Bullseye!.........'71 Dodge Dart, right at home @ FBBO

[Propwash]

Great find Prop, looks really solid and I'd take a crappy roof over a crappy undercarriage any day. I'd put in my 2 cents on the color but you already know what I'm thinking.

Hehehehe....I don't even need to guess Dev. I'm trying to figure out subtle tactic's to slowly sway her that way. Odds of success 3.47%. Never marry a woman smarter than you. You can't get away with anything.

Great to she's home Will. Lookin' forward to see the progress.

Thanks Satman!

Did/does she dig the 80's? 1st music vid in new thread? hahaha

I think so.....I know she use to sport one of those wind tunnel tested hair explosions. Looked like a front hedge that got out of control.

Looks like a super solid starting point. Gotta love those California cars. I dig the name!

You Bet! In uncharted waters here reboot. Tear down is going wayyyy too easy. Nothing's all rusted up?!?!


Another shot of the floor:





This destruction is brought to you by 2 minutes of a Hypertherm Plasma cutter:




Those fenders had a few things working against them; Wrong year (no recess for marker lights), Smashed & broken fender bracework, Probably 100-150 hours of metal, body work and probably patch panels. Not worth it...Not worth $20 bucks. Anyways, hell of a lot easier to toss in the truck for the dumpster.

 

[conv67bdere]

Great find Prop, looks really solid and I'd take a crappy roof over a crappy undercarriage any day. I'd put in my 2 cents on the color but you already know what I'm thinking.

Hummmmmm . . . I wonder if I can guess what color 747Mopar would suggest . . . . ( smile ) . . . LMAO . . .

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This destruction is brought to you by 2 minutes of a Hypertherm Plasma cutter:

Those fenders had a few things working against them; Wrong year (no recess for marker lights), Smashed & broken fender bracework, Probably 100-150 hours of metal, body work and probably patch panels. Not worth it...Not worth $20 bucks. Anyways, hell of a lot easier to toss in the truck for the dumpster.

Didn't take you very long to start digging in Propwash . . . the metal is already flying ! ! ! ! LOVE IT ! ! !

 

[charger360]

wow those floors are awsome! good score! like the fender removal.

 

[Propwash]

like the fender removal.

Like Butter amigo...

 

[snakeyes]

we see you like your plasma cutter :star_wars2: its a good thing that you don't have a light sabre also :headbang:

 

[kitchen1969]

Can I get the gentlemans name and number in Kentucky I have a 66 Coronet 500 I am in need of any Coronet donor out there. Nice ride i am sure the wife will love it once it's finished good luck with the build.

Thanks Bud

 

[charger360]

nice! ha! i will be goping down to New York to pick up my wifes car on wednesday hope all goes well at the border will be my first rodeo with all that! i will keep an eye on this resto mine has way more rust than than this beauty!

 

[Propwash]

we see you like your plasma cutter :star_wars2: its a good thing that you don't have a light sabre also :headbang:

Yeah, that's probably a good thing snake.

Can I get the gentlemans name and number in Kentucky I have a 66 Coronet 500 I am in need of any Coronet donor out there. Nice ride i am sure the wife will love it once it's finished good luck with the build.

Thanks Bud

PM sent

nice! ha! i will be goping down to New York to pick up my wifes car on wednesday hope all goes well at the border will be my first rodeo with all that! i will keep an eye on this resto mine has way more rust than than this beauty!

Good luck with your trip 360! I don't even know if I can qualify this as a resto. Maybe just call it a "Fixin'Up". Best of luck with your resto. Tearing this car apart, it becomes more and more apparent how much more rigid and beefy the B-Bodies were built. Damn strut rods look like a drum stick.

 

[roadrunnerman]

DANG IT Will, I take some time off to have some alone time with the wife and you go and show up with another project. LOL (knew you were getting one). Guess that means I need to go on the hunt for a mini-me II. I can't wait to see what you do with this one. Any high impact color looks sweet on those cars. Hopefully your wife can pick out the wheels she wants quicker than we can.

P.S. I'd like to get the number of the guy you got the roof from and does he ship? If not that's fine, I get thru KY occasionally and can take the parts off then.

 

[SGTPaul]

Another one???? Someone needs to go to the toy store.... Oh wait the shelf in aisle 5 is empty... again... :icon_cool:



Have fun on round 2!!!

 

[RustyRatRod]

Lookin good Wil. I think you found a nice un.

