"Rookie-Touring" '69 Dart
- Thread starter swisswill
- Start date
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swisswill
Well-Known Member
Thanks SS, but I'm just learning and based on what I saw, you're light years ahead of me. We should chat about this...
swisswill
Well-Known Member
Another great day working on the car. Here is what we got done.
First we welded in the front UCA mounts
Then we added bracing for the floor supports
Then I spent some more time on my bumper mounts. Still more work to do but they are far enough along that I could weld them in, so I did.
Then Greg (chopsmitty) showed up with the rest of my brackets and tube for the front LCA's. Here is the mock-up of the front LCA mount. Another HUGE thanks goes out to Greg for working with me on these brackets and for all your help.
Motor plates and mounts
Rear UCA and LCA mounts
The front suspension will be finished tomorrow less the shock mounts (I'm buying shocks this year and will install those next Christmas), steering rack (again, ordering this year for next Christmas), and the other pieces of the front cross member (hopefully can get that finished up in the next couple days as well). Lord willing I'll have the rear suspension mounted less shocks and toe links.
Tonight I also started working on my rear cross-member that will pick up the rear bumper mounts as well as an idea for a new core support. Unfortunately I forgot to get pics of those and I'm too tired to go out and take them now. I need a shower and sleep. Bis morgen!
First we welded in the front UCA mounts
Then we added bracing for the floor supports
Then I spent some more time on my bumper mounts. Still more work to do but they are far enough along that I could weld them in, so I did.
Then Greg (chopsmitty) showed up with the rest of my brackets and tube for the front LCA's. Here is the mock-up of the front LCA mount. Another HUGE thanks goes out to Greg for working with me on these brackets and for all your help.
Motor plates and mounts
Rear UCA and LCA mounts
The front suspension will be finished tomorrow less the shock mounts (I'm buying shocks this year and will install those next Christmas), steering rack (again, ordering this year for next Christmas), and the other pieces of the front cross member (hopefully can get that finished up in the next couple days as well). Lord willing I'll have the rear suspension mounted less shocks and toe links.
Tonight I also started working on my rear cross-member that will pick up the rear bumper mounts as well as an idea for a new core support. Unfortunately I forgot to get pics of those and I'm too tired to go out and take them now. I need a shower and sleep. Bis morgen!
rapidtransitric
LX/LC platform a body swap pioneer
quite a hump the last few days. huh will!!!!
super scamp 340
Well-Known Member
I know you got alot of work on your plate. And that ride is all ready super cool.But just think what about a right hand drive pro-touring .How cool would that be.
swisswill
Well-Known Member
Have definitely taken some HUGE strides the last few days. Honestly I'm a bit exhausted... Lots more to do but had a setback today. The LCA brackets I received last night are 7/8" too short and the company wasn't able to get additional brackets cut today so those will hopefully be ready tomorrow. If they are not, I won't make my goal of having a roller before I leave. I'll be close but would come up just short. I have plenty of other things to work on in the mean time. We are trying to get some tube bent up to put in some additional structure for the back brace. Only problem is I need a bender die that I can do a 1" tube with 5" or less radius, the same for 2 5/8" tube. I didn't get a chance to work on my core support any more today but I may go back out for a couple hours and work some more on that and the rear bumper brace, then again I may not cuz I'm freakin' whooped!
However, we did get some work done, like welding in the front LCA mounts (ignore the bolts with all the washers, these are obviously not the final fastners)
Added a cross member under the bumper mounts to give some rigidity up front
Got the engine/trans back in so we can bend some tube around the bellhousing and a few tubes for the tunnel
Got the rear UCA mounts tacked in place
We started bending the hoop for over the bellhousing but I had dinner plans with my brother and the work was cut short. Back at it tomorrow. Really want to get this back brace thing finished but we'll see, getting tube bent seems to take some time. More to come tomorrow.
However, we did get some work done, like welding in the front LCA mounts (ignore the bolts with all the washers, these are obviously not the final fastners)
Added a cross member under the bumper mounts to give some rigidity up front
Got the engine/trans back in so we can bend some tube around the bellhousing and a few tubes for the tunnel
Got the rear UCA mounts tacked in place
We started bending the hoop for over the bellhousing but I had dinner plans with my brother and the work was cut short. Back at it tomorrow. Really want to get this back brace thing finished but we'll see, getting tube bent seems to take some time. More to come tomorrow.
rapidtransitric
LX/LC platform a body swap pioneer
what do you have one or two more days?
swisswill
Well-Known Member
I have today and tomorrow. I fly out Saturday morning. I have dinner plans tonight and will be burning the midnight oil after that. I'll get some more pics up later but we tacked the motor mounts together and bent a bunch more tube for the trans tunnel. Being inexperienced at tube bending forces it to take a lot of time... The rear LCA brackets are finished and will be at my place tonight. The goal for tomorrow is to get the suspension finished, get the last couple hoops tacked in, and get the car on the ground. I'm going to work on the rear bumper mount/support and the core support this afternoon until I have to leave for dinner and then also when I get back tonight.
swisswill
Well-Known Member
So, todays work. Getting REAL close. Stayed up late and got a good jump on tomorrow. Hopefully I don't sleep in too much, haven't slept past 7:00 yet though.
