... I have been hanging with my Mopar friends for 17 years now, and have always wanted my own. Now like alot of people out there money is always an issue.. so, buying a 'done' muscle car was out of the question.. I knew I was gonna have to start at the project level. I should now point out that I up to that point had ZERO car knowledge.. get in, turn the key and go.. stop for gas every so often.. that was my knowledge level LOL ... Luckily my friends have TONS of knowledge and experience.. they are the team that keeps my A-body going.. I of course wanted to learn.. I wanted to say when it was all said and done that I helped make it happen.. and what an education and fun filled ride the past 7+ years have been.. So many thanks go out to the team, Bob, Brucie, Ned, Cisco, Tony (my son) and Monica (my girlfriend at the time, and now my wife.. otherwise known as the chief financial officer on project 'Bills Buggy' lol) and now thanks to my FABO family who help in so many ways..

So.. these first few pics are the way I got the buggy.. got her for $350, and it ran.. LOL .. had a /6, 904, 7.25 rear.. fiberglass fenders which I sold, came also with a V8 K-member that would sit for a couple years... she was B3 blue I believe, bench seat, column shift.. a definite grandma grocery gettin, no frills 69 Dart.. lol.. and as you can see, she was a bit beat...

 

[SpeedracerX]

So.. the first year with the buggy was spent learning.. I wanted to get my hands on all areas of the car.. but first I had to have a plan.. what was it I wanted this car to be when it was done.. show car? daily driver? race car? etc.. now not only did I have no mechanical knowledge yet, I had never owned a V8 rear wheel drive car (we knew it would eventually be V8) so building a monster high horsepower car was ruled out.. My friends wouldnt let me hurt myself of bend up the buggy...

So, I decided my needs were simple.. I wanted a car that looked good (or cool as I put it), sounded good, and would smoke the tires off if thats what I so desired .. It would be a car that the eventual wife and I would put a cooler and some chairs in the trunk and cruise, go to car shows, and hang out with our Mopar friends.. I knew I wouldnt be able to do a show car.. I dont have the finances, and though my friends have the knowledge and ability to do that sort of thing, they have lives, families, and Mopar projects of their own.. I didnt want them to always be tied up helping me with my car.. So we decided this project could and would most likely take a long time.. we would form a plan for winter projects that would leave the car driveable and enjoyable for the summer months, and allow me to save money for each winter...

So the first order of business was getting her safe and road worthy again.. we decided to leave the /6 driveline in place.. it ran like a top anyways.. so we had to replace the original k-member as it had been damaged in and accident, redid the front suspension, fixed wiring issues, tuned up the motor, swapped out the 1 wheel peeler 7.25 that we came to find out was bad, with a donor sure grip 7.25.. all new brakes.. also decided the fiberglass fenders would give way to steel ones.. however I couldnt find 69 fenders I could afford.. so came across some 68 fenders and went that way.. if only I had known the issues that awaited me with that!! LOL .. also ended up getting a new hood and front bumper as those were quite bad on my car... got her front clip in primer, got her inspected, and she officially got her 'Bills Buggy' front plate that my wife had made for me at Carlisle..

The last pic is the buggies first car show.. A local cruise my wife took the pic.. it was a proud moment for me.. I never imagined at that time that a work in progress would get the attention it did, and still does.. I figured people would laugh, or think it was junk.. I was glad I was wrong.. LOL

 

[SpeedracerX]

That season ended with alot of enjoyable cruising around.. the following winter didnt see much action as there were other projects being worked on and my 'education' continuing.. lol.. the following season opened with just a little tinkering, and at that time the Dart sat outside, the winter was harsh, and surface rust reared its ugly head all over the hood of the Dart, so I addressed that issue and we all decided to go with black on the front clip this time around.. this would be the look of the Buggy from then until now.. (with a few minor changes) it also would mark the end of her living outdoors.. I rented some garage space a block away from my buddy Bob's garage... I spent that whole season cruising and having fun.. while gathering the parts for the V8 swap that would be coming the following winter..

These few pics are early in the season, taking the Buggy on her first long voyage.. to a car show just south of Erie Pa,.. My son went along with me, and we cruised up as a group.... Bobs 69 Roadrunner, my Dart, my friend Bruce's 880, and his brothers Cordoba...

 

[SpeedracerX]

Now we really started getting serious with the Buggy! lol.. it was time for the loyal and dependable /6 driveline to give way to the V8.. I had already purchased a 360/727 combo.. we left the 7.25 out back... an a-body 8.75 just WASNT in the budget yet lol.. The /6 and 904 went to a buddy whose son was restoring a Scamp and wanted it to be a /6 car... So my old motor lives on..

