Swinging for Divorce…

[DentalDart]

@mygasser and @DartManPlum340

No I don’t plan on selling the car and I agree the copper is awesome. I’ve made my final decision it will be copper.

My son will get his blue dart soon enough… his dart will be B5 blue though. I thought it was a 1968 Turquoise but it’s actually a 1969 LS23P car, B5 Blue. Currently all original besides a 383 instead of matching numbers 340. He has a correct year and he believes within 2 month build date 340 motor for it sitting in the garage… he has owned the car for 25 years and before that his good friend owned it.

He is planning on selling it and said he will keep me in the loop when he does.

These are the only 2 pictures I snapped of it. I didn’t want to be taking a lot of pictures in and around his house. It has sat in this spot for 8 years and only gets driven a couple times a year

 

[sireland67]

Your wife is so going to kill you.

 

[Bodyperson]

Your wife is so going to kill you.

I think the goal is divorce.

 

[DentalDart]

She knew why I came to Las Vegas and it wasn’t for Taylor Swift…

I’m not sure when the guy will sell it, we had a mutual friend and I stopped by the guys house and rang the doorbell until someone answered. Spent about 30-40 minutes talking with him about cars and racing. Super nice guy.

 

[barbee6043]

Me.
I have owned a couple of turqouise Mopars before.
I have seen the big city.
I live wayout in the country!!

 

[BrianT]

Hey Doc! Guess where I was yesterday? Does this help?

My Dart is being stored twenty feet to the left.

I brought up your car and he said you got a hell of a deal!

 

[DentalDart]

Hey Doc! Guess where I was yesterday? Does this help?

View attachment 1716068845
My Dart is being stored twenty feet to the left.
View attachment 1716068846
I brought up your car and he said you got a hell of a deal!

Oh what were you doing down there? Also that car was not there when I was there, what happened? Is it just down there to have them repair it or what?

Yes I think I got a good deal. Need some bucket seats and I see some right there.

Looks like all the big blocks are gone. I need to get with Brian and pick up parts that he said were for my car.

 

[BrianT]

Brian shares that garage with a guy named Matt. When my car was stolen and recovered, the tow company owner Bill thought that my car was too nice to leave in a tow lot so he contacted Matt for storage. It's only been there for a couple of weeks so you wouldn't have seen it.

The reason Brian was selling your Dart was that he was buying TWO Hemi cars from a friend of mine up here in Kansas City. He needed the money and the room!

If I decide to part my Dart out, I may have a pair of nice 68 bucket seats. Here is a shot of my car from last summer.

 

[DentalDart]

@BrianT omg I am so sorry, I had 0 clue that your dart was finished then stolen, and I apologize for making any light of it being there before. Your car was and still is super nice, it may be easier and cheaper to fix it and drive it?

Losing a car to theft and then the theif wrecking your car is the worst. I’m not sure who Matt is I only met Brian once but mainly communicated with Rick. I thought that was Ricks shop, he currently has a 70 Hemi Cuda and that guy is always buying big cars it seems like.

But if you do buy it back and part it out I’ll gladly take parts. I like parts and so like Darts… 68 is my favorite year, but both of mine are 69’s and I’m totally going to get that blue 69 GTS I went and looked and and posted above…

I’ll keep my eyes out for a good roller, there was that 67 GTS in Kentucky right now for like 10k. I’m always looking for darts and parts so I’m sure I’ll come across a couple. I just saw a 69 dart custom that had been in a garage for the past 25 years in Las Vegas but I think it sold I’ll check around for it.

Edit- I just sent you a pm with some listings I found while waiting on the plane back to Springfield from Las Vegas.

 

[Stranglehold]

Well the shop did fantastic. My other buddy keeps telling me paint job is going to cost me at least 7-10k… I tell him harbor freight sells paint guns for sub 100 bucks!

Funny that you literally have the same car as I do. Mine was originally blue or turquoise though, not really sure since no fender tag or build sheet… or original motor lol. Mine will probably stay around for a while as well. And well I’m an addict. I’ll buy another car or 5…

White or black tail stripe and what about interior? I have new black interior but the white interior looks great. Mine will also have steelies and redlines… redlines are the best. I’m going to do a spring relocation so I can run 275s though.

I also agree with the bezel repops… it’s the safest route that is for sure.

I'm leaning towards white on the tail stripe. I think it will pop good against that body color. I decided on saddle for interior color. Found evidence that the interior had been changed from saddle to black at some point in the cars history

 

[DentalDart]

I'm leaning towards white on the tail stripe. I think it will pop good against that body color. I decided on saddle for interior color. Found evidence that the interior had been changed from saddle to black at some point in the cars history

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Sadle is a good color. My car came with brand new all black door panels and seat covers… so unless I want to pay to change them black is kind of what my car is stuck with for a bit haha.

 

[DentalDart]

Strange gave me the final convincing to go T5 since his car looks beautiful. I am taking my car to a shop about 1hr from my house to be looked at in a week or 2 when I get some time on a Friday.