So we got a bunch of tube bent today for the tunnel (takes a long time for this rookie to bend up tube). I also bent up a front cross member but didn't have a chance to cut it to size, hopefully tomorrow.
I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet so we just tacked it in place. I would prefer these tubes to be rolled, but I don't have a roller. I may change them at Christmas but I'm not sure yet, we'll see.
Also started a drive shaft loop. I'm not going to finish it until Christmas when I get the chunk mounted and know exactly where the drive shaft will be, so it's just chilling there, not tacked in at all.
Got the motor mounts tacked together. Dave is going to TIG those tonight along with two other 180's for the tunnel.
Pretty much finished my rear bumper mount/support tube. The chassis will be welded to this tube and it will be bolted to the rear crossmember as well as the bumper brackets. Below this tube, and centered, will be my trailer hitch. I'm building a car, but I'm a water-skier...
Since Greg was so cool to deliver the brackets for the rear LCA's, I decided to put them together at about 12:00 midnight and tacked one side in place.
The entire passenger side assembly.
I still have a lot of work to do on the chassis, triangulate the tunnel, and the rear LCA bars, build some down bars for the front, and a couple bars to connect to the front hoop that goes over the bell-housing (the down bars will also be welded to these two bars). I'm hoping still to get the core support finished that I'm playing with. Not a necessity, but it would be nice to get it sized right and tacked to see how it fits.
That's all for now. I'm excited for tomorrow and hopeful (expecting) to have this thing on the ground by days end. I'm running out of time...
So we got a bunch of tube bent today for the tunnel (takes a long time for this rookie to bend up tube). I also bent up a front cross member but didn't have a chance to cut it to size, hopefully tomorrow.
I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet so we just tacked it in place. I would prefer these tubes to be rolled, but I don't have a roller. I may change them at Christmas but I'm not sure yet, we'll see.
Also started a drive shaft loop. I'm not going to finish it until Christmas when I get the chunk mounted and know exactly where the drive shaft will be, so it's just chilling there, not tacked in at all.
Got the motor mounts tacked together. Dave is going to TIG those tonight along with two other 180's for the tunnel.
Pretty much finished my rear bumper mount/support tube. The chassis will be welded to this tube and it will be bolted to the rear crossmember as well as the bumper brackets. Below this tube, and centered, will be my trailer hitch. I'm building a car, but I'm a water-skier...
Since Greg was so cool to deliver the brackets for the rear LCA's, I decided to put them together at about 12:00 midnight and tacked one side in place.
The entire passenger side assembly.
I still have a lot of work to do on the chassis, triangulate the tunnel, and the rear LCA bars, build some down bars for the front, and a couple bars to connect to the front hoop that goes over the bell-housing (the down bars will also be welded to these two bars). I'm hoping still to get the core support finished that I'm playing with. Not a necessity, but it would be nice to get it sized right and tacked to see how it fits.
That's all for now. I'm excited for tomorrow and hopeful (expecting) to have this thing on the ground by days end. I'm running out of time...
swisswill
Well-Known Member
So, todays work. Getting REAL close. Stayed up late and got a good jump on tomorrow. Hopefully I don't sleep in too much, haven't slept past 7:00 yet though.
So we got a bunch of tube bent today for the tunnel (takes a long time for this rookie to bend up tube). I also bent up a front cross member but didn't have a chance to cut it to size, hopefully tomorrow.
I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet so we just tacked it in place. I would prefer these tubes to be rolled, but I don't have a roller. I may change them at Christmas but I'm not sure yet, we'll see.
Also started a drive shaft loop. I'm not going to finish it until Christmas when I get the chunk mounted and know exactly where the drive shaft will be, so it's just chilling there, not tacked in at all.
Got the motor mounts tacked together. Dave is going to TIG those tonight along with two other 180's for the tunnel.
Pretty much finished my rear bumper mount/support tube. The chassis will be welded to this tube and it will be bolted to the rear crossmember as well as the bumper brackets. Below this tube, and centered, will be my trailer hitch. I'm building a car, but I'm a water-skier...
Since Greg was so cool to deliver the brackets for the rear LCA's, I decided to put them together at about 12:00 midnight and tacked one side in place.
The entire passenger side assembly.
