Hey y'all, here's my new car. My first Mopar was a '74 Duster that was too rusted out to do anything with other than a complete restoration, which was not my goal. I sold it to a neighbor who plans to restore it, then I picked up this '74 Swinger from a collector's family after he died. There were two previous owners plus the collector who put 6 miles on it in 8 years. The original dealer invoice is in the glove box and the metal is solid as a rock except the right rear quarter has a pretty good rust spot. 78K miles, must have been garage kept the whole time. The interior is mint except for the front seat cover--front and back dashes are pristine, so is back seat and carpet. Power steering, manual drum brakes, no A/C. Everything works except the fuel gauge, windshield wipers and dash lights. I'd eventually like this to be a daily driver, at least three seasons anyway. Specific things I want to work on:
Mechanical
-motor could run better (starts right up and runs, though)
-front end bushings, ball joints, etc. and alignment
-power steering has no feel (is this normal?)
Electrical
-fuel gauge reads empty
-voltage regulator? (turn signals click slowly or not at all when engine is at idle, but click normally when accelerating)
-fix wipers (I think motor is OK but the pivot arms slip so the shaft doesn't turn them)
Interior
-recover front seat
Body
-repair rust spot--will probably hire that job out
-make window seals water-tight
That's all I can think of for now. If anyone in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area wants to come check it out, let me know. I'd love some advice from some of you veterans out there. Here's pics. The last one shows the rust bubbling: the white stuff is wax.