We tore the whole front end apart and got into her.. found all kinds of issues.. there were tons of pop riveted patches in the inners covering all kinds of interesting things.. the top of the rail where the fender mounts on the passenger side was in bad shape (we kinda already knew that) that was a large section of the passenger inner that was bad.. so problems with the drivers side as well.. it was decided to replace the passenger inner altogether.. the drivers side was fixed properly this time around.. the K-member was changed, and she was upgraded to 10 inch brakes all the way around..

the education continued.. lol

 

[SpeedracerX]

work on the engine compartment continued, and we got it into paint.. now the color is actually B5 blue.. for some reason my old camera turned it to some kind of SUPER bright blue LOL .. also took a few shots of the 360 on the stand (also weird color changes from my camera) .. changed from the stock valve covers to the chrome ones right after the motor went in.. also before the car came out in springtime, I changed from manifolds to headers.. the last pic is taken with my new camera at the time which left the colors more correct..

My son is pictured cleaning the paint gun. you can see he's a bit older than in the last pic.. LOL .. before he went to the Marines he was always involved with the project in some way...

 

[SpeedracerX]

realized I forgot the pics of the motor on the stand.. LOL .. oh well, you see it in the car, there was nothing more noteworthy or special about the pics of it on the stand LMAO

 

[SpeedracerX]

Now obviously once the motor swap was all done, we had to take the car out in the alley and have a little fun LOL .. no exhaust yet, and the car wasnt all back together... but.. what the heck right???

after the fun, the car got reassembled.. my wife did most of the work masking and painting the grille for the look I wanted, got the rallye wheels all done fresh paint, rings and new centers.. we painted a custom stripe just for giggles.. to see how well we could do it actually.. so we would be prepared to paint it for real once the body work was done.. She got exhaust and quick going over and then we just had a blast with her.. couple of the pics of her are from one of the 2 trips the wife and I made in her to the Mopar Nationals.. She has continued to turn heads, and strike up conversations.. I have met more cool people since my entry into this hobby than I can count.. and since that first car show there have been a couple snickers here and there, and some grumblings about the things I have done to her, or the direction I am going.. but 97% of what I get or hear is all positive..

In the past few years not much has changed on the Buggy.. she got a differant set of headers.. an 8.75 with 323 gears a couple of little mods here and there (I was slacking with the camera for a few years as well LOL .. sorry.. )

 

[SpeedracerX]

That takes us to now.. this years winter project is the big one.. new quarter, trunk floor extension and outer wheelhouse on the passenger side.. had issues with the rearend and thats getting redone with .355's this time.. we put an aluminum intake on it and changed to a Holley 650 double pumper.. once thats all done, we will do the body work, (finally got a workable set of 69 fenders) she will finally get that coat of B5 blue paint shes been waiting for... a black vinyl top and a new black tail stripe... shes all apart and cut up at the moment.. pics of the current level of progress coming tomorrow.. I know its not a crazy build or anything but I hope you all enjoy reading about the Buggy anyhow...

 

[bumnround]

I like your ride and story. cool buggy

 

[SpeedracerX]

I like your ride and story. cool buggy

Thanks... that means alot to me..

 

[BadAss71]

What a great story! I really like b5 blue, suck a nice color. Great work guys! Keep it up. I look forward to seeing it all one color!

 

[pettybludart]

I agree with the others..Great story.Glad to see you,ve jumped into the hobby blind and have come out learning how to do some of the work yourself,with friends and espeacially your family.Keep up the great work,looking forward to the finished project.:thumleft:

 

[D Dodge]

Looks like the neighbor is giving you a dirty look out there in the alley. I've experienced the wrath o' the neighbors a time or two myself.

 

[efriedrich]

Nice build, I like to see it when guys drive their cars while they are still working on them, nothing worse than tearing it all down and watching it sit and not being able to enjoy it.:thumleft:

 

[SpeedracerX]

What a great story! I really like b5 blue, suck a nice color. Great work guys! Keep it up. I look forward to seeing it all one color!

