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Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66237	Page 1 of 5

Author:

Chuckster [ Tue Oct 12, 2021 9:06 pm ]

Post subject:

Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project

Hi all,

My name is Chuckster. My 14 year old grandson, Logan, recently bought a '72 Dart Swinger 2 door as a project him and I will work on so he can drive it when he turns 16. We live in central Illinois. We (grandson, my daughter, and I) drove just over 3 hours north to Marengo, IL. to look at it, bought it, and drove it home! We passed the Chrysler plant in Belvidere to get there. Only issue we had was a possibly factory spring clamp on the bypass hose rusted in two, causing an anti-freeze containment issue. Once we replaced the clamp (by bypassing the heater core to borrow a clamp) and adding water we made it home without any issues. It's a factory A/C car (but all under-hood items are missing), power steering, manual disc brakes, and someone recently converted it to Electronic Ignition. It does have some rust, but it was undercoated when new, so it doesn't appear to be too bad for a car that has lived in Illinois it's whole life!
We are currently working on the mechanicals to keep it in running condition. So far we have changed both motor mounts (pass side was in 3 pieces, had a little extra lean to it...lol), removed the radiator, thermostat, and water pump to replace with new. Tomorrow we will tackle replacing the timing chain and gears (doesn't look like its ever been apart), and going to try adjusting the power steering box to try and eliminate the large amount of play in the wheel.

I have been a Mopar man most of my adult life, so I know quite a bit about them, but from time to time I will probably ask questions of things I'm not sure of.

Attachments:

File comment: "Extra" Leaning Tower of Power on purchase day

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File comment: Grandson with his "new" Dart on purchase day

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File comment: Dart at its new home

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File comment: Dart at its new home

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File comment: Dart at its new home

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Author:	Badvert65 [ Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Welcome to the site. That is a very nice looking Swinger. Simple, easy and economical to maintain. Don't forget to adjust the valve's when you give it a tuneup. The power steering on these Mopars is notoriously 'soft' (sloppy) and you won't have much luck adjusting that out. If it were me, I would change it to manual steering, but it isn't critical. That is a great car for learning to drive and maintain. Your grandson is very blessed indeed.

Author:	Dart270 [ Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Wow, looks like a great car! Enjoy the wrenchin' and drivin' and welcome to the site. Lou

Author:	Rick Covalt [ Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Welcome aboard! Great looking car!

Author:	Rob Simmons [ Thu Oct 14, 2021 5:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Welcome to the Slanted Family!

Author:

Chuckster [ Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:02 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project

Grandson and I have been working on it every day when he gets home from school. Aside from the motor mounts we've replaced the transmission mount (a gorilla with a 25" breaker bar and a 6' cheater pipe must have tightened the cross-member bolts...lol), and the timing chain and cam gear. No matter what we used we could not get the factory crank gear to come off. We tried heat, various pullers, and a pry bar. So we left it on. Wasn't sure which of the timing marks to use on the front pully assembly as we previously removed the distributor to access a bolt for the motor mount. We pulled the spark plugs, hooked up the battery, and cranked the engine over with my finger in the #1 plug hole. As the compression started to blow past my finger I knew we were close to TDC. We put the timing chain cover on, then slipped on the pulley assembly, and rotated the engine to the next timing mark...TDC!!! According to my old Motors Manual the marks on both gears should be right next to each other, but the cam gear mark was off by 180 degrees. We put it together as it was, dropped in the battery, and she started right up! We figured if it was really 180 degrees off it wouldn't start, and I would pull the distributor and turn the rotor 180, then reinstall it.
We also adjusted the power steering box and got a lot of play out of it. Will have to take it around the block to make sure it will steer ok. Next we will be cleaning the engine and parts so we can put the front of the engine back together.
Chuck

Attachments:

File comment: Grandson beginning cleaning

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Author:

Chuckster [ Mon Oct 25, 2021 6:09 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project

The last week, and today, we got all of the old, probably factory, gasket material from around the timing cover and water pump. That was a lot of work. Wound up using my right-angle drill with a cup brush, and it was slow going. Last Thursday we tried installing the timing cover, but couldn't get the two dowel pins through the holes in the cover. Only way I could figure out how to do it was by dropping the oil pan slightly. Friday my grandson got underneath and loosened the pan bolts about 2 turns. Had to raise the engine a little and remove the driver's side motor mount bracket to access a few of the bolts. Today we were able to drop the front of the pan just enough to seat the timing cover. Then we proceeded to install the new water pump and bypass hose (with worm-style clamps), and the new 180 degree thermostat. Hopefully tomorrow we can repaint the front of the engine Chrysler blue, along with some other areas we can get clean enough.

