Hello, everyone.
I recently bought a '74 Dart Sport for my 14 year old son and I to rebuild for his first car. We have a couple of years before he gets his driving license, so we want to go slowly and do things right the first time. I'm glad to have found such a wealth of information and experience as this website seems to provide. I'll have many questions to ask over the next couple of years or more, and I hope to be able to pass on some things we may discover through our own efforts.

First, a little about the project car:

Stock original found in salvage yard, purchased for $600
Extremely straight body and very good interior
Yellow Blaze exterior and Parchment interior
225 Slant 6 w/ automatic
Electronic ignition
14" rims w/ 5 on 4 bolt pattern
Factory A/C
Power steering
Manual brakes (drums all around)

Currently rebuilding the engine:

Bored .030 over w/ new pistons and rings (original rods w/ new bearings)
Reground crankshaft with new bearings
New Comp Cams camshaft (a little "warmer" than stock)
New solid lifters
Original push rods (3 new ones because of excessive pitting)
Original valves ground and reseated (0.060 spring shims)
Head bead blasted and resurfaced
New timing chain and metal gears
Original stamped steel rocker arms
New water, fuel, and oil pumps
Micro sleeve on vibration damper

Issues we'll address in the future:

Replacing bench seat with buckets
Dash pad replacement
Disc brake conversion
Larger wheels
Exhaust manifold or headers
Carburetor
Ignition system
Moving automatic shifter to floor
Refitting for Dodge 360 we have stashed away

That's enough for now. My son and I will be following this website closely for new and exciting information. Glad to be onboard.

'74 Sport

Welcome,
Sounds like a fun project.
You may want to start a "History file" in the Slixers Gallery" to show everyone your progress as you go.
DD

Great idea!

My dad helped me buy my first car (1931 Ford 2-door sedan, $200) when I was 15. This worked out really well for both of us, for the following reasons:

1)-It gave me time to start working off the price of the car before I was able to drive it. Your kid'll probably want to kill me for mentioning THAT. It really did make me appreciate the car more, though. I knew other kids who were GIVEN cars and then went on to destroy them because they didn't appreciate the time and energy that had gone into earning the cash to purchase them.

2)-It gave me time to learn about and fix up the car (which had a cracked cylinder head, bad tranny and worn-out clutch). That was my first experience with working on cars, and the Model A was mechanically so simple that it made an excellent project for learning the basics. Once I could drive it, I felt much more confident that I could fix it if it broke down since I was already quite familiar with it mechanically. Compared to the cramped, computerized engine compartments of contemporary cars, an old slanter will provide a much less intimidating training ground for your son. The more pleasant the experience, the more likely his interest in cars will grow.

3)-Kept me out of trouble and gave us 2 something to do together. All these years later (40+), I still remember fondly the time my dad (who passed on 11 years ago) and I spent together working on that old "A". We guys are often uncomfortable telling our kids how much they mean to us. There's no better way to SHOW them than to spend time with them like this. It's also a great way to keep the communication channels open when your son's at an age when many kids start to shut their parents out. Gives you a time and place to shoot the breeze about "whatever" without it being quite so forced or awkward...since you're already together to work on the car.

4)-Nostalgia time for you! I know part of the enjoyment my dad got out of that "A" was that HIS first car was an "A". He drove his from Chicago to Guernsey, Wyoming to get to his first CCC job during the Great Depression.

Hope you 2 have a ball, and welcome to a new slanter!

---Red

great idea working with your son. wish my father had done it ,sure woulda kept me out of some stuff i shouldn't have been in. this is a great site, also, try www.slantsix.com also a wealth of information.
good luck have fun