When we last closed the garage door on our Dart Sport, we had completely disassembled it, and found exactly what areas of the car needed repair. Before we purchased the Sport, it had spent the 15 or so years prior sitting under a carport, and not moved. While this lack of use kept the mileage slightly under 150,000, it didn't do much for the back half of the car that didn't fit under the carport. What this means is that from the bottom of the rear window forward, the Sport's only needed repairs were the many small dings from mall parking lots, and who knows what else. The rear of the car, however, was another story.
Anyway, we finally knew what needed to be fixed, and it was time to get underway. This month, we tackle the rust repair and mocked up the new rear bumper. Like we said in our last installment, in 1975, the bumpers on all cars were designed without regard to aesthetics. Let's face it, when the outside face of a bumper protrudes almost 5 inches away from the body of the car, it needs help. In our case, we decided to see what would happen if we tried to fit a rear bumper from a '72 Demon on the car. To find a nice bumper and brackets that we could use would mean that we had to first find a usable bumper and get it chromed. This means spending money for a core, and chroming. Luckily for us, we found out that Stephens Performance now has brand-new reproduction bumpers and brackets for many cars. For many guys, having an original bumper is a must, but the quality of the repop from Stephens was quite good, and fit nicely, so we had no qualms about using it. Now, the bumper brackets did need a little "tweaking," but with a little modifying, it's an easy swap.
Anyway, it took a couple of weeks of steady work to get the Sport's metal repairs in order, but the time spent was well worth it.
Although the rust at the rear...
Although the rust at the rear of the car was substantial, a complete panel replacement wasn't needed.....
....We only cut the lower...
....We only cut the lower couple of inches and around the rear tail panel as needed.
Even though we didn't need...
Even though we didn't need to replace the entire panel, we found complete pieces cheap enough while at Carlisle so we bought it. The extra metal can be used elsewhere if need be.
With the repair patches welded...
With the repair patches welded in place,....
....a thin skim-coat of all-metal...
....a thin skim-coat of all-metal and then filler is all that's needed.
Fix repairs....
....check.
We all know that a '75 Dart...
We all know that a '75 Dart Sport didn't have a hoodscoop from the factory-or the holes in the hood for said scoop for that matter-but since we previously added a scoop, now seemed like the right time to add the factory-styled air inlet holes. The effectiveness of these holes has caused debate for years, but hey, we decided to add them.
In 1975, the crash bumpers...
In 1975, the crash bumpers came with a hydraulic shock absorber-type bumper mount. We wanted to clean up the rear of the car's looks, so we got a set of bumper brackets and a reproduction bumper for an earlier A-Body ('72 Duster) from Stephens Performance.
While fitting the rear bumper,...
While fitting the rear bumper, we learned that we needed to do a little trimming of the brackets as the bumper stuck out away from the car farther than we liked.
With all the sheetmetal work...
With all the sheetmetal work completed and the rear bumper fitted, it's time to start slinging paint.
We couldn't be at the shop...
We couldn't be at the shop on the day that the paint was applied, but Wayne Colley handled the job without us.
It took a while, but the fresh...
It took a while, but the fresh coat of red is on, and reassembly can begin-as soon as it dries.
Stay tuned for the next installment...
Stay tuned for the next installment when we have only five days to turn this shell nto a finished car for the 2009 All-Chrysler show at Carlisle.