 

[Propwash]

DANG IT Will, I take some time off to have some alone time with the wife and you go and show up with another project. LOL (knew you were getting one). Guess that means I need to go on the hunt for a mini-me II. I can't wait to see what you do with this one. Any high impact color looks sweet on those cars. Hopefully your wife can pick out the wheels she wants quicker than we can.

P.S. I'd like to get the number of the guy you got the roof from and does he ship? If not that's fine, I get thru KY occasionally and can take the parts off then.

I hope you and the Mrs. got some well deserved R & R Roger! Yepper's gonna need another motivational "mini me"! LOL I here ya on the paint and wheels...Kinda like a bunch of women in a shoe store. Well.....To give us credit, paint and wheels are a lot more cool than women's shoe's. I'll PM you that fella's contact info.

Another one???? Someone needs to go to the toy store.... Oh wait the shelf in aisle 5 is empty... again... :icon_cool:
Have fun on round 2!!!

LMAO! I gotta admit you had me laughing out loud on that one Sarge! You know, you're probably right......Changing out the roof, I'll probably need a couple box's of vise grips. Guess i'll have to pull an early bird and beat you to isle 5, once they come off backorder.


Started gathering up part's fella's. Like mentioned, this car will be converted to a 4 speed. I've been shopping the classified's, craigslist, here and FABO's ad's. Picked up a pedal assembly & Z Bar out of Indiana, 340 Neutral balance flywheel & spare clutch fork locally, Hurst A-Body shifting mechanism out of Kansas, Clutch Rod & Hardware out of Michigan, Aluminum Bellhousing & Clutch fork off Brian from here. Still looking for an A-Body Tranny, shift linkage rods & hardware, and the clutch pedal rod. I'm pretty ignorant with 4 speed's so i'll definitely be picking you guys brain down the road.

Few of the parts:






So, first of the hitch's. Now this don't fall in the ranks of extremely bad luck, like some of the Charger guys like H2E and 747 have to deal with. But, kinda stinks anyways. I bought the car with the understanding it had a v8 K-Frame. Well, It doesn't. When it got here, I popped the hood and the engine mount ears on the K-Frame looked way too offset for a v8. Did some measuring and confirmed, it's a /6 K-Frame. So Dev/Joel, I don't hold a wick to your walking uphill, backward's, in the snow, barefoot battle..but at least I got one notch in my belt with the Dart




So, here's my question(s) to you guys. Do I swap it out to a v8 K-Frame or just go with the conversion mounts? Has anyone used the Schumacher conversion mounts with any luck? I guess the last tough question would be; do the conversion mounts mess with the factory engine orientation? I'll be running headers, and I'm a bit worried the conversion mounts will mess with the already tight Z-Bar/header clearance I would have.

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Lookin good Wil. I think you found a nice un.

Thanks alot Rob. Good to see you here bud. I know you've been dealt some bad hand's here in the past few, like some of the others.....Hope all is well with you and yours sir.

 

[hunt2elk]

Yeah, that's pretty minor Will. If that is as bad as it gets for you, it will be smooth sailing. I've never had an A-body apart, are the K-frames the same as a B-body? If so, I would find a replacement as they are still easy to obtain. But if you need a big block frame specifically for an A-body that could be a challenge. Maybe a small block frame and then use the Schumacher conversion mounts?

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Forgot to mention that I am extremely jealous of how solid that project is. I've learned my lesson about restoring rust belt cars and will be starting with something like this next time :headbang:.

 

[charger360]

does it have a front sway bar? if not i would swap if it does i have used shumacher before they are very very good.

 

[BigBlock61]

Another one???? Someone needs to go to the toy store.... Oh wait the shelf in aisle 5 is empty... again... :icon_cool:

View attachment 181276

Have fun on round 2!!!

No wonder I couldn't find any yesterday. You have em all!!!!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Great looking car !!! You have me flashing back to the 340 4 speed Duster that was my last restoration.
Personally I would swap out the K frame with another one from a V-8 car. Please keep in mind that the motor mount style changed in '73 when they went to the fail safe design. If memory serves me correctly, any A body K frame from 67-72 should interchange.

I would also look for a set of lower control arms with the sway bar tab on them. They are getting a little harder to find.

I have a set of 4 speed rods from an Inland shifter. Shoot me a PM if your interested. I'm not 100% sure if the linkage holes are the same between Inland and Hurst. I still have a lot of stuff left over from the Duster. Let me know if I can help with anything.

My neighbor will love me. He will have to dig the parts out of my stash. He is very good about helping us now that I'm laid up with my shoulder injuries.

Good luck with it. Years ago I had a 71 Dart that was Hemi Orange, black vinyl top and black interior. You know what my color choice would be........

