Slow, Driving Rustoration 1972 Dart

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Coming up on the 1 year Anniversary of the arrival of this Dart in my life. Last night I finished up everything I needed to do to get the Dart down to the alignment shop this morning. Finished bleeding the brakes, installing the steering column, installing the exhaust downpipes, and setting the torsion bars to a driveable height in the driveway outside of the garage in a mild thunderstorm.

Felt great to be driving again after 8 1/2 weeks on jack stands. Thinking about entering the local car show as a work in progress for her 1st re-birthday.

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Most impressed by my power steering rebuild. No more leaking fluid and much more nimble feeling. I'm fairly sure I could have bought half a new PS gear for what I've spent in fluid. Also the new motor and trans mounts are so nice. No more clunking going into drive or reverse. Can't wait for the call that it aligned perfectly. She sounds mean right now with just straight pipes!
 
Long time no update.

The front end did line up but the steering gear is wonky. Neither the alignment shop or I could get it adjusted without slop.

Today I went out to the local dragstrip just for a little ripping. I've been driving the dart to work quite a bit since out if the alignment shop. Still running a straight pipe so it's loud.

Managed to squeak into the 17s my first time ever on a dragstrip. The little tires, or I guess, tire. wouldn't grip so I finally eased off the start to get the spinning to decrease. There transmission is pretty worn out so 3rd was really sloppy but it was slipping less and less each pass. After 4 passes I got under 18 which honestly felt pretty good.

It was mostly a test and tune day but I talked a guy in an 80s Malibu into lining up with me so i could say i raced lol.

He was running a twin turbo LS. You can see the result in the video.

I'll be putting the Dart away for the winter now so I'll get started on the passenger side rust repair.



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Here is a picture of the current stance after the alignment and all of the front suspension parts being replaced. It's higher than I will eventually want but I am enjoying the ride and handling that this stance gives it. While I was doing clean-up and replacement on the suspension I cleaned up and painted the valve covers (plusnew gaskets) and intake.

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Yesterday I took her out on the highway for a 110 mile round trip for a family get together. I added some water to the radiator to see if I could wake up the heater. That's when I saw the water running out of the water pump shaft housing. So it looks like I'll finally be putting in the new water pump I've had since before I went and got the car.

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It’s always something with a 45 year old car.
 
sireland67 said:
It’s always something with a 45 year old car.
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That's what I was thinking. I just got over her pint a week power steering fluid habit and now she's peeing water everywhere. I keep thinking I'll eventually have every part replaced that can go bad. I think I'm down to engine and transmission. Damn! she probably heard that too!
 
Water pump installed. Hopefully getting it put back together tonight. There's a local show and shine Saturday morning.

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I have to say, I really like the look without the monstrous AC compressor. I may get the non-AC power steering belt for now. I survived all summer without AC.
 
Another 2 steps forward, one step back week.

Got the water pump replaced successfully. Then went on to trying to get the idle fixed. Again. This carter clone is very prone to plugging up the idle circuit if it sits for awhile. I hadn't been able to dial in the idle since it sat for 2 months this summer. It would seem to be idling fine then it would die at stop signs. I was spraying carb cleaner into the idle mix screw holes but to no avail. Usually this has fixed it in the past. So this morning I decided to take it off and take it apart to clean it. Worked great. Set the idle in about 5 minutes and it was doing great.

I had a leak inside the radiator in the trans cooler (now plugged and using an external cooler) last winter. I hadn't done a flush to clean out all the gunk and some rust. I had been running some flush juice in the radiator for a couple of days so after I got the idle fixed up I started draining and flushing. I was about done when I noticed that water was coming out over the radiator face. Turn out the front side of the upper tank was leaking. I pulled it to get a better look and could see that there was a 4" line of corrosion right where the tank meets the core. Sigh.

Tomorrow I may clean it up and see if I can just solder it up. Otherwise I'm looking at this as a replacement. I don't need aluminum but it's by far cheaper than any copper unit I can find. The seller's reviews look pretty good and legit.