Ordered fender gasket set and heater box gasket restore kit.

Started messing with my bezels, broke a gauge, found a new gauge, cleaned a bezel, and bought some paint to try my hand at restoring them before buying all new bezels.

Also looked at my wiring kit… it’s frustrating me. I want to use it but… I don’t want to at the same time.

Oh also found these 833 4 speeds, one with OD and the other an aluminum case. That’s pretty much all the ads says.

 

[Phreakish]

I might be wrong, but I think aluminum 833s are OD?
If you can get them cheap, buy em. Just make sure you have an A body tail housing (shifter location is specific to A bodies) and then you need a bearing retainer which matched your bellhousing which matches your flywheel. If you checkout brewer's website you'll find a ton of part numbers and years and info by looking at the parts in their catalog.
The pedal assembly is probably as important as the trans too.
The bell housing can be tricky because lots will fit, but the clutch arm and pivot are often slightly different which can cause linkage headaches.

You'll get it figured out though. It's really simple, but sounds complicated - it's not.

I would want to assemble the car at least mechanically before sending it off to a body shop too. Nothing worse than having to grind or beat on new paint and slipping..

 

[RustyRatRod]

I told my wife I am now too old and woreout to do any more body work, so I will look for a done car or send the project to a real body shop.
She said "Like Hell you will!"
End of story.

So I guess that means she's gonna help. lol

 

[DentalDart]

I might be wrong, but I think aluminum 833s are OD?
If you can get them cheap, buy em. Just make sure you have an A body tail housing (shifter location is specific to A bodies) and then you need a bearing retainer which matched your bellhousing which matches your flywheel. If you checkout brewer's website you'll find a ton of part numbers and years and info by looking at the parts in their catalog.
The pedal assembly is probably as important as the trans too.
The bell housing can be tricky because lots will fit, but the clutch arm and pivot are often slightly different which can cause linkage headaches.

You'll get it figured out though. It's really simple, but sounds complicated - it's not.

I would want to assemble the car at least mechanically before sending it off to a body shop too. Nothing worse than having to grind or beat on new paint and slipping..

For the most part if keeping the car automatic, it is already mechanically put together. Just have to convert it to floor shifter and that’s pretty much it I believe.

Converting to 4 speed would be fun though… or 5 speed. Read a Tkx thread the other day, it was a very expensive swap.

 

[DentalDart]

So I guess that means she's gonna help. lol

They never help…. Lol

 

[barbee6043]

So I guess that means she's gonna help. lol

No!!! But she pulls my old *** back up when I can't get back up on my own! Its called the "golden years!"

 

[barbee6043]

OEM wiring is old and if never cut up it can be used but new is always better. I am cheap and never hd a electrical fire . Maybem lucky, maybe just good>> I have always used the oem under dash harness if not cut up. Yea and I use the oem amp gauge too. If the dash harness if out of the car on a bench, an untrained monkey an ou it all back with a FSM.

 

[Demonracer]

Direct Connection offered an aluminum case for the A833 transmissions. I believe. I could be wrong.

 

[DentalDart]

OEM wiring is old and if never cut up it can be used but new is always better. I am cheap and never hd an electrical fire . Maybem lucky, maybe just good>> I have always used the oem under dash harness if not cut up. Yea and I use the oem amp gauge too. If the dash harness if out of the car on a bench, an untrained monkey an ou it all back with a FSM.

I don’t have a dash harness. Literally the only harness I have is an under hood harness (not complete) and the AA universal kit.

 

[DentalDart]

Doing some stuff today.

Taped and painted the first bezel, cleaned the heater control (the two controls slide nicely now), started fixing the little chipped piece on the bezel with some JB plastic weld, JB weld metal on the grill.

Also took apart the gauge clusters, cleaned and realized I needed a new circuit board) this dash seems to be adding up in price fast. Lol.

Also realized the 2 bezels that I do have are for a non ac car, only heat… and the controls are for a heater only. That’s not going to work, I need to get an A/C control. So either find one on FABO or steal one from the purple dart… I am stealing the doors from the ac box in the purple car as well since they aren’t broken.

 

[Bodyperson]

I think its easier to convert a NON ac car to aftermarket AC.

 

[DentalDart]

I think its easier to convert a NON ac car to aftermarket AC.

I’m going to get an a/c kit but I want the control for it in the dash like stock and like my purple car.

 

[Bodyperson]

I’m going to get an a/c kit but I want the control for it in the dash like stock and like my purple car.

I'm mostly talking about the ducting and what not.

 

[DentalDart]

For a quick clean, tape and paint…. These look pretty damn good. Have a few spots to clean up but overall I’d be very happy with this quality in the purple dart….

The heater bezel and the radio bezel are both brand new, the other 2 are the two that I refinished.

I started the silver with the Molotow liquid chrome paint pens… I didn’t have the patience for that… So I taped the bezels a little bit more and sprayed them with some chrome spray paint lol.

Still getting a new and the correct set for the copper car.