Ok, so im starting out with with what used to be a drag car. I purchased it from a local guy here in Florida, who is also a member here (Copper Dart)Exactly as his ad was put "Very dirty car,Very clean Title." And he was exactly right lol. I knew what i was getting into and i couldn't pass it up. This being my first Mopar/muscle car owned, im excited to dive in an start on this project.

Here's a little info about the car when i bought it.

Powertrain- 383 Big block with what sounded like a cam(not sure of any internals though)
MSD pro billet Dizzy
MSD 6A
383 Torker intake
Hooker comp fender headers
Holley Double pump


Drivetrain- Looks to be Rebuilt TF727 with looks to be a Brand new HS torque converter
"A" body 8 3/4 rear end with a model number 1820657 casting Chunk (soon to be swapped)3.31 gear with sure-grip
3" wheel studs


Body- Given that its a 45 year old car, im expecting rust.. but not afraid of it.
i have a little background in auto body so im down to tackle the job.

Side note.... ive had this car for close to 4-5 months. im just playing catch-up with my build.. inspired by (Copper Dart)

So here are some starter photos of when it was the following morning day.

OK so that weekend, i dove right in... i should say that it was humorous the way i had to start it up, car came with no ignition, door locks, or trunk lock. The whole wire harness was a rat nest of wires. i had Ricky pretty much show me how to start(hot-wire) it to crank over the motor.

SIDE NOTE--Ricky AKA Copper Dart did not do anything to the car before i bought it from him. he bought it from someone else with the intention of what I'm going to do with it. i know for a fact that he wouldn't run a car the way i got it


Interior AFTER i pull the ratnest from under the dash


Exactly how you see it is exactly how it was dangling from under the dash


Nice Clean Garage walls.... Not for long muahahaha

So diving into this project with only handtools not a great idea... so i hopped on Craigslist and look what i found...



BRAND NEW 80GAL 2 stage Compressor with filter for 400$
Now is that a steal or is THAT a steal!!

I NEVER EVER run out of air by the way..

The Perfect solution to my problem. My Ol lady's brother worked in a body shop so he also had alot of air tools and body tools.. so that helped a TON!

So some time has passed by, and i only get about 1-2 hours work done on it during the weekdays and weekends i try to put full days in but when i get home from work..im exhausted.. but i keep pushing.

i get it vacuumed/cleaned up some on the inside.. rust flakes and all

i start some work on the outside on a heavy spot that needs desperate attention.. so here are some progress pics from start.

NOTE- I'm familiar with body work.... NOT a PRO, but i can get it done with the best of my experience/knowledge.....and YouTube. lol i mean don't get me wrong.. Ive been working on cars since i started driving.. i know a little bit about cars

Try not to criticize either... The car is for me... and i can only go so far as my wallet will let me.. LOW BUDGEEEEET 8)

CANCER!!!!!! at its best





TRYING to re-create each lip with strips of steel






SO .. here is what i ended up with... not bad for a rookie..

So i get started on the undersecton of the car. here is what I'm working with..

Chassis Engineering ladder bar system w/ strange coil-overs (looks to be professionally done) at least they didn't hack that up.. well i did find the holley blue electric fuel pump wires WRAPPED around the suspension... yes literally looped on the suspension to hold it up..not exactly mounted right..

I am Ricks Brother, Henry. I am glad someone with "drive" got that car. It sure was a Dirty Dart and really slapped together, but with a good amount of it has all the stuff to make a really fun and fast car.

This is a great place to ask questions and get feedback also. welcome aboard.


BTW rally nice job so far.

Lol thanks I got TONS more to post. Was just a long day at work and I got tired quick with posting. (Sloooooow computer) lol the car has come a long way from what pictures I've posted so far, and I've spent some $$ and a lot of it on a lot of new and upgraded parts for it. I'll be posting all of the supplies and materials/products that I used to get by a lot of my obstacles and hopefully it will help others in their projects.

Welcome aboard!
Fantastic job on the metal work!
There was a time you could just visit the local "junk yard" and pick up the sections of body metal you needed for the repairs. With your skills there's no need to buy, you just "fabricate" what you need!
Keep the inspiring pictures coming.
Ricky

Thanks! Cant wait ti get it going. looking forward to having fun with the finished product. Ill be posting more tonight.

