My Dads 1968 Dodge Dart "270" NEW Progress 1-15-2017

[Deleted]

NIICE!!! Was your real Dart a "270" as thats what my Dad's was that I'm modeling here!!!!! From what I've read there was A LOT of that model car made!!!!

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Some great detail work John.

[Deleted]

Thanks Bruce!!!!! This one has a bit of meaning to it so. thats why I'm sinking the time & effort into it. all my "Family Builds" will be getting as much as I can sunk into them! I have another one I'm working on, slowly....... Not got to awful far onto that one yet..... It'll be coming tho!

[Deleted]

A little bit of an update on this model (I had pics I didn't post, and had totally forgotten on another Camera SD card!) Anyway, since my last update, I'm getting things together as far as detail for the engine compartment, and well, the firewall is in REAL need to bring, or continue bringing it up to par with the rest of my model builds for the level of detail I cram into them! SO, with that said, I got to looking, and one thing I have yet to do is get the triple valve ready on the frame, to put the brake lines to it from the Master Cylinder.... SO, I went on to make the brake lines and fittings from the master cylinder....

Made of copper wire, as you can see, but will be painted aluminum silver by Testors to look like unpolished aluminum pipe! The green parts? Those are my fittings, they will be painted Testors "brass" when I get the silver on the pipes, first!
I sat this aside, to cure, and got to finishing up the "Power Bulge" hood! It needed a finish coat of gloss clear....

Looks pretty good! I tell you guys getting pics that are "good" with metal flake in the paint is VERY difficult! It looks like dust specs on the hood and there may be a little, but not nearly as much as it shows!

Looks really good! Then, once the clear coat was dry to be handled I got right to adding the Power Bulge chrome parts (I'm unsure what those are even called!)

NICE!!!! Those were a tad interesting to get in-place, but I managed to do it without anything going badly wrong!

That looks really good! I have a little detail to the hood yet to add, but thats coming, I have that chrome hood edge to put onto the hood, and then the hood hinge parts.... (That I have yet to paint!) And it'll be complete and ready to go onto the car! -This hood however, isn't the hood that will be seen with the car a lot, that stock "flat hood" is what Dad's Dart had, so thats the builds true (hood) BUT, I did the Power Bulge hood, just to do a different look, on the same car, for the car to be ever-so-slightly changed without a lot of trouble doing so.......
Thats it for now! Stay tuned MORE will come for those who are following along on this build! Thanks for looking, as always Comments welcome ENJOY!

[Gothic]

Nice attention to the detail

[Deleted]

Thanks Mike! This one is one of those "Family Builds" of mine so yeah I'm gonna be dumping in as much detail as I see or as I can come up with!!!! All my Family builds are kinda special in that way to me....

Just like the trailer I'm currently building.... That is one that can be hooked to either my Uncles Dodge Tradesman Van, or my Dads Dodge Adventurer 150 pick-up.....

Stay tuned, I am slowly working on this one too, the hood that is to go with it by what the car had that Dad had, is what I'm currently working out, as it needs to be a completely flat hood!!!! What fun that is!

[nemo]

First build I've looked in on here and I'm already learning loads!

Nice work sir!

[Deleted]

Thanks Nemo. Yeah I have been told I have that way about myself, (not that I set out to do it), but it just seems to happen and follow me around and thats not a bad thing I guess!!!!

Thanks tho.... Much appreciated!

[Deleted]

So its been a couple months since I last "visited" this model. Its sadly been sitting and waiting for work to be done to make it closer to being finished. So with that, while waiting on other parts to dry & cure on another build, this one was "out" and I thought, I'd proceed on getting more done to it! So, where to begin? WELL.... -Last thing I did to this model was get the Power Bulge hood almost done! (I had yet to add that chrome strip, that goes on the lower edge of that hood, that fills in on the grille when the hood is closed, I got that added (Have yet to get pics of this done!) But the frame? The engine? There was a little to be done to this area..... Motor was NOT in the frame, the frame needed some added paint work, and some minor details added, BEFORE the engine could go in-place!
So with that, I got to painting some of the frame details....

That looks GREAT! (I may yet, add some dullcoat to the cast-iron color to make it not so shiny!) We'll see.....

Up-side-down sort of.... I painted all the suspension and steering parts, as well as the front stabilizer bar, and even the front torsion bars.... (I liked how that looked on another model I did it too and I think that part might become a regular practice on my models now!!!! It looks GREAT! I sat that aside, and seen that the firewall had not a lot done to it other then the parts you all seen last, some of those details needed painted in-place, as well as some of the wiring started to be put in-place as well!

Got right to it! I added the wire from the blower motor to the side of the heater hose entrance. (seen that in an online pic, as well as added the wiper motor wire too! Painted the fittings on the brake lines off the Master Cylinder and now, I have to see what else needs added as I have also drilled a bunch of holes in that electrical connection right under the wiper motor!
Stay tuned, more to follow after these short messages for our sponsors!

[Deleted]

So I sat the Firewall aside, to then check on the paint work done to the suspension and all. ALL dry! SO then, off to checking the engine to see if it needed anything "more" added BEFORE it went into place in the frame! I had to drill the holes in the power Steering pump to add that pipe work and hoses, as well as re-adjust the mounting as it was slightly to far "forward" and would not allow the radiator to fit properly!!!! I got that addressed, and taken care of, and right to mounting the engine in-place between the frame rails where it belongs!!!!!

