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To make a long story short, I used to have a 1975 Dodge Dart as my first car. I only had that car a few months before it broke down, got towed, and I never got it back. So fast foward about 15 years, and starting in early 2021 I began looking for another one. This is how, on a Wednesday in April, I found myself driving about 250 miles to check out a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger, "Swinger" being the name for the 2-door hardtop variant. I took it for a test drive, talked the seller down to $4000, and he delivered it to my house that Saturday.  So now let's get into everything that's wrong with it! The paint is not too badly faded, pretty shiny everywhere except for the hood (which I failed to get a good picture of). There's some dings, dents, and scrapes all over the car.    The grille is also cracked just inside the passenger side headlight. The chrome on the bumpers and trim is all nice except for the right rear bumper extension.   The vinyl top is mostly perfect... except for some very noticeable spots in the rear.    Now for the worst part: the wheelwells.      Let's just pretend we didn't see that and move on. Trunk looks alright, even under the spare tire, except for this spot on the left. That's a hole.     Looking inside, we see an automatic transmission and 63K on the clock. I'm gonna assume that's 163K. Oh, and did I mention the speedo's stuck on 20? We'll have to fix that, I guess. Seats and doors are in pretty nice shape at least.     The dash pad is bad, though. The back seat is also starting to separate on top, and there's one annoying little spot behind the driver missing.     Let's look under the dash!  Oh boy. And what is this? I suspect it's for the aftermarket defroster in the back window. I'll have to investigate further.    Time for a brief history lesson: The Dart started as a "small full-size" in 1960:  Then shrank into this little guy by 1966:  (OK, this one is actually a '65. But it's also currently for sale in Connecticut, if anyone's interested) Then in 1967 they restyled the body from the early-'60s Virgil Exner design to a nice boxy car with straight lines, resulting in the fourth-generation Dart that I love. These cars were available with anything from a 170 (2.8l) Slant 6 allegedly making 101bHP to some special-order 440 (7.2l) V8s in '68 and '69 that were rated at 375bHP. Anyways, here's my engine if you've stuck with me this far. A 225 (3.7l) Slant 6 with a single-barrel carb. According to Valiant.org, this bad boy was rated for 105 net HP at 4000 RPM.   I might as well point out, while we're in here, that the wiper fluid reservoir is smashed. Or just disintegrated?  The Previous Owner also says that the power steering pump leaks, but for now the steering is smooth and  vOh! And I almost forgot! There's a hole opening up in the floorboards, under the driver's feet.  OK, that's about it for now. It's actually kinda cathartic to talk poo poo about the car you just committed your future time and money to. Anyways, I guess I should point out that it's not all bad: the car runs, drives, stops, and shifts smoothly. So the only plan for the Dart is to keep it cruising, and drive it as much as possible in the nice weather. My main concern is fixing all of the rust and finding somewhere I can get it inspected. Inspired by George from Soup Classic Motoring, I may just go buy a welder tomorrow and start practicing. How else are you gonna learn, right? Current Known Issues: Really bad dash pad Radio doesn't work Brettbot fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Aug 26, 2023 |
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May 26, 2021 03:41
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Cool car! I'd suggest poking heavily around anywhere you see rust, your trunk extension is probably way worse than it looks (my Polara's looked about like that and I ended up having to do an entire trunk and both extensions by the time I got done poking through all of it). Floors aren't too bad, I'd expect to see the seat supports to have some rusted out parts where they pinch weld them together too. My suggestion is exactly what you said, get a welder, pick a spot, poke and fix. Anything is better than rusted out and you'll only get better from doing it. Then build that slant and turbo it 
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May 26, 2021 15:55
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FCAW is fun. Imagine running a hot glue gun but it's spitting fire and angry pixies.
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May 26, 2021 16:19
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I'm not a Dodge guy at all but that generation A body is probably the best looking compact car of that era. The C pillar and the curved rear window is  A 70-72 Plymouth Valiant Scamp is on my wish list for that reason.And yes to just getting a welder and to start practicing.
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May 26, 2021 17:07
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This is going to be excellent! Have you considered going full Mopar Mod Top since the factory vinyl needs replacing? https://www.mooresmopars.com/modregistry.html  It was a factory option on the earlier Darts.
