Teds Excellent 69 Dart GTS Adventure
This page will serve as my restoration, modification and self-gratification journal!! Quick background; I've had a bunch of muscle performance cars but never had a Mopar. So, after owning a lot of BMW's, I've decided my next play-toy will be a Mopar. I narrowed down my search to a 69 Dart just simply by the look of the front and rear ends. My goal for this car is to do what I want to do BUT in regards to current trends and opinions. For example, I just don't see my Dart as a restomod. I also don't see it as a drag car either. But maybe some cool elements from each?
Well what do we have to work with? I found a 69 Dart GTS in Y2 Sunfire Yellow(except it's B7 Blue now) with black vinyl top out of California from a FANTASTIC fella and Mopar enthusiast and all around nice guy. He's owned the car since 1980ish and here's what he told me; the original 340 auto puked shortly after he bought it. So, he decided on a 440 conversion as well a manual swap. Fenderwell headers, 4-speed, tubular A arms, paint changed to B7 blue, relocated battery to the trunk and some other odds and ends. Sometime around 2003ish the 440 gave up and he had it rebuilt. New gas tank, torsion bars, rear leafs, rebuilt 8-3/4 with 3:73 gears, radiator, rebuilt 727 TF with 2500 stall converter and some other goodies like gauges, disc brakes and new driveshaft were added along the way. Manual pedals are still in the car. From his documentation he used all Schumacher parts/headers...so it has the Tri-Y's on it now. Car has had 960 miles put on it since 2008. Clean title.
So, I've got a good base. A car that been modified already so that I don't feel guilty modifying it! Also, it's a 3 owner bought in CA and made in the LA plant. It never left the state and the condition of the sheet metal is OUTSTANDING. I'm amazed. No rust. Nothing underneath bent, welded, hacked or otherwise modified. Just the inner fender wells from the headers and the tunnel from the once-added manual. Both of these mods are adequately covered/fixed....for now. So, what to do? Well I figure for now, until I define my stages of restoration/modifications I will address 3 things; Paint/body, Mechanicals and Stance/Suspension. And go from there.
Paint/Body/Interior. Car has a few dents/scratches etc. I fear too many to just touch-up for now but I have to look into this and report back. I will be changing the color BACK to Y2 Sunfire Yellow at some point. Just gotta decide when that's going to be as I would like to completely disassemble the car and do a complete restoration. So for now, I've got to experiment on the B7 blue and see what I can do. Interior just needs a good cleaning. It's really not bad at all. It has Challenger buckets in it that are in really nice condition except someone decided to place a still-moving sander on the passenger seat. You can see the circular marks. Subtle, but you know how defects stick out on items that are in good condition!
Mechanicals. Man. I've had this car on the lift for the last 3 days. My goal here is just to make the car as good as it can be without changing stuff since again, I'm not completely sure what I'm doing yet. Also this being my first Mopar, I've got some learning to do! So, the front rotors were so loose the car had an extra 1/2deg of camber!! So, I removed all, inspected, repacked and installed. The exhaust was some deal made at a local muffler shop. ALL of the mig welds weren't finished at the top! So the exhaust came down and I mig'd the leaks! Needed new flange gaskets. Installed. Tstat was broke. Radiator cap was junk. Water pump bearings were shot (from sitting it appears they corroded and when started recently, began to consume themselves) and the balancer 2 groove pulley had ONE screw left in it! Battery was from 2012. It still worked but I replaced it anyway. How come my batteries never last that long?? Ok, well I fixed all of that and half-a-dozen other issues. Electrically this car is 100%. Every exterior and interior light, lights!! Horn. Radio. Wipers. Heater. Man does THAT thing works when that 440 is being pushed..lol.
Stance/Suspension. Car is raked way to much. I think the guy was going for a bit of a super stock look. Which is cool. Just not my taste...for now. 15's in the rear, 14's in the front.
Thanks for following along...I'll add as I go. Pictures, updates and random thoughts about my direction on this piece!!
Motor runs great and is relatively tidy. Needed a little lovin' as noted. But all-in-all...not bad. Note the fender well header cutouts. They might come in handy based on my direction. I love the look of fender well headers. But after they get into the wheel wells, well, not so much!
Interior functions 100%. All gauges, lights, heater, etc etc. Also, needs a going over. B-body seats are in decent condition...and very comfortable! Wife was reaching for the AC controls on one of our little jaunts. Sorry babe, wear less clothes!! Also, note the hole where the carpet inserts are. Car was originally an auto converted to a manual. Manual pedals are still in the car. I'll be fixing the tunnel when I do the restoration.
This is garage 1. Not a parking garage although one of my M3's is in the frame. This car has ZERO rust. NADA! Can't believe how clean the underside is. No bend valances, supports, looks like the day it came out of the LA plant. Less the holes in the fender wells!!
