Helping a buddy with his Dart project

Not sure how much longer I'll have my shop so I decided that while I have it I might as well put it to good use. A buddy of mine who lives nearby has been having problems finishing up his Dart project so I told him to tow it over to my shop and I'll help him get it running. It is a nice clean Dart with a lot of good parts and hard work but the project is so big it kind of overwhelmed him. With both of us working on it we'll get it running pretty soon.

Your shop looks amazing. At least the few pics I've seen of it on here. Have you ever documented it on here or anywhere else, like Garage Journal?

I wish I had that much room. My 500 sq ft garage just doesn't cut it.

No I haven't documented it but I have posted a few pictures over the years in various threads. It has been a great shop for the past 20 years and I'll be sad to see it bulldozed by the developers.

Mr friends 69 Dart GTS is in my garage, preparing it for a fresh coat of B5 blue paint. Sorry everytime I try to post a picture from my phone they come out like this, even after I rotate it on the phone!

Bulldozed by developers? WTH?

Cool car!

Condo development or Ikea/tapered jeans outlet?

You just can't live far enough out of town.

That is a very nice shop I agree. So clean too! Are you sure you do any real work in there?

Are you moving someplace else? It's hard to find commercial spaces here that allow cars to be worked on and such these days. Many places say up front no auto repair or body shops allowed.

I need you for a neighbor, none of my projects will ever get done...

I did the same thing last year, helped a buddy get his RoadRunner put together over the winter. My shop has heated floors so it is a nice place to work when it is cold and rainy outside. I've been trying to help at least one person a year finish up a project. Seems like all of my friends have unfinished projects.

Man, I'm gonna un-finish something and be right over !
Super-nice shop, why would you be leaving ?

what are you going to do for another shop Andy ?
smaller one perhaps ?
when is the date you need to vacate your present shop ?

I wish you were closer to help me finish mine. It's been a work in progress since 2012.

I'm planning on sharing a shop with a guy I know. I won't have nearly as much room so I'll need to downsize a bit. Not sure on the timing, might need to move next summer, might last a bit longer. Just depends on how aggressive the developers are about taking over property.

Imminent domain?

More like imminent no domain.

Government at its finest.

The term your looking for is eminent domain. And we still haven’t heard the full story, just the teaser.

Here is my neighbors place. He use to have a nice house with a swimming pool and a big shop and a few acres of hay. He sold out for $5 million this spring and now it is a pile of dirt crawling with equipment. I think he said they are going to build 71 houses on his old property.

Been working on the Dart some more. Got the front suspension all dialed in with a Doctor Diff 11.75 kit as well as Koni shocks and a super nice Hellwig anti-sway bar. We looked at several brands of anti-sway bars and the Hellwig was by far the nicest. Some of the other anti-sway bars on the market were junk. I've had experience with garbage shocks before so I told the guy to get rid of the cheap crap KYBs that were on there and buy a pair of Konis. He had a billet pulley setup from 440Source but it wasn't quite right so I turned it into a low mount kit and shortened the belt by about 6 inches. I prefer to mount the alternator in the lower position when possible since it cleans up the engine compartment and provides extra space up top.

Sad that developers are moving in on you, but hopefully you'll make out okay and be able to buy/build what you want from the sale.

They will build their houses right up against your property and then start complaining about everything from noise to storm water. They will even complain that your building (that has been there for 20 years before them) is obstructing their view. After they drive you out the only view they will have is more houses.

Andy are they forcing you out? Or did you sell? That shop you have is awesome.

I'm not being forced out at gunpoint, but I don't really want to be surrounded by 200 new neighbors after spending the last 20 years with just a couple of neighbors. Right now my next door neighbor's porch is a 400 yard walk from my porch. The new houses that they are building across the street are only 8 feet apart. My dog wanders across the street a couple of times a day to grab a pear or an apple from the neighbors orchard. She never worries about a car hitting her because it is a dead end street with just a handful of retired folks living on it. Once they build 200 houses across the street the dog won't last a week before some idiot going 50 mph in an SUV hits her. So yeah, I'm planning on leaving when the time is right.

I'm in the county so I could buy a few pigs and start pig farming. Wonder if they would complain about that? Maybe butcher the pigs outside once they get nice and fat.

I'll be your friend! lol
Copper

Go to the county and apply for a building permit for a 20,000 chickens coup. That will get them stirred up. I saw where a chicken farm in Ohio used a to clean up the manure. That has to stink.
Also, don't you need a big old tractor with no muffler? Better yet, maybe it's time for you to get your own engine dyno.

If you stay, a fence will keep the neighbor kids out and the dog in. Not to mention the pigs and chickens.

You could sure pi$$ off a few people with a dyno.

We're still making progress. Got the new wheels and tires up front and the fuel system is finished. He needed a place to mount the Lokar kickdown cable so I bent up a special version of my Sniper throttle bracket. I think I'll add this new bracket to my website since I'm sure there are other people who need a kickdown cable to go with their Sniper.

Count me in for one.

PM me your address again and I'll send you one.

andyL .... WHERE do you plug this car in ?

Thanks Andy! Just put it on today. As with all your stuff the craftsmanship is great.

Looks great, glad it worked for you.

We did get the Dart fired up yesterday. It is running a little rough and we had some minor issues to sort out but that is typical for a build like this. He should have the bugs worked out in a few weeks and have the car home before the end of the year.

sounds exactly like what i did on sunday except it was my son-inlaws 67 caddy, he bought it and took it apart before we new each other 10 years ago, i remind him every day dont ever buy a caddy unless somebody else went thru the hassle of making eveything happy, want a royal pita that car is.