69 Dart Resurrection, finally!

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XLR8N

Member
Joined
May 6, 2024
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Location
St. Louis, MO
Hi everyone!
Thanks for allowing me to join the group! I've been a Mopar lover for 45 years now. I've owned a 68 slant 6 Fury III, 72 Dodge Charger 340, 73 Dodge Charger 440, & several newer Mopars. Currently, I have an 04.5 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 4x4 and a 69 Dodge Dart with a 340. The latter is why I joined. The Dart has been sitting with the engine out for over 32 years while I raised my family and focused on my career. Now it's time to put the Dart back on the street/strip. Back in the day, I had no money - it all went into the car and since I didn't make much, I did the best I could. My 340 Dart ran in the 11's w/nitrous and a 727. There were so many things I wanted to change/do to this car but could never afford it.

I've been reading this forum for quite some time now but hadn't joined since I wasn't working the car. I'm trying to "refresh" my memory on all things Mopar and engine building. It seems a LOT has changed in 32 years. For those that are curious, Below are my plans. I'm sure I'll be asking all of you several questions and looking for your expert advice.

My 0.30 over 340 will be stroked with a 4" forged crank. I've already purchased a pair of Trick Flow 190, 60 cc heads with the titanium retainers for a hyd roller. My local machine shop will help me with the custom pistons (looking for about 10:1) & crank package. I'm working with B3 Racing on the camshaft and T&D rocker arm assemblies. To keep the 80's-90's theme of "Pro-street", I'll be running my old Edelbrock Street Tunnel Ram with twin 450 Holley's made for it (see my Avatar for a pic of the engine from 1988 sitting in the unpainted car). I also attached a 1988 pic of the car painted, headed to Street Machine Nats. The RPM range of the intake is 3,500 - 7,000. I don't plan to spin this stroker over 6,300 though but love the look of the dual quads. I have a feeling the lower torque curve will negate the need to spin it up like I used to, so this will mostly be to make it look "cool".
My car will mostly be street but I want to return it to it's glory days of being a strong street/strip car but with better reliability (and less maintenance since I'm getting old). I'll be swapping the old drums for Wildwood discs at all 4 corners. I currently have an 8 3/4 rear with 4.30s, but am considering a Dana or 9" with much higher gears (3.55 maybe?).

I'll have a lot of questions on the above and want to thank all of you in advance for your help!

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Welcome from SoCal!
I have a long-term '69 Dart project in process because of the memories I have of my '69 340 Swinger from too many years ago.
I'm also planning on 4.30 gears behind a 360 and a 200-4R overdrive trans. The 0.68 OD will make the 4.30 gears act like 2.92 gears when in OD.
Just a suggestion...
Several threads on FABO regarding use of a 200-4R. Check 'em out.
 
Welcome. I look forward to watching the progress. Congrats on keeping the car through the time. I did the same thing.
 
:welcome: from :canada:

Great story and a cool car! Back in the late 70's early 80s my buddy had a 69 Dart GTS. That's what got me into Mopars and a bodies.
Looking forward to seeing the progress as you get it back on the road.
 
Welcome from SoCal!
I have a long-term '69 Dart project in process because of the memories I have of my '69 340 Swinger from too many years ago.
I'm also planning on 4.30 gears behind a 360 and a 200-4R overdrive trans. The 0.68 OD will make the 4.30 gears act like 2.92 gears when in OD.
Just a suggestion...
Several threads on FABO regarding use of a 200-4R. Check 'em out.
Thanks ocdart - never thought of a 200-4R. What type of torque/HP can it handle?
 
Welcome. I look forward to watching the progress. Congrats on keeping the car through the time. I did the same thing.
Thank you MoparCowboy! Glad to know I'm not the only one, LOL. Just wish I started on it a little sooner.
 
:welcome: from :canada:

Great story and a cool car! Back in the late 70's early 80s my buddy had a 69 Dart GTS. That's what got me into Mopars and a bodies.
Looking forward to seeing the progress as you get it back on the road.
Thanks missing linc! I started with the B bodies (my Fury was just a daily beater) but when I found out how much lighter the A bodies were, I quickly did some math and knew it was an easy way to go a lot quicker in the 1/4 mile, which was all I cared about back in the day, LOL. My Dart is an original 340, 4 spd car but I bought it without engine and tranny. The previous owner was also a racer. I bugged him for half a year to sell me the car. He finally caved but said I'll sell it to you for $800 but you have to promise you'll never chop it up. I knew the car meant a lot to him and now it does me. I kept that promise, other than adding the roll bar out of necessity. I took my new Dart home and transplanted the 340/727 out of my 72 Charger into it. The 340/727 went from 14.60s in the Charger to 13.90s in the Dart the day after the transplant. Mission accomplished!
It's so cool seeing that you're in Canada and part of the Mopar family! I wonder how fast your buddie's Dart was back in the day. I'm sure it was pretty stout!
 
Thanks ocdart - never thought of a 200-4R. What type of torque/HP can it handle?

They can handle a bunch when properly built.
I had mine built as a reverse-pattern, manual shift with a lock-up converter by Extreme Automatics in Ohio (www.extremeautomatics.com). They cut off the original tranny bellhousing and replace it with a billet Reid bell that bolts up directly to a Mopar smallblock so no adapter plate is needed.
Extreme's 200-4R build levels are:
Stage I 450HP/400Torque
Stage II 750HP/600 Torque
Stage III 1000HP/750 Torque

Check out their website.
 
Thanks missing linc! I started with the B bodies (my Fury was just a daily beater) but when I found out how much lighter the A bodies were, I quickly did some math and knew it was an easy way to go a lot quicker in the 1/4 mile, which was all I cared about back in the day, LOL. My Dart is an original 340, 4 spd car but I bought it without engine and tranny. The previous owner was also a racer. I bugged him for half a year to sell me the car. He finally caved but said I'll sell it to you for $800 but you have to promise you'll never chop it up. I knew the car meant a lot to him and now it does me. I kept that promise, other than adding the roll bar out of necessity. I took my new Dart home and transplanted the 340/727 out of my 72 Charger into it. The 340/727 went from 14.60s in the Charger to 13.90s in the Dart the day after the transplant. Mission accomplished!
It's so cool seeing that you're in Canada and part of the Mopar family! I wonder how fast your buddie's Dart was back in the day. I'm sure it was pretty stout!
My buddy bought his GTS as a roller, and dropped in a 318/904 cause he got it dort cheap. The car still had 3.91s in the rear end, so it was a lot of fun.
 
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