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May 26, 2021 17:38
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I had an orange '72 Swinger that was in much worse shape back in highschool, and I loved it despite how often it stranded me or all the mechanical bodges I did to keep it running. I'd get another in a heartbeat, but that piece of poo poo I bought for $600 in 1999 is apparently a several thousand dollar car around here, so I don't know if I'll get another chance. The wheel wells on these tend to look like yours. Check under the carpet as well to make sure you're not Fred Flinstoneing around, and if you are, the good old fashioned fix was welding an old street sign there. I'm sure there are actual, legitimate fixes as well for people who are not poor highschool students.
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May 26, 2021 17:59
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McTinkerson posted:This is going to be excellent! Wow, I was not aware of this! I was thinking maybe black, but my wife said she likes the all-green... at least until she saw the Mod Tops, now she's changed her vote. George RR Fartin posted:I'd get another in a heartbeat, but that piece of poo poo I bought for $600 in 1999 is apparently a several thousand dollar car around here, so I don't know if I'll get another chance. Yeah, that's why I snapped this one up, despite some issues. Especially in New England, everything is either a stripped, rusted-out hunk (that the seller still wants $5000 for) or a fully-restored show piece for $20-100K. A simple cruiser that's "almost there" for under 5 sounded good to me. As for floor pans, I saw a smart trick on Blown Budget Garage that I might use: with a metal rod and a board with a channel routed out of it, you can hammer ridges into plain sheet metal to give it some rigidity.
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May 27, 2021 01:36
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I've got a neighbor whose daughter drives one. It's pretty rough, but she daily drives it... I hope your restoration goes well, there's not many left.
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May 27, 2021 02:09
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George RR Fartin posted:I had an orange '72 Swinger that was in much worse shape back in highschool, and I loved it despite how often it stranded me or all the mechanical bodges I did to keep it running. I'd get another in a heartbeat, but that piece of poo poo I bought for $600 in 1999 is apparently a several thousand dollar car around here, so I don't know if I'll get another chance. My neighbor who's a 21 year old kid recently bought a dart of this generation for 3000 bucks, no motor no trans - It really age checked me as well. A few of my friends had these when we were in high school too, they wanted older cars but these were the affordable "classic". Another friend has one who has turned it in to a Duel tribute car.. its orange. OP - you have a cool ride! I love the grandma spec too!
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May 27, 2021 05:52
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LobsterboyX posted:OP - you have a cool ride! I love the grandma spec too! Means a lot coming from you, I love your thread! When I was in highschool I was all about the rockabilly/greaser scene, so everything you post is right up my alley. It wasn't a great week for the Dart. I went and got my 20-day plates, full of excitement. The car was registered and inspected in its' home state, so I had high hopes that I would be legal soon. I took the car to a local garage, only about 3 miles from my house. I always see a lime green '71 Challenger parked outside, so I figured that was a good omen. The guy was nice enough to give it a once-over without officially inspecting it. He told me three things were necessary before it would pass inspection: One, patch the holes in the quarter panels. Sure, I was going to do that anyways. Two, he said I'm going to need a new tailpipe. He has no inside line on this stuff, so the best he could do was order from somewhere online, same as I could. And finally, he said the front brakes (which the Previous Owner had proudly told me he changed right before selling the car) were "just jammed in there" and the pads were dragging everywhere I drove. Since the whole point of this car is to learn as I go, I told him I wanted to look at the brakes myself. So I did and (other than one chewed-up lugnut the PO left me) I have nothing to add. My only guess is maybe it's a problem with the piston not retracting all the way? Once I got the caliper off it was hell trying to get it back on the rotor because there was barely enough space between the pads. Oh, and I guess he was right about the tailpipe, because the bolt on the hanger near the bumper just sheared off in the driveway. At this point I was starting to feel overwhelmed, if not defeated. I really let myself believe that I was going to roll in, get a sticker, and spend the rest of the summer cruising. I could just pay the garage to fix the brakes, but then I wouldn't be learning anything, would I? I think I have to resign myself to the idea that this is a long-term project, and I'm not going to be dodging and darting as soon as I thought. There's a custom exhaust place here in town, maybe they can not only fix the tailpipe but upgrade it, too, since the old pipe seems to be 1 7/8" and everything online is at least 2 1/4". Oh, and since I'm just listing everything that went wrong, the heater hose for the air cleaner fell apart, too. But at least that was a simple replacement. And the PO was right about the power steering pump leaking, so that's confirmed now. But now I've got a new problem! The hood won't close all the way any more. The safety latch will catch, but the regular hood latch won't... unless I remove the hood spring.  So the striker on the hood is supposed to hit the hook pointed out in the top picture. That rotates the latch and holds the hood all the way down. Well suddenly the spring is too strong for the latch, I guess, because it's impossible to make the latch stay closed. Unless, as I said, I remove the spring, then it works fine every time... but then when I pull the hood release, the hood doesn't pop up, and I have to lie on the ground to push the hood from underneath.  In theory I could buy a replacement spring, then cut a little bit off to make it shorter and weaker, I guess. But that seems like masking the problem instead of figuring out what the hell is going on.
