Well, as you know, my son Aaron and I are rebuilding a '74 Dart Sport for his first car. We were spending a lot of our time on the front end of his car, so when we finished that, we decided to move to the interior for a while. While I was removing windows and trim, he was grinding and scraping rust and old asphaltic seam sealer. As you can see in the first three pictures, quite a bit of the floor was affected, but only on the surface. It wasn't as bad as it looks. There were a few pin holes, but nothing major. All the dark strips along weld seams are where the factory used some type of asphaltic "goo" that had become brittle over the ages. We scraped out every bit of that stuff. A final cleaning with acetone and we were ready for "Rustbullet."




Then I sprayed the entire interior - floor to ceiling - with "Rustbullet." I've posted on this board before about my thoughts on this product. After all this work, I sure hope it performs as well as they advertise.
We skipped the trunk, because that's where we are working now, dealing with some rust issues.





After the "Rustbullet" cured, I coated the same area with black epoxy primer. Then, Aaron and I re-sealed every weld joint, crack and crevice - from cowl under dash to rear wheel wells. After the seam sealer cured, we covered it up with black enamel paint. You know how hard it is to take a photo of a black car interior? I haven't gotten a good pic yet to show how it finally turned out. I'll keep trying.

Well, back to the trunk...
More to follow,
Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Well, that last update was a while ago. Here's what we have been up to lately. Upon closer inspection, the Dart had quite a bit of rust in the back half of the car. Rust was bad enough on the trunk floor, quarter panels, tail panel, window channel, trunk rain channel, and tail light openings that it would have taken quite a bit of work to repair all of it.

OPTION B: replace the whole back section

Aaron and I got out the spot weld cutter, cut off wheel, and sabre saw to relieve the Dart of its misery.



Too late to turn back now.


We had already removed the back section from our parts Duster. It is in much better shape and will not take near as much time to prepare for painting. First, a check for fit.


Many spot welds were cut out and had to be ground down. All the frame and sheet metal edges had to be straightened to get everything to fit tightly.


Aaron makes the last cut for it to all come together.


Once everything was ready, it was time to sandblast the minor surface rust on the Duster rear section.


Now, it is truly a "Dartster". The next step is for us to figure out how to weld with the MIG a co-worker has loaned to me. Since this last picture, we have stripped all the paint and undercoating off the rear section. Once the welding is done, we start the fun....sanding and body filler.


More to come....
Jerry and Aaron

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Well, guys (and gals), time to show some of the progress Aaron and I have made on his "Dartster" project. Last time, I showed how we transplanted the Duster tail section onto his Dart Sport and coated everything with "Rustbullet." Now, the body work is done and the car is completely covered with primer (black epoxy inside and gray sandable outside). Since we are considering having a friend paint the car in his body shop, we are painting everything that will be hidden with doors, trunk, and hood closed, so all he will do is spray the outside surface. Aaron and I have painted the door edges, header panel (beak), fenders, and the underside of the hood and deck lid. Once we wet sand the body this weekend, we will paint the door jambs, sills, and the edges of the trunk opening and cowl. We are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

We'll keep you posted,
Jerry (and Aaron)

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

wow you guys did a lot of work on that car..itll be worth it...Nice color!! later
Melanie

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So let me get this straight your honda has 1.6 liters, whereas my moutain dew has 2?

Thanks Melanie,
It turned out to be more work than we first imagined, but that's the way we do things. If you're going to do something, do it right the first time. Actually, the photo doesn't do the color justice. It is "Viper Race Yellow" and was used on the Dodge Viper and Plymouth Prowler in 2000 or 2001 (can't remember exactly which year). It is a really "in-your-face" bright yellow, not the mustard looking shade in the pic. We are about three weeks away from getting it painted in my friends shop. Can't wait to see the whole car in this color

We'll keep posting as things progress.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Hey, any update on this cool project?

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It's a Slant thing. Even I don't understand.

1974 Duster, EFI /6 soon to be turbo...

Get that Monkay! Get that nasty thing!!

WOW! I had read the posts, but couldn't see the pictures... Now I see! That is way more project than my meager abilities would allow. If I ever took a car that far apart I don't think it would ever go back together again! That's awesome!

Rob

...once you're done with the Dust Sport, I'm gonna ship you fellas my collection one by one for restoration! That's the kinda work I have nightmares about! Keep up the good work

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!