New Project - Grandpa's 1962 Dodge Dart 330 Wagon

She had an exhaust valve stuck wide open, that explains the misfire! Just got the heads back from Bud's machine shop in Lakewood, and putting her back together now... Welded up a tool to open the valves enough to get the pushrods in place, similar to what the manual shows but a little more artsy....

 

i see a few trips to wildcat in sandy oregon.

 

Wildcat has no wagons currently.

Got her up and running again - looked kinda tough sans hood.... Forgot how good a Mopar sounds with FlowMaster 40's.....

 

Nice!

 

Are you going to paint it??? Is the top rusty of weathered paint? Any way there are currently some interesting metalic browns out there that would go well with a cream or tan.

 

Yep - but that is last on the list. The top was white - rust when I got it last August - after many years in Eastern Washington hot summers and cold winters. Now 99% bare metal after some CLR and scotchbrite work. There actually was a rootbeer brown color in '62 they called nutmeg brown. Need to shoot some test panels to see what we like.

Mooneyes wheel came today - gives more leg room at 2" smaller diameter.

Another thing I discovered when I had the seats out to remove the old rotten carpet last week - The seat tracks have 2 bolts on each side and long slots for movement. Adjusted them and gained a good inch and half of leg and head room! Looks and feels pretty dramatic and fits 6'+ people much better now. There is even mention of this in the owners manual.

 

Did some recon on how to update the wipers. First I bought brand new at the local auto parts Trico # 51-250 arms with adapters, and their classic blades # 33-162. They have plastic parts and are the dull silver finish. Refills are available.

Returned them when I found on eBay NOS aftermarket Anco SH180 arms that bolt on correctly. Also got NOS Anco Turtleback Dead-Locker blades. Both are polished stainless. Not sure if refills can be bought new, but the rubber blades look excellent now. One of the nicest sets of parts on the car .....



Old vs NOS:

 

Steering column started queeeeking today - about drove us nuts - until I figured out it just needed some lube on the bushing at the firewall in the engine bay....

 

Great ride. I was going to suggest Wildcat, I just bought stuff for my 63 Dodge from those guys. Good taste with the wheels and rudder too -next is the 402 stroker kit and a MoPar Poly dual quad set up? Thanks for bringing the disc brake kit to my attention.

 

Thanks, that would have to be a 413 max wedge..

Latest updates: rebuilt alternator, electronic voltage regulator, new fuel pump, FlowKooler water pump and Robert Shaw T-stat. Looking in to a speedometer gear now to correct the speedo. Per the wife's I-phone speedo app, we are only doing 62 when the speedo shows 70. Need a speedometer pinion gear to match 24.7" dia tires and the 2.76 rear end ratio.

Here's a neat calculator that does the math for you:

Speedometer Gear Calculator


Found a neat set of valve cover decals for her on eBay:

318 POLY decals



Only thing that doesn't work is the dashlights, no power getting from the switch to the fuse. Must need a switch since it should turn them on and dim them. Jumped a wire fuse to fuse for now so the work anythine the key is on.

 

Hey,

Thanks for the heads up on the seat frames, my 2dr. sedan is a cramped fit even with the seat all the way back!

Does the "Nutmeg Brown'' have a purpleish cast to it? Mine was shot in this from the factory, but is now in ''Collision Beige''

'' Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

Cool wagon, even cooler that it was your grandfather's

 

Grandpa is proud!!!! This thing rules. Love the Poly.

 

Very cool wagon, I think a brown top would look great..

 

Nice project. Not many folks get a similar opportunity.

413 sounds good, maybe with a ½" arm ??

.

 

Pics from her first show today - SunBust all Mopar show in Graham, WA. 249 Mopars attended. She won 1st place in the unfinished, which she gets all the credit, for her good looks. At the little all Mopar swap meet found a day night mirror and a good deal on a spare grill we could not pass up. Met 3 other '62 Mopar wagon owners. Our Dart, the black Plymouth Fury shown, a Plymouth Belvedere and a Plymouth Savoy. The last two wagons not in attendance but the owners introduced themselves. Talk about a spread of '62 Mopar wagon cousins.

 

Brightened up her stainless trim after discovering fine steel wool was the trick. Here's what less than 30 seconds of #000 steel wool did for her. Doesn't remove dents, but sure shined up nice, did all 40 some pieces in one evening. Tried #0000 first but was a little too fine to get the 50 years of oxidation off.

 

I used steel wool on the trim on my 62 Pontiac wagon... came out nice.

 

Nice wagon, reminds me of my friend's that he raced back in the 70's at Shepard Raceway in Calgary. It was yellow like yours, and they called it Mellow Yellow. Love them old Mopars.