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May 29, 2021 05:08
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Replace that spring, and the latch one while you're at it. Good taste in cars, man. :bump:
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May 29, 2021 08:45
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I just used hood pins but I don't think anyone would accuse me of doing anything right with that car
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May 29, 2021 11:29
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I assume front disc brakes based on your description. New calipers are not a big job at all probably pretty cheap for your Dart. If they're acting even a little stupid I wouldn't hesitate to just replace them. Good opportunity to do a fluid change while you're at it. For the tailpipe, is it just the section after the muffler? I wouldn't worry too much about "upgrading" to a bigger size on just that section as it won't do anything for you with the rest of the exhaust being smaller. Hell, I'm not even running that section on my Nova, but that's not necessarily a good idea. I'm excited to watch this thread. I'm not real knowledgeable on Mopars, but I've got some experience with grandma-spec early 70s "compacts."
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May 29, 2021 15:11
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:I assume front disc brakes based on your description. New calipers are not a big job at all probably pretty cheap for your Dart. If they're acting even a little stupid I wouldn't hesitate to just replace them. Good opportunity to do a fluid change while you're at it. Yeah, at first I was stressing about getting everything fixed up ASAP so I could drive the car for the rest of the summer. But now that I've had an attitude adjustment, I'm not too worried about it. As far as the exhaust goes, it looks ok to me before the muffler and pretty bad afterwards. Then again, I'm no expert. I have no idea what the exhaust place will charge for replacing the whole thing vs. just the rotten part, so it's all up in the air.
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May 29, 2021 18:05
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Try cleaning out the latch and relubing it to start, they tend to collect crud and start jamming up. Post some photos and we can give some pointers. They should be pretty basic repairs so it'll be a good way to get your feet wet. Bulk Vanderhuge fucked around with this message at 18:25 on May 29, 2021 |
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May 29, 2021 18:22
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Well, I'm an idiot. I ordered a new power steering pump last week because the old one was leaking. I even confirmed this by cleaning off the bottom of the pump, filling it up, and then coming back later to see if it was wet again. But then today I thought to actually turn the engine on and see if I could see where it was leaking from. Click it I don't think it's supposed to be that wobbly! Looking closely at the bottom of the pump again, I think I see the fluid coming from the shaft, running down the pump, and dripping off the bottom. So now I've got to wait on a new pulley, which I probably should've just ordered in the first place. 
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Jun 2, 2021 19:01
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the hood thing - there should be some adjustment on the hood itself - I cant recall how those darts work - get some photos of the stuff on the hood like the actual latch - Power steering pump - a new power steering pump should have a new front seal installed in it, if there's still a leak, a tweaked pulley is probably not the source of it - check the lines maybe? maybe you got a lemon new one? - if you are slick about it you can actually straighten the pulleys out rather easily with a flat surface and some light hammering I don't really have a lot of info about mopar steering stuff other than having the box rebuilt in my wifes 56 dodge cost us close to 1600 bucks and theres only one shop in the country dumb eno... i mean... that can actually do it.
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Jun 3, 2021 15:06
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LobsterboyX posted:the hood thing - there should be some adjustment on the hood itself - I cant recall how those darts work - get some photos of the stuff on the hood like the actual latch - Oh, that's the old pump and pulley. The new pump just arrived yesterday, I haven't had time to install it yet. I guess it can't hurt to try and straighten the old pulley while I'm waiting on the new one. For the hood, there's two bolts holding the whole latch mechanism in place. You can adjust it up and down, which I tried from lowest to highest, and even leaning to the right to see if gravity could help. Nothing. I cleaned it up as best as I could, sprayed a little white lithium grease inside, worked it around. Still no luck. At the right height, I can hold the hood down with my right hand and flip the latch from underneath with my left hand, but as soon as I let go the hood springs back up. I know it's gotta be something in the latch, but it's really like the spring is suddenly too strong.
