1964 Dodge 440

[AR67GTX]

The rear, lower seat was tough to get out on my 66. I took a 5 lb hammer and “massaged the hook part of the floor latches forward a bit (one of mine looked bent a little bit rearward at some point). Much better now. Yea for big hammers.

 

[dadsbee]

The rear, lower seat was tough to get out on my 66. I took a 5 lb hammer and “massaged the hook part of the floor latches forward a bit (one of mine looked bent a little bit rearward at some point). Much better now. Yea for big hammers.

Freshly redone seats.. I did give it a couple wacks with a board against the lower frame and a 5 lb to try and pop it. Amazing how quick and slick the scissor jack worked simply turning the screw with my hand.

 

[AR67GTX]

I wish I had tried that. I tackled mine with a piece of wood wrapped in a towel and whacked it with my big hammer. No good and it slipped somehow once and put a little rip in the vinyl. Of course that require buying a piece of vinyl from Legendary and having an upholstery shop sew it in. So when I went after the offending floor hook it felt good to give it that first hard rap with the hammer.

 

[Polara426]

Had the double brackets on my 64 too probably same floor piece for hardtop and sedan.

 

[dadsbee]

Forming the other 3 seat attachment hoops.

Ready to go, break out the MIG welder.

Figured I'd get that package tray board repainted before I started.

MIG and lets go

First hoop welded and went into panic mode when I realized it was directly over the rear frame rail so I couldn't see if there was a fire. Sure glad I had used a hook and pulled the mouse nests out of the rails last month.

Wile E on fire duty!

All welded in, cleaned up and painted to prevent rust.

Package tray in place and the trunk divider slotted to fit the hoops. Also realized the '64's push pin retention holes are perfect for the upper car seat straps. Just need to make a couple of bracket to bolt into those holes.

I think I got it right the first time, which is good... as I'm not doing it twice! Waiting for the paint to cure for a day before throwing the bottom seat in.

 

[dadsbee]

Strip of Lexan under the child seat tabs and trying to get the seat back in without tearing anything.

Needed to bend the tabs all up on their ends about 10 degrees to tuck up under the upper seat section.

Perfectly centered between upper and lower seat sections with zero pressure on either.

Ready for car seats, just need to make up a couple of upper tether strap connection points for when the seats go forward facing.

 

[Richard Cranium]

The Infant/car seats that are out now are complicated contraptions that are a PIA to strap in.

 

[Islandkent]

I'm kind of waiting to see how this is going to turn out? The seats don't just sit on the car seat anymore and run a tether strap to the package tray??

 

[dadsbee]

The Infant/car seats that are out now are complicated contraptions that are a PIA to strap in.

To think, I just rode up in the package tray in our '64 Bel as a kid!

I'm kind of waiting to see how this is going to turn out? The seats don't just sit on the car seat anymore and run a tether strap to the package tray??

No, you either have to use a seat belt or the quick tabs that have been in newer vehicles since around 2004. Rear facing up to 2 years old you just use the belt or the lower tether. Once they go forward facing they HAVE to be restrained by the lower tether or seat belt AND the upper tether to the package tray. The nice thing on the '64 is there are two push pins that hold the package tray board in place. I am using those two holes to put an AN eye bolt into and a clevis installed to it so we can snap the tether strap in place. Moving blanket on the seat and then a board under the car seat so the seat doesn't get fawked.

 

[Islandkent]

"To think, I just rode up in the package tray in our '64 Bel as a kid!"

And anywhere else my mom couldn't get a swing at me!

 

[dadsbee]

Looked at the size of the tether clip and a light bulb went off. Dug through my late 80's early '90's one off and prototype parts that we did for Bendix Signal and TRW seat belt divisions. Found some "baby buckles" !

Perfect size and already Transport Canada approved!!LOL

Bent a 45 in the tongue.

AN3-5A bolt, a couple washers and a lock nut.

Absolutely perfect.

Probably the only '64 Dodge in the world with child seat tethers!

 

[dadsbee]

Some days I wonder if I do this **** to add to my fowl language vocabulary, or I do it for the challenge. Why you buy any NOS part you see that comes up for sale for your cars. They'll never decrease in value and you might just need them. Heater / Defrost / Fresh Air all controlled through a vacuum switch.... that I had to change with my hand through the radio hole.

Pulling the push buttons off.

New switch plugged in to see if I can get the three vacuum pods working. Found a hole in one line and a sticky pod, but got everything working correctly.

Some dick painted over the radio clear view panel, but I have a spare. Of course it's not the same colour...

Vacuum switch unbolted from panel, now to get it off the mounting bracket by reaching through the radio hole.

OE top 2256681 and superseded NOS replacement 2496873.

Went to clean the buttons and of course the paint came off. Another snowball run... Smear some White paint..

And of course I had to do the same on the transmission buttons.

Polish...

 

[dadsbee]

New switch in place and reinstalling the buttons. They're no where near concours, but just fine for this driver. At least you can read them.

Heated up the plastic swages and popped out the "clear" lenses. Of course the clear one wasn't up to being good enough.

What have I got, parts tray looks perfect. Marked ready to cut out a new one...

Sliding the new one in and then heated up the posts and melted it back together.

Radio cleaned up a bit. It's a '65 model but seeing they're only visual anyhow, who cares.

All buttoned back up and all vacuum and electrical still seem to work, so I knocked nothing off behind the panel.

 

[3white74]

Well Wayne....you need to stay busy up there in frozen tundra.....only cold beer and Mopar for you !!!

 

[dadsbee]

.. and Rum, there's always Rum here!

 

[The Rebel]

Looks great Wayne!

Hope all is well with you and your family.

 

[dadsbee]

Looked at the pics and realized that I had to go back to the shop and re & re the radio. Dat's better..

 

[The Rebel]

Pure perfection!

 

[dadsbee]

Pure perfection!

Well it's lined up now at least...