I found the Original Owner

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68383GTS

68383GTS

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East Peoria,IL
I tracked down the Original owner of my 1968 Dart GTS 383 4 speed car this weekend.I know the town were the car came from in the 1980's.That town had a small car show this weekend,20 cars.I took my GTS to the show.I was there about a hour and ran in the the original owners brother in law.He gave me his name and number.I called him Saturday night and sure enough he bought my GTS new.I hopped in the GTS and drove less than 20 miles to his house this morning.He was out the front door before I was all the way in the driveway.He said yep thats my old car.We talked for a hour or so and he gave me 40 photos of the car.The photos are from 67-77 and show the car and modifications it had during that time.Fenderwell headers,radius cut rear wheel wells,two different style rims over the years,and a 426 wedge put into the car early on.He does not remember who he sold the original 383 to.His Dad ordered the car April 1968 while he still was in Vietnam.Well after 3 years of looking I found this guy.This is only the second time I have had the car out.
PS Does anyone have a 68 383 A body engine that came from Illinois in the 70's.I am now looking for the original block.Yes needle in a haystack but you never know.....If your hunting for past owners or original engines dont give up guys.
Jim
 
WELL........ The interior is still all original.The body will be put back original.The drivetrain NO I now have a built 383 425 HP,850 holley DP,251/524 Comp cam,single plane ELD. 4 bbl intake,MSD dist,MSD 6AL,TTI headers,391 Gear,and it will have Torque Thurst or Cragers just as it had in the 70,s.
Jim
 
hey you should toss up some of those pics from around 67-72, im aiming my dart to look like a late 60's street brawler, and i would love to see some pics of a dart from that era
 
68's don't have a vin number stamped on them. a properly dated block is considered numbers matching for your car.
 
They do have a Vin on them.Atleast the 68 BB A body engines do.I did not know this myself until early this year.The last half of the vin is on top of the engine near the Bellhousing-transsmission.
Jim
 
68383GTS said:
They do have a Vin on them.Atleast the 68 BB A body engines do.I did not know this myself until early this year.The last half of the vin is on top of the engine near the Bellhousing-transsmission.
Jim
Click to expand...

Yep thats how my 68 383 Barracuda is
 
I will have to find someone to post pics for me.I am a little behind on the times and not have learned how to do so.Im lucky to get around on the net.
LOL Jim
 
Thanks for sharing the story. I love hearing these tales...

My vote would be for "period correct" on the resto. Especially since you have pics from back in the day! If you had the original engine, then I'd lean more toward a OEM resto maybe. Just my opinion though...

Post pics when you can, and if you are somehow able to track down the original engine...then it was meant to be!
 
The 426 Wedge engine that was in the car in the early 70's was out of a 64 Fury.The 426 Wedge was in the car up until 1995.Dwight the original owner of my GTS told me he bought the 426 off of Ron Noe.Well this is a little weird.But I contacted Ron Noe about a year ago.I contacted him following up a lead that he was the original owner of my GTS.He was not the original owner, and did not put 2 and 2 together at the time.I called Ron Noe today.He said he has known Dwight since the 60's but has not seen him in along time.I was hoping Ron may remember where my original 383 went.I was hoping maybe he took the original 383 in trade for the 426.He said he didn't take the 383 in trade and wasn't sure who Dwight sold it to.Ron said he would like to come over next week and look at the old Photos and my GTS.I will see if i can sqeeze out a few names out of him then.
I am hoping to find the original block but I know its very very unlikely.I am also going to send in a copy of my Buildsheet and fender tag to Galen Govier.Galen has put blocks with cars more than a few times.I did find a 68 383 A body block at the Nats this year.It was $150.00 but I had no way to drag it home.
Jim [email protected]
 
I'm with Beatnik on this one...make your engine look period like and keep looking for a close to original engine... like have a set of race wheels...
 
Sorry guy Period like engine would mean I would have to keep the fenderwell headers.Well I replaced the inner fenders two years ago.I now have TTI headers.I have various pics of the car through the years.I will probably put it back the way it was in 1969,minus the fenderwell headers.
That would be 383 still in the car,Torq Thrust D wheels,rear end lifted,the biggest tires I can get with original rear quarters and tubs,and a Tach on the dash. As of now it has a built 67 383 and a tach on the dash.
I like these restored to Original.But these cars were never meant to stay that away and most did not.I also want it to run and the stock manifolds just choke it down to much.and the car came with hub caps, yuck...
Jim
 
I put up a few photos un Member Photo Gallery.Look under 1968 Dodge Dart GTS H code or 68383GTS ..Only a few I have about 45 pics..Sorry they are sideways not sure how to fix this.There is 2 photos of the car days old,1 pic. of the engine days old,! of the 383 modified,1 0f the 426 Wedge with stage 3 Heads in the early 70's,1 with Torq Thrust wheels non radius cut quarters around a month or so old,and 2 pics of the car in the early 70's with the radius cut rear quarters
Sorry but no recent photos.But the car still looks pretty much the same as it did in the early 70's..see track photos.

JIM
 
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