1969 Race Dart w/ 426 Hemi- garaged for 45+ years

-
The car has a leaf spring/ladder bar setup, somewhat primitive, and possibly home built, but very well constructed for the time period. It also was mounted with elephant ears, the motor mounts have been cut off the factory 340 K frame. There is evidence that it had a K frame mount at some point, possibly the superstock style.

after taking a second look, the (old) pics posted with OEM mounts appears to be when the FIL was possibly originally installing the Hemi. I'm just guessing, like most did on Hemi / A body installs, went with elephant ears.
 
Fender Tag says bench seat, so you woun´t find these reinforcement plates, (if not put there when bucket seats were put in).
As for the this photo of the engine, could engine be out of a ´64-65? (water neck and chrome valve covers)
Sorry, but this car occupies our mind. Guess we ought to be a bit more patient lol...
Thanks for sharing this story with us.

20230417 Floor seat reinforcement plate.jpg


Motor mount 69 FIL dart.jpeg
 
That Hemi Dart is an awesome score. I have subscribed to this thread to follow along as you move forward. So far, I am liking your plan. Get it mechanically sound and safe and leave the rest of it as is. Nothing like a Hemified "A" body. You're gonna love it my friend.
 
Steelies with chrome lug nuts (and trim rings) look wicked:

duster-burnout-ii-jpg.1714937403


...but I think the Keystones fit on this Dart better...
I had some old Keys off a Deceased Brothers car, they were on his Uncles Charger. We used to take the 4 ought steel wool and polish em up all the time. They ended up on my 66 Satellite. Where they are now? Ehhh..I dunno..

FB_IMG_1574044852010.jpg
 
wow my 66 sat commando car 383 4spd was dark red met just like #315 with 4x15 cragar ss's on the nose and keystone classic's 15x8.5 with the 12/31 firestone slicks on the *** with home made rear flares ss springs . brings me right back to the early 70's and high school . here i am second from the left standing high in the stands with my bud talking in my ear at an indoors cycle race in san jose

IMG_0421.JPG
 
Last edited:
Fender Tag says bench seat, so you woun´t find these reinforcement plates, (if not put there when bucket seats were put in).
As for the this photo of the engine, could engine be out of a ´64-65? (water neck and chrome valve covers)
Sorry, but this car occupies our mind. Guess we ought to be a bit more patient lol...
Thanks for sharing this story with us.

View attachment 1716078941

View attachment 1716078942
Just got back to the hotel.......................put a ton of work in. I am downloading pics now and will post what we found. 3.26.1966 Block

IMG_8198.JPG
 
Last edited:
That Hemi Dart is an awesome score. I have subscribed to this thread to follow along as you move forward. So far, I am liking your plan. Get it mechanically sound and safe and leave the rest of it as is. Nothing like a Hemified "A" body. You're gonna love it my friend.
Thank you :thumbsup:
 
Alright all, just got done and back to the hotel and I am downloading pictures. A ton of work got done today..................Motor, trans and front end are out of the car. The Dana 60 has 4.88 gears. The block casting number is 2468330-2, D N RL, trans has a tag on it and it is from a B body car; it is an 18 spline slick shifted 4 speed. We pulled all the interior and the seats are not SS seats. We also unbolted the shifter to be able to drop it out of the car. The crossram is a factory unit dated from 1963, for a 1964 hemi superstock. The carburetors are also correct, which are on the crossram.

IMG_8153.JPG


IMG_8159.JPG


IMG_8165.JPG


IMG_8168.JPG


IMG_8183.JPG


IMG_8196.JPG


IMG_8198.JPG


IMG_8190.JPG


IMG_6951[2138].jpg
 
old skool bell/scattershield heck yeah! that clutch! woo, talk about a workout! my left knee hurts just looking at that beast.

this thing is just so deliciously time capsule. the old rickey racer motor with the hodge podge of johnny kick *** parts into the newer car just screams: this what we did back then. love it.
 
That motor looks fresh! Clean oil and cylinders look awesome. I say it’s a runner.
Everything looked Great! However, there are aluminum rods and the Crankshaft was "modified" heavily and a lot removed due to the aluminum rods to be able to balance the motor. We will not be reusing the rods or crankshaft.

IMG_7382.JPG


IMG_7384.JPG


IMG_7389.JPG


IMG_7391.JPG


IMG_7393.JPG


IMG_7408.JPG


IMG_7416.JPG


IMG_7418.JPG


IMG_7422.JPG


IMG_7426.JPG
 
The next phase will be to order the engine parts we need and I am going to get an A body 4 speed hemi trans. For how I want to drive the car, it is not practical to keep the slick shift in the car.

I will take the car home tomorrow as a roller and clean it up more now I have access to the engine bay etc. We are going for preservation not restoration, so I am only cleaning parts up. We think the car probably has less than 100 miles on it and basically suspension etc. is like new and only needs cleaning and new bushings. We will replace all the brake lines and brakes. This will be a safe, reliable time capsule with a Bad *** 426 Hemi, that I will drive and show off as much as I can............ :thumbsup:
 
If there are any specific questions on the motor, trans etc. @replicaracer43 will respond as he knows all the specifics after he took everything apart today. As the engine goes through the next process of cleaning, machining parts, assembly, etc. Sean will provide me updates and pics. I can not thank Sean enough for taking this on and when we are done this car will be even more awesome than it is now!! Now it is a waiting game to see the availability of engine parts.
 
-
Back
Top