Curbside Classic Outtake: Hood Swappin' Edition

yeah, both darts. '64 or '65.

The family hated to put them out to pasture, but ultimately it became too much trouble to find new points and distributor caps that would fit them every every time they needed a tune-up, and going to junkyards to get parts for repairs became a chore, and when they heard that Taughm Magliozzi had given up his '63 AND his '52 MG, they decided that it was time to face the music. Now a pair of Kia Rios sits in the front driveway, and they do get from point A to point B, but Pa says it's kind of like cars just ain't cars anymore, they're transportation appliances. So every now and then he goes into the back yard and sits behind the wheel of the coupe and pretends he's going to take Ma and the kids to the drive-in.

" Lawn Darts"...Cool!

Looks kind of like an art project.

They're either 63s or 64s. Grilles were different on the 65 and 66s as well as the headlight surrounds. 65s used what is called the "candy cane" grille squared off at the bottom and surrounding the headlights rather than being separate from them as in 63 [concave] or 64 [convex] and a different hood for 65-66. The guy wants the white hood because it's in better shape and the red one looks like a GT, the more desirable 2 door hardtop. It's surprising anyone had a problem getting parts for one of these. I have had a 63 Valiant Signet [Plymouth's version of the GT or 270 hardtops] for nearly 30 years and have never had problems finding points, condensers, plugs, coils, or other electrical bits at the local parts store. [Though a couple of years ago I replaced the points and condenser with a Pertronix electronic ignition]. And now with the Internet it is even easier. I got air filters and a fuel filter for it from Amazon just last month. Both were made in Israel. Repro headlamp rims, brake drums, trunk lining, body and trunk panels etc are all available. Even upgrade kits for disc brake conversions. Love these cars. Thanks, PN