Mopar Mooner's 72 Dart Swinger

[RobTwin]

Posting this for a friend.... who says he's a bit shy... which will come as a surprise to anyone who knows him!!

I'm sure Rick / Rich / Richard will come and say hi on here soon but I said I'd get the ball rolling for him now he's started getting the Dart roadworthy after sitting for a while.... see here:

http://www.moparuk.com/forums/viewtopic ... 21&t=57680

So our old friend Richard (or Rick as he like to be called nowadays ) took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and bought the Dart that Matt posted about on here recently.

Eventually Richard will keep the Dart garaged at his house but as luck would have it, the seller's house is only about 3/4 mile from where another mate Andy, has a large garage, so Richard was able to drive the car the short distance despite some dodgy steering, brakes and an inertia reel seat belt that doesn't inert or reel...

Stu and I popped over today to see the car and check on progress. Richard has already sorted out some bad or missing earths that meant the ignition switch wouldn't work with the key, and some of the lights weren't working. The rear bumper's off to make it easier to fix some or that wiring, and he's also replaced a rear wheel cylinder tho there's more to do with the rear brakes.

While the bumper's off we looked at removing the ugly over-riders but they need a coach bolt fitting in the hole that's left as the rear light gubbins at the back of the bumper was held in place by the over-rider mounting bolt but I'm sure the car will look a lot better with them removed.

The car came with a trunk load, and more, of spares and odds and ends including a pair of Year One repro hood scoops which may get fitted at some point.

As Matt said in the original sale ad, it looks like the car was originally made for export to Europe, going by the plate under the hood (see below).

The plan was to just replace the crusty old tyres but he may get new tyres for the front and change the rear 14" rallyes for a pair of 15x7s.

[RobTwin]

The bodywork's pretty good - as Matt says, it looks like it was resprayed some time ago but there is some bubbling mainly on the passenger side, along the bottom of the rear quarter, sill and lower leading edge of the door. Nothing to worry about at this stage tho.

The front bench seat is a bit odd, ie doesn't look original but doesn't look out of place. The drivers side springs have seen better days, as has the upholstery so Richards going to look into getting it fixed rather than replacing it.

More pressing tho is the matter of the rear brakes. I think he's got the adjuster but the adjuster locking spring is missing. Plus there doesn't look to be enough stud sticking thru the drum approx. 5/8" (and even less when the wheel's on, obviously). I tried to illustrate this with photos... maybe this is ok with the right nuts, but his lug nuts have an integral washer which looks like it limits the amount the nuts engage on the stud...

Has anyone got a similar set up (Rallyes with standard studs and nuts) so we can compare?

[Blue]

Ok, theres been some jiggery pokery going on there. Looks like the stock shafts have been redrilled to 4.5" PCD and a machined ring pressed on around the edge because the studs are now so close to the edge of the shaft, so far so good. It looks like there is another ring pressed on the centre to space out the drum as it looks like wider brakes have been fitted. it's leaving a gap under the studs when you bolt the wheel up, this is highly dangerous, short studs are the least of your problems. The drum must fit flat against the half shaft so the wheel will bolt up square and tight and stay that way.
Working with what you have there, the studs are probably just allen bolts, you can buy new ones long enough to protrude through the nut by approx 1/4".
But more importantly new adaptor rings need making for the centre that are full half shaft diameter to properly support the drum. As whoever did that got it so wrong I'd also be checking it's the right thickness to locate the drum in the correct position.

[Blue]

Oh and while I think about it, that widget that goes between the shoes under the wheel cylinder, make sure it's clearing the back of the studs, I've sometimes needed to grind it for clearance when using non standard wheel studs.

[RobTwin]

Wow! Ok thanks Blue. I'll get Richard to have a good read thru your posts and have look next time he's at the garage. I didn't check the pcd and assumed they were still at 4" - not sure if he had?!
Cost issues aside, I spose the easiest thing would be to get new half shafts with 4.5" pcd studs but would those drums and shoes fit ok then, or do they look like a mish-mash of odds'n'ends?

Better check if the fronts have been meddled with too....

[Blue]

Actually he did say something about there being a spacer that he'd taken off, I bet that was behind the drum in which case put it back on and you just need longer bolts.

[Mopar mooner]

cheers blue the spacer filled that gap so it was flush so i'm guessing I need longer studs sticking through

[Mopar mooner]

I now have no idea what to order size wise ok I know I need 7/16 thread but what is standard length of the stud so I can get a good 1/4 inch longer ones

[MattH]

Its all large PCD already, we measured it last week.

[Blue]

Good, thats an easy fix then. You'll need to measure to be sure but it looks like you need bolts around 1/2" longer than what's in there now. 1/2" UNF fully threaded cap screws should be available on eBay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2-UNF-High ... XdZArgzN8w

7/16" are used with small stud pattern, large stud pattern is 1/2" and I can tell from the photos that's what you have there.

[Mopar mooner]

there around 1 3/4 to 2" long at the moment so would that link you put up be the ones at 21/4 to 21/5inch instead

[Blue]

2-1/2" then to be sure. Trouble is that supplier only has fully threaded up to 2", longer than that and they have a shank which is no good. Can't seem to find the right ones on the net, Give Hausers a call, they will most likely have them on the shelf.

[Mopar mooner]

is that still the case even tho we may lose about an inch due to hub and spacer

[mygasser]

is that still the case even tho we may lose about an inch due to hub and spacer

yes, if the short ones are threaded through the halfshaft flange the longer ones need to do the same. you could thread the 'shank' (non threaded part) right up to the bolt head like a set screw (fully threaded bolt). or see if you can get allen head set screws in the length you need.
neil.

[ScottyDave]

Just a thought folks, but what tensile strength should he be looking at buying?
Would you be searching for 10.9 or 12.9 rather than the run of the mill 8.8s or doesn't it matter?