1966 Dodge dart

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matt71vh

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Hello everyone! I recently got my hands on a 1966 dodge dart gt 4spd 4bbl. What's more it is a factory ac and power steering car. I am very excited to get to work on it. I have been ordering a lot of parts for it. I just got a 318 from pishta.

I will be swapping the motor, rebuilding the entire front end including brakes, also I have new leaf springs and 4 new shocks rims and tires.

For now that is plenty. I want to get it up and running reliably before I start on the interior and body. I have included pics of what it is now. I will hopefully have some updates in the coming weeks.

Here is a link to my shutterfly page. It has a ton of picks. http://1966dart.shutterfly.com/pictures/88
 

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Looks like a nice one! Congrats! Keep those photos coming. toolmanmike
 
What's the 6th digit of the vin? Looks like it was a air car. (oops, I just re read your original post) It has Charger 273 valve covers and the intake to match. The v8 emblem on the fender says it is a 2 barrell 273 but the fender could have been changed. I like the buckets and non console 4 speed. So that's what the original wheel covers look like. Nice.
 
Wait a sec, that has a 65 and earlier 4 speed tunnel with the round hole.. Wtf?
 
Hate to second guess, but why the 318? It looks like you might have the rare and desirable 273 HiPo engine, based on the valve covers.
 
toolmanmike said:
What's the 6th digit of the vin? Looks like it was a air car. (oops, I just re read your original post) It has Charger 273 valve covers and the intake to match. The v8 emblem on the fender says it is a 2 barrell 273 but the fender could have been changed. I like the buckets and non console 4 speed. So that's what the original wheel covers look like. Nice.
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No the hub caps are 64 dart .. to the op Thats a nice car wish we could find them that nice here good luck on her
 
Rockerdude said:
Wait a sec, that has a 65 and earlier 4 speed tunnel with the round hole.. Wtf?
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I had been wondering about that too. It may have a tunnel swap. I noticed after taking the carpet back that the tunnel was not welded in. There are some mysteries about this car that I am discovering. For instance the badge on the drivers door is the 270 but the one on the passenger is gt. Someone else here noticed the v8 badge as being 2bbl and I have the 4bbl. ?????

I'm hoping that I don't find much else. lol
 
BillGrissom said:
Hate to second guess, but why the 318? It looks like you might have the rare and desirable 273 HiPo engine, based on the valve covers.
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I thought about this long and hard. I am going with the 318 for now since it is in my budget. To rebuild the 273 right now was just way over my budget. I need the car on the road now since I sold my other daily driver to buy this. I am not sure if I am going to keep the 273 for a later rebuild or not, but I plan on keeping the car for a long time and I am not looking to do a concourse resto. so maybe some day????
 
Just wanted to thank all of you guys for the kind words of encouragement. Also I appreciate the people who notice stuff and point it out to me since there is obviously a lot I don't know about this car, and who did what to it before I rescued it.

Again Thanks guys!!
 
Cool car. Throw that air clean in the garbage. Whats wrong with the 273? One of my mistake on my 65 was rebuilding the engine instead of firing it up and replacing smaller item as needed. Did you get the A/C brackets and shroud?
 
Hell_Fish said:
Cool car. Throw that air clean in the garbage. Whats wrong with the 273? One of my mistake on my 65 was rebuilding the engine instead of firing it up and replacing smaller item as needed. Did you get the A/C brackets and shroud?
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Yeah not my favorite air cleaner. I will be getting a new one. The 273 in it is tired. It needs new rings and the heads are in need of a rebuild. I more than fired it up. I drove it 500 miles back from Reno when I bought it, Not one of the best decisions I have ever made lol. I have all of the under the hood ac stuff, what I dont have is the under dash stuff.
 
Looks like a really nice car!

Just from what I can see, I would say it was not an original 273 Charger but it could easily be made to look like one. What does the VIN say about the engine? Does it have an 8-3/4 rear? Does it have the large rectangular cutout in the driver side rear valance for the Hi-po exhaust? Also, they originally came with 273 4 barrel cast engine badges on the fenders. I would say no harm no foul on going w/ the 318 for now. If it checked out to be an original 273-4 car, you could always go back.

I almost bought a similar 65 Dart back in 69 but ended up w/ a hi-po 273 4 speed 67 cuda. I think I have some pix of a restored 273-4 Dart that I took at the Mopar Nats a couple years ago. It was a nice surprise as I just don't see these anymore and they used to be fairly common back in the day.

Have fun!
 
KosmicKuda said:
Looks like a really nice car!

Just from what I can see, I would say it was not an original 273 Charger but it could easily be made to look like one. What does the VIN say about the engine? Does it have an 8-3/4 rear? Does it have the large rectangular cutout in the driver side rear valance for the Hi-po exhaust? Also, they originally came with 273 4 barrel cast engine badges on the fenders. I would say no harm no foul on going w/ the 318 for now. If it checked out to be an original 273-4 car, you could always go back.

I almost bought a similar 65 Dart back in 69 but ended up w/ a hi-po 273 4 speed 67 cuda. I think I have some pix of a restored 273-4 Dart that I took at the Mopar Nats a couple years ago. It was a nice surprise as I just don't see these anymore and they used to be fairly common back in the day.

Have fun!
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The vin is :lp23d65
 
I know, I'm in the market for one. That's why I posted that it was weird that its the incorrect one.
 
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