 

At the all Mopar show, one of the fellow '62 owners asked if I had ever looked into the history of the pot metal dealership emblem on the tailgate of the Dart. Never really occurred to me, then last night after a session of stainless polishing I decided to Google it.

The emblem reads:
Marksheffel
Colorado Springs

Right away found a Marsheffel area in Colorado Springs. A little more digging and discovered this article. It was one of the largest garages in the world at one time. Quite the story on the man behind the name, Albert Marksheffel.



http://www.newfalconherald.com/Articles/DisplayArchiveArticle.php?ArticleID=6967

 

Super cool wagon! Sadly, I missed the SunBust this year thanks to the US Army...
Something to consider to help with runability and reliability...the LA series small block Chrysler engines dont have much in common with the poly with the exception of the distributor...so the Mopar Performance (or any other brand) Electronic ignitions will go right in so you can eliminate the points for more reliable starts (especially up here in the rainy PNW). The guys over on www.forbbodiesonly.com are a treasure trove of information and they have a section specially for the 62-65 stuff since it was all way different. They really helped me out when it came to questions about my 63 Polara. I run an exhaust shop here in Tacoma, so if you ever need some exhaust work, or any other work done just swing on by! The Tacoma chapter of Mopars Unlimited is always looking for new faces!

Jon

 

Saw your wagon at Sunbust, super cool!

 

Thanks - Here she was last Saturday at the Lemay open house - guess that made her part of the largest car collection in the world for 1 day....

 

I did a bunch of metal repairs a few years ago for a customer.... it was nasty. He brought me a parts car to rob some of the metal off of... it was a plymouth so the wheel openings are different. I did what I could with what I had.

In the long run, it turned out pretty cool !!

 

Thanks for the pics - had not seen that one before. Amazing how many '62 wagons have been and are currently raced - I have pictures saved of over 20 draggin' wagons. Many of them described in this thread.

Parts car would be nice. New floor boards and rear qtr work in her future too.

 

Here's the wagon roof shot in first coat of KBS "galvanized steel" RustSeal coating, still wet. It dried a flat metallic or galvanized look. Matches the wheels anyway.

Prep:
AquaKean (KBS).
150 DA to bare metal.
AquaKean.
Evapo-Rust over night soak. (Paper towels under plastic sheet).
Aqua-Klean.
150 DA.
RustBlast (KBS) 1 hour soak.
AquaKean.

Application:
Reduced 10% and HVLP shot at 35psi.
24hr dry.
Knocked off any dust nubs with 320grit.
2nd coat laid on a little heavier now that I have a feel for it. After 1st coat your could still see the pits where rust was, after 2nd coat they are gone - Talk about flow out!

Used a guide coat and sanded to verify everything is filled, no sign of the pits at all.
Then a 3rd double wet coat reduced a bit more for a smooth finish. Really did not need the 3rd coat for filling, could have left it at 2 coats and skipped the guide coat. Heck I was expecting to use 2K primer surfacer to get it all filled and smooth.

Thought all the KBS products were very easy to work with, even the paint can spouts. First time I ever had a can of paint after pouring without a drop of paint in the groove, The Evapo-Rust I bought at AutoZone and really like it too. Non toxic! The paper towels turned red from the rust it dissolved, even in areas I thought were rust free.

 

Looking into this winter's project - rebuilding the front and rear suspension. Scaled the wagon yesterday at the local concrete and gravel to help determine what torsion bar size to step up to (stock is .89 diameter).

4,080lbs full of fuel and with me (200lbs) in it. Exactly half over the front axle 2,040lbs. Heavier than I thought it would come in, but then dry weight spec for these was around 3,600lbs so with fuel and passenger, there you go. Pretty neat having the weight so evenly distributed, can't say it handles like a sports car though. All the more reason to go at least .92 bars with 2,000lbs over the front axle. There are also .94 and .96 dia bars available. This article recommends the 1" bar at 1,800lbs over the front axle:

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/...p_1210_stock_suspension_upgrades/viewall.html

 

I suppose it all depends on what you want to do with the vehicle...I assume it wont be a corner carving autocross car (even though that would be freakin awesome!) but more of a pleasure cruiser. Go too stiff on the spring rate and your pleasure cruiser will turn into a nightmare on wheels. The .92 or .94 will be a definite upgrade without being overkill. I know we have already talked about rebuilding the front suspension, make sure you get yourself a good set of shocks. I personally like the KYB Gas-adjust shocks on these old MoPars...they offer a performance upgrade over the stock stuff but arent overkill. When you get that thing ready for some exhaust bring it over to my shop and I will set you up with a custom built system!

 

New 4bbl Poly 318 manifold in the works..... I just got in line for one........

Gonna be sweet.....

http://chryslerpower.com/webstore/Poly-SS-Manifold