Making my Dart road trip worthy

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konrad

konrad

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Hi everyone,

I've got a few questions about what I should do to my Dart to make it road trip worthy. I want to take my car on the Hotrod Power Tour, or at least a leg or two of it, and I am not sure what should be looked at and replaced to take on such a journey.

My Dart is a 1969 340 Swinger that I got running a year ago. I had the heads off, replaced the freeze plugs, new head gaskets, new intake gasket, and rebuilt the carburetor. It's got new wheel cylinders, new drum brake shoes, new tires, the gas tank was removed and cleaned, but when I parked it after the last car show it dumped all 7 quarts of transmission fluid out of it.

My plans were to take the engine and trans out this spring and replace the oil pan gasket, rear end gasket and fluid, and figure out where the transmission was leaking from (unless someone has an idea already) and any gaskets/seals on the transmission. Wasn't sure if I should/need to replace the rear main seal, timing chain and gears, mechanical gas pump, or anything else I should look at while they are both out.

Sorry if this sounds like a newbie question, but I appreciate any feedback/help on my question. Thanks Everyone.
 
My transmission was leaking a lot of oil. I couldn't find where. I replaced the pan gasket twice. Finely discovered the neutral safety switch was cracked and leaking.
Tom
 
Speedometer drive, selector shaft seal, neutral safety switch sounds like a new one to me. But there's three other possibilities besides the normal pan gasket. The selector shaft seal can be a bit more complicated to replace so if everything seems in order looking there isn't a bad idea. I believe I'd look further back from the rear main if it's not leaking oil.
 
There is just one HECK of a lot of things can go wrong with a nearly 50 year old car. A serious "stem to stern" rebuild, I would think.

There's LOTS of little gotchas. The entire hydraulic brake system.

Old grease, seals in axles and front wheels.

Obviously the "main" parts of the drivetrain, engine and trans. Unless you have lots of money for emergency transport, I'd re-think.

And of course there's always the electrical system.

How much do you have in the way of trips under your belt in this car? Several trips of say, over 400mi round trip? That would make a good "shakedown" I'd think.
 
Depends on the state of your car. Do a safety check replace anything questionable. New belts and hoses and tune beyond that it's a crap shoot . Years ago I dragged a 65 valiant out of a field did complete brakes and fuel system plus new hose and belts and tune and drove it 7 years all year around and only had the water pump let me down. Took it off the road out of boredom wish I didn't sale it. Older car can be more reliable cause of there simplicity.
 
dumped out 7 !!!! qts of atf ?????? wow! I would figure out that problem, then go to the other mentioned things.

if I were to do a big road trip, I would first take it on 50 mi runs around the home area for shackdown. ( after fixing the transmission!)

is front end GOOD! alignment? how does it drive on the highway? brakes? wheel bearings? radiator???? tires??? rear end skunk oil? u joints????

road trip? take along tools, and spare parts. do you have spare alternator, belts, are your hoses Good? spare ECU? balalst? etc

these cars are meant to be driven, BUT when they are, first wore out, then sit for decades, THEN it takes a while to get them back dependable...
 
One big plus is you can still get a lot of the parts at a autozone or other parts store. So bring a tool kit with you and replace what you need to. Just check everything real good and have fun. Things can go wrong on a brand new car just as they can on an old one.
 
maybe update the alternator to a dual field so that you can find one if it burns out. I've had that happen to me once. Much easier to find a later model alternator than an old single field that most parts stores do not stock anymore.
 
How long have you owned this car? How well do you know it? You just need to do some routine maintenance and take a few shake-down runs. Hopefully you have a 3.23 or taller rear end in it. You can cheat by putting some taller rear tires on it if need be.
Back in the day Americans drove these cars cross country every day. If yours is in good shape, enjoy the ride plus there are a lot of people on the tour who will help you if you have problems.

**********

The first thing I EVER bought off ebay was my 68 Barracuda. It was in San Jose and I was in Ohio. Flew out for Spring Fling and picked the car up Sunday night. Spent 3-1/2 days fixing things (I eventually had a list of 30+ things wrong with it) at a friends house. I couldn't fix everything and I only had a handful of tools that I brought on the plane, a small wrench set and 3/8 socket set, couple screwdrivers and pliers. That's it. Left late Thursday afternoon and got home Monday night. Speedo was off, power steering, radio and heater didn't work, no jack, no dash lights and top speed was limited to a true 62 MPH because of a bad rear shock. No charger for my old analog cell phone so I kept it off. First day outside Sacramento I had an apparent overheating problem. Changed the T-stat and JB welded a small hole in the radiator in the parking lot of a parts store. Second day the mechanical voltage regulator quit and I had to get a jump at a very remote rest area in NV. The restroom was literally a hole in the ground. Got to a town and bought a regulator and replaced it in the parking lot. Easter morning, the left power-steering-fluid-soaked strut rod bushing pounded itself out on the wash board roads through a slushy mountain pass in Colorado. Once I figured out what all that banging was I just went balls-out for home. Almost reached my limit in Indy when I got caught up in a huge construction zone jam in rush hour. Got pulled over by 3 cops in 3 states because I only had a small paper temporary "one-trip" tag. Got home Monday at 11PM and was at work the next day at 8AM. 2800 miles.

Today the car is unrestored but I would drive it anywhere in the country tomorrow because I've been through everything and I trust it.

Just Do it!!.
 
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