Swingin' '73 Dart

frogpirate · Feb 23, 2009

Fairly new to the list, and at first I was just a wanna-be, but as of a couple hours ago, there is a '73 Rally Red / White Vinyl Top / Parchement Interior Dart Swinger sitting in front of my house!

This is what it looked like when I first saw it, Saturday Feb 21, 2009 - my 49th birthday!

OK, so what do we have here. Let's take a look at the fender tag:

Fender tag.

CodeDescription
E44 318-2 Barrel
D34 TorqueFlite Automatic Transmission
LH23
L = Dodge Dart / Demon
H = High
23 = 2 Door Hardtop
G3R
G = 318 150HP(net) or 170HP(net) 1-2BBL 8 CYL
3 = 1973
R = Windsor, ONT, CAN
234891Sequence Number
FE5 Paint Code: Bright Red / Rally Red
E2L3 Trim Grade/Style/Color
E = Economy
2 = Vinyl Bench
L3 = Parchment
000 Upper Door Frame: Full Door Panel
213 Build Date 2 / 13 / 1973 (Note; I was 8 days from my 13th birthday!)
311872 Order Number
V1L Roof Type OR Color: Full Vinyl Top - Champagne
U Built to Specifications for USA Order
22 22" Radiator
G33 Left Hand Outside Mirror - Manual / Chrome
L31 Hood / Fender Mount Turn Signal
M21 Roof Drip Rail Moldings
M25 Wide Sill Molding
M26 Wheel Lip Molding
M85 Bumper Guard Package
R11 Music Master Radio AM
V5X Black - Mouldings - Protective Insert Body Side
END End of Codes

Or at least that's what it left Windsor with! It now sports after market wheels and radio (Summer Time radio - only works sum 'er the time!) Most every thing else however seems to be intact, if a little dirty and/or worn out!

Here is the not-so-smokin' 318-2BBL:

It looks surprisingly stock under the hood.

frogpirate · Feb 23, 2009

When I test drove it, I noticed that the over-size tires were hitting the front fenders. It did not help that some of that bright trim molding (M26) was bent, probably from hitting before. I jacked the car up and gently persuaded the molding back into place with a small rubber mallet.

Checking for dead bodies before we take it home. Note to those in Arizona: we call this "Liquid Sunshine" and it's the kind we get most often in Washington.

On the drive home, we were hitting every stop light red I swear. Manual brakes are such a joy. Leaving one light my right foot must have thought it was pressing the brakes and the 'old blue lump under the hood managed to break both 235R60/15's loose. :snakeman: My wife said that all the SUV driving soccer Mom's gave me "the look" that clearly indicated they thought I was Trailer Trash. I told my wife I was going to grow a mullet. :twisted:

We made the drive across town on 3 year old expired plates with no tickets, and I pulled the 'wee beasty into the drive. Mrs. Frogpirate has already let me know I need to clean a space in the garage of the McMansion so that the Swingin' '73 can be hidden...err, kept out of the weather and our '09 Suby Forrester can sit outside. Fine with me! :-D

frogpirate · Feb 23, 2009

The Good:
Well, obviously it runs and drives! The body is mostly straight, and as rust free as your going to find in a 36 year old western Oregon car. It has "new" dual exhaust with generic glass packs. It has those awesome :snorting: Center-Line like mags with over-size raised white letter tires (that look pretty decent where the fenders haven't scraped them!) The trim is intact, and the car is almost all stock.

The Bad:

Everything is worn out. The front bench has some broken springs, and in general sinks a foot when you sit on it. I sort of remember Dad's old Duster's doing the same thing when they were only 3 or 4 years old, but not _quite_ this bad.

Filthy Interior! Notice the back floor - it all looks like that.

That will clean right up with a little Windex! :glasses9:

The missing window-crank knob was on the dash. I don't think they go back on. Does Cal-Custom still make those bolt-on replacements?

Fake wood grain is looking even sadder than normal. Dash pad is so-so, I've seen MUCH worse, however it does have a couple cracks. You can almost see the crappy after market radio.

frogpirate · Feb 23, 2009

The Ugly:

Left front fender dent you have probably noticed in the pictures.

There is a little rust under the lovely worn out vinyl top.

On the other hand, that is about the worst rust I've found so far!

The front suspension is worn, and it seems to me that it's going down the road nose-high indicating that it may need new rear springs. The 318 has what I expect is a valve cover leak:

On the plus side, I'd bet $5 there is NO rust under that oil!

