Pro Touring 68 Dart convertible

[Mopsquad]

The car is going to look sooo good.  Referencing an earlier post, I'd stay with 18's all around.  The 20's in the rear will look to0 big and wagon wheel-ish. 

This car needs balance being an smaller vehicle.  A huge Impala can absorb 20's but in my opinion, won't look right on your A-body.

[Burdar]

Here are some more from outside.  This thing really shines!

[Burdar]

Referencing an earlier post, I'd stay with 18's all around.  The 20's in the rear will look to0 big and wagon wheel-ish.

This car needs balance being an smaller vehicle.  A huge Impala can absorb 20's but in my opinion, won't look right on your A-body.

I'm still going back and forth on that one.  I was all set to go 20's in the rear and then I changed my mind and thought 18's.  Now I'm kind of back to 20's.  The Darts are a smaller car but the 1/4s hang way out past the rear wheel wells.  That makes them look tail heavy.  A larger wheel in the back would still look good IMO and not make the 1/4s looks like they are sticking out so far. 

I found these wheels that I like a lot.  They are custom made so I can get them exactly how I want them.  Online pricing is probably way outdated though and I have no idea how long it would take to have them made.


Then I found these at Summit Racing.  They are a lot less expensive and it seems like it wouldn't take long for them to be delivered if I go this route.  They only offer 18x7 and 18x10.  The 10" wide won't fit in the back.  They do offer a 20x8.5 that would fit.  They are listed as Chevy/Ford wheels though so I'd have to check the center register diameter to see if they would fit a Mopar.  Also, I don't really care for the "machined" outer lip.  I'd prefer a polished lip.

[anlauto]

Paint job looks gorgeous 

[YellowThumper]

That is beautiful.

[Brads70]

Darren, thought you might find this interesting to look at.... ( 1969 I know but... )

https://www.mecum.com/lots/AZ0322-495243/1969-dodge-dart-gts-convertible/

[Burdar]

Thanks Brad.  The GTS's will always be the collectable models and bring the most money.  That's why I'm not concerned with modifying a GT.  Still, there is that voice inside my head that says not to make any permanent mods that can't be easily undone.

The car is back home.  I'm not going to get in a big hurry to start assembling it.  I want to let the paint sit for 120 days or so before bolting things on the exterior.  It's still cold here so I can't really spray the rad blackout or install the butyl sound deadener until it warms up.  I'm going to be sending off the wiper motor to be restored in the next few days.  When that comes back I should be ready to start the assembly process in full.

[Burdar]

So, late last week I installed the body plugs and set the tail light wiring in place. Saturday we had warmer temps so I decided to get the rad support blackout done.  I set the old grill and headlight bezels in place so I could see which areas were visible through the grill.  I didn't like how the factory blackout went all the way up to the top of the latch support so I decided to leave that area body color.  The bottom of the latch support can be seen through the grill so the bottom was sprayed but not the top.




That was all the time I had to work on the car on Saturday.  That afternoon I went to Disney on Ice with my wife and daughter.  Then we rushed home at night to beat the severe thunderstorms and tornados passing through the area.

On Sunday I realized that the body shop had filled in the washer bottle mounting holes.  I had them fill some extra holes on the inner fender but for some reason they filled all of them.  After re-drilling those holes, I mounted the headlight relays to the battery tray and install that.  Then I started running the new headlight wiring.  The wiring was a little more difficult then I had expected though.  I must not have tried fishing the plugs through the headlight bucket support during the test fitment stage.  The aftermarket plugs are too thick to pass through the limited space available.  I had to get out the cutoff wheel and cut a notch in the bucket support. About 1/4" more room was needed.  Now the plugs will easily pass into the back of the headlight area.  Once that was done, mounting the buckets and all the adjuster hardware went pretty quick.  Later on Sunday I installed the brake/fuel lines and rear axle bumpers.  Next thing to work on is cleaning up the gas tank and getting that installed.

[anlauto]

.......The car is back home.  I'm not going to get in a big hurry to start assembling it.  I want to let the paint sit for 120 days or so before bolting things on the exterior.........

Well, so much for that plan.... ...it's called anticipation....

[Burdar]

I'm not going to get in hurry assembling the exterior and engine compartment.  I want the paint to have a chance to fully cure before I start bolting on things like mirrors, door handles, side markers exc...  The engine compartment needs to be waxed and the sound deadener needs to be installed before the heater box, master cylinder, engine comp wiring, dash and engine go in.

[Wayne]

The paint looks great!  So nice to be able to spin the car around on the jig while doing the bodywork. 

[HP_Cuda]

She is really coming along and can't wait to see how this turns out!

Kudos!!!

[usraptor]

Car and paint look amazing!    I know I'm late to the party but regarding wheel choice I would go with the first ones personally.  Not a real fan of those kidney bean type wheels but that's just me.

[YellowThumper]

This is one awsome looking build.
Thanks for sharing it "here" as I don't spend time in the A areas.

[cudamadd]

Wow very very nice that paint looks great in the sun it pops congratulations.