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Jun 3, 2021 17:38
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It's been 20+ years, but generically: are there any other springs in the mechanism that could be failing to counter the main one? This feels like an issue where the latch is meant to lock in once the hood is down, but the latch doesn't rotate to the point where whatever is meant to keep it in place is able to. Can you get a similar diameter bar (a pencil or pen maybe?) and try to actuate the mechanism with the hood open to see where things get held up?
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Jun 3, 2021 18:31
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George RR Fartin posted:It's been 20+ years, but generically: are there any other springs in the mechanism that could be failing to counter the main one? This feels like an issue where the latch is meant to lock in once the hood is down, but the latch doesn't rotate to the point where whatever is meant to keep it in place is able to. Yeah, without the hood popper spring installed, it latches every time. But then, like I said, if I pull the hood release inside the car, the hood doesn't lift at all, so I can't get a hand underneath it to release the safety latch. The only other spring in here is the one that returns the hood release lever back to zero after use. For reference:  The latch starts closed. I open it with the lever that rotates when you pull the hood release inside the car. I close it, as if the striker on the hood had closed the latch. Then, when I try to open it without using the spring-loaded release, it can only go halfway. This should, in theory, prevent the latch from releasing once it's closed past a certain point. And this all works perfectly without the hood popper spring installed, implying that the lockup is so weak (or the spring is so strong) that it's overcome by the spring.
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Jun 3, 2021 19:39
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Could you lengthen the spring artificially? Hook a paperclip in one of the coils or something to see if that fixes it? Alternatively: can the latch itself be cleaned a bit with a wire brush and given a spritz of oil? It doesn't look bad at all, but I wonder if something is causing more friction than it should be.
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Jun 3, 2021 21:19
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Hi great thread I've been enjoying finding it today. Good luck on it and it sounds like you learned the right attitude as far as what is a reasonable progress speed. Hood spring. Who's ever heard of a spring getting stiffer over time, especially one that's perpetually compressed? How do the corner rubber stops look? Are they adjusted to have a good panel gap? It could be they're a little too high and there's not enough flex in the hood to reach properly, but based on it working without the spring then I doubt it. How hard are you closing it? Does it work if you push down on the center like you're giving it a chest compression? A smaller spring may provide a better close but at the cost of it not holding down tightly and rattling when you drive. I'd hit the whole mechanism with silicone spray lube, which I use for all of my moving parts exposed to weather, and see how it works. Operate it and really work the spray lube in.
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Jun 3, 2021 21:37
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 Oops I took this picture before I finished removing the tape Well, she's home. To make a long story as short as possible: My Father In Law said that he would help me work on the car, but then his son had his second kid right around the same time that I bought it. So the Dart sat all summer and fall as he continually said, "No no, don't take it to a mechanic! We'll get to it!" Only when the snow came did he finally give up and take the car to work to let his Auto Tech kids work on it. Last week the car finally came back. So there's been a lot of stuff done: Hood latch replaced, and now it works perfectly. New tires. New exhaust. Power steering pump installed. New engine mounts. New windshield fluid reservoir. Holes in the body and floor (and I think trunk) glassed and bondoed and primed. He got two cans of Dodge F8 green paint mixed up, and I sprayed around the wheel wells and rear quarters from the trim down on both sides. I wish I had taken some extra time to do more prep, because you can definitely see where the kids left it rough, but oh well! The painters tape must have been on there for a LONG time, because it's both crusty and crumbly and yet doesn't want to come off. I've been attacking it (as gently as possible or course) with extra-strength Goo Gone and a razor blade. As far as the brakes, he replaced the calipers on the front discs and the soft lines, we replaced the brake cylinders in the rear drums and flushed and refilled and bled the fluid. And yet... he still thinks the brakes are dragging. Master cylinder looks like the correct one, with the small front chamber and large rear. Any ideas on what to look at next? Any way to tell for sure if they're even really dragging? Brettbot fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Sep 23, 2022 |
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Sep 23, 2022 04:24
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I mean, if the brakes are dragging so bad that you can feel the car slowing down, you won't really be able to spin a tire. Jack it up and try spinning the tire. If it spins fairly free, the brakes are fine. On the rear wheels you will either need both off the ground or the car in neutral and they'll naturally be a little harder to turn because you have to also turn other driveline parts, but they should still sort of coast when you stop pushing. Also you can go like 3mph and put it in neutral and see if it comes to a stop fairly quickly. Does it roll when you let off the brake and you're just idling in drive? It should also do that. The last piece of the puzzle is a dragging brake will get very hot. Go drive it a while and then coast to a stop, get out and see if you can feel any serious heat. Or get a cheap IR thermometer and really check and compare the wheel/brake/hub temperatures. The hot one will be the dragging one. it can also be a wheel bearing, dragging parking brake, and stuff like that.
