Bought 21000 mile 69 dart. Need road trip advice

Hi All

I bought a 1969 Dart base 4 door slant 6 in CT in Feb. It had a claimed 21000 miles and from the paperwork that I got with the car and it's condition this seems it could be true. It's been owned by one family, passed down from the original owner who bought it new when she was 69.

I trailered it up to Montreal. To get it imported to Canada and safetied all I had to do was change a brake line and the master cylinder. It seem to run great. I've been driving it to work for 2 weeks now, 35 minutes each way. Other than what I think is the valves chattering it's smooth and quiet. Everything works except the gas gauge which always reads full.

It's clean, except for surface rust under the hood and in the trunk from a leak somewhere. The interior is really nice except for the dashpad. It even still has the original spare.

So I've got a question. I'm thinking of driving it 6 hours to a conference my wife is going to in Maine in June. Does anyone have any suggestions what I should be worried about breaking on the drive? What parts should I bring?

I've changed the oil + filter, fuel and air filters. The previous owner told me they recently flushed the transmission, put on new tires and changed the brakes.

The last Mopar I owned was a 68 Newport convertible that I sold 12 years ago. I delivered it to the new owner driving from Montreal to San Francisco then up the coast to Washington. I owned that car for years and never had any problems with it at all.

From your experiences can I expect the same reliability from my Dart?

Thanks for any input.

Bowen

I would definitely flush & repack front & rear wheel bearings. Old grease tends to petrify & a failed bearing will stop you. You will need to pull the axles & replace the seals for the rear. I would use some high quality synthetic grease & you won't have to worry about it ever again.

I would also check the cooing system, has coolant been changed?

Looks like a nice car, it should have great reliability.

396 Signet said:

I would definitely flush & repack front & rear wheel bearings. Old grease tends to petrify & a failed bearing will stop you. You will need to pull the axles & replace the seals for the rear. I would use some high quality synthetic grease & you won't have to worry about it ever again.

I would also check the cooing system, has coolant been changed?

Looks like a nice car, it should have great reliability.

Click to expand...

Great advice! ^^^^^^^
I would add to it, bring a gas can until you can fix the sending unit on your gas tank. It might be a simple grounding issue.
Bring a basic tool set and a credit card if things get ugly.......
It sounds like a great car.
What do you mean by ''the valves chatter''?
Does that mean ''ticking''?
Maybe adjust the valves, they are mechanical tappets and it would be a good time to do it right now, it's probably time anyway. Not a hard job at all.
Oh, and welcome to FABO!

Thanks for the advice and the welcome.

I don't think the cooling system has been touched and looking at the radiator the corners all have collapsed fins. I'll have to do something about that.

When I say valve chatter I should say valve clatter. It almost sounds like a diesel engine when it's cold. I'm not sure it's the valves. It could be an exhaust leak or something else. It's a lot louder than a tick. It seems to quiet down when the engine is warm.

I own a 66 beetle and am used to loud rattly engines so I'm not sure how much engine noise is normal on a slant six.

Adjust the valves, i bet you would be surprised at the difference it makes!

Wow, looks like my old car, bought it from the original owner with 58K miles and was solid, wish I had it yet...B5 blue with blue interior, rubber floor mat and a 225 :glasses7: