Looking good! I would be tempted to fix it mechanically but leave the looks as is.
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| 73 Dart 4-door daily driver https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34083 |
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| Author: | 2 Darts [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:10 am ] |
| Post subject: | 73 Dart 4-door daily driver |
I had been driving a rice burner until last summer when a drunk driver decided to park his 4x4 on top of it. Thankfully, I was not in the car at the time. The car was totalled. With a settlement check in hand, I considered another rice burner. Then I found this forum. In college I had a 72 Demon /6 that was no road burner, but it was as reliable as gravity and not too expensive to operate. Having restored a pair of V-8 Dart hardtops, I knew I would prefer to have the longer Dart wheelbase. I also wanted 4 doors. I found a 73 Dart Custom in rough shape, but felt I could make a cheap buy on eBay. Mission accomplished. Enough yack, here are pictures. <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/405/405744/folders/300006/2394096b41d1.jpg" width="400" height="300"> <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/405/405744/folders/300006/23940979e2b1.jpg" width="400" height="300"> |
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| Author: | Reed [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:11 am ] |
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Looking good! I would be tempted to fix it mechanically but leave the looks as is.
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| Author: | 2 Darts [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:19 am ] |
| Post subject: | Phase 1 complete |
The car had a good engine and transmission. The tires were nearly new. But as I got into the car, I found problems the seller had to know about, but didn't bother to pass along, and a few he probably missed. The before pictures do not do justice to the disrepair of this car. There were large holes in both front floor pans. The "vinyl top" was more like truck bed liner. The deception covered swiss cheese rendered in sheet metal. The brakes which worked for the trip home soon went flat to the floor with no stopping power at all. The e-brake worked enough to keep me from hitting anything. That required an immediate rebuild of master cylinder and front brakes. With no experience in large scale body work, I plunged into tapping out dents and creased sheet metal. The most ambitious part of the project was re-skinning the roof. I had learned lead filling when I repaired a console top in a 66 Dart GT. That hole was the size of a quarter. These were seams that were several feet long. Once I got the body where I thought I wanted it, I paid MAACO $500 to shoot it with the original red. The interior was re-done using aftermarket seat covers that matched the stitch pattern of the original upholstery, but were cloth instead of vinyl. I paid a shop in the neighborhood $120 for the headliner, which had to be made from scratch. <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/405/405744/folders/300006/2394098IMG5606s.JPG" width="448" height="299"> <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/405/405744/folders/300006/2394099IMG5616s.JPG" width="299" height="448"> |
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| Author: | Eric W [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:50 am ] |
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Looks nice.
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| Author: | Reed [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:12 am ] |
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It does look nice! I have heard that some Mopars could be ordered with a spray on textured vinyl top simulator like you describe. Perhaps your car was one of them? The floor pan holes are most likely cause by leaking windshield wiper pivot seals and/or clogged cowl drain holes that need to be cleared out. Also check the bottom of the cowl around the fresh air vents for rust out. However, because your car has A/C, you *might* not have the fresh air vents. You probably already checked all this out, but if not, you should. Anyway, looking good! |
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:38 am ] |
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Reed: Have never heard of any such a simulated vinyl top available from the factory — got a cite?  You could getchyer plain vinyl top or yer "padded" vinyl top depending on the model. My own '71 would have those same floor holes if it were a carpeted rather than floor-matted car. |
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| Author: | Reed [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:52 am ] |
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Dan- I have only ever heard other Mopar owners tell stories about dealer applied spray-on simulated vinyl tops. I have seen pictures of a few, but I can't recall where. I don't have a factory reference for it, but maybe someone else on this site will remember it. I know they weren't very common, but I have seen them referenced several times over the years. this page references the spray on vinyl top simulator offed for Sweptline trucks. here is a 1970 Valiant for sale in New Zealand that the owner says has the spray on textured roof. Again, I don't have any factory documentation, but I do recall seeing this option mentioned for US cars at least in the late 60s. It wasn't very common, but it was out there. |
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:20 pm ] |
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Quote: I have only ever heard other Mopar owners tell stories about dealer applied spray-on simulated vinyl tops
Ahhh, "dealer applied" makes more sense to me. After all, despite Chrysler's fervent wishes (at least back before they had things like survival to fervently wish for), if your taste is sufficiently bad, you can buy dealer-installed phony canvas convertible roof applications, gold-instead-of-chrome tinted emblems, phake landau bars, and everything else needed to turn your car into an old-school pimpmobile.  
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| Author: | Reed [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:36 pm ] |
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Awww, come on Dan. Chrysler did offer thngs like the Mod-Top/Mod-Interior and the Snakeskin vinyl top. Although I have always thought the Snakeskin top would be kind of cool, and a Panther Pink 69 Cuda with the Mod-Top roof and interior would be wild, and possibly cause acid flashbacks for people who lived through the 60s...
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:03 pm ] |
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Mod Top/Mod Interior is the most — it's groovy in a far-out way. Not even on the same continent as the ballpark containing the aftermarket pimpmobile idiocy (which I once saw applied to a Plymouth Acclaim, of all things…) |
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| Author: | NewSlanter [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:42 pm ] |
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Quote: Not even on the same continent as the ballpark containing the aftermarket pimpmobile idiocy (which I once saw applied to a Plymouth Acclaim, of all things…)
Reminds me of a guy I used to work with. Showed up to work with his Aries sporting $2000 rims and low-pro tires, plus a chrome chain steering wheel. Says to me (being the "old car guy") "whaddya think?" I said "dude, it's a K-car" 'nuff said.
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| Author: | Reed [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:50 pm ] |
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Quote: Quote: Not even on the same continent as the ballpark containing the aftermarket pimpmobile idiocy (which I once saw applied to a Plymouth Acclaim, of all things…)
Reminds me of a guy I used to work with. Showed up to work with his Aries sporting $2000 rims and low-pro tires, plus a chrome chain steering wheel. Says to me (being the "old car guy") "whaddya think?" I said "dude, it's a K-car" 'nuff said.
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:08 pm ] |
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Tim lives (or at least lived, when he made that ad) in my same telephone exchange! |
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| Author: | wjajr [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:57 pm ] |
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Quote: NewSlanter wrote:
Hey, my names Bill and I drive a factory tarted up K-Car with Fake SS Wire wheel covers. Stickered new for $14,200... Watch it there Buddy.SlantSixDan wrote: Not even on the same continent as the ballpark containing the aftermarket pimpmobile idiocy (which I once saw applied to a Plymouth Acclaim, of all things…) Reminds me of a guy I used to work with. Showed up to work with his Aries sporting $2000 rims and low-pro tires, plus a chrome chain steering wheel. Says to me (being the "old car guy") "whaddya think?" I said "dude, it's a K-car" 'nuff said. "My names Tim. I drive an Aries." 
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| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:38 pm ] |
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Oh, hey, don't get me wrong — one of my favourite daily driver platforms is the AA-body ('89-'95 Spirit/Acclaim/Saratoga/LeBaron sedan). That's me right there, at Road America in Wisconsin twelve years ago in my Spirit R/T. Pic is clickable for info. I have another pic of me on the same day, looking like I'm leading a Corvette thru a corner. I'm actually holding 'im up!  
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