The Brick, 1972 Dodge Dart Custom

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Right? and then see the pictures of my cardboard hack job, done at 2 am......LMFAO - oh well, I cut wood with a jig saw better than I cut cardboard with utility scissors. I got rough measurements, and have some pretty accurate templates to use. We'll see what kind of damage I do this weekend.
 
The interior will eventually be all black, but due to being broke as a joke, I am doing it as a "Black and Tan" for now. Other than a seriously destroyed dash mat and a hammered headline, the interior is all there and in good shape. The original front seat was all beat up and uncomfortable, hence the 2dr front seat I have. Once I wound up the dough, I am taking the 4 dr back seat to an upholstery shop and having them cover it to match the front one.
 
I already have the black seats out of a 71 2 dr. Front is fine, but the back one does not fit due to the 4 door having a bit of a different shape to the seats. I am going to have to recover that one for the back, and then I have a spare rear seat. I thought about looking into Legendary, but they sell the front, not rear cover for the 4 door Darts.....bummer - oh well, will have to visit an upholstery shop and get a quote on getting it recovered - if it is not too spendy, then I will have the black bench recovered so they both look new.
 
Nice. I am going to get the scat rallye seats in white and have the rears done to match.
 
How do you like the shifter?

that if needs be, I can sand some off and make the fit really tight.

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How do you like the shifter?

About the only thing I dislike is the shift position indicator, but that is because I selected one without one with a light - other than burning the sh*t out of my hand when it is hot outside, I think it functions really well.
 
Saturday Update - was up early this morning.....Like 7 am, trying to beat the AZ heat. I had to run down some supplies - and here is my list of stuff that I am going to get done on this 3 day weekend.

Teardown the dash - done
Delete the AM radio - done
Paint dash cluster and radio/AC bezel - tonight after the sun goes down.
Strip Dash pad frame, cover with carpet - tonight after the sun goes down.
Paint dash frame and steering column - tonight after the sun goes down. Going to stick with cream color like the rest of the interior - decided to stay "Black and Tan"
Bypass the ammeter (had one almost burn down my Duster back in the day) - tomorrow
Wiring for Stereo and 12v accessory plugs - tomorrow
Replace the positive battery cable - tomorrow
Rear Package tray removal and speaker install - tomorrow
Dash Reassembly - Monday
Build Console - Monday
Mount Stereo and 12v accessory plugs - Monday

For today, actually started work at about 930 am, and had the dash apart by noon. I removed the dashpad without having to remove the AC vents, but ended up having to drop them due to the AM radio removal. By 12pm, it was 110 degrees outside, and as I am working in a covered parking spot, not a garage, I called it quits in the car for now, and will finish up my list of stuff tonight after the sun sets a bit.

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Okay, tonights update - I repainted the dash cluster, radio/AC, and the Glove Box bezels.

I wiped them down with alcohol, to get them clean, masked off the gauges, and then sprayed them, first with adhesion primer, then a flat black Krylon. To stick with the "Black and Tan" interior I have going on, I repainted the raised lettering in some acrylic model paint. I then shot them in a Duplicolor Gloss Varnish to seal them up.

on't mind the crappy pics - I will take some after I get the dash back together.

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In case anyone is wondering, I am going to make a plate to cover the old shaft radio mounting point, paint it tan, and then paint a nameplate. I will line it with carpet on the back to reduce squeakage, and then predrill and mount with machine screws.
 
Low Dollar Dash pad refurbishment

A lot of us have cracked, mangled dash pads, and for some of us, $200 + is a bit much to spend, since we are trying to stay on budget. The choices are to scour the interwebs for a deal, find one in a boneyard, or pay out the nose for a new one.

Here is another option:

Take the dash pad and strip all the vinyl and padding off of it. I used a utility knife to cut the vinyl, and then a putty knife to scrape away the padding. Sand off the last of the glue and gunk until you have bare metal. Get some Automotive Grade Carpet (rolls from Oreilly are $10), and some 3M spray adhesive (again, $10 at Oreilly) and you have the materials that you need.

I've hit the end of the line tonight - I have to hit the dash pad frame with a sander tomorrow morning and then I can go ahead and recover it.

Will post pics tomorrow of the completed dash pad, and the reassembled dash.
 
Nice project ya got. I love driving with my girls to the drive up diner or just cruising and singing. To them its better then a Porshe or a Lambo. Of course the youngest she want flames on it so thats what she will get. Thanks for sharing
 
Nice progress man! Any tips on removing the dash pad with the windshield in place? I might go at it later today.
 
