Project “Bulls Eye” 1963 Dodge Dart GT; Part 3
We have started on Project Bulls Eye and so far so good. I called around to some friends and found another 14 inch wheel from a Dart with a tire mounted on it. It is a steel radial, I know this because I can see the steel coming out of the tread! That’s ok, it is just a roller. None of the tires are safe to ever drive on the street or over 15 MPH.
With four tires on the ground we decided to wash her off. What a job that was! I don’t think anyone had given the Bulls Eye a bath in decades. It was so bad we used Simple Green for the first attempt. The Simple Green is much too harsh for good paint but on Bulls Eye it was too weak! This will take several attempts to get the car presentable.
We disconnected the fuel line from the gas tank to the fuel pump. We then added a temporary fuel line from a gallon can to the fuel pump. Hooked up a battery, poured a little gas down the single barrel carburetor and cranked her over. The little slant six fired up and idled like a new engine. However, touch the throttle and she would die. A little carb cleaner and letting the engine idle got her running like normal. The transmission seemed to work fine so we shut her down and went to work on the gas tank.
Cost to get the car running: Couple of squirts from a can of carb cleaner and a gallon of gas plus a borrowed battery from one of the other cars. We will buy her a battery of her own once we prove to ourselves it is worth the investment.
As for the gas tank, the first step was to drain/siphon out all the old gas. Since there was already a leak I took the easy but slow route of sticking an ice pick into the leak and letting the old fuel drain into a 5 gallon gas can. Had to empty it twice! With the fuel out I used a little squirt from a can of brake cleaner to remove some grease and residual gas on the tank. Then a little rough sand paper to further clean up around the hole, some epoxy from the parts store and the tank is leak proof!
With the tank repaired it was time to add some gas, reconnect the fuel line to the fuel pump and see if she would fire up. I added two gallons of new gas, proper amount of fuel system cleaner. She fired up on the first lick. However, I believe the carb still needs some attention.
Cost to date:
-Used tire and wheel: $20
-Tube of epoxy to patch gas tank and bottle of fuel treatment: $18.64.
TOTAL: $38.64