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Sep 23, 2022 20:15
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I'm no automotive brakes expert but I think a hairy v8 would probably fix all the issues mentioned.
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Sep 26, 2022 00:15
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Missed this thread, but 'sup fellow Darter! I wish mine was as complete though.. I like the colour as well. If you are going to poke around for rust some more, check the front cowling and where the air goes into the interior (beneath the windshield). There are two plugs in the engine bay that you can remove and clean out. Perhaps spray som rust prevention in the area. One that doesn't smell. They might have chamged this on later Darts though, buy if possible I'd check.
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Sep 26, 2022 06:29
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LloydDobler posted:Brake stuff That's why I'm starting to wonder. When I put it in gear, it does move on its own as soon as I let off the brake. I jacked up the rear and the wheels don't feel draggy or grindy. Don't know if I'll get a chance to mess around with test drives this week, but I'm definitely curious now. MrOnBicycle posted:Missed this thread, but 'sup fellow Darter! Sup?  I love the look of those third gen Darts, too, yours is very cool. I almost went for a... '64 I think it was, before I found this one. But I had to buy one that's as complete as possible because I have no idea what I'm doing!
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Sep 26, 2022 22:22
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You and me both. I've never pulled and engine or welded stuff before. Never had anything older than a late 90's car neither. It's good that you didn't go for the '64 since AFAIK there are many year specific parts that are hard to find and expensive as hell (more than some of the stuff already is).
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Sep 27, 2022 09:30
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Took these quick clips for another forum, might as well post them here. Someone asked me to jack up the front and give the wheels a spin to judge if the brakes were really dragging. Click for video.  While I ponder that, it turns out I've got a leak somewhere along the left side of the trunk!  Very cool. If you can't tell from the picture, it was deep enough that the rim of the spare was sitting in water, not even just the tire.  The seal around the lid actually looks very nice, so I think maybe it's getting in where the vinyl top is missing on the driver's side and avoiding the trunk rubber altogether. Maybe running down a channel in the body, maybe there's a hole under there I can't see. I never noticed a wet trunk before before but 1) I almost always had a car cover on it and 2) we had a few days of torrential rains thanks to that hurricane down south, so maybe the car's just never been this wet before...
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Oct 7, 2022 20:37
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That could be leaking in from around the back window, I think I see water damage to your package tray and sail panels. See if you can see signs of the water running down from the underside of the package tray.
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Oct 7, 2022 21:34
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Fornax Disaster posted:That could be leaking in from around the back window, I think I see water damage to your package tray and sail panels. See if you can see signs of the water running down from the underside of the package tray. Yup, took a quick look a minute ago and spotted a little hole right where the top of the trunk and the body meet, right in line with the channel running from the package tray/corner of the window. Guess I'm gonna put the cover back on it for now!
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Oct 7, 2022 22:50
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I'm no expert when it comes to brakes dragging, but I'd say those wheels spin fine. At least I've never had a car where the wheel spins much more than that (even new cars). I'm pretty sure my S10 rear wheels (drums) spun less than that after I swapped brakes and they tested just fine during the inspection.
