1969 Dart Street/Strip (Re)Build

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I've been following this thread for a long time now... The video from the track was great! Congrats on getting your goal of 10's right out of the gate!! I love that car..
 
clinteg said:
The tires are 325/50/15 and I was just soley basing the calculation on it being a 28" tire.
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Mickey advertises circumference at 87" for their 325/50. This works out to be 27.7" diameter. Then assume 90% (10% loss) out on the transmission @ 6800 that is 123mph. With a tighter converter you might pick up 2 mph, but loose time in the first 60'.
 
SpeedracerX said:
I've been following this thread for a long time now... The video from the track was great! Congrats on getting your goal of 10's right out of the gate!! I love that car..
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Thanks Speedracer! I was definitely pleased to hit 10's that day. Now all I can think about is how much further into the 10's can I go?! Lol. I had high 10's in mind when I started with full interior, etc. So anything better now from here on out is just gravy to me!

mosleyme said:
Mickey advertises circumference at 87" for their 325/50. This works out to be 27.7" diameter. Then assume 90% (10% loss) out on the transmission @ 6800 that is 123mph. With a tighter converter you might pick up 2 mph, but loose time in the first 60'.
Click to expand...

Man that's dead nuts on b/c that's right where my mph was at. Defintitely going to stick with this converter though. It's very streetable and I love to be able to punch it and hear that engine wind up and scream down the road.
 
No updates here in a while (and for good reason). I haven't worked on the car all winter! The car has sat in my garage with an occasional out and about run if the weather is nice. I wanted to take a break from it for a bit since I was just flat out getting burnt out. But seems like now it's either too dang cold or something else is going on.

On a sadder note, after I ran the car back in November, I let the previous owner of the car know that I got it to the track and pointed him to the track video through FB. He was extremely pleased at what I had done to the car to get it to what it is now. His health was bad when I bought the car and it was up and down over the years. This was the reason he had to sell it. But just a few weeks after the track day, his 'ol lady messaged me through FB. Rex wasn't in good shape and he wanted me to know how proud of me he was before he passed. She said it wasn't going to be long and it wasn't. Just hours later Rex was gone. It was a little like losing a distant family member, although we had only met once, but talked on the phone many times. May our lost Mopar brother RIP. Rex was about 73 years young.

So on to my list of things to do on the car so it's ready for spring (right around the corner!).

-The exhaust cutouts need turned up further so I don't drag on the trailer
-Need to get a trans temp gauge and A/F gauge installed
-I have a strange growling noise at high speed that needs addressed. Will take the driveshaft out and get it balanced on a machine that will turn it at high RPM
-Take the center chunk out and have the shop who put it together correct the coast side since it whines on deceleration
-Interior: door panels, carpet, seats, seat belts, stereo, custom package tray
-Need to get the front wheels turned a bit so that the steering wheel is straight up when driving
-I have a set of Hoosier slicks that are on a set of steelies that won't work on my car. I need to get these wheels cut and modified for the correct backspacing or just get a custom set made to mount the slicks on. I need to reach out for some help or suggestions from you guys on this.

But anywho, should be starting on all this soon because I'm going to run out of time and miss the cooler spring weather!
 
About half way between us is a guy that builds wheels named The Mopar Dude. He does custom wheels at a decent price. Plus you can save on shipping by driving up there and picking them up. My buddy talked to him about doing some widened steelies for his Demon and the price seemed reasonable. Might give him a call?
 
BrianT said:
About half way between us is a guy that builds wheels named The Mopar Dude. He does custom wheels at a decent price. Plus you can save on shipping by driving up there and picking them up. My buddy talked to him about doing some widened steelies for his Demon and the price seemed reasonable. Might give him a call?
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Thanks Brian I will check into that.

Also on a side note that I forgot to mention, when I called my engine builder recently to set up a time to bring my car in to have him do some more of his great work that I didn't want to deal with myslef (non-engine related), he informed me that his business partner wanted out. Stuart couldn't afford to buy his half so with all the stress that he's incurred recently, he decided that it was probably best to close his doors and move on. So at this point I no longer have an engine builder or dependable and meticulous mechanic. He did say that in the future he was wanting to have a small shop addition at his place where he could do a motor here and there on his time and that he was wanting to be the guy to freshen up this motor when the time comes. From what he said, he really likes this motor since it was "just a neat little motor". He knows this engine better than anyone so I hope he will be able to keep his word on it. There's a well known race shop just a mile down the road from my place called Holzman's that I could use, but everything that I have ever had them do, they somehow jack it up. I had to take my car back 4 times because they kept screwing up the roll cage. 4 times!!!! When I had them do my spool, it whines on deceleration as you've heard in my videos. Took them for a ride and they admitted fault for not setting it up right and that they'd fix it. But now I have to tear it all back down again for them to fix. What a PITA. Nice people but damn. At this point I'm just ranting. Time to knuckle up, quit complaining, and start fixin chit.
 
Great work on your Dart Clint. I have a 68 that is complete but after reading your story I feel like there is a lot more I want to do. Its hard to take a good running/driving car apart. Don't get me wrong my Dart is fun and it definitely gets the attention just feel like I want to go faster. I don't think I'll make it into the 10's but improving on my low 13's would be great.
 
A little here to update.

Been looking for a set of wheels to throw these freebie Hoosier slicks on with no luck so far. The backspacing on the wheels is a little short for the car so I need to find a whole different set.





Getting the stereo amp, cross-overs, etc installed. First time the carpet has been in for some time now!



Getting the front doors painted to match the roll bar and rear trim.







I bought a new A/F meter from Innovate. It was priced well and will accept gas, leaded fuel, ethanol, etc. I can log runs with a data logger if I want as well which will help a lot in tuning the car and knowing absolutely certain if I'm too rich or lean.