Really, I'm pretty happy with the over-all condition of the car. Could this be the actual mileage??

89197.9 miles, or 189197.9 miles or 289197.9 miles. The engine doesn't blow blue smoke, which leads me to think it COULD be just under 90K original.

I keep forgetting, the rear bumper has a dent as well:

I'm not sure, but I think the Forrester is hiding in the garage! :bootysha: Why yes, that is a 2006 tab on that license plate!

Bill Dedman · Feb 23, 2009

What a GREAT find!!!!!!!!

It has such unlimited potential, and is a "blank sheet of paper" for whatever you want it to be.

If it were mine, and I had a "reasonable" budget, I'd bolt in a 390HP crate 360 Magnum from M-P and hook it to a rebuilt 904 with a Transgo shift kit and a 3500 rpm converter. A B-body 8 3/4" rear with a 3.55:1 Sure Grip and 4 new KYB shocks would get her down the hiway to the drag strip in jig time!!! TTI headers and a set of S/S springs would make certain of some mid-12-second timeslips from the local 1,320.... at about 109 mph...

How can you have any more fun that that, with your clothes on?????????

You're a lucky man....

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas

sneke_eyez · Feb 24, 2009

Very nice looking car with a lot of potential.
Reminds me a lot of my own 74 when I picked it up!
Good luck with it, I can't wait to see updates and progress, I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun with it!

Prine · Feb 24, 2009

Not bad at all! Looks better than my 1970 Swinger when I found mine!

Its original color too!, thats a plus.

You just wanting a cruiser, or you going all out Muscle Car treatment on it?

I have a rear bumper you may want!

BigStrok3 · Feb 24, 2009

That thing has great potential.

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone. Prine we may have to talk about the bumper. The one there is not bad at all, but is pushed in an inch or so in the middle.

Today was clean up. As you can imagine, the car was full of crap. No, literally - at some point a mouse was living under the back seat!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I actually started by emptying the trunk. More junk back here, and a few parts as well, including the complete original bumper jack.

The first glimpse of the trunk floor confirms that this car is in really good shape. I knew I'd find some rust somewhere, because there is a tell-tale reddish stain on the underside of the trunk, but so far so good!

Of course the worst of the rust was on the spare-tire well. But really, even this is nothing to worry about! A little wire wheel action, some rust converter and paint and this will be good to go.

more...

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

I tossed the trash and most of the trunk liner that was torn up pretty bad. I did keep a small piece as a sample so I get the right replacement.

That sure looks good for 36 year old paint.

On to the interior. I removed the back seat, front seat belts and front seat so I could pull the carpet. The front section went straight in the trash barrel but for now I saved the rear.

Looks pretty nice once I got rid of all the trash and mouse poo. For now I left the sound deadening and jute padding.

Up front I tossed everything except the sound deadening. I had to scrape the junk off the deadening and will replace it eventually.

Still , the floor is solid steel! :cheers:

RedScampi · Feb 24, 2009

Congratulations on a nice find from a fellow Washingtonian! I have a 72 Scamp that is supposed to be Rally Red but got painted with a weird orange color at some point. That car looks like a little...welll a lot, really...of elbow grease will make it look pretty decent. Maybe you can drive it up to the *** Drive In All Mopar car show in Issaquah this year. My car has the same rust issues behind the rear window and just a tad in the quarters. Check those front floor pans too. Mine were supposedly solid but removing the wet carpet and prodding around with a screwdriver revealed pinholes on each side. Not too bad though.

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

Lest you think it's perfect, it's not. This will need to be welded up. This is typical on these, no?

Driver's side door jam, other side is OK.

After a lunch break and an episode of Top Gear, I spent the afternoon scrubbing. I'm really good at scrubbing, it's that Navy training.

irate:

This is the bottom of the back seat "before". Note the cigarette burn on the left side, there is another one on the right side. :angry7:

And here it is "after". The blue-stain is from the seat belts.

I got the back seat all cleaned, and vacuumed the carpet and then crawled in the car and cleaned the back side panels. I pulled the arm rests and cleaned them up, and the ash trays. I used Simple Green to clean most everything, spraying it on full strength and then using a stiff brush to scrub. After scrubbing (twice in most spots) I rinsed with a clean sponge and bucket of water, and finally wiped everything down with a towel. I cleaned the ash trays with brake cleaner first, and then did the Simple Green / water treatment.

Whew, I need a break. I can never get the smile to sync with the timer. (Plus I was getting tired!).

