I appreciate the remarks, guys. It's fuel to keep my momentum up, lol. I think the green is pretty iconic, also.

Shawn

Hey:

First startup a few days ago. Fantastic. Looks and sounds great! More to follow. (and yes, I still have to paint the valve cover blue, I know, I know)

Beautiful! Bet that feels pretty nice...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Hey, that is looking sweet. Nice work!

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“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
― Hunter S. Thompson

She's beautiful!

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

Hello All:

Thanks! It certainly feels good to have the old girl moving under her own power. It's now over at the bodyshop for bodywork and paint. However, the bodyman just put his back out I suspect it might be a bit yet before she's pretty enough for the light of day. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
Shawn

Hello All~!

It's been a long time since I updated this thread, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to do so (in the event that there is actually anyone still following this, lol).

My '73 4-Door Dodge Dart Custom Sedan is finally nearing completion. I had a few delays, but we're back on track! My bodyman is doing a great job and we expect the paint and primer to be completed later this month (Jan, 2019). There were 6 coats of paint/primer on it that had to be razored off! Finally got her to metal and discovered a few 'surprises' that we weren't expecting. Some bad previous patchwork and a $#!+-load of roofing tar (arrrrgh) and bad welds. It slowed us down a bit. Perseverance has paid off and final work on the trunk is now being completed. I've decided to go with body colour-matching paint on the original rims, with moon caps for the legs. We have also swapped out the old loose door pins for a new set. Oh and we swapped out the hood for another one that we located locally. Mine was workable, but the latticework bracing on the underside was shot full of holes. Rather than spend hours trying to fix it up, I just went with the new (used) one.

Once she's been painted, it'll be off to the shop again for the final push on new bumpers, new lights and lenses, grillwork, final trim and seals, installation of upper fender turn signals, all new emblems and decals, installation of the reworked original radio (now AM/FM/iPod capable, all in the old assembly), antennae, trunk seal, door handles, wheelwell trim, etc. If anyone knows where I can get a set of door sill caps for this car, I'd really appreciate a nudge in the right direction. I am having a lot of problems locating them. We'll also be final tuning the engine and I'll probably dyno the old girl, as I 'm curious to see what her h.p. rating is, now that we've rebuilt the engine to Super Six configuration, and added some extra goodies to the mix.

I dropped the 4 inner door panels and the rear seat assembly to a local guy who is THE guy for auto restoration interiors around here. One thing I still need to do, is order a new carpet kit. I have been sniffing around Rock Auto, but have been reading about some questionable customer service issues. I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback on that...

I will try to be more on top of updating as the build finishes.

Cheers!
Shawn

Here's the car as it heads into the shop for bodywork and paint. Wonder what surprises we'll find!!




Wait! Aren't the parts supposed to be going ON the car...not coming off of it?? Thank God for Timmy's!

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Ugly door sill revealed...about what we expected.

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Ahh. That's better!

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Wow, there IS metal under those layers and layers of primer and paint!

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Using razor blades to find the car.

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Passenger door getting some TLC.

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New (to me) metal front fender, replacing the old fiberglass one. MUCH better.




We're getting there...




Slowly, but surely.

That's going to look better than new when it's finished!

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

23 January, 2019 - Well, most of the epoxy primer has been applied, except for an area on the lower front driver's fender where we've decided to do a bit more patch-work. Kenrick, my body-guy, has a keen eye and refuses to let things live in the world of, 'good enough'. I'm both lucky and happy to have a guy like him with such a critical eye and desire for near-perfection in a job, working on the old girl. Just a few more weeks and Lurch will be back to the mechanics for final outfitting.

Shawn

Man that is really lookin' good. Nice work!

_________________
“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
― Hunter S. Thompson

Thanks! It's definitely been a love/hate relationship for over a year now, lol. She's all coming together, though.

First coat of high-build is ON!

23 April, 2019

Hi Everyone:

My '73 Dart is finally primed! It's been a long time coming. We had major issues with many elements of the repair, including (but not limited to): Rot in the front driver's fender, totally rusted door-sills, rot and holes in the trunk area and behind the back bumper...and the underside bracing on the hood was a total disaster. We need to do some work on the cabin floor and the rims need to be sandblasted, primed and painted. I have the rear seat and the four door panels away at the upholstery shop being resurrected. Front seat to follow. Upwards and onwards!!

Lookin' good! You will have a freshly painted car before you know it. Looking forward to the picture.

_________________
“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
― Hunter S. Thompson