Neglected Survivor 1973 Dart Swinger Walk Around And Revival - Will It Run? 

Remember when we used to pass these up because 700 bucks was too much?

I work at a NAPA store, and there's a young guy who comes in for parts for his '75 Plymouth Valiant with a '72 or '73 "leaning tower of power" under the hood. We can get him a LOT of the parts he needs.

73 dart swinger with the good ole slant six holly one barrel was my first car back in 1978. I miss that old girl !

Really solid car for being 50 yrs old..can't wait to see how she runs.those slants are GREAT engines!

89% of todays people think,,,"what a piece of Junk" the 11% of the other people think,,, "Childhood, memories ,and nostalgia" , great rescue Uncle Tony,,

Old school pride in workmanship, a good practice that seems to be in short supply in our society today. Thank You Uncle Tony and Aunt Kathy!

Not only did we clean and paint the valve covers, we also straightened out the mounting surface ant hit the bolt holes with a ball peen hammer to reset the holes. I bought a 72 fury just like that. Same color. Owned it for 6 hrs before I wrecked it. Never even registered it. Lol.

Love those slab-sided A-bodies, especially with that concave rear glass; they have aged particularly well. Another malady of certain Mopars w/rotted passenger side floors is faulty draining from the A/C condenser: while in motion, the condenser drain is too close to the firewall, leading to air pressure blowing moisture back against the firewall and the sealing material, which was often an open-cell foam layer. From the firewall entry point, moisture would drain down and puddle under the passenger side carpet, eventually causing the floor panel to rust through if the water wasn't drained regularly. I was fortunate to discover that situation in my L-body Omni before it had caused damage, and after cleaning and drying it out, I fixed the condenser drain tube sealing problem with a simple wad of florist's clay.

Red an black look good it would polish up Fix the rust an blend it in . Change all the fluids . Fit some white letter tyres extractor an split it in to twin system Maybe a 350 Holley with a big air filter 🇦🇺👍🏻

Yup I remember I always painted my tins even trans pans. Do you remember fender covers ? For use while working on cars. They seem to have gone away too.

I love the fact that you appreciate the vinyl top so much! I recently saw a detailer use mink oil to restore one . Good luck getting it on the road.

Cool old car. I dont care if your an old tough guy with a chain wallet or a young guy with a man bun and a beanie hat. I like when people just start driving these old machines. For everyone of these cars thats resurrected Its sends a middle finger about the manufacturers pushing the over priced, over complex, and over rated monstrosities they are building. And I like it. A couple of weeks ago I saved a 83 El Camino from the crusher. Cali car too, solid!!!!! Got Three out of 5 motorcycles winterized Saturday So I pushed it in the shop. Haven't lite it off yet but a modified prybar and an electric drill to the oil pump drive says I have Oil pressure. 🤞🤞🤞

Holy shit... Never thought I'd see the day when UTG did a "revival"... Make way for the O.G., the revival world just stepped up...

I had one for 15 years sweet cruiser sounds good with 6x9’s in the parcel shelf.

Always wanted to own a Dart. I like the clean lines and the design overall.

My little brother's first car was a '72 Dart... triple green, two door, slant six A904 and a 7-1/4 axle. He bought it from the original owner (old lady) for $400 buck's in 1984. It ran really well.. I think it had only 40k on the clock at the time he got it.

The Swinger has a way about it! As a service technician back when, I would always clean and paint the components that were removed. Customers like to see something for their money.

What a gem , I hope the car is in your hands for a while , if so can’t wait to see the repair videos . Cheers

I'm excited to see you do this project. Looking forward to the next episodes.

Looks like it's got a lot of potential!!

I think I'm in love with this car! Grew up around GMs and Fords, so it's really been this channel that's shown me just how great mopars are- especially the A-body. They really are fantastic vehicles. I have some used car buying guides from the late 70s and they always highly recommend Darts and Valiants. This is exactly the sort of one I'd like to find for myself: original, honest, and just in need of a little love! Hope she keeps the slant.

