1963 Dodge Dart for the Wife....

Car looks great Jim.
We got a bunch of that white stuff here as well. Most of it melted away but still enough to remind me that I never want to move back to upstate New York!
 
I love this build thread, Jim.
Snowy day up here in New York and just finished thumbing through all 33 pages again with my coffee this morning. :)
 
Another SPI painted car taking a first place trophy at a local car show... I hope no one else learns my little secret to success..... Mopar LL1 Dark Turquoise Motobase from @Chad.S and 8 coats of Universal clear. Four then wet sand and four more.

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Holy gorgeous restoration Batman. Besides the outstanding craftsmanship you displayed restoring this vehicle, I'm throughly impressed with your sense of taste and style. From the colors chosen for the interior and exterior, to the tastefully done leaning tower of power slant six. Not only a car I would be proud to own but, I was lucky enough to be right there during your build.

I hope you have the desire to one day do another build. You have a talent, don't let it go to waste.
 
Picked up the boot cover this morning... drove around for a bit. Went home and spent the entire day looking for the damn rear seat trim to hold the front of the cover.... finally found it, right were I put it 5 hours later... at least the garage is clean (no it was not in the garage)..... Needs a few tweaks on the sides but very nice for just copying the old one.

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Your process for color sanding ? What grit After first 4 coats ? And what do you start with after the second 4 coats ?
 
The fine detail honey do list is dwindling. The RamMan booster did come with the correct length rod, for some reason I thought I had the shortest one in it. Not. Perfect peddle height for the disk brakes. Passenger side mirror, you miss that after decades of standard equipment. Toe in set and wheel centered, had not done that since the disk install last weekend. Finally got the correct speedometer gear, dead on at 75mph. Left a little rubber with a /6 before a little cruise with the owner.
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Retired body shop owner and Mopar guy talked with me today at the show with the Dart. He did not believe me this was my third paint job and I did it in the driveway without photos. He was shocked and gave me numerous complements and thought my work was on the level of some of the best he has seen.

I take it for granted since I painted it but there are days the sun lighting is just right that even I have to say WOW.

Was a good day.

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Back to the grind....

Figured the wiper problem Not phased correctly for the park. the cam nob goes on the wider side of the ears. The OER turn signal sucks, said it was going to cancel or it would break. It broke. Ordered a different style. This one works great.... The center cap was driving me crazy. Stripped it in carb cleaner and sanded and polished the face. 500, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then polish. Much better.

Found another fuel pump on eBay to rebuild cheap.

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I loathe aftermarket parts so much that I make customers buy them themselves, and put "no warranty, customer supplied part" on the repair orders with a signature acknowledgement.

The horrible part is that quality reproduction parts could be made, but the dominant market consideration is price, so there is no pressure to do so. It's just a race to the bottom.
 
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