By 12pm, it was 110 degrees outside, and as I am working in a covered parking spot, not a garage

Mine is in a garage and the temp inside hit 127 yesterday. So much i want to do to my car but its just too damned hot.
 
Nice progress man! Any tips on removing the dash pad with the windshield in place? I might go at it later today.
Remove the glove box and the dash cluster. there are 5 top nuts and 2 metal screws to remove. if you have ac, you dont have to remove that either. just be prepared to get some cuts on your hands. it took me about 3 hours to get it all apart, but with the the cluster and glove box out, you can remove all tye screws and nuts.
 
Well, I slept in this morning......actually refused to get out of bed, so by the time I was up it was too damned hot to do anything.

I did grab some pics of the dash pad covering.

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This is after hitting the frame with some 80 grit sandpaper on my palm sander. I then cut 13 inches off of my roll of automotive carpet. I laid the carpet out and set the frame on the carpet, with the bottom edge of the front of the frame about 2 inches from the edge of the carpet. I sprayed the top and front of the frame with 3M adhesive, and pushed it down flat onto the frame. I then cut "V" shapes into the carpet where the mounting bolts are. Sprayed the carpet and frame on the front side with the adhesive, and folded it up and over the lip of the frame. I was sure to keep the carpet tight. once I had the entire front edge pulled up, I sprayed the inside of the frame with the adhesive and folded the carpet over. It is important to keep at least 2 inches of that carpet to adhere to the frame on the inside. Spring clamps help hold it in place - I used old school clothesline pins. Once the front side were dry (about 15 minutes in the AZ heat) I repeated the process on the top back of the frame. Cut the same "V" shapes, sprayed with adhesive, and pulled it tight to the metal. Clipped that in place and walked away to guzzle Gatorade - I was drenched in sweat.....lol.

The downward bends are a real ***** and you have to cut slices into the carpet at the bends, laying them down on top of each other to keep the carpet smooth. I then repeated the above steps on the front and rear of the down "legs"

Here is the finished product:

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So tonight, I will do the little rewiring that I need to do, get that map light tested, dismount my steering wheel and tape everything off and get it painted. I am going to do the steering column in Black, and the dash frame in a Duplicolor tan that I grabbed today. It is about as close to the original tan on the kick panels as I can get - and it should tie everything in nicely. Overnight dry and then dash reassembly tomorrow!
 
Last post for the night - I ran out of daylight...... I did get the column prepped and painted.

Here is a prep shot. I basically covered everything with trashbags and tape, shot it in black, and then clear coated it. Came out nice. Tomorrow - up as the sun come up to paint the dash.

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Everything is looking good. Hope you get a break from the heat to finish the list today.
 
Got everything but the center console done. Still need to put the glove box liner and door back on. Looks really good. I pretty much didn't take any pictures after I primed and painted the dash, but will grab some tomorrow morning when I go and put those other two items on. It looks pretty good - although I did nick paint putting the gauge cluster back in.
 
Sweet - my buddy Steve will be here on Thursday morning to give a hand actually building the console....And the rest of my stereo install stuff should be here tomorrow!

Oh, and I will get that stupid glove box buttoned up so I can post pics of the final product.

Here are some in progress pics while I was painting the dash. I rough sanded the dash with 100 grit, primed with rattlecan grey, and then used Duplicolor Tan Mica, followed up with a Duplicolor clear. This was the closest rattlecan paint that I could find to the original "Gold Tan" (or whatever the F4 color code was). Interesting to note that the original seats were an upgrade for the interior of the Brick when it was new......I might have to just get those original seats recovered.......But have cloth inserts instead of vinyl.

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Oh fine, Rocker - you made me walk all the way out to the Brick and snap a pic of the new and improved dash, sans the glovebox.........I did take the opportunity to move the tach to the column, but I am not sure I like it there - I haven't driven with it there yet.

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I love my wife's instructions sometimes........"Maybe we need to get new big rims and tires on it, you know, to figure out what color to paint the outside......" Lols - I love the discussions over dinner, and the liberal use of the word "we."
 
Sweet, my amp wiring kit came in, as well as the mounting stuff for my 6.5 inch speakers.

Looks like it was a good thing that the console wasn't done yet. Hopefully, going to get the rest of the stereo wiring ran this coming weekend, and maybe even get the console and stereo install done!
 
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