Amazing how much that Swinger looks like a Dodge Aspen or the Aspen looks like a Swinger. And dead on about the A/C stuff. The fittings can't be found anywhere. The front seal in the compressor is probably trash, they all are. But man what a find. Laying odds someone would probably try to sell it for around $10K, because it's old and fairly complete. Where it used to be you could buy it for maybe $500.00 at the most.

Thank you for showing the dash like that. Lots of flashbacks to my first car when i was 16. Great times, Lots of Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd.

Reminds me of my grandfather. I also remember chucking my 67 Mustang AC components

I’d love to have that . That car is going to clean up really well

Nice car!!!! Those A/C compressors & clutch's were awesome... Durable, great performance and the clutch's seldom if ever slipped...The 225 slant 6 is perfect for this car !!! What a gem!!! Clean this car up , take photos and list it.... Get a lonely cell-phone to handle the incoming traffic and watch the people line-up to get ahold of this one... They just don't make them like this anymore...

A good friend (woman) had one in the later 70's and went to college in a terrible area. We taught how to take the coil wire off so it wouldn't be stolen. She ran that car for years after. I love the looks too.

I dailied one of these as an outside salesman in college (in 2017). It was a 1974 Swinger $700. Had been sitting for about 6 years. Changed the oil, gassed her up, and I went on my way! It had a torque converter shudder that would feel like the car was gonna fall apart at highway speeds at the end of the day when it was good and hot, I’d been bopping here and there for 6 hours in the summer heat. I put a tube of this Dr X Stop Shudder stuff in and sure as heck it fixed it!

Jack’s and toolboxes under the hood were factory options on most American trucks up until the mid 80’s. I like that set up it’s a good use of space

Awesome! A great aunt of mine who drove one of those in the 1980’s and 90’s until she passed.

When we're in high school we painted our valve covers. When I was in the field we would clean all parts removed. I still to this day paint a water pump if it's cast iron.

My brother in law had a 74 2 dr 6cyl, I had a 70 2 dr 318. Both great daily drivers back in the mid 1980s and even back then they were relatively cheap.

I used to have a ‘73 Dart Swinger. Mine had the optional power steering, power disc brakes, A/C, 318 engine, light package, moldings like this one but a different type front seat. I would really love to clean and polish this one. Btw if the quarter panels are rusted through on the bottom, the drop offs (trunk extensions) will be rusted as well, period.

Not only does Uncle amaze me with what he knows about autos and auto repair, he doubles the impact with how quickly he gets things done. That engine swap in the Miata alone would be a lifetime project for me assuming I could do it at all.

Just like my dad's 72 demon we bought, everything is there, no rot, no splices, wiring harness looks excellent, exactly like you want to find them

Uncle Tony always see the positive side of these old mopars! 😎 🤓 💯 🤓 😎

Dont forget flattening out the area around the bolt holes, always stretched due to over tightening.

Here in the upper midwest. Vinyl roofs just don't survive. I have stripped quite a few off. Sanded the roof. And then sprayed either rock guard or undercoating on the roof. Put a clear coat on undercoating, or the direct sunlight will eat it up.

Memories! My high school ride was a '73 Swinger. Mine had a 318/904. It was beige with a white interior, and, the roof was in primer, because, the vinyl had been torn off.

Great little swinger

I wish you would buy this from the owner and give it the Uncle Tony Treatment it Deserves 👍

A friend of mine had a green 73 swinger 2 barrel slant 6 3 speed on floor car. He bought it from the original owner for $300 in 1996 and drove it for 2 or 3 years. Lots of cheap fun.

My 1st car in 95ish was a 72 Valient Scamp Pee Yellow with poo green top and interior Loved it

My 8th grade science teacher had that same car in avocado green, sometime in the early 90's. I'm sure he bought it new as it looked immaculate. Wherever you are Mr. Moriarty, I hope you and your Dodge Dart are doing well. That concave back glass always looked cool, kinda the opposite form of the late 70's Impala.

