The Lawn Dart

[Deceus]

So to keep the urge to set the car on fire at bay, I figured making a build thread here to remind me how far I've come. It's a 1973 Dodge Dart Sport I bought like 12 years ago when I turned 16. It was $800 and hardly ran but I thought it was pretty cool at the time. Drum brakes all around, I'm pretty sure I was only running 4 cylinders and a few shot bushings in the front end made for quite a few interesting experiences in my teens. The final nail in coffin for this thing after I bought my Challenger was a pinhole leak in my power steering line that left me stranded in the Outerbanks shortly after I graduated college. It sat in my parent's backyard for like 2-3 years before I decided I either needed to put it down or fix it up.

The original goal was to just swap over a V8 and disc brakes from a 74 donor car I bought. Was really just looking to do something that didn't involve bar tabs and/or failed relationships. The more I dove into this car and looked at parts/other projects, the more I wanted to do.

Here's some history to start:

Shortly after I first bought it:



The motor crapped out on me the next summer. I melted a rod bearing somehow so we did a total rebuild.



Went to basic and when I came back I sent it off for body work and paint:



Drove it off and on during college but it mostly sat once I got my super sweet 91 S10.