I still have a lot of work to do on the chassis, triangulate the tunnel, and the rear LCA bars, build some down bars for the front, and a couple bars to connect to the front hoop that goes over the bell-housing (the down bars will also be welded to these two bars). I'm hoping still to get the core support finished that I'm playing with. Not a necessity, but it would be nice to get it sized right and tacked to see how it fits.
That's all for now. I'm excited for tomorrow and hopeful (expecting) to have this thing on the ground by days end. I'm running out of time...
So we got a bunch of tube bent today for the tunnel (takes a long time for this rookie to bend up tube). I also bent up a front cross member but didn't have a chance to cut it to size, hopefully tomorrow.
I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet so we just tacked it in place. I would prefer these tubes to be rolled, but I don't have a roller. I may change them at Christmas but I'm not sure yet, we'll see.
Also started a drive shaft loop. I'm not going to finish it until Christmas when I get the chunk mounted and know exactly where the drive shaft will be, so it's just chilling there, not tacked in at all.
Got the motor mounts tacked together. Dave is going to TIG those tonight along with two other 180's for the tunnel.
Pretty much finished my rear bumper mount/support tube. The chassis will be welded to this tube and it will be bolted to the rear crossmember as well as the bumper brackets. Below this tube, and centered, will be my trailer hitch. I'm building a car, but I'm a water-skier...
Since Greg was so cool to deliver the brackets for the rear LCA's, I decided to put them together at about 12:00 midnight and tacked one side in place.
The entire passenger side assembly.
I still have a lot of work to do on the chassis, triangulate the tunnel, and the rear LCA bars, build some down bars for the front, and a couple bars to connect to the front hoop that goes over the bell-housing (the down bars will also be welded to these two bars). I'm hoping still to get the core support finished that I'm playing with. Not a necessity, but it would be nice to get it sized right and tacked to see how it fits.
That's all for now. I'm excited for tomorrow and hopeful (expecting) to have this thing on the ground by days end. I'm running out of time...
71DusterStruck
Well-Known Member
Can't wait to see this finished!!
fstfish66
Well-Known Member
wooooooow dont even know what to say,,super kool car
swisswill
Well-Known Member
My last day of working on the car for 9 1/2 months. A lot to do to get where I want to be before I leave tomorrow morning (and I still have to pack, do laundry, some shopping, pick up a bicycle, and a bunch of other stuff too). Will I get where I want to be before I leave? Stay tuned to "Crazy American Living in Switzerland Trying to Build a Car While Living 6000+ Miles From It..." to find out.
67Dart440
Well-Known Member
I suspect you will... you are obviously a mad man!! Good luck and can't wait to see the next set of pictures...
Backtobasics
Well-Known Member
Care to explain this whole Switzerland build a car on hiatus thing? Very interesting.
swisswill
Well-Known Member
The quick and dirty on the Switzerland thing is that I live in Switzerland, go to school there (here), work at IBM while my wife works as a dental hygienist. I work on the car generally when I'm home for the holidays (a whole 2 weeks a year). This last 3 week trip was a gift from my wife, I must have been good last year...
swisswill
Well-Known Member
4 days, 6,000+ miles, a good nights sleep, and the first day on a new job (including jet lag) and I can finally get back to updating this thread. So I asked the question (mostly of myself), will I get to my goal of having a roller before I left. The short answer to the question is yes and no. The long answer is, I could have it on the ground as a roller if one of two things, or maybe both, (1) I had a cherry picker Friday afternoon/evening and (2) I chose to take it off the table. The car is to the point where I could have taken it off the table and had a roller, I chose not to. I still have to install my coil-overs and steering rack and I have a few things I want to adjust after having put the quarter panels on. Because of that I chose to keep it on the table for the next 10 months. It was a bummer at first but I also know it was the right decision. There is no sense rushing the car just because I want to see it on the ground. With that said, here are the final pics of what we got finished.
The rear suspension is welded up and bolted on, quarter panels are back on.
Motor mounts are in.
Didn't really get a chance to finish playing with the core support; it was extra-curricular since I didn't plan to tackle that this trip. But I have a good start and know what I want to do with it now (for the most part).
And I put the front end back together (sort of).
I really didn't have a lot of time Friday to work on the car. I had to pick up a bicycle for my wife that I brought back to Switzerland, did the brakes on my sister-in-laws car, had to pack, do laundry, clean the garage, do some shopping for things to bring back to Switzerland that we can not get there, etc. Needless to say, it was more like just a half day. Still, I'm VERY happy with where the car is and what has been accomplished in such a short amount of time, especially considering I'm largely learning as I go. I have learned a TON doing this project already and if I had to do it over again, I'd probably do a bunch of things different so far, but I'm happy and excited about the next steps.