And here is the finished product:

Not too bad for an afternoon's work. As you can see, even the back carpet needs replaced.

Ugly stain. But again, for a 36 year old car, it ain't that bad. Unfortunately the front seat is toast. There are springs broken and the cover is pretty worn out. I may take the cover off tomorrow and see if I can do anything with it, at least temporarily.

furz4 · Feb 24, 2009

I have the same car, except mine was not originally rally red, same color interior even. Looks like a nice complete original car a very good starting point. I removed the vinyl from mine and left it a hardtop. Are you going to keep it red here's mine now taken with my old camera. View attachment 63445

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

If you look at that last picture, you can see the window weather stripping (between front door and quarter window) that is in place. It wasn't when I started today. It's in pretty bad shape, and I'll need to replace it eventually.

So, where am I going with this project? :dontknow: Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm thinking daily driver to start, and then decide later. At this point, I could do a little more and 'flip' it for a few extra dollars, which was never my intention, but...I am unemployed and I could buy another project. 20 years ago I would have stripped it and circle track raced it. 8)

OK, here are the options:

Nice resto-rod driver; mostly stock interior. Build it to look like cars we had when I was in HS and shortly after. Crager SS or Torque Thrust wheels. When was the last time you saw Thrush side pipes?

Race-car replica (drag or road) with aluminum interior, no back seat, race buckets (Speedway Bomber), Hurst floor shift, new dash insert with round gauges etc. Tires & wheels to match. And loose all the woodgrain trim. :bootysha:

"G" machine with late-model buckets, nice carpet, upgraded brakes & suspension, ultra-low profile 17" or 18" tires, and six-speed manual swap.

I'm leaning towards #2 and actually taking to the track (PIR, Woodburn) for fun 1/4 mile passes. I'm thinking of keeping the 318 with a bore and stroke to 390. Or just a crate BluePrint 408 from Summit. Except I like building engines, so I'd like to do it myself.

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

furz4 said:
I have the same car, except mine was not originally rally red, same color interior even. Looks like a nice complete original car a very good starting point. I removed the vinyl from mine and left it a hardtop. Are you going to keep it red here's mine now taken with my old camera.

Mom always said "Next to red, I like RED best. I'm with Mom.

I kind of like yours all red, but I also like the two-tone, maybe with a painted top instead of vinyl, like Ross did to Emily's Scamp. I really like the way that turned out.

RedScampi said:
Congratulations on a nice find from a fellow Washingtonian! I have a 72 Scamp that is supposed to be Rally Red but got painted with a weird orange color at some point. That car looks like a little...welll a lot, really...of elbow grease will make it look pretty decent. Maybe you can drive it up to the *** Drive In All Mopar car show in Issaquah this year. My car has the same rust issues behind the rear window and just a tad in the quarters. Check those front floor pans too. Mine were supposedly solid but removing the wet carpet and prodding around with a screwdriver revealed pinholes on each side. Not too bad though.

Eventually I'll pull the padding and check the floor. Today I just wanted to get all the WET out of the car. When is the *** Drive In All Mopar? I'm so there!

1964 hippo · Feb 24, 2009

ssssssssssswwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeetttttttttt!

furz4 · Feb 24, 2009

Eventually I am adding the black tail stripe, and the factory snorkel hood. I have the hood with the two holes that's in real good shape just need to buy the scoop and get it done. Am going to do the hood in flat black to break up some of the red I think.

frogpirate · Feb 24, 2009

Thanks hippo!

furz4 said:
Eventually I am adding the black tail stripe, and the factory snorkel hood. I have the hood with the two holes that's in real good shape just need to buy the scoop and get it done. Am going to do the hood in flat black to break up some of the red I think.

That would be bitchin'! :love4: As much as I like red, a little black thrown in spices it up a little.

Bill Dedman · Feb 24, 2009

Lots of work there, but I'd say it was well worth it!

Don't let the P.O. see it; He'll want it baaaaaaaaackkkk!!! LOL!8)

That thing is gonna ROCK!!! You're gonna have tons of fun with that little jewel!

Keep us posted; I'm living vicariously through your notes, now..... lol!

Bill

2 Darts · Feb 25, 2009

Neat 73. I recently put a red 73 4 door on the road (see Resurrected Junk thread on this page.) Wondered what the Parchment interior would look like as mine is black. When I rework mine, I'll be doing parchment.

