My 72 Dart

Bruce F. Budbill, Jr's 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger

This page last updated: 02-21-2004

LOTS & LOTS of Pic's...Please be patient ( It's worth the wait )!

The day She came home: June 20,1992

M43 V5X Y05 END

T1X B51 C55 G37 L31 M21

GY9 E6X9 TX9 420 182179

E44 D31 LH23 G2R 28**18

Bought in St. Petersburg, FL for $600.00 from her second owner. The story goes as follows; She was bought new in Texas then brought to Florida when her owner moved there. She was sold to the second owner in 1990. The second owner was going to big block her but the project never happened. He then put in the Slant 6 and all the underpinnings and bench seat interior from a low mileage 1967 Valiant Sedan. This is how I bought her.

She was originally optioned as follows; 318-2bbl, 904 Trans, Column shift, 8-1/4 rear end, Power steering, A/C, Bucket seats, Rear defroster, Light package, & AM radio.

1st conversion: Auto on the tree to 4 on the floor in 1992 !

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(1) Here is the before shot. Standard steering wheel, Bench seat, Cut dash, & Auto on the column.

(2) Seats out, No shifter steering column with Rim-blow wheel (with center horn button) installed, Dash trim panels in, And ready to cut floor pan for 4 speed tunnel.

(3) (4)

(3) Clutch pedals in, & Auto floor pan ready to cut.

(4) Bell housing in, Floor pan cut for 4 speed tunnel.

(5)

(5) And it is done! 4 speed (OD) tranny and shifter are in to line up tunnel. And tunnel is sealed and pop riveted in until I could get to a welding shop. I had found a cut up Pistol Grip shifter handle from a 1970 Roadrunner and I bent it to the standard A Body shifter shape....Works Great!

All of this was done with hand tools (no electric available) in a pasture that I was living in at the time in Hamilton Co., FL. We then packed up the farm (and a large U-Haul trailer) and off to Sultan,WA. She did well, but did need bigger/better brakes! 1st gear over the top of the Rockies (and wanting one more gear, know the feeling?).

The Rallye Dash gets put in...1994

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(1) Before shot with standard dash in place and windshield removed.

(2) The Rallye/340 dash ready to go in.

(3)

(3) All done and wired up Pardon the trash). Ready for new windshield. I have since replaced the '67 bezel with a '70 woodgrain bezel. At this time I also put in the 8-3/4 with 3:55 gear rear end, Hood scoops and Chrome dual sport mirrors from a Duster. I also rebuilt the front end with 10 inch HD drum brakes with Power booster and front sway bar.

The Theft...April 29,1996

OK, Here was my birthday present for 1996! I got up, went across the street for a cup of coffee. When I was crossing the street back to the house I noticed the hood and door open (2). Then I walked over to the car and saw what had happened. I had been working in the garage until 2:00 AM the night before and went for coffee at 8:00 AM. The lady in the Expresso shop next to the fence opened at 5:00 AM and she saw nothing going on. So all that you see below was done in 3 hours in my back yard by some one or ones that knew what they were doing! A Ford van was seen parked in the expresso shop by police over night but that was all.

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The wing was gone, unbolted from inside the trunk.They tore the back seat out to get in the trunk, destroying the seat and the package tray (2 speaker with rear defrost no less) in the processes.

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(6) and (7) Hood scoops gone (but they left the rain gaskets), Power booster gone.

(8) (9)

(8) Rallye dash gone, Rim-blow wheel gone, Pistol grip shifter (but not shift rods) gone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.......not! After the required police report and 2 insurance company appraisers I was handed a check for $800.00 and change...WHOOPEE...not! End of story? Not quite. I put an add in The Mopars Unlimited Seattle Chapter Club newsletter about this outrage. Now here is where it gets weird. We went to the Mopars Unlimited Annual Show in May to sell off the parts from the Coronet wagon mentioned below. While I was out in the parking lot snooping around for lot deals, another club member tells me that there are some guys in a Ford van from Oregon selling A body parts. I go over and low and behold; there is my Rim-blow wheel! I try to maintain my cool with the guy and ask if he has any more A Body stuff. He tells me "I did, But I already sold it all". I say "Where did you find this stuff"? He says "Down in Oregon at a friends house". I then 'buy' MY wheel back for $10.00 and get his tag number and head for show security (the local police). By the time I find a cop, the guy is long gone. I gave the tag number to the police that took the original theft report and it comes back stolen.

Oh well, so much for that lead. Now end of story?....Not quite. About 2 weeks after the show I get a phone call.....

Here is how the conversation goes:

This person says; " I have all your stolen parts, except your rim blow"!

Me; "OK...so why are you calling me"?

Person; "A buddy of mine bought them for me at the May show, and then someone showed me your add in the Mopar Club newsletter. I am on parole and have been clean for 6 years and want no part of these parts".

Me; "OK,So what do you want to do about this"?

Person; "I want you to have them back, but I need my money back".

