I'm finally getting around to making a project page.

What: '72 Scamp with slant six, 36k original miles.

Why: I wanted an older Mopar to drive on a regular basis.

I restored a'57 dodge D100 but can't haul the family in it. Plus, I built it as a show truck and don't drive it regularly. The goal was to acquire a cruiser that would allow the family to join me and not be so nice that I'd hesitate to drive it.

This is what I drove home for $4500.


The wheels were too wide and were rubbing in the back. I sold them and painted the original wheels that also came with the car.



Then added beauty rings and chrome lug nuts:


I found the build sheet when I remove the backseat to fix quarter glass that wouldn't roll down.


The interior is in great shape, seats have no tears.


Am radio wasn't enough, so I bought this bluetooth speaker and mounted it to a no-slip GPS dash pad. I stream music from my ipod with no wires.



The engine looked pretty good. I replaced the washer bottle and fittings.

Mechanically, I converted to electronic ignition with pertronix ignitor II and coil. I put in NGK plugs, and new plug wires. Adjusted the valves, it runs nicely.



I drove the car 3 to 4 times a week during the summer. One of the torque converter tabs broke off and that led to a converter replacement and a transmission service.

This winter I decided to clean a few things up:

The grill was broken, so I repaired and painted it:






The repair is hard to spot:

My intentions was to NOT paint the car for a few years. However, my friend who owns a body shop decided to retire soon. It would cost me twice as much for anyone else to paint the car, so I decided to have it done before he retired. The car has virtually no rust. There is one dime sized piece on the rocker on the right and a few pin hole spots behind both rear wheels. I pulled everything that needs to pulled: bumpers, trim, mirror, antenna, grill, etc.

I knew there was a surprise waiting under the vinyl top:


The joint between the roof and quarter panel had OEM plastic filler




This area was spot blasted and then filled with fiberglass filler. I had the top painted black rather than replace the green vinyl.

The vinyl top came off easily, but removing the glue was a labor of love:



Goo Gone and a razor blade does a nice job, but it is a slow process.



I plan on adding a gloss black tail stripe. I think the black wheels, stripe, and black roof will give it the styling I like.

I also had these decals made to put on. The large ones will be placed on the front fender, where the Valiant and Scamp emblems were removed.



I made the smaller ones to go on the quarter glass, but I'm not sure I will use them. It might "bee" too much!

So my bumpers were in good shape, but once the car is repainted this month the bumpers would have looked dingy. So I bought 2 AMD bumpers for the cost of having one rechromed. Plus, I hope to sell my originals to recoup some of my cost.

My old ones:


Detached the rear bumper bracket and then painted the bracket with Eastwood rust encapsulator



I wanted to protect the rear side of the new bumpers so they don't rust. So I used self etching primer and silver paint on the underside.

Very nice! Good job Sir!!

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

While the car has been at the painter, I worked to polish the trim: grill, rockers, trunk, mirror, and fender mounted turn signals. I also painted the outside of the rear brake lenses. I know some people would say I'm crazy to go to these lengths with a driver, but I'm detail oriented. All it cost me was time. I had the polishing and paint supplies on hand; so no money went into any of this work.

Here is some of the trim polished:


Here is the before shot of brake lenses, notice the faded silver paint:





I replaced the seat belts with 3-point retractable one's I bought from Andover. It was a pretty easy job, and hopefully a bit of a safety improvement.

Out with the old, non-retractable ones:


The new ones:

I bought a Kelsey Hayes disk brake setup from a 68 barracuda. Here is the thread I wrote about the swap over on FABO:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/sho ... p?t=266225

I went from:

The car has been at the painter for about 2 months. Cold weather and illness delayed the job. But my friend the painter finished it this week. It will be wet sanded and buffed next week. I should have it back soon!

Here are some pics from the last time I was the paint shop:

I picked up my car today and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. I had a problem with the gas or carb on the way home and I had to tow it up my driveway and push it in the garage. I have a clear fuel filter and the gas looked real dirty. It put "stabile" in a fresh tank of gas in October, so I'm not sure what happened. Maybe the ethanal gas ate the rubber hose during the winter (i've recently read about how I should replace my rubber fuel hose and filter with ethanal resistant hose). Since it wasn't running I wasn't able to park in the light to get better pictures. Once I get it reassembled and the fix the gas/carb problem I'll post more pics. The painter recommended waiting about 2 weeks before having the bee stripe applied.

Great Looking Car! Excellent Post!

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1964 Dart GT

Thanks for checking it out!

Last night I got the side marker lights, the fender mounted turn signals, hood emblem and the grill reassembled.

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that is really a nice car and i enjoyed your progress report and nice pictures

may i ask where you are in SE Ohio?

i live near Marietta

Thanks!

I live in the Athens area. I hear there is a nice monthly cruise-in somewhere in Parkersburg area. Maybe at a Wendy's or something. Have you ever been?

-Stephen

Great work and looks like you're enjoying it. Nothing like a freshly painted car...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

I finished assembly last night and I am really happy with how she looks. After the paint cures for 30 days, I will add a tail stripe, but that is all that is left.

AWESOME CAR!!!! Great work on it.