Hello everyone,
My name is Kevin Villareal and I joined this site a little over a year ago. I never really gave a formal introduction, as I was not really serious about my car quite yet. My '68 Dart has been a father-son project where I have been very reliant on my dad (a mechanic) for almost everything. I am almost 20 years old, and I am currently a student pursuing a degree in math with the hopes of becoming a high school math teacher. I would say that my knowledge of cars is very minimal, but I plan to learn more about them after I have my career in place. I have always enjoyed cars, but I have been more of a computer gamer for the past few years. I am finally beginning to drift away from that hobby, as I am transferring to a university this fall and I am having a sense of urgency about completing this car.
Currently, my car has a 225 slant six in it with the A/C torn out and the heat not working. My 904 TF slips and the short block knocks. Because of these issues, my dad and I are going to be swapping in a very low mileage 5.9 magnum motor from an '02 Dakota with a rebuilt 904 TF.
The car originally came with 9" drums all the way around, but we swapped out the front with disks using the scarebird conversion.
Both, the power steering box and pump have been rebuilt, and I would like to continue using them after this engine swap. However, I wish to put headers on this engine, and I keep seeing people going back and forth about certain brands not hitting the PS box or hitting the oil pan or the torsion bars. I would like to put on headers and keep the car easily maintained, since I will not have a large set of tools available to me while I am at school. I have also read that starters can be harder to reach with headers in the way, but I have also read that this can be solved by putting in a mini starter (which I am willing to do). Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Next, we fixed up the front end, replacing the worn out bushings and swapping out the torsion bars for small block torsion bars. I would like to also swap out the rear end for an 8-3/4 rear with a suregrip unit. I am currently considering a TrueTrac for this as I have been suggested them from a friend.
Last, the cluster may also need to be replaced with the voltage regulator, as my gauges are basically all broken. The speedometer, odometer, and oil pressure gauge have never worked. However, the temp gauge and fuel gauge worked for a while, but are now pegging out as soon as the car turns on (probably the votage regulator). My dad disconnected the alternator gauge since it fried out his cluster in previous cars and he did not want that to happen to mine.
Anyways, thank you for reading about my project and I hope it was somewhat interesting to you guys. I will try to keep you guys updated and I appreciate any advice you guys have to offer.
My name is Kevin Villareal and I joined this site a little over a year ago. I never really gave a formal introduction, as I was not really serious about my car quite yet. My '68 Dart has been a father-son project where I have been very reliant on my dad (a mechanic) for almost everything. I am almost 20 years old, and I am currently a student pursuing a degree in math with the hopes of becoming a high school math teacher. I would say that my knowledge of cars is very minimal, but I plan to learn more about them after I have my career in place. I have always enjoyed cars, but I have been more of a computer gamer for the past few years. I am finally beginning to drift away from that hobby, as I am transferring to a university this fall and I am having a sense of urgency about completing this car.
Currently, my car has a 225 slant six in it with the A/C torn out and the heat not working. My 904 TF slips and the short block knocks. Because of these issues, my dad and I are going to be swapping in a very low mileage 5.9 magnum motor from an '02 Dakota with a rebuilt 904 TF.
The car originally came with 9" drums all the way around, but we swapped out the front with disks using the scarebird conversion.
Both, the power steering box and pump have been rebuilt, and I would like to continue using them after this engine swap. However, I wish to put headers on this engine, and I keep seeing people going back and forth about certain brands not hitting the PS box or hitting the oil pan or the torsion bars. I would like to put on headers and keep the car easily maintained, since I will not have a large set of tools available to me while I am at school. I have also read that starters can be harder to reach with headers in the way, but I have also read that this can be solved by putting in a mini starter (which I am willing to do). Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Next, we fixed up the front end, replacing the worn out bushings and swapping out the torsion bars for small block torsion bars. I would like to also swap out the rear end for an 8-3/4 rear with a suregrip unit. I am currently considering a TrueTrac for this as I have been suggested them from a friend.
Last, the cluster may also need to be replaced with the voltage regulator, as my gauges are basically all broken. The speedometer, odometer, and oil pressure gauge have never worked. However, the temp gauge and fuel gauge worked for a while, but are now pegging out as soon as the car turns on (probably the votage regulator). My dad disconnected the alternator gauge since it fried out his cluster in previous cars and he did not want that to happen to mine.
Anyways, thank you for reading about my project and I hope it was somewhat interesting to you guys. I will try to keep you guys updated and I appreciate any advice you guys have to offer.
- glad you have decided to get after it and have joined us joined us.. rejoined us? 