Me; "Ya $#@%* right, You expect ME to pay YOU for MY parts? How about I get the cops and come see you (said with just a bit of PO attitude)"!

Person; "Call the cops and you will never see your parts again".

So now I calmed down, thinking lets set this up to meet with this guy and the cops in tow.

Me; "OK how much $$ do you need"?

Person ;"I paid $200.00 for this stuff".

Me; "OK when and where"?

Person; "Meet me at ***** at 6:00 PM in the parking lot with the cash. You park your car and wait. I will be watching you to make sure you are alone. Any one with you or cops and the deal is off and your parts go in the Sound (Puget Sound)".

Me; "OK, see ya there".

I know a lot of you reading this will think this was dangerous and somewhat ????, but I wanted my parts back and this seemed to be a Hell of a lot cheaper and easier than trying to replace them. I am a former cop myself and decided to meet him (with my buddy S&W, I am NOT a fool). I told my wife the when and where and told her "If I am not back by 8:00 PM call the cops". This all seemed to be out of a bad movie but went as planed. The guy was really up front about it all and almost as much of a victim as me (my opinion). He now had a good job, married, kids and so on and wanted no part of stolen anything. He apologizes profusely and promised to slap his buddy real good for both of us.

NOW end of story. Am I a fool? I don't think so.

The Slant 6 to Big Block Conversion...May 1996

The donor engine; A 1968 383 4bbl out of a 1968 Coronet 500 Wagon. I bought the wagon for $150.00 from a guy in Everett,WA. who was given it for a $700.00 debt. When he went to get the title transferred he found out it had a state child support lien against it for $5000.00! Needless to say this was not happening. He put the car in our local Swapper paper. The add went something like this: "1968 Coronet Station Wagon $300.00 OBO No title-parts only". I asked him what engine and so on...His reply "A big one". So I went to see it. It had not been started in over a year...a little gas in the carb and a jump later it started up and ran so smooth you could not see the engine moving at idle! The drive home was something else however...A pouring rain and the worst front end I had ever driven (And I have driven some bad ones)! The car turned out to be a goldmine of parts; The engine, trans, & radiator I kept for the swap. I traded the K member, disc brakes and sway bar front end for a set of NOS 1968 A body big block exhaust manifolds. I sold off the rest of the wagon parts at a Mopar show for about $1200.00! So all in all a very good deal.

Before shot of the engine bay.

The Slant 6 K member: You have to cut out the front part of the drivers side mount pad so the B/RB oil filter will clear. I used a set of Schumaker (then called Stearns) conversion motor mounts. After I cut the clearance piece out I had a small triangle of it welded on the front of the cut for reinforcement (not required, but it made me feel better). No other modifications to an A Body Slant 6 K member are needed for this mounting system. I also used a set of 340 torsion bars for added suspension stiffness.

After the modification cut.

Another shot of the modification cut, Ready for engine.

The Engine;

This engine has the 4 speed crank with a pilot bushing installed from the factory on an automatic equipped car! Even though it was VERY greasy it was in fantastic condition. Before I put it in the Dart, I went through it and put in a complete gasket set, timing chain and gears, a windage tray, new HP oil pump, Stock 1969 B Body oil pan (with cut out for A Body tie rod clearance, I can't remember which one I used but will list it here when I remember), water pump, & new brass freeze plugs. On top of this I wanted it to look "period correct" for 1972, so I put a 1972 400 intake with a 440 Thermoquad carb.

Another shot of the donor engine.

Here is the 727 tranny from the same car. LOTS of degreaser later it went into the Dart with no problems.

Right side.

Left side.

Going in.....A lot harder than it sounds. Notice the oil dipstick tube nicely mounted in place? Big mistake, when we set the engine in the bay it was crushed by the fender well. Oh well, another trip to the parts yard. Then the exhaust manifolds...UGH. You have to jack up the side you are putting on and a lot of angling and so on. Both sides were a pain, But the drivers side was worse because I used power steering (not offered on the original Big Block A Bodies).

In place and ready for the tranny and radiator and so on.

We then packed up and moved to North Carolina. I towed the Dart behind the rental truck. After we got setteled into our new house I continued the conversion. I had to have a driveshaft cut (B Body trans = to long for regular A Body shaft). I then had the exhaust plumbed into the factory 340 tailpipes/tips. Then the moment of truth.........Fired that mutha up!! It runs great BUT, I am totally unhappy with the Thermoquad (You already knew this, didn't you?). I have since found a 1969 383 intake with AVS to put on it. I still miss my 4 speed terribly, but cannot seem to find the correct parts to put it behind the 383 (see my Parts Wanted page please).

I still need to redo the interior and paint her (Lemon Twist with Demon style blackout hood and buttstripe).

This would be done now, but I crunched Melanie's Dart GT (see Mel's GT page) and it gets fixed first!

(You know what I mean, don't you guys?)

When this gets done...New pics will be here!

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