Attachments:

20211025_180842.jpg [ 227.42 KiB | Viewed 4785 times ]

Author:	Rob Simmons [ Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Making memories with your grandson. Priceless!!

Author:

Chuckster [ Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:05 pm ]

Post subject:

Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project

For the last 8 years my grandson has gone to many car shows every year with me, like the Mopar Nationals, and now the Holley Moparty. His mom let him miss a couple of school days for that one! Actually, when he was 2 we went to Springfield, IL when the Hot Rod Power Tour made a stop there...I think that's where his love of cars started.

Made some good progress today, I cleaned and painted the left motor mount bracket while Logan was in school. When he got home we did a lot of cleaning and painting, installed the left motor mount bracket, installed a repair sleeve (groove in damper where seal rides) and installed the harmonic damper. A few days ago I detailed the timing mark bracket to easier see the marks.
Tomorrow the carb comes off to replace the leaky carb to intake gasket. Will probably do some cleaning of the intake while the carb is off, and paint it blue.

Attachments:

File comment: Detailed timing marks

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File comment: Front painted

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File comment: Side painted

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File comment: Installed repair sleeve

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File comment: Groove in damper

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Author:	Rob Simmons [ Tue Oct 26, 2021 7:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Good stuff! How does your grandson like the three on the tree?

Author:	Chuckster [ Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Quote: Good stuff! How does your grandson like the three on the tree? He hasn't had much time with shifting it yet, we're busy doing necessary repairs. Maybe next year my daughter and I can try teaching him a little. I'm sure by the time he's 16 he will love it!

Author:	Rob Simmons [ Wed Oct 27, 2021 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Very cool!

Author:	Chuckster [ Thu Oct 28, 2021 1:01 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
I'm having an issue finding the correct spark plug for the slant 6. When we pulled the old plugs out they were 5/8 hex, short reach (threads), and had a taper seal. We ordered plugs from Rock Auto...they are 13/16 hex, long reach, and gasket seal. We can thread them into the head, but no room for a socket to tighten. BTW: the head does not use the plug tubes, and I'm not sure what year(s) the engine/head are yet. I believe it is a later head. Did some research last night on Autozone and found P/N #4501 Denso TT Platinum plug. 5/8 hex, long reach, gasket seal...perfect!!! I ordered them last night w/next day delivery (only $6.99 extra). Opened the box today and although the boxes have the correct P/N, they have the 13/16 hex. Returned them to the local Autozone and tried O'Reilly's. Basically they wanted to sell me the same thing we removed, 5/8 hex, short reach, taper seal. Can someone let me know what plug type/number we should use with a 5/8" hex? Long or short reach? Taper or gasket seal? Thanks, Chuckster

Author:	volaredon [ Thu Oct 28, 2021 3:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Again I don't see my last reply in this thread. Seems to be happening alot lately. Usually when I reply from my phone. I have to ask, did you ask these questions about "wrong" plugs on FABO forum? I replied to that thread on the same subject twice now today.

Author:	and739 [ Thu Oct 28, 2021 4:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Grandson's '72 Dart Swinger project
Hey Chuckster. It looks like you're probably buying plugs based off the car's model year, 1972. These would have the drool tube heads. From the looks of your engine pics and description the existing plugs, you have a peanut head. These two type of heads take different plugs. Order plugs for a 1979 Plymouth Volare and you should be good. If you would like to know the year of the engine, check the block deck surface where it sticks out past the head directly below the no.1 spark plug. You should find numbers in that location that will tell what year block you have. That timing tab visible in your engine pics is unique to model years 79-80 IIRC.

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