Based on my experience with vinyl tops, I'm suspicious of what may be lurking under yours. My 73 was originally was equipped with a black vinyl top, when I got it last summer it was more like Swiss cheese.

frogpirate · Feb 25, 2009

Thanks Bill! I'm not sure the PO really knew what was lurking under all that trash. When looking at it I naturally tried to negotiate the price, but he sounded pretty firm. The price was good, so I settled for having him pay the locksmith to make the trunk key and paying for the Oregon title transfer and I paid his advertised price - still, I got a GoodDeal(tm).

72 Demon - I'm sure there is more rust under the vinyl top, 'specially in that one corner, but I have my fingers crossed that the rest is not too bad. Judging by the rest of the car, I'm convinced this car was garaged until recently. I guess we will find out before too long!

In other news - a friend has a set of 15" Hemi 'B' Rally's he's been 'saving' in his garage, and some new 'A' front end parts that he is donating to the cause. Someone please buy the wheels and tires that are on my Dart (see ad section) so I can go buy some Radial T/A's! :-D

Ken

RedScampi · Feb 25, 2009

frogpirate said:
When is the *** Drive In All Mopar? I'm so there!

It looks like you have until September 20th at 8:00 AM to get ready.

http://www.triplexrootbeer.com/

I had to be careful how I searched for this drive in because I'm at work and I'd hate to set all the alarms off.

frogpirate · Feb 25, 2009

RedScampi said:
It looks like you have until September 20th at 8:00 AM to get ready.
http://www.triplexrootbeer.com/

I had to be careful how I searched for this drive in because I'm at work and I'd hate to set all the alarms off.

I should be able to make that! Yes, some people don't understand the *** search...

OK, I got a late start today because I woke up feeling like poo. I guess I may have over done it yesterday. Anyway, it was 1pm by the time I made it to the garage, so not a lot of progress today.

I wanted to see just how bad the front seat is. I knew there was some broken springs, just not sure what else I'd find under there.

The headrests came off easy, just two screws each.

The drivers side headrest has been sun-baked to the point it's hard as a rock and cracking. I doubt that it is save able, however that doesn't stop me from trying.

I'm trying gap-filling super glue, I'll let you know how it comes out.

OK, after a little pondering I figured out that all you need to do to get the backs off is remove a little push-on axle nut (easier said than done). A chisel and hammer persuaded the little buggers off.

Driver side.

Wife's side. :snakeman:

With the backs off, it was easy to turn the seat over and start on the bottom.

Those wires are supposed to be connected somewhere. This is the driver's side.

Yep, that spring is broken. Driver's side.

After cutting and or twisting about 3000 hog rings off (plus or minus a few thousand) I got the cover off.

Dart pelt. Looks pretty sad.

The foam was in fair shape, other than sunken where the busted springs were.

36 year's worth of smelly farts trapped in there. :bootysha:

Under the foam, the plastic "burlap" was shot. All the wires that are supposed to stabilize the springs were not attached to anything, so they weren't doing any good at all.

Yuck.

I found more broken springs on the driver's side.

Broken spring on far right by the rust. :sad9:

Same side, but towards the front of the seat.

This pretty much confirms my hypothesis that the PO was a big person.

On the passenger's side there was only (only!) one broken spring.

Broken spring and inspection tag.

I washed up the now naked frame, and a bunch of the paint came off with the dirt. I think tomorrow I'll drive the wife to work so I can use the car and schlep this up to the local auto upholstery shop and get an estimate on rebuilding / recovering it. As I expect that will be really expensive, I am looking for another used seat to either replace this or that I can harvest springs from. Or it may be time to start looking at aftermarket buckets, since MoPar ones are REALLY expensive.

I decided to remove the rest of the sound deadening and padding from the car so I could asses the condition of the floor. As a couple people expected, there was more rust under the padding.

Drives side.

Not driver's side. :evil: This is the worst, something has been leaking on this side.

Back, again the passengers side is the worst.

So there is some rust, but no rust-through that I've found yet. I need to get a wire cup brush and really go after this to make sure there are no pin-holes. The wires there are for the new for '73 seatbelt interlocks and will be eliminated (if you need a seat switch for your 100 point restoration, I posted one for free in the classified section)

RedScampi · Feb 25, 2009

You should try to rebuild/recover the seat yourself. I bought covers from Legendary by way of Year One and had a go at it. Of course I had a parts car to swipe springs from but it's really not rocket science. The key to the covers is to go slow and make sure everything is stretched evenly. The covers need to be warm, sunshine would be ideal. Funny, huh?