Thank you.. I have always loved B5 blue since the first time I saw it.. funny thing though, when I first got the Dart I had visions of painting her yellow, with a black vinyl and black stripe... Then it switched to Plum Crazy Purple.. (but after some thought I wasnt sure about that color on that body style Dart.... then I finally settled on B5 blue.. lol

I agree with the others..Great story.Glad to see you,ve jumped into the hobby blind and have come out learning how to do some of the work yourself,with friends and espeacially your family.Keep up the great work,looking forward to the finished project.:thumleft:

Thanks.. I agree, learning was the way to go.. I have to admit I love working on the Buggy.. sure there are stressful, aggravating and frustrating times when it seems like the damn car is fighting me tooth and nail.. but its all good when im cruising down the street listening to sound of that exhaust and doing the occasional gun it from stoplight to stoplight LOL

Looks like the neighbor is giving you a dirty look out there in the alley. I've experienced the wrath o' the neighbors a time or two myself.

Naaa lol.. the neighbors have always been cool about the cars...

Nice build, I like to see it when guys drive their cars while they are still working on them, nothing worse than tearing it all down and watching it sit and not being able to enjoy it.:thumleft:

Thanks.. thats always been the plan.. to not bite off too much for the winters, that way the car is still driveable in the summer.. This winter though we may have taken on to big of a job... both labor wise and money wise LOL..

 

[SpeedracerX]

Ok, so I promised some pics today.. lol.. again this winters project is massive compared to any of the previous winters the past 7 years .. the Buggy is torn all kinds of apart. The whole front clip is off (except for the hood) .. lights, tail lights, grille, bumpers, and all trim is off.. We changed the lower control arms and put in a factory sway bar.. changed to V8 torsion bars finally.. the /6 bars left way too much float in the car.. I put an aluminum intake and a Holley 650 double pumper.. The rear end is currently apart as my .323's starting eating themselves.. the newest member of the team for project Bills Buggy, is our good friend Ed.. (we call him The Rock) he is rebuilding the rear, with .355's this time.. that combined with the intake and carb should make the Buggy a bit spunkier.

We also for giggles laid the Duster scoop that I plan on running on the car, on the hood just to see how good (or dumb) my vision was.. I wanted a true Mopar scoop, and I wanted something I hadnt seen on this body style Dart.. mission accomplished!! I love the way it looks.. its unique and will help to make the Buggy more me..

So then we moved on to cutting the passenger side of the Buggy apart.. shes getting a new quarter, trunk floor extension, and outer wheel house on that side.. (she was wrecked earlier in life.. we doctored that side up good enough to run but now that the bodywork is about to start, it was time to fix her up right..

Brucie is the one who originally painted my custom stripe, so when the cutting started he decided he wanted some 'garage art' for his garage.. so he saved a piece of the quarter skin with the stripe on it .. lol.. its in the group of pics.. enjoy gang..

 

[tiltsix]

Very nice, I am planning to change the look of my 69.Cant wait to see yours painted .Good luck.

 

[SpeedracerX]

the 'garage art', trimming, cleanup and test fitting of some new metal...

 

[efriedrich]

Looking good, where did you get your steel.:thumleft:

 

[SpeedracerX]

Very nice, I am planning to change the look of my 69.Cant wait to see yours painted .Good luck.

Thanks!! So what kind of look changes are you going for?

 

[ocdart]

Nice pics and great story. Bought my '69 Dart almost 4 years ago and still gathering pieces. Time to get going!
Ain't this fun???

 

[SpeedracerX]

Looking good, where did you get your steel.:thumleft:

Thanks! Got the new steel from Stephens Performance.. I highly recommend them.. They are awesome to deal with, very helpful and their panels are the shizzy..

 

[SpeedracerX]

Nice pics and great story. Bought my '69 Dart almost 4 years ago and still gathering pieces. Time to get going!
Ain't this fun???

Thank you very much! Its definitely fun!! and yes, its time to get started! lol..

 

[memike]

I just went though this thread and I am enjoying the way you tell us how your days have been and moving forward on this very cool build :happy2:
You are moving like gang buster on Buggy and enjoying it :thumleft:
Dig'in this build thread for sure!!! Congratulations Billy or should I say SpeedracerX :toothy2:

 

[SpeedracerX]

I just went though this thread and I am enjoying the way you tell us how your days have been and moving forward on this very cool build :happy2:
You are moving like gang buster on Buggy and enjoying it :thumleft:
Dig'in this build thread for sure!!! Congratulations Billy or should I say SpeedracerX :toothy2:

Hiya Mike.. I was hoping you would chime in LOL .. and Billy is good lol.. I have to say, it was alot of fun to post 7+ years of Buggy history in 2 days, of course now the thread will slow up a little, but I will definitely keep adding to it now.. I have read so many inspirational stories on here from other members talking about their cars, projects, resto's, etc... I wanted to tell mine.. Thanks for the compliments, they mean alot to me.. FABO is my extended family, so I wanted that family clued into the build.. more to come...