This takes all the way me back to 1985. My first car was a '74. The car was free but it cost me $100 dollars for 4 new tires.

Sweet Survivor! Look forward to it's progress.

Hey here's something you'll remember from a long time ago on the floor nothing fixes the floor better than a stop sign

Brother had a green 73 with a 360 in it. It’s what got me into Mopars

Nice car. Chrysler Corp.had some really durable vinyl tops in that era it seems.I had a '73 Dart Sport. The original half vinyl top was still in good shape into the mid 2000's, long after the painted adjacent half of top had begun to rust.

Bought a 70 Swinger just like that one except for the beak nose on the front back in 74 or75 got it cheap because some kid hot rodded it up but didn't complete a bunch of things he started. It was a great car and it was quick. Wish I still had it but family came along and the money got tight. Happy Motoring.

I always painted water pumps when I replaced them also.still do

Putting this back on the road is WAY greener than any electric car on the market today. 🤟😎

Real nice survivor. Yeah, she will run alright. Always loved A bodies. I bet with a hour's worth of clean n polish, it would look great! Put the JJ guys on it!

The door striker breaking from the sheet metal on the drivers door seems to be common like you said. I had a 70 swinger that had been welded there. Hard to believe Chrysler didn’t discover that and correct it when they tested these cars. The four doors don’t seem to have this problem.

The door button gets stuck on the bottom, lift it upward to release! My first car, 74 duster, had that issue, and the re-welded latch post, and the rot in all the same places you mentioned, and the bubbled vinyl… loved it anyway.

My first car was a 1970 Dodge dart swinger two door red white vinyl top slant 6 19000 actual miles drove it for years manual breaks

Gorgeous! This is one car that I've always loved! When I was a kid, the concave back glass just drew me in, and the beak grill/front end just made me drool! I was just a little kid when these were new but one of the first cars I could identify from a parking lot away!

Cooter would be proud Tony = Tow truck/Wrecker . Nice Abody project

That would be great for the power tour, you don't get much more reliable than a slanted six.

Awesome Uncle Tony! I had a '73 with a 318 auto and what I think was a 2.91 rear (?). It was a great daily driver and got good gas mileage. I did Install a 4bbl manifold and carb (Carter) and dual exhaust with turbo mufflers and that actually made the mileage better if I kept my foot out of the carb! lol. Thanks for this video sir. 😎

My first car was a ‘73 Dart Sport, orange, with a 340. Had headers, big Carter 4bbl, head job, Flowmaster exhaust, and all that jazz. I sure miss it, but I couldn’t afford to keep it at the time.

Those wasps were scary looking!

That is an absolute gold mine find

28 years ago, when I got my 56 Chevy which I still have, a good friend did the exact same thing when he changed the valve cover gasket. Paint still looks new. Didn’t get charged for it. Great mechanic and an even better friend.

I was pretty shocked seeing this, it is almost 100% an identical twin to my 73 Swinger when I got it, only difference is it has A/C, mine didn't. They are WAYYYYY more fun when you swap the entire drive train for a mildly souped up 360, modified 904 trans, and 8 3/4 sure grip, all new suspension = HUGE SMILES.

Nice, I have a 74 and they are nice. The earlier ones look better but these are growing on me.

That is absolutely the opitimy of cool

Cleaning & painting the valve covers shows you did the work & it's a good visual for the customer. Funny thing? With a few sensible updates you can make an A-body a very respectable daily driver "Putt-putt" that functions very well

Yah we always painted rocker covers. Very 👍

The vinyl top on my old 72 Dart deceived me, had so many small holes when I removed it. The matching pin holes in the roof skin let water run down the A pillar, rotting it and the door hinge area from the inside. That was a great car to drie though

Its wild how bad a red car can look and still be brought back to looking really good. That will buff out well

I've been restoring my 73 Swinger for a couple of years now and seeing an interior that is mostly complete and isn't missing door cards and everything makes me a little jealous!

Love these Darts!!