Also was having an issue with the car pulling left on braking. I replaced the front calipers but I think it's still doing it. Must have a problem with the drums out back or something.



And now the interior is mostly complete with working stereo that will get as loud as I can stand. People wondered whether or not I'll be able to hear the stereo over the engine. Believe me, it's not an issue!

 
I've been getting the Dart ready for an indoor car show coming up in a couple days and had a buddy over to help check valve lash and what not to get it ready. He's going to drive it down to the show since I won't be able to check in that night (poor bastard I know). He's really feeling the pain. The other night I took him for a spin. This was the first time since I had the interior in. The car ran good but it just didn't seem to pull quite like usual. I thought maybe it was because he was heavy? Hell I don't know. The next night with my wife it seemed too run pretty good though. So I figured it was weather conditions or extra weight or whatever. But tonight I had a thought to check the throttle movement since I changed over to the Lokar cable setup when I rebuilt the motor. My buddy put it to the floor and I peered down the carb to see if everything was in order. It was not! My primaries were opening 100% but my secondaries were only opening about 30-40%. I was thinking great, another fix it. But at the same time I was eerily laughing thinking "I'm not sure I've had this opened up 100% yet!"
 
Wow does that interior look sweet!!!! very well done sir, again I say, I love that car
 
Thank you. It's turned out looking pretty decent. It looks especially good to me since all I've looked at for the last 3 years or so is bare metal floors, doors, and wires. To actually have an interior again is a bit of a strange feeling.
 
Wow ..

I had never read thru this one previous , a simple "good job, looks nice" simply won't do .

You have taken a gigantic challenge (actually multiple challenges ) and faced each and everyone one, and beat them ..

You have a lot to be proud as does your family, It takes a strong person to keep fighting thru each every disaster this car gave you ..

It looks great , take it out often let others see what you have accomplished !








ps

I'm looking for one of these ( stole your pic) need one for the wagon, looks like it will clear my tunnel )


IMG_6475.jpg
 
Big Dad said:
Wow ..

I had never read thru this one previous , a simple "good job, looks nice" simply won't do .

You have taken a gigantic challenge (actually multiple challenges ) and faced each and everyone one, and beat them ..

You have a lot to be proud as does your family, It takes a strong person to keep fighting thru each every disaster this car gave you ..

It looks great , take it out often let others see what you have accomplished !

ps

I'm looking for one of these ( stole your pic) need one for the wagon, looks like it will clear my tunnel )


IMG_6475.jpg
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Well said and much appreciated.

So with the pedal, which price were you looking at? The pedal assy or the Lokar cable?
 
I need the pedal assembly

I think they come in like 75 Dusters too ?

My tunnel is much larger than stock so it can clear everything , that looks to have just enough angle to clear
 
clinteg said:
My primaries were opening 100% but my secondaries were only opening about 30-40%. I was thinking great, another fix it. But at the same time I was eerily laughing thinking "I'm not sure I've had this opened up 100% yet!"
Click to expand...

I was constantly fighting w/ the Lokar on mine, I had trouble with the mounting and getting enough travel to get 100%. Finally gave up on it and went to a longer stock style, no issues since. Pioneer part number CA-8418.

http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,catalog,688,partnum,CA8418,d,PIONEER_CA8418.html

Found this handy reference on Moparts: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/fuel/24.html
 
Big Dad said:
I need the pedal assembly

I think they come in like 75 Dusters too ?

My tunnel is much larger than stock so it can clear everything , that looks to have just enough angle to clear
Click to expand...

The pedal assy is just the stock one for a '69 Dart. I chopped the end and welded a tab to accomodate the Lokar.
 
mosleyme said:
I was constantly fighting w/ the Lokar on mine, I had trouble with the mounting and getting enough travel to get 100%. Finally gave up on it and went to a longer stock style, no issues since. Pioneer part number CA-8418.

http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,catalog,688,partnum,CA8418,d,PIONEER_CA8418.html

Found this handy reference on Moparts: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/fuel/24.html
Click to expand...

If I can't get this to work somehow, I'll check into that. Hopefully I can figure out something.
 
My buddy drove my car to a local charity car show event wednesday night. What a weary feeling to see your freshly finished car drive off. But I trusted my buddy to take care of her and he did. I didn't know what sort of show this was until I got there. This place had a lot of NICE cars. I'm talking Ford GT's, Lamborghini's, GT500's, BB Cuda convertible, Vipers, etc. I was like damn, I don't think my car belongs among these others but what the hell. Here I am and I'm gonna take advantage of the free food and open bar!

[ame]https://youtu.be/RoTj_aCFqnc[/ame]



 
Continuation of the car show. Here are some of the pictures from the "gala" as they called it. Met some nice local Mopar folks. There was high interest in the car like being the new kid in school. I think they were mostly wondering why they hadn't heard of or seen this car before. So there was a lot of Q&A going on. All in all it was a good time.



















Meeting some fellow Wichita Mopar club members





And my wife and I. I think she's VERY happy the car is (mostly) done.

 
When I installed the bung for the O2 sensor, I dropped the exhaust to get it welded on. Figured may as well hear it with the open headers! My buddy lost his job that very same day so he came over to get it off his mind. He's a Chevy guy but he loves this car. I let him blip the throttle a bit while I held the camera in the second start. But anyhow I couldn't believe how it sounded. Video never really does anything justice but this sucker I swear is louder than it was with 13.9:1 compression. If it's definitely no quieter whatsoever. The open cutouts don't do the engine any justice!

[ame]https://youtu.be/BKKh6ls0uUA[/ame]
 
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