“IN THE END, THERE IS VERY LITTLE THAT HASN’T BEEN WORKED ON OVER TIME”
an American MOOG kit from the Dodge Dart, which is a direct replacement. I chose to go mostly with rubber not polyurethane, as the original had lasted 40 years. Brad convinced me to do a chassis-rail repair while on the hoist to be ‘better safe than sorry’.
That bit of advice led to a much bigger job. Soon a very expensive plenum replacement was also added to this list. I had removed the cabin items and found a leak into the drivers floor when you poured water into the vents in front of the windscreen. The culprit was a blocked and rusted out drain hole. I couldn’t replace all the carpet and underlay if it was letting in water.
So a solid cowl was sourced, sandblasted, powder coated, and seam sealed after being welded in. This involved taking off the doors and front guards that were all sanded, and finding rust in the lower doors.
Rust bubbles were also in the rear valance, roof gutters and around the seals in the boot near the drain holes, so the decision was to paint strip everything, replace anything that looked dodgy and repaint the whole car. You see what I mean about ignoring that rust bubble! My panel beater cancelled his holiday in Queensland and booked the Caribbean instead, taking his wife and kids with him!
In the end, there is very little that hasn’t been worked on over time. All the rubbers have been replaced, the instruments rebuilt, assorted parts re-chromed, wiring replaced and we even refurbished the toolkit.
Of course the engine has been given a freshen-up. It’s now a 273 with MSD ignition, Pacemaker extractors and a four-barrel Holley carburettor and is driving through a refurbished auto transmission and differential. Sometimes I get criticised for some of the non-original bits under the bonnet, but it’s been set up for reliability.
It’s pretty good to drive. It keeps up with traffic and there’s a lot of torque there with the big six. And it has enough strength to handle the air-con and power steering without any trouble. It was worth the effort.