Typical Florida car that rusts from the top down. Good luck with the project, looks like fun!

Yea i know it! lol thanks!


OK so the following weekend i get a few things done. Motor gets pulled... yay!

Couple more holes to close up..

OK, so while getting the car it had an aluminum fuel cell, but.. it looked like the previous owner from Ricky(aka Copper Dart) did a hack job to mount it. looks like they just ripped out a section of the spare wheel tub for the sump... jagged metal to all hell..

So, what I did.. to hell with a spare it just weighs you down!!









Did a little tape job for my Seam sealer..



Voila!!

I didn't remember to take picture for the sump cut-out process, but here's out it turned out.. also done BEFORE my undercoating (noticed already painted which ill get to into another post)



I also fabricated a little enclosure for the fuel line outlet/return..



Boom Mounted!! And seam sealed.

So i bought an aluminum "Universal" radiator online.. think measurements were 31"x19x3... HEEEUUUUGE. So wide i had to cut into some rails... but i made it work.. still little tweaks to make it solid and mounted... but i figured out how to make it fit under the hood lol!!

I did a little reverse boxing in the frame.. didn't want to.. but they didn't want to take my return...so owell..



Fabricated up a 1/8 piece.. fits just about right.



Looks messy, but it got cleaned up



and this is how it fits...

Ok so my undercoating was shot... flaking down and looked terrible.. I searched online for a good undercoating... what Ive found was something made by UPOL. Its UPOL's black Raptor Liner.. And let me tell you the finish looks AMAZING! Didn't take any pics of the process but heres some of my finished product... I'm actually ordering more to finish all of my floors on the interior, to help with some sound deadening and spraying my roll cage too!

So while waiting for my next case of raptor liner... i wanted to reinstall my rear end.. but before that i wanted to replace the leaky gasket from the third member... but what my ears hear from moving around.. KLINK! Metal chunks!!!!! NOOOOO!!!! sounds like more money out of pocket...

Yup.... not putting that back in like that...

So while doing some research online over Craigslist, i found a gentleman about 4 hours away... (yay road trip ) with a center section already done and ready to go...
details:
742 case
Richmond 4:10 Gears
Mark Williams heat treated 35 spline spool (DR.diff Here i come!)
hasn't been ran yet
Price?!
400 smakaroos!

So now i have to give a call to DR.Diff for a set of 35 splines. more Dough to Blow... but my rear should be solid.. so ill probably give them a call tomorrow.

As for now waiting on that and my raptor liner.. thought I'd do some interior pieces.. I'm going to be remaking Door panels. so heres what i got so far...

Bought some of this 1/8th board from home depot...stuff is cheap for the amount you get...


Cut the board out to size of the door panel (I traced out mine from my originals that came with the car) or make a template from cardboard.


Don't forget to cut a hole out for the window crank!!


I used about 1/4 inch light foam for some padding effect.. i know they don't come with it from factory... but i like it with it


Sand the edges with some low grit to smooth out from it edginess


Lay the board on top of the cut piece to make sure you have enough!


Use Spray adhesive to bond them together NOT pressing hard...but light to make contact with the board..(Glue will push through since its a thin foam) if your going to use a spray adhesive for interior pieces id strongly suggest you use TACK spray.... such as..But you can also use 3M 300 hold.. and what i did is i drew an outline around the cutout while it sits on the foam to know where you spray (i sprayed foam then laid the cutout on top of the foam..



I'm going with black on black interior, just because i like it... and it is hard to dirty black.. here is my black vinyl i picked out..


Same process laying it on the vinyl..


Almost Done!! going to wait to tack the backside till i get my Air stapler. it could be glued with the same tack glue... but i don't want it to risk pealing up. so for now I'm left with this finished product till i get it.. Came out good so far though. (Oh, make sure you steam off the wrinkles BEFORE application, or else you risk reactivating the glue..)


Finished product coming soon!!!

Enjoying the door panel work, excellent work overall!