Guys,this is my 1970 Dodge Dart.It has been rusting slowly into oblivion for 15 years.
The story; I bought this car when my friend at the time came by the coffee shop where we all hung out and said" are you still looking for an old mopar"? Well,heck ya said I. So off we went to look at it. It was sitting in a used car lot. 318,904,and 8 3/4!! Decent black interior with bench seat,but zero options. Perfect big block candidate. I paid $350 for it and drove it home. Asked my future wife out the next day.. We had this big blowout after a month of dating and she was gonna walk home in a big city during the witching hours. I wouldnt let her,offered her a ride.For some reason the Dart would not fire up. After we had cooled off and made up it started...never did figure it out and it never did it again. We eventually moved from the big city to Trail.The Dart faithfully pulled a 2500lb trailer through 3 mountain ranges without a hitch and got better than 19 mpg doing it. Then it got parked for 15 years.
Fast forward to now. The elements had been punishing to the front sheetmetal. So I stripped it off today. Some,like the front valance,header panel and grill are fine. The fenders are bad.
Severeal months ago I bought a big block oil pan from a Fabo member (chrisF,here in B.C) Turned out to be the best thing I ever bought as he gave me a lead on a fibreglass front clip. I bought that several weeks ago,along with schumacher sb to bb conversion mounts.
So heres the Dart seeing the light of day for the first time in 6 years or so.
It took a month of clean up to get at it.The garage was packed!
I stripped the front end stuff off. In front of the Dart is a 360 block.At the right side of the picture is my big block 400 drivetrain.
Heres the glass clip.
It actually fits alright! needs some trimming and lots of bodywork of course.
Plans are to convert it to a one piece.The hood is separate from the rest right now.Then I'll build a tilt hinge system and cut out all the rusty inner fender crap.Leave the shock mounts in place,weld in some tube from the firewall to just past the shock mount.Tie it to the shock mount. Build a better,stiffer rad support.
Heres the engine mounts. I'll probably trial fit the big block soon.
The story; I bought this car when my friend at the time came by the coffee shop where we all hung out and said" are you still looking for an old mopar"? Well,heck ya said I. So off we went to look at it. It was sitting in a used car lot. 318,904,and 8 3/4!! Decent black interior with bench seat,but zero options. Perfect big block candidate. I paid $350 for it and drove it home. Asked my future wife out the next day.. We had this big blowout after a month of dating and she was gonna walk home in a big city during the witching hours. I wouldnt let her,offered her a ride.For some reason the Dart would not fire up. After we had cooled off and made up it started...never did figure it out and it never did it again. We eventually moved from the big city to Trail.The Dart faithfully pulled a 2500lb trailer through 3 mountain ranges without a hitch and got better than 19 mpg doing it. Then it got parked for 15 years.
Fast forward to now. The elements had been punishing to the front sheetmetal. So I stripped it off today. Some,like the front valance,header panel and grill are fine. The fenders are bad.
Severeal months ago I bought a big block oil pan from a Fabo member (chrisF,here in B.C) Turned out to be the best thing I ever bought as he gave me a lead on a fibreglass front clip. I bought that several weeks ago,along with schumacher sb to bb conversion mounts.
So heres the Dart seeing the light of day for the first time in 6 years or so.
It took a month of clean up to get at it.The garage was packed!
I stripped the front end stuff off. In front of the Dart is a 360 block.At the right side of the picture is my big block 400 drivetrain.
Heres the glass clip.
It actually fits alright! needs some trimming and lots of bodywork of course.
Plans are to convert it to a one piece.The hood is separate from the rest right now.Then I'll build a tilt hinge system and cut out all the rusty inner fender crap.Leave the shock mounts in place,weld in some tube from the firewall to just past the shock mount.Tie it to the shock mount. Build a better,stiffer rad support.
Heres the engine mounts. I'll probably trial fit the big block soon.
