speedog24

Hi to all. I'm new here (obviously) and decided to do a quick introduction. I've grown up in Arkansas with a dad that loves mopars. We used to take family vacations in his 83 ramcharger. He has shelves full of mopar parts, mainly for 4x4s. I've grown up going to car shows, and have always loved mopars too. In highschool, dad helped me get my first "hotrod", an 85 square-body chevy. It was fun to drive and parts were dirt cheap.

Now I've moved away from home, and am a sophomore in college. And just married! We are renting a great house with an awesome shop, so I started looking for a new project. I found this dart listed on craigslist:


I went to look at it, and bought it.


$500. All there. All original. All numbers matching. And minimal rust. All of the floors and trunk pan are solid, but there is some rust in the lower quarters:


And this, My biggest concern:


I definitely want to start the resto/mods with the bodywork. I know I can get patch panels and such for the quarters, but what about the roof joint?

I bought the car on Tuesday, maybe Saturday I can get it off the trailer.

Anyways, just a quick intro. Hello all!

TVLynn

It is inevitable that some patch panels will have to be hand made./ The aftermarket has done an amazing job to get us what we needs as it is..
Find a Dart in the junk yard and take your sawsall and cut what you need

78D200

Welcome and congratulations on just getting married!

MReeves

Welcome to the forum.... Be sure to check out the Mopar of the Month contest.... Congrats on getting married and also finding the Dart!!!!! Keep us posted on how your restro is coming.....

rickyr

welcome to the forum

Skwerly

nice swinger! V8, right? let's see some more of that bad boy!

also, i run a '78 big block ramcharger--gotta love em!

bremereric

Welcome aboard. AMD makes some sheet metal for you.

speedog24

Thanks guys! Actually, it's the slant six. Wish it was a v8 car. My dad does have a complete 318, 2 340s, and a 360 block. So I've got options! Haha Ill try to get some more pics soon, but its still on the trailer! And my niece is staying over tomorrow so it may be a few days...

I've been thinking the sheet metal work would be a great excuse for some new shop tools

RacerHog

Here is what my Scamp Roof looked like..... Check out all the Holes in the Roof.....hahahaha
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/DSCN4418.jpg

Talk about an...Oh Chit... Project....

Sounds like you will have fun with that car....

62Furious

Welcome, I hope the garage you have at your house is adequate for storing the parts, you will find your self taking more and more parts off while doing little restorations in different area's of the car

speedog24

Alright, well I finally got a buddy over and we got the car pulled/lifted/jerked off of the trailer and into my shop. It was sketchy, but we got it. I went out and started removing the interior last night, and found some more rust (big surprise right?) AND the broadcast sheet. And its in great condition! I'm not sure what its worth, but its really neat. Can anybody help me interpret it? also, there are some torx bolts holding in the seatbelts, and I have zero torx sockets. What size would I need for that? On another note, I've been looking to get a set of factory service manuals for the car. I came across some on ebay that are on cd. Anybody know if they are legitimate/worth the money? I like the idea of only printing the pages I need at the time and being able to look it up again if I lose the pages. Anyways, here's some more pictures of the progress.








Rusty dash



Are the underdash vents factory or dealer installed air?

pro-tech

:welcome2: Congrates on the marriage... T50 on the torx.. And you will need a welder... It is fun dont sweat the repairs there are plenty of guys here to walk you through the process...Bill

speedog24

Hi all, hope everyone has had a wonderful day today, I know my belly is definitely full . Unfortunately, my wife is a walmart employee, and is working tonight, so we had to come home from her parents house early. Being home alone, I decided to work on my dart some. I got all 4 wheels and what was left of tires pulled off and got it set up about 2 feet on jackstands. I thouroghly swept underneath, (lack of a creeper) and crawled underneath. I'm surprised by what I found! The trunk drops are 100% solid, hardly any surface rust, the gas tank looks good (from the outside anyways), the torsion boxes are 100% solid, as are the frame rails! so the only body rust issues I have to deal with are the floors and the roof joint. Score! I'm currently getting the supplies I need to build a rotiseree to put the body on. Looking to have the rotiseree built for under $400. I have links to the plans I found if anybody else is interested. Here are some pictures from tonight:



The rockers:


Some of my wife's inspiration: