I just looked at the other pics. That donor car mustve been in beautiful shape, you can find that kind of rust up here on cars that are less than two years old. What on earth was it doing in a scrapyard.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Gotta admit, I pressure washed everything before I took those pictures, but they really weren't too dirty to begin with.... The disc brakes came off a '76 Dart Special Edition, as well as the 7 1/4 BBP rear... The 8 1/4 was from a '74 Valiant....

The engine in the valiant was a later BH casting that looks to be in very good shape... I could get the entire long block for $140.00 But I don't have the time or space to deal with it....

I'll be going back there this Friday morning to take another look at the Dart & Valiant to see what torsion bars they have... if they are heavier than what's in the '64 I'll grab those too....

Also forgot to grab the gas pedal to do my Super Six conversion, so I'll grab one of those as well. I just need a week or so off to clean & prep everything for installation!

Pics to follow!

Mike

I wouldn't touch old 30+ year old torsion bars. They can wear out without any visible signs, and the only way you'll find out is a few hundred miles after your alignment when your tires go bald. They are availible new for less then $150 from MP, not worth the headache in the long run imo.

Well, I know pressure washing did not take off any rust. A film of oily dirt does wonders to prevent rust. The only thing that does not rust on MN vehicles is what ever gets coated with oily dirt from your leaking engine and transmission.

I had a parts car some years ago that had Washington state plates on it. It was really a treat to be able to break the nuts and bolts loose with a wrench and then finish unscrewing them with your fingers. On a typical winter driven MN vehicle you would have twisted off every one of those bolts.

WOW thats grate!! ill love to see the pick's when your done. i was hoping to sale the parts off the 74 dart the body is vary good. so i can get my money back. then i was going to by the tween cabs from pro line. for my /6. but there now out of biasness. i am so sad. if any one out there has them for sale please, o please let me by them. that whould be the best thing i could do for my 67 baby!!!

Craig, you're right about that.... I'm from PA originally, and the satly winter roads would eat cars like breakfast cereal! The first car I ever owned I bought myself in 1975.... it was a '64 Dart 4 door with rust holes in the front fenders so big you could stick your head through! I guess that's why I'm so excited about this car....

Did I mention I got this car for free!?!?! Abandoned by college students & Mom & Dad sent me the title when I told them it would be headed for the crusher!

Pierre, I think if the bars are in good shape, and not scratched up, I'll take a chance for $11.00 a piece... if they are scored or visibly scraped I'll probably pass.... The donor car is in such good shape, I'm willing to chance it... if they are bad, I can swap them out without too much trouble...

Pics this weekend. Thanks!

Mike

Mike, it depends on what you define as hassle. If you put in the used bars, get it alinged, and find out later they are sagged, you'll have to get it realigned when you purchase new bars. Bars can be worn but show no signs of fatigue before installing.

One thing to look out for - if, when setting ride height, you have to drive one adjusting screw a lot further in then the other, then the bar you had to drive the screw further on is fatigued. Its normal to have a little bit of difference between the adjustment screws, but, for instance, when I reused my old bars, the left side had quite a bit of thread exposed but right side was nearly bottomed out. That bar had so much preload on it from the adjustment screw that it even had a gentle arch to it

Hmmmmmm..... May have to "spring" for the new ones at that (No pun intended)

Just have to watch the budget though... The Pick a Part was a good deal, but all the $$ to get it prepped & ready to install will probably be another $200-$400 before all is said & done.

Around $300 for all the Moog stuff for the whole front end, and I still don't have a sway bar for it yet..... Probably $60 or so to shorten the driveshaft, new ubolts for the rear, new flex hoses, some POR15 for the parts once they're prepped, and it all starts to add up!

After this first round, I still want to do a little porting & polishing on a spare head that I'll be picking up on Friday (peanut plug head) and I also am wanting real bad to try & fab my own set of headers too... but that may be a winter project... will be trying to fabricate a choke-stove pocket into the runner just for the hell of it!

Thanks for all the feedback and help guys, I've been away from Slants for a LOT of years, and it's amazing how much I've forgotten.... Suffering from CRS the past few years, but it's coming back slowly!

Mike