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Oct 9, 2022 16:31
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Well, we got a week of weather in the 40s and 50s, so my mind returned to the Dart. I uncovered it for the first time since it snowed and took care of a few minor things. This little bastard used to be F-shaped. One hose from the wiper fluid bottle splits into one for each sprayer. As funny as it was to hit the wipers and spray fluid straight up out of the hood vents like a James Bond gadget, sometimes it's nice to actually be able to clean your windshield! Also there was one stripped screw that was preventing me from pulling out a piece of trim under the door, which was preventing me from putting back the carpet on the driver's side. The carpet had been pulled up when the hole in the floor was repaired. I was sick of it flapping loose, so I got out my dremel and a cutting wheel, turned the screw into a flathead, and pulled that out. Then I tucked the carpet back under the kick panel and the trim. I forgot the take a picture, but it just looks normal now, so v vI also removed some of the rotting defroster hose, it was just held on by a clip and it looks like some fairly standard 2 1/4" hose, so I should be able to replace that pretty easily.  This little guy here is the tiny hole that entirely flooded my spare tire well. As you can kinda see, it's directly in line with the channel that leads rain from the roof to under trunk lid, where it's supposed to flow out along the trunk's rubber seal. Obviously that whole area doesn't look great, but I've got to find a good way to seal it temporarily so I don't have to constantly worry about getting the car wet. When I was putting the cover on the car for the winter, I noticed a bit of transmission fluid on the bottom of the pan. I had recently topped it up, so I wasn't sure if the pan was leaking or I had just spilled some. I kinda forgot about that over the winter, but I had no issues today taking it around the neighborhood, so I think I'm OK.  Also something kinda strange: Last year, every time I backed out of my driveway, I would shift from Reverse to Drive and then the car would stall as soon as I hit the gas. I would then restart it and it would be fine from then on. Maybe I was being more conscientious of giving it an extra bit of throttle today, but it didn't happen once.As far as the speedometer goes, I think the gauge itself is borked. I got a new speedo cable, and put one end into the back of the gauge. By spinning the free end I can make the needle jump, but it never settles back below 10 MPH. And I think you need to pull the entire dash apart to get the instrument cluster out, so I'd like to wait until I find a new dash pad and replace both at the same time. But also I really want to get the speedo fixed ASAP, since that's the only thing that's currently keeping me from driving the Dart whenever I want...
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Feb 16, 2023 23:45
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OK, so I said I know nothing, maybe you guys can help me out. That's the valve in the trunk for the air shocks that the PO installed. It looks like a Schrader valve, and it measures the same 7mm outer diameter as a tire stem. Yet when I put my little roadside tire inflator on it, I get no reading on the PSI dial, and I can't put air in or take it out. What am I missing here? Is it just that it's longer than a tire stem, so I need a different attachment? I've never dealt with air shocks before (or owned a standalone air compressor), so maybe this is obvious to you guys.
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Mar 24, 2023 15:45
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Looks like the valve core (the tiny brass part in the center) isn't fully seated. Find a small flat-blade screwdriver (assuming you don't have a valve core tool) and spin it down. E: just 'til it bottoms out, don't crank on it Dagen H fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 16:18
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Dagen H posted:Looks like the valve core (the tiny brass part in the center) isn't fully seated. Find a small flat-blade screwdriver (assuming you don't have a valve core tool) and spin it down. That doesn't seem to be it. I can't screw it in or out, with a screwdriver at least.
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Mar 24, 2023 18:48
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They're probably fully collapsed, and it may take a good few minutes to get them full enough to start lifting. I would suggest a larger compressor and a helper to listen for leaks (assuming the nylon lines have passed a visual inspection).
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Mar 24, 2023 18:57
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Dagen H posted:They're probably fully collapsed, and it may take a good few minutes to get them full enough to start lifting. I would suggest a larger compressor and a helper to listen for leaks (assuming the nylon lines have passed a visual inspection). Oh, maybe I should have been more clear. I don't think they're collapsed. I think I just can't get a reading with this compressor for some reason. It should show the pressure as soon as I put the nozzle on, but it shows zero. Then when I turn it on it immediately jumps to 10PSI and stays there. Maybe there's something wrong with the valve itself, because when I push in the center plunger no air comes out. But if that's true, how did he get air in there in the first place?
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Mar 24, 2023 19:19
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So I decided to poke around under the car today, as I had half an hour while I waited for my wife to get home from work. I checked the valve in the trunk again: same as before, no pressure reading. I jacked up the rear and followed the tube from the trunk to the passenger's side shock and everything looked good. Followed the tube to the T junction; same. Then I noticed: Yup, that's the driver's side air line just hangin' loose.  This will shock you, I'm sure: The install is not so professional, so the junction moves around and the tubes are just barely long enough to reach both sides, so who knows when it came loose. Anyways I reattached it, then reconnected the tire pump and got some air released as I pushed the valve on. So maybe the passenger side was completely empty but the driver's side wasn't? Either way, it still showed zero PSI on the gauge. I turned on the pump and filled it up to 20, since I read several places that that's usually the bare minimum for air shocks. Then I gave it a little extra, just to be sure. We'll see tomorrow maybe if it's still holding the air.