2 Rows Aluminum Radiator 1970-1972 Dodge Dart / Plymouth Duster 5.2L 5.6L V8 | eBay

Like I said earlier in this week, I shouldn't have said anything out loud.

dartnlo said:
I think I'm down to engine and transmission. Damn! she probably heard that too!
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dartnlo said:
Right? The price also makes me leery, but not leery enough to pay 150% more for a champion or copper radiator. I'm pretty sure Champion radiators are made in China as well.
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They are made off shore, keep in mind, if you have a shroud, it will not work with the aluminum radiator.
I would be interested in buying your old radiator if you would ship it.
 
sireland67 said:
They are made off shore, keep in mind, if you have a shroud, it will not work with the aluminum radiator.
I would be interested in buying your old radiator if you would ship it.
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I'm going to try and solder it first. I'll let you know if I do anything with it.
 
I still enjoy catching up with your posts. I am glad that the 7.25 rear out of the 68 Barracuda found a good home.
I have not noticed a mention of it lately, so my guess is that it is working well for you. It is my understanding that the
7.25 is actually a robust rear end, its only down side is its small oil capacity. If the oil level drops due to a leak, issues
follow closely
 
my68barracuda said:
I still enjoy catching up with your posts. I am glad that the 7.25 rear out of the 68 Barracuda found a good home.
I have not noticed a mention of it lately, so my guess is that it is working well for you. It is my understanding that the
7.25 is actually a robust rear end, its only down side is its small oil capacity. If the oil level drops due to a leak, issues
follow closely
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Yeah I've had it out at least 4 times for 90+ mile round trips at 70 mph. No issues, no drips, no leaks. I appreciate it!
 
I was able to solder the corroded seam closed. I had never done this kind of soldering, it looks repaired and I used a lot of solder.

When I pressure tested it first it had a couple of pinholes. I touched them up and pressure checked again. Seems to be fixed for now. I'm sure it is rotting out from the inside though. Gives me some time though.

I also addressed some light bulbs that weren't working. Found out there weren't any bulbs in the backup sockets. On one side there was a very old wasp nest. I cleaned the sockets up and now I can see at night while backing out of my long dark driveway at night.

Also finally got my steering gear in better shape. It still turns easier to the left and doesn't center from right turns, but the play is all gone.

Now I'll see if I can make it a week of driving without something breaking.
 
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Today is my car's 48th Birthday. She rolled off the factory floor in Hamtramck Michigan back in 1972. BTW I could use one of those free transmissions right now. Currently she's parked due to no Drive and reverse.

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dartnlo said:
Today is my car's 48th Birthday. She rolled off the factory floor in Hamtramck Michigan back in 1972. BTW I could use one of those free transmissions right now. Currently she's parked due to no Drive and reverse.

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I wish you lived closer. I have a two 904's I'm not gonna use. One for a slant and the other for a 904.
 
Stephen Hotz said:
Are you going to tackle a rebuild on your trany or just replace?
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I'm thinking I'm going to try to rebuild. I bought the book by Tom Hand and I've been studying it occasionally over the last few months. It looks like something I can do competently. Maybe I'll convert the dining room table to a workbench! :)

It's slowly been going out over the last year. Coolant in the fluid did it in (trans cooler leak).

Funny thing was is that it was working OK and I was about to take a 360 mile round-trip and decided to do a fluid and filter change because I knew it was shedding clutch plates. It was pretty clean this time and got it all buttoned back up and immediately realized I had lost reverse and Drive. The particles in the old fluid must have been giving it just enough friction to function. Either way I'm glad it went out immediately rather than getting stuck on the highway over Christmas.

The fun part was carefully pushing it up the driveway with my truck. The whole time I was cussing at my dumb *** because I just knew the bumpers were going to slip and I would bust up my nearly perfect grille. Good thing I'm luckier than I am smart sometimes.
 
. I watched this guy to help me build a 4l60e. He was very helpful and easy to understand. I like how he shows you on a clean assembly so you can actually get a good look at each component. And he brakes it down by section so it’s not so overwhelming. I know that’s not a 904 or 727 but hope it helps
 
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