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1962 Dodge Dart project

DartProject62

Active Member
Local time
8:06 AM
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
39
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28
Location
Idaho
Hello Everyone!

Today I began a very long journey to restore my high school daily driver, a 1962 Dodge Dart 4dr slant six. This car was the absolute greatest part of my high school experience and I would like to share that with my niece.

Here in Idaho the legal driving age is 15. That means in 2 years my niece is gonna be hitting the road and anyone in a 500 mile radius should be a bit concerned. I want to put as much steel between her and hard things as possible. It also wouldn't hurt to have a car that you can't hide in. Just in case she gets a lead foot, we will hear about it.

So we offered her my 62 Dart that had been sitting up at my parents place for the last 13 years. She said yes and now we are shooting to have it done by her 15th birthday.

Originally I pulled this car out of a barn in 2001 or there abouts. The car was complete and "freshly" painted. The previous owners had painted it and put new seat covers over the originals and then parked the car. I put the car back together, had the engine rebuilt and a few minor other things and drove it as a daily driver through high school.

After that I left town and it was parked until this weekend. My Dad brought it down and now we get to begin!

My niece and I are really looking forward to this project. I am very inexperienced with cars, but am looking forward to learning! (hopefully with a bit of help from you guys).

I have included pics taken today. I havent done anything to the car other than pull out some stuff that had accumulated in it.

Let me know what you guys think!

-C
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Heres a good shot of the car, seems to be straight. Some minor rust. One line down the body from being keyed. Two dents from speakers sliding around in the trunk. And some rust on the bottom.
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Heres some of the rust on the wheel well and fender. Not terrible, but still there.

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I think the previous owner had bondo-d this panel before painting.

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Here is some of the damage to the grill. Pretty clean other than this section. Not sure if it can be repaired or if it has to be replaced
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Heres some damage I did to the car as a teenager. Bumper is pushed in, damage to fender and the pieces underneath. Doesnt look like the frame was effected, but I will have that checked.
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Left side of car seems to be the cleanest.
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Not completely rust free. This is the front left door and wheel well
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No rust on the back window. Pulled off the chrome piece to look beneath it and no rust there either.
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Rear of the car. The bumper was straightened and rechromed in 2005.
 
Cool car, it's great to be able to pass on new memories.
Watch for messages on how much you want for the trim pieces on the trunk.
 
Cool car, it's great to be able to pass on new memories.
Watch for messages on how much you want for the trim pieces on the trunk.
What are you trying to say about the trunk pieces?????
I don't think it gets any other trunk trim. It's a base model with very little trim.
 
What are you trying to say about the trunk pieces?????

A buddy of mine searched for a very long time for those pieces, apparently they are hard to find.
 
A buddy of mine searched for a very long time for those pieces, apparently they are hard to find.
Okay! Let me try again.
There are NO pieces missing.
That's why your buddy could not find them.
 
A buddy of mine searched for a very long time for those pieces, apparently they are hard to find.
The trunk spears are very difficult to find. I finally found the missing one I needed for my Dart in Mass. The gentleman actually gave it to me.
 
Hey everyone! Looking to start removing rust off the car. Never done this before so kinda looking for advice.

Can I just use a wire wheel on an angle grinder to clear off the rust and then just spray primer over it?

Any help would be much appreciated!

C
 
Hey everyone! Looking to start removing rust off the car. Never done this before so kinda looking for advice.

Can I just use a wire wheel on an angle grinder to clear off the rust and then just spray primer over it?

Any help would be much appreciated!

C
LOL......!!!!!!!!!!!
 
NO it will NOT work............There are lots of web pages dedicated to doing this correctly.
Awesome! Got any links?

On the surface scratch down the side, why would this not work? I'm just trying to eliminate the rust for now until it ultimately gets sand blasted or dipped. Will it mess up the metal? Or is it just a no-no for finishing work?
 
UPDATED 5.25.21

Well.... Life gets busy and the progress on this car has slowed ALOT. However, been able to get back to it and got some more work knocked out on it and figured I would share with everyone.

First off, thanks to everyone who has provided pointers and tips, your advice has been greatly appreciated!!!

I fully stripped the car and started to remove the bondo and identified rust spots. There is a bunch of surface rust and some swiss cheese problems around the wheel wells as you can see in the picture.

My wife and I (She was a HUGE help) stripped the car and sent it off to a buddy to knock out the metal work.

Once it gets back, we are gonna put it back together and get it on the road.

Thanks again to everyone's help!!!

Cody

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