So that begs the question, what's next? Well, I'm going to be purchasing some SelectSeries RideTech coil-over shocks, a Woodward Steering rack, some AMD panels, an AAR hood and decklid (maybe fenders) and if the funds are there, a steering column, all over the course of this year. Next Christmas, I'll be mounting the shocks and rack, finishing my front crossmember, changing the motor mounts (the ones I built make it VERY difficult to remove the engine considering the engines height and setback), adjust the drivers rear suspension a bit (there must have been some warpage I didn't notice until I installed the quarter because there is ALOT of static positive camber built in), build the trans cross member, finish the back brace as well as building in some additional rigidity, then set it on the ground, roll it outside in the snow and take the first picture of the car sitting on the ground in many, many years. After this Christmas, I'm hoping to be in a position and am considering taking the car to a shop and letting them have it for a year to get the body panels hung and aligned all nice and neat then get it in primer. We'll see what happens in 10 months, but I gotta have goals.
I'm sure I have forgotten some things but that's what I've got in my head for now. I appreciate all the encouragement over the last few weeks. I also MORE than appreciate all the help I've had from some friends, Dave, Jeff, and Greg, all of which have been instrumental in their own way to help me get to where I am. This has been an awesome ride so far and after I recover from the exhaustion of working 14-16 hour days on my car, I'll be excited to get back to the U.S. and start in again. Check y'all lata!
The rear suspension is welded up and bolted on, quarter panels are back on.
Motor mounts are in.
Didn't really get a chance to finish playing with the core support; it was extra-curricular since I didn't plan to tackle that this trip. But I have a good start and know what I want to do with it now (for the most part).
And I put the front end back together (sort of).
I really didn't have a lot of time Friday to work on the car. I had to pick up a bicycle for my wife that I brought back to Switzerland, did the brakes on my sister-in-laws car, had to pack, do laundry, clean the garage, do some shopping for things to bring back to Switzerland that we can not get there, etc. Needless to say, it was more like just a half day. Still, I'm VERY happy with where the car is and what has been accomplished in such a short amount of time, especially considering I'm largely learning as I go. I have learned a TON doing this project already and if I had to do it over again, I'd probably do a bunch of things different so far, but I'm happy and excited about the next steps.
So that begs the question, what's next? Well, I'm going to be purchasing some SelectSeries RideTech coil-over shocks, a Woodward Steering rack, some AMD panels, an AAR hood and decklid (maybe fenders) and if the funds are there, a steering column, all over the course of this year. Next Christmas, I'll be mounting the shocks and rack, finishing my front crossmember, changing the motor mounts (the ones I built make it VERY difficult to remove the engine considering the engines height and setback), adjust the drivers rear suspension a bit (there must have been some warpage I didn't notice until I installed the quarter because there is ALOT of static positive camber built in), build the trans cross member, finish the back brace as well as building in some additional rigidity, then set it on the ground, roll it outside in the snow and take the first picture of the car sitting on the ground in many, many years. After this Christmas, I'm hoping to be in a position and am considering taking the car to a shop and letting them have it for a year to get the body panels hung and aligned all nice and neat then get it in primer. We'll see what happens in 10 months, but I gotta have goals.
I'm sure I have forgotten some things but that's what I've got in my head for now. I appreciate all the encouragement over the last few weeks. I also MORE than appreciate all the help I've had from some friends, Dave, Jeff, and Greg, all of which have been instrumental in their own way to help me get to where I am. This has been an awesome ride so far and after I recover from the exhaustion of working 14-16 hour days on my car, I'll be excited to get back to the U.S. and start in again. Check y'all lata!
just wanted to say thanks for the posts.....maybe we'll get to meet sometime when you get back to Michigan...I would enjoy that immensely....take care and please stay in touch........they got this internet thing over there too,don't they?...I guess Al Gore gets around
rapidtransitric
LX/LC platform a body swap pioneer
did a great job will
swisswill
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the comments and encouragement Denny, it's been fun. Sometime when I get back we'll have to get a milkshake, that'd be swell... We actually just got the internet installed here. Al Gore couldn't figure out how to get over the mountains but then he invented a helicopter and was able to bring us the internet, and Faygo Rock-n-Rye, so we are all good now. He's a great man!!! See you on Al's web for now.
HemiMark
Well-Known Member
I just read this entire thread and I have to tell you that, at first I never thought it was going to come back together. I'm serious, i was thinking about looking in the "parts for sale" section for Dart doors and sheet metal! I'm really happy I was wrong. What a great build! Once I learned my adopted brother was keeping an eye on you I realized all was good! Keep up the good work and let me know when Denny is coming to Michigan.... maybe I'll join in ...... ! .:yawinkle:
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