It had a "Hill Side Hemi" in it. The leaning tower of power.

 

[Propwash]

Yeah, that's pretty minor Will. If that is as bad as it gets for you, it will be smooth sailing. I've never had an A-body apart, are the K-frames the same as a B-body? If so, I would find a replacement as they are still easy to obtain. But if you need a big block frame specifically for an A-body that could be a challenge. Maybe a small block frame and then use the Schumacher conversion mounts?

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Forgot to mention that I am extremely jealous of how solid that project is. I've learned my lesson about restoring rust belt cars and will be starting with something like this next time :headbang:.

Thanks Joel. Unfortunately the K-Frames are different. The seller's a decent guy and it's something that got overlooked. He's already making it square and a V8 K-Frame is getting shipped, no charge. I tell ya, it's a nice change of pace with how solid this car is. You and a lot of the others here know how it is with the rustbelt cars, always having to think 10 steps a head and then when you get there, issues send you ten steps back. Ripping this one down I was thinking of the chain of events to follow. Got a bit confused because it seems there's about 20 steps missing...lol

does it have a front sway bar? if not i would swap if it does i have used shumacher before they are very very good.

No front sway bar 360. With the seller sending a replacement V8 K-Frame now, looks like my worries are over. I will be putting a sway bar on this car. Hopefully someone out there makes a sway bar kit that will engineer for a non sway bar car. Or it's like '71 said, time to find some LCA's with the tabs.

Great looking car !!! You have me flashing back to the 340 4 speed Duster that was my last restoration.
Personally I would swap out the K frame with another one from a V-8 car. Please keep in mind that the motor mount style changed in '73 when they went to the fail safe design. If memory serves me correctly, any A body K frame from 67-72 should interchange.

I would also look for a set of lower control arms with the sway bar tab on them. They are getting a little harder to find.

I have a set of 4 speed rods from an Inland shifter. Shoot me a PM if your interested. I'm not 100% sure if the linkage holes are the same between Inland and Hurst. I still have a lot of stuff left over from the Duster. Let me know if I can help with anything.

My neighbor will love me. He will have to dig the parts out of my stash. He is very good about helping us now that I'm laid up with my shoulder injuries.

Good luck with it. Years ago I had a 71 Dart that was Hemi Orange, black vinyl top and black interior. You know what my color choice would be........

It had a "Hill Side Hemi" in it. The leaning tower of power.

Thanks '71....I think about 80% of the folks that posted here have had a Dart..LOL Pretty funny. Popular car! Anyways thanks for the offer on the shifter linkage. Unfortunately I don't think it jives with the gates on the hurst. But again, thank you. Thanks for your expertise on the A-Body stuff. I'm slowly relearning, but it's always nice to hear from the more experienced guys.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Sway Bar etc.

Prop,
Since the V-8 K frame is on it's way, I'd go ahead and use it if it's in good condition. Most, (if not all) of the A body K- frames will have a series of holes punched that allow for installation of a factory sway bar. I've attached a few pictures of close ups showing these holes.

There are 2 brackets that are bolted to the K frame that mount the sway bar to the K-frame, and also house the rubber bushings with a large "U" shaped bracket.

If I'm not mistaken, these same brackets were also used on 70-74 E body and 71-72 B body cars, so finding them may be a little easier.

It "may" be possible to mount an aftermarket front sway bar using the original factory mounts.

Hope this helps.

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Here are some pictures of the AMD floor pan and Transmission Tunnel that I installed in my Duster. They show the opening and how the 4 speed hump fit.

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I left a small lip on the inside to duplicate close to what the factory did when they installed them. They were not trimmed off flush, but had a little overhang on the inside.

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This is a factory A body lower control arm. They will have the letters "V L" stamped into them to denote the body line they fit.

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This last picture shows the sway bar bracket that bolts to the K-frame. It has 6 holes stamped into it.

Hope this helps with your quest......

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While your at it, search for a set of disc brake spindles from a 73 and up with the large bolt pattern brake rotors. They have larger wheel bearings too.

It will allow you a much better choice of wheels later down the road.

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This is the stamp you want to look for. It shows the "VL' and below it the "LR" for the right side. "LL" will be on the left.

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This last picture is a close up of the stampings on the lower control arm.

 

[Propwash]

Hope this helps with your quest......

Excellent! Thank you very, very much! That is very helpful '71. Who knew restoring an A-Body at a B-Body site could be so easy lol! Thanks again!

 

[gdrill]

Hehe......gotta love an A-body Thread! I only wish mine was as rust free.