Side shot, pretty straight. Couple of dings. Nothing I can't hammer back. 15's on the rear, 14's on the front. Yup. Rake. Lots of it!!
Same stuff, different angle.
Well what do we have to work with? I found a 69 Dart GTS in Y2 Sunfire Yellow(except it's B7 Blue now) with black vinyl top out of California from a FANTASTIC fella and Mopar enthusiast and all around nice guy. He's owned the car since 1980ish and here's what he told me; the original 340 auto puked shortly after he bought it. So, he decided on a 440 conversion as well a manual swap. Fenderwell headers, 4-speed, tubular A arms, paint changed to B7 blue, relocated battery to the trunk and some other odds and ends. Sometime around 2003ish the 440 gave up and he had it rebuilt. New gas tank, torsion bars, rear leafs, rebuilt 8-3/4 with 3:73 gears, radiator, rebuilt 727 TF with 2500 stall converter and some other goodies like gauges, disc brakes and new driveshaft were added along the way. Manual pedals are still in the car. From his documentation he used all Schumacher parts/headers...so it has the Tri-Y's on it now. Car has had 960 miles put on it since 2008. Clean title.
So, I've got a good base. A car that been modified already so that I don't feel guilty modifying it! Also, it's a 3 owner bought in CA and made in the LA plant. It never left the state and the condition of the sheet metal is OUTSTANDING. I'm amazed. No rust. Nothing underneath bent, welded, hacked or otherwise modified. Just the inner fender wells from the headers and the tunnel from the once-added manual. Both of these mods are adequately covered/fixed....for now. So, what to do? Well I figure for now, until I define my stages of restoration/modifications I will address 3 things; Paint/body, Mechanicals and Stance/Suspension. And go from there.
Paint/Body/Interior. Car has a few dents/scratches etc. I fear too many to just touch-up for now but I have to look into this and report back. I will be changing the color BACK to Y2 Sunfire Yellow at some point. Just gotta decide when that's going to be as I would like to completely disassemble the car and do a complete restoration. So for now, I've got to experiment on the B7 blue and see what I can do. Interior just needs a good cleaning. It's really not bad at all. It has Challenger buckets in it that are in really nice condition except someone decided to place a still-moving sander on the passenger seat. You can see the circular marks. Subtle, but you know how defects stick out on items that are in good condition!
Mechanicals. Man. I've had this car on the lift for the last 3 days. My goal here is just to make the car as good as it can be without changing stuff since again, I'm not completely sure what I'm doing yet. Also this being my first Mopar, I've got some learning to do! So, the front rotors were so loose the car had an extra 1/2deg of camber!! So, I removed all, inspected, repacked and installed. The exhaust was some deal made at a local muffler shop. ALL of the mig welds weren't finished at the top! So the exhaust came down and I mig'd the leaks! Needed new flange gaskets. Installed. Tstat was broke. Radiator cap was junk. Water pump bearings were shot (from sitting it appears they corroded and when started recently, began to consume themselves) and the balancer 2 groove pulley had ONE screw left in it! Battery was from 2012. It still worked but I replaced it anyway. How come my batteries never last that long?? Ok, well I fixed all of that and half-a-dozen other issues. Electrically this car is 100%. Every exterior and interior light, lights!! Horn. Radio. Wipers. Heater. Man does THAT thing works when that 440 is being pushed..lol.
Stance/Suspension. Car is raked way to much. I think the guy was going for a bit of a super stock look. Which is cool. Just not my taste...for now. 15's in the rear, 14's in the front.
Thanks for following along...I'll add as I go. Pictures, updates and random thoughts about my direction on this piece!!
Motor runs great and is relatively tidy. Needed a little lovin' as noted. But all-in-all...not bad. Note the fender well header cutouts. They might come in handy based on my direction. I love the look of fender well headers. But after they get into the wheel wells, well, not so much!
Interior functions 100%. All gauges, lights, heater, etc etc. Also, needs a going over. B-body seats are in decent condition...and very comfortable! Wife was reaching for the AC controls on one of our little jaunts. Sorry babe, wear less clothes!! Also, note the hole where the carpet inserts are. Car was originally an auto converted to a manual. Manual pedals are still in the car. I'll be fixing the tunnel when I do the restoration.
This is garage 1. Not a parking garage although one of my M3's is in the frame. This car has ZERO rust. NADA! Can't believe how clean the underside is. No bend valances, supports, looks like the day it came out of the LA plant. Less the holes in the fender wells!!
Side shot, pretty straight. Couple of dings. Nothing I can't hammer back. 15's on the rear, 14's on the front. Yup. Rake. Lots of it!!
Same stuff, different angle.
