I started working on the LCAs. The suspension I'm using is off of a 72 Demon 340. The LCAs were pretty clean but had a layer of rust on them.


I tried using an 1 3/8" tap to remove the outer LCA bushing sleeve but I wasn't able to make it work. I don't know what I was doing wrong. The tap was just too big to thread into the sleeve. I ended up having to use an air chisel to split the shell. After the bushings were out, I soaked the LCAs in acid. After removing them I saw traces of black paint. I don't think these were dipped in cosmoline. I also found a blue inspection mark on one of the torsion bar sockets.


I had a friend of mine help me weld the stiffening plates on the arms. He also added some extra welds to the sway bar tabs. Finally, we champed the torsion bar end together and added a small strap to keep it in position. Adding that strap took out 99% of the slop in the arm. Now the LCAs are off to the powder coaters.


I also took apart all four seat tracks. They were very rusty from sitting against wet carpet for years and didn't slide any more. One of the slider assemblies was also missing. I had to drill out one rivet on each track in order to get them apart. After scraping out all the old grease, I dipped them in acid.




The heavily pitted areas will be up against the carpet so you won't see them. The lighter pits are mostly covered in paint. Hopefully the paint dulls a little. They are too glossy right now. I used allen head bolts to replace the drilled out rivets.


I also played around with one of my 20" Durango wheels. I pulled one of them out of the shed and stuck it up under the Dart. The tire is WAY too tall but the width is right. It's a 265-50 tire. I've got 5/8" clearance on either side. The 1/2" Dr Diff spring relocation kit should put the outer edge of the spring in line with the inner wheel well lip. The back spacing is also WAY too much on these wheels but at least I can get a feel for what 20's will look like on the back. A 35 series tire should let me tuck the wheel up into the wheel well a little more.