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Apr 1, 2023 05:31
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 19:25 |
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Small but important improvement: I put a glob of JB Weld into that hole in the trunk lip, then sanded it down. Now I can at least let the car get wet without worrying about the trunk flooding. Which was a good thing, because it rained the day after I did it, and many days since then. Didn't take a picture, though. The pumped-up shocks are holding strong.  Another small thing, I finally remembered to decode the fender tag. Nothing much surprising there: the 225 Slant 6, 3-speed Torqueflite, the green paint with matching upholstery and roof, all came on the car. Apparently the option level was "high", which maybe explains the rear window defroster. Still only an AM radio, though. One thing I noticed, though, is it's tagged as "split bench with armrest", but I've just got a plain split bench. Once I saw that, I realized that the front and back seat upholstery don't exactly match.   So this, combined with the dents in the front end and the slightly off motor mounts, leads me to assume that this thing had an accident in its previous life, and maybe it was worse than I thought? Anyways I just missed its 50th birthday, as it rolled off the line in Hamtramck on April 10, 1973. The other day I took the car a few miles around town. I used the windshield washer as I was leaving the house and it worked fine. When I got to the store, I got out of the car and saw a big blue puddle underneath the left side of the car. It seems the hose had popped off of the washer reservoir when I put it in park, and the reservoir dumped its entire contents onto the ground. So I reattached the hose and refilled the reservoir, and now the the sprayer doesn't work any more. It still makes noise when I push the button, but nothing comes out. v v It's always something with this car.The real point of taking it for a cruise was to check the brakes. Once the car warmed up, there was a noticable lope only at "foot off the brake" speeds, like less than 5 MPH. It was otherwise unnoticable, but rolling through traffic you definitely feel it. It was a cool and cloudy day, and when I got home 3 out of the 4 brakes were barely above ambient temperature. But one, the passenger rear, was so warm that I could feel the heat in the hubcap, let alone touching the drum itself. So it seems we finally found the brake that was giving us all the trouble. Now when my Father In Law had the car in his shop doing the front disks, I thought he replaced the wheel cylinders in the rear, although looking at the pictures now, I think he only did the front. Anyways, I bought a Brake Hardware kit and a Brake Repair kit, with the intention of replacing anything and everything besides the wheel cylinder. It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking, tearing apart a brake without any supervision, but I've watched videos on it over and over again from ChrisFix, Fuzzy Dice Projects, Junkyard Digs, etc. etc.   It wasn't until I got the brake fully disassembled and all the parts laid out side by side that I realized some of the parts didn't match. I double-checked and, sure enough, I got the kit for the left side instead of the right. That's fine, I'll want to do the other side too, but man did I feel like an idiot with the whole thing torn apart. So I went ahead and ordered the right kit from O'Reilly, but in the meantime I had no choice but to re-use some of the old parts. That includes the auto adjuster which was totally stuck, and I had to use needlenose pliers just to get enough leverage to break the ends loose. So I cleaned everything up, wire brushed, sprayed down, lightly lubed, etc. and then reassembled. I had an absolute bastard of a time trying to get the retaining pins/springs on… until I realized half the pins in the kit were shorter that the others. After that it was MUCH easier! I picked up the correct parts kit later in the day.  I don't have any more time this weekend, so the other side will have to wait until next week at least. But while I was down there, I discovered yet another interesting thing about this car. I had assumed that everything is original other than the front disks. And yet:   Everything about this car (It's a Dart, it's a '73, 6-cylinder, 4 manual drums, 14" wheels, etc.) tells me that this should be a small bolt pattern 5 x 4" car. But unless I'm mistaken, this is a "big" 4.5". You measure from the edge of one stud to the center of the opposite? So I guess that teaches me about assumptions. Finally, I forget if I've mentioned this before or not, but I'm looking for some advice. The car starts fine. When I put it in gear, drive OR reverse, nothing unusual happens. But when I give it some gas, the car wants to bog down and die. If I'm reeeally gentle on the throttle (or sometimes if I floor it), 99% of the time that's enough to get past the stumble, and then it runs without another issue until I park it again. I can stop at a stop sign, give it as much or little gas as I need to, and it's no problem. But just pulling out of the driveway, it wants to die. Now I just assume this engine needs a lot of TLC, so it's probably not any one particular thing, but where would you guys start? Does this sound like something obvious? Timing? Carb problem? Something else I don't even know about?
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Apr 28, 2023 23:12
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