There is nothing better than original car 👍

That vinal top is amazing. Looks by the stains on the trunk lid that the top was covered for a long time. I bet the back window leaks like a sive and they had to keep it covered so it wouldn't leak inside the cab. That maybe leak saved the top...

I've had many of these even now but I've discovered the biggest cause for rust in the front floors is the gaskets are the wiper arms

I didn’t know back in the old days you cleaned and repainted the valve covers after a gasket replacement. I’m 18 and I’ve cleaned my valve cover and painted and replaced the gasket. My car is a 1995 Ford EF Falcon with a OHC 4.0 inline 6

When I worked at AAMCO 20 years ago, that was their thing, paint the tranny pan blue. If you ever come across a blue pan, that's where it was rebuilt from.

It's not too bad, depending on what he payed...lol, Love these revivals, can't wait to see where this one goes.

That old dart should clean up really nice, great score for the new owner.

These cars have become like gold

The only time my mother ever bought a new car was a 73 dodge dart, bright yellow. it was a complete POS, could not turn left across traffic from a stop (ie turn lane) without stalling. The suspension alternated between what felt like completely rigid, and sagging when 75 pound me opened the door and got in. The battery went dead overnight, it wouldnt start at -10c. it would start at -30, it would start at +30. Minus 10? might as well call a cab. I know nowadays that this car was an anomaly, that they were decent cars, and the Slant 6 a brilliant motor, but my single mother was sold a lemon and then essentially ripped off by mechanics for five years until one day a neighbour heard about it, he was quite angry as I recall. Anyway, he spent an afternoon tinkering with it, I remember he hit the right front suspension with a sledgehammer at one point, gave me my first lessons about anything mechanical, and that Dart ran brilliantly until totalled by a hit and run in a parking lot in the eighties. By all the evidence, someone more or less ran it over with a very large vehicle, it happened in a place under construction, and I have always been certain someone thought it would be fun to run it over with a scraper. you could see the tireprints in the fender and hood, and the engine was ripped clean off the frame... Nobody was ever charged.

I love this car 🚗!!!

One of my favorite A bodies. Do it up right. I converted my '73 Dart Sport from power to manual disc brakes and loved it. HF, orange wasps? WTH are those? Nothing I hate as much as a vinyl top. Ditch that. The red and black is really sharp.

SOLID , IT'S GOT POTENTIAL 💯

Love the swinger.

That interior is excellent for a 50 year old original car. Wouldn't I love to own that! I would even keep it Slant 6 and do the aluminum 4 barrel manifold and long tube headers. And of course go completely through the head and maybe a cam.

They even got the optional Bee hive 😆

I had a 1975 Dart Swinger 318 and A/C. It was Black over Silver with the Factory Road Wheels. Drove that car for a long time. Then Wisconsin Winters trashed it. It was a really sharp looking car. I always like this body style on the Dart. The only body style I liked better was the 1967-69 convertible. Had a 1969 Dart GTS 340 4-speed Convertible too. Should have kept that car. It was fun to drive.

I still do it it just makes it look like you cared enough to take care of their car while it was in your possession

Love it! my Wife's car when we met. Light blue not vinyl top.

Nice little dodge! Can't wait to see what happens with it.

NOTHING is cooler than a Dart Swinger, not even a Lamborghini Miura.

That could be a very sweet ride for somebody...looking forward to more vids on this one!

Uncle Tony worries too much about the comment section know it alls. Those guys are always gonna yap about anything and everything. It's the only reason they even watch his videos. They think they know everything so they obsessively focus on someone like Tony who actually does have a vast amount of knowledge.

I always clean and paint EVERYTHING when I take it off... Usually an odd color so I know it was me!

I have a 75 Swinger 6 cyl. 225. I need to replace the vinil top and some other rust issues very similar to yours. I love my proyect. It will be a great crusier and daily nice driving car. Mine is a siena metalic color (golden-brownish) and white interior, tan vinyl top. Mexican.

I would love to have that little gem! This car has so much potential! Nice find.

I'd love to find a Dart like that!

Reminds me of the car from the movie Duel! 👍🏻