That looks really good sitting in-place to STAY!

Other side.... Its sure coming together! -A LOT of wire details hanging everywhere it seems! LOL Just like a real one!

PERFECT front view to show the area needed for the Radiator, Core Support to "fit"!

All seems GREAT from underneath too! I'm so glad this fits in-place so well. could have been a lot of work! Remember, this kit? Was to have a 426 Hemi in it, OR a 440 Magnum in it! My Dad's car, had a little ole LA 318 in it! So I used one of my own resin castings to make this engine happen and make the car look good with all the details of the wire I've added! NOT as much going on as some of my normal builds, but enough!!!!
I had sit this all aside to dry and cure so that the engine was in-place to stay, and worked on some other areas of this model, so that things could get done to it and be ready to put in-place when I need them! BUT you'll see that work in a bit! Once that work was done and needed to dry (paint work) I went right back to fitting the engine with a drive shaft! I took the stock one, cut it in half, and then chucked it up in the Unimat lathe, to turn the "barrel" down to fit inside of a Aluminum tube, to have some "true round" drive shaft. The real ones, had a slight joint for the suspension to work and I turned the drive shaft to reflect this! One end, has the U-Joint, right to the drive shaft barrel, and the other end has a smaller barrel to look like that slip-joint in front of the U-Joint before it connects to the rear differential! This is what that looks like unpainted:

It WILL be painted, in-place! The U-Joints are NOT glued on either end! That will allow me to "spin" it in-place while painting it. I once done being painted will glue BOTH ends!
Now, to show what I was working on, just prior to adding the engine and the drive shaft.... I was kinda being "chicken" on whats to come.... REALLY I was afraid I'd ruin it, but As you'll all see, I think I done well! Adding the "Black Shadowing" to the grille! There sure is A LOT going on in just the details on that part, OMG.... Yeah it was sort of hairy to do.... BUT, I think it turned out well, you guys tell me what ya think:

Thats it with my camera's flash.....

Thats it without my camera's flash....
What you all think? Yeah it was hairy part to do, but I think its done well..... Took a couple hours to get exactly what you see!
Thats it for now on this one! More to come as things happen and are done! As always comments welcome, ENJOY!

[Deleted]

I like!!!!

[Deleted]

-Thanks Man! Much appreciated! A LOT of work going into this one (whats new with almost any of my models, right?) but yeah, because its a Family Member's car well I'm putting all into it as I can!

But thanks tho, the comments are much appreciated!

[BUCKY]

Gotta love a good "A" body Dodge!! Great progress, Hemi!

[Deleted]

Thanks again Bucky! Yeah this one has a little meaning to it being one my Dad owned! I have however found a few things out from an older cousin, and a couple Uncles that I had to talk to and ask questions to see if they knew anything as the one Uncle that WOULD have known passed away last year, and he was a close one too (same Uncle that owned that 10 ft Utility trailer I'm also building!) but I have several Uncles and even a couple of my Aunts would know more of the basic stuff so. So I'm picking brains on it....

Theres a long story on this, but I'm one of those kids, that my mother turned me against my Dad, only to find out later she was more the bad parent then she made him out to be. And I didn't talk to him for a 20 year span of time. that 20 year span of time ended about 8 years ago just before Christmas, and then going on 3 years ago I lost Dad.... So, you see where this is going? BUT in that 20 year span of time my Dad had a LOT of nice old Mopars, I knew had them, but wasn't familiar with them, if that makes sense. SO family members that were in contact with Dad in that time frame, is what I'm going by..... Some of those family members in some cases, (not this '68 Dart however) have even produced some pictures of the other cars and trucks that I have now! This particular car, in real life, I seem to have THEE ONLY picture of it, EVER taken! -Go figure!

Anyway, this car, I have found that when my Dad got it, it HAD that Dart 270 side trim on the fenders and the doors.... BUT was missing either one or 2 pieces of it, and Dad didn't want to buy a whole new set, as it wasn't in all that bad of shape so for awhile he hunted around looking for them and after awhile gave up on finding them pulled ALL that was there, sold it all and that gave him enough funding to actually repaint the car! As from what 2 Uncles and my Cousin said, that trim normally is the first thing to be removed and discarded of, and Dad listed it for sale in his shop and not 2 weeks pass I was told it sold! Took that money and bought the green paint and off to the booth the car went!

Interesting, the things you learn when you ask questions! That was the first thing I learned from talking with the 2nd Uncle about that car, and in the pic I have of the car, that trim isn't present! AND its got a fresh coat of green on it too! This one model, I've talked and asked questions to 3 Uncles, one Aunt, and one Cousin! LOL The same cousin today owns my Dad's last pick up truck (NOT the one in my "Father & Son Dodge Truck build), -Thats a '79, My cousin Scott, got the '84 Power Ram.....

AND I just got word that my other Cousin Frankie might be buying my Grandfathers (his too) ole '79 Dodge Ramcharger! They found it on another farm! Sitting! SO, we'll see how that turns out! Be cool as snot tho if he does! (I'm ALSO building a model of that one too!)

[coupestang]

Such great detail in your work. This is what it's all about!

[Deleted]

Thanks 'stang! -yeah I enjoy the detail work! Stay tuned, more to come!