New Dodge Dart Owner

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70DartATL

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Oct 12, 2012
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Location
Atlanta
Hi,

A few weeks ago I bought my first non-daily driver car, and it is a 1970 Dodge Dart! I am super excited to finally have something to tinker with and to be a member of the forum. I am sure I will have plenty a questions along the way.

The car was originally a '70 Dart Custom with a 318 and automatic transmission, and it was gold with a vinyl top. It has power steering and power brakes, with front discs and rear drums. The vinyl top and side trim were removed and the car was repainted about 6-8 months ago. It is now yellow with black stripe to look like a Swinger. The body, floor pans, trunk pan, and frame rails all appear to be rust free which was a huge selling point for me. The guy I bought from said at some point the motor was switched out to a 360 but wasn't sure what year the motor is or what it came out of. I believe it still has an original 904 tranny in it. I am planning on taking a look at the casting numbers sometime this weekend. It has a pretty nasty vibration as speeds get higher and I am thinking that the motor/transmission might not be balanced correctly. I read somewhere that the later 360s are externally balanced, whereas the original 318 would have been internally balanced. Other than that, the car seems to be in pretty good shape. I ordered some stainless braided brake lines and planning on getting a new master cylinder to get the brakes done first, but then I'm not sure where I will start. Thinking about trying to find a small block 727 to replace the existing transmission. Any thoughts, tips, or suggestions would be much appreciated!

I attached a picture so y'all can check it out.
 

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Very very nice! Looks to be solid. Good luck with it and welcome aboard. sport
 
Welcome. Sweet ride. If it has a 360 the torque converter should have weights on it for the externally balanced 360. Also check to make sure it has the correct externally balanced harmonic balancer. If it has a 904 and you wish to switch to a 727 they are different lengths (904 is roughly 4" longer) You can have the driveshaft shortened. It would be cheaper to buy a torque converter or send your existing converter in to have the weight installed.
 
Welcome to the site. The car looks great. Probably, as stated above, it's a converter/flexplate issue when the conversion was done. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with a 904 in all but a crazy power application.
 
Welcome aboard. Looks like you found a nice Mopar there. You'll have fun fixing and cruising. You're right about the balance. I believe a B&M 10239 will do the trick for you. It is a flexplate for your combination. The 904 is a tough transmission. The 727 is larger and might not fit without modifying the floor. Good luck. Summit has the flex plates. And here is a description from the B&M website. toolmanmike

http://bmracing.com/?wpsc-product=chrysler-sfi-flexplate-‘71-’92-chrysler-360-wtf904
 
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