Teds Excellent 69 Dart GTS Adventure

-
Sublime one said:
Welcome from the frozen tundra. Check out TTI for some headers. May solve your fender dilemma. Ask me how I know. I just got done hanging new inner fenders on mine replacing old butchered ones from headers. What a great car you have to start from. Wow. Super nice. As many will tell you on here, pictures please or it didn't happen! Hah!
Click to expand...

Yup, more pics coming as I make decisions. Yes, the TTI's are great from what I've read but I guess my only negative is no power steering and it's still a PITA to get to plugs and work on stuff. I'm a-lookin' and a learnin'. Kinda admire the nostalgia side of the fender well headers. If I didn't have those damn holes in the fenders already this would be an easy decision!! Thanks for the input!
 
...so now I'm thinking of dumping the 440, fixing the holes in the fenders when I do the restoration and just building a wild-assed SB stroker. I get everything that way. Tire clearance, header choices without compromise, no holes in fender, cooler under-hood temps and less weight on the front end. Guess I could sell the 440, tranny, k-frame, schumacher engine mounts and headers. Getting started on one of these projects is always my biggest hurdle.
 
Ok. Back to the BB we go. TTI Headers it is. I can still do a pretty decent sized stroker without sacrificing much HP due to header restriction. I'm filling in the fender well holes. I mean who DOESN'T want a big block?? It's on my bucket list, ok? I'm going to drive this thing around another month or so and then we begin. Next up, wheels/tires. Consider this a journal entry...lol
 
Always love the 69 Dart. Look forward to seeing where you go with this project. Looks like you have a great car to work with there.
 
Thanks! That's a fine ride you have there and one heck of a project! Very nicely done....all of it!! Yes, I'm so confused...even buying wheels/tires. But I'll hit the ground running this fall. I mean I know zip about Mopars so I really need this time to ballast back and forth. I'm just stuck between a prostreet look and a stock-looking cruiser. So I'm going to with something in the middle...a "club car" I guess. Drive it to a drag strip one Sunday. Then to a show the next. Poker run, no problem. Wife wants to cruise, nice, smooth easy driver. Of course it's gotta have a neck-snapping tranny and at least 600hp. I can only compromise so much!! For example; mini-tubs with 15x10's in the rear BUT 15x6's in the front. Sway bars. No drag racing type wheels. Quiet exhaust, with electric dumps. AC. Yup, that's right.... AC. And a BB. I mean at this point what the heck....the car has one in it. Just compromising headers. The nostalgic look of the fender well headers still has my attention!!
 
Ok. Made some moves. Bought wheels/tires. Went with 15x10's and 15x5's. 325-50-15 on the rear and 195-65-15 on the front. MIGHT be able to mod some fender well headers to clear with that front tire combo. But with the rear tire/wheel set, I can now make plans for the mini-tub and see what I have to do concerning the rear end/springs. Won't be long...the snow will be flying and I can get to work. I'll have some pics when the wheels get here. Nothing earth-shattering. I went cheap since I don't know what the hell I want!!!
 
What backspace wheel did you order for the rear? My car is mini-tubbed and with the stock width rear I didn't like the look of the wheels available. They all looked too modern because the offset was to the rear. I wanted more of a deep wheel look. That involved narrowing the rear four inches on each end. Instead of cutting up an original A body 8 3/4 rear end, I sold it and put the money towards a Strange 60 built with the correct width that I needed. I like the way it turned out. 325's fit comfortably with no rubbing. I don't want to clutter up your thread. PM me if you have any questions. Good luck with your build. Keep updating this thread, it's helps to talk things out and to stay motivated!
upload_2019-7-26_5-30-54.png
 
BrianT said:
What backspace wheel did you order for the rear? My car is mini-tubbed and with the stock width rear I didn't like the look of the wheels available. They all looked too modern because the offset was to the rear. I wanted more of a deep wheel look. That involved narrowing the rear four inches on each end. Instead of cutting up an original A body 8 3/4 rear end, I sold it and put the money towards a Strange 60 built with the correct width that I needed. I like the way it turned out. 325's fit comfortably with no rubbing. I don't want to clutter up your thread. PM me if you have any questions. Good luck with your build. Keep updating this thread, it's helps to talk things out and to stay motivated!
View attachment 1715369281
Click to expand...

lol. funny you should post here. Your car was one of the cars that swayed my decision to do what I'm doing!

vn5021.jpg


These are the wheels I'm going with. I kinda like them since they fit in a classic/prostreet kinda way? Also, the car will be F2 Sunfire Yellow so I'm thinking the gray will contrast nicely. About the only thing I'm not crazy about is the spinner...which I can modify/remove or something. Backspacing is 4.25. Yes, I wanted some lip but as you have already experienced, it's tough finding 15x10's with little BS unless you are willing to go with an all-out prostreet/drag car look or newer-look tuner wheels. For the rear, I sourced another housing and I'm just going to reuse my diff. and order axles when I determine how much off I need. I've narrowed a few Ford 9" rears so I have the fixtures/jigs..just need to make the slugs for centering. I don't even know if the original 8-3/4 under this rig or not anyway.

So after I receive and mount everything, I'll start my final plans for the mini tubs and narrowing of the rear. Then I'll mount the fronts and see if I really want to suffer through the fender well headers!! I'm thinking with 195's on the front and maybe adding a spacer I can get the front wheels out far enough that with a few tube modifications, I can get them to work. If I decide, nah, then TTI's and I'll repair the holes in the fender wells. I wouldn't even consider the FW headers if the car didn't already have them on at one point in it's life. Car had a somewhat interesting history...if the stories are true from the PO.

Thanks for the comments/heads-up!!
 
Well it's time to get this restoration going. Car will come into my shop next weekend. I'll pull the driveline and prepare to install the mini-tubs and narrow the rear. Then I'll gut the interior and prep the car for paint back to the original Y2 Sunfire Yellow. Pulling the driveline will allow me to check out the goodies that were aledgedly rebuilt/new. I have to see what pistons are in this thing...I was only told "flat-tops" and that it was "rebuilt 900+ miles ago". It ran good this summer. I put about 80 miles on it since buying it back in July.

I will do 2 stages of engine builds. First off, I'd like to mod the existing motor but that will be based on what I find. I really like the TF 440 kit. I think that on a 512 stroker would be pretty damn fine for a nice street car. So I'm thinking stage 1 is existing motor with the "too-big" TF 440 kit. Stage 2 will be the 512 stroker short block I build while I'm enjoying the over-head/cam/carbed 440!!

Come along for the ride. Please don't be afraid to yell at me and tell me I don't know what I'm doing. I've been married for 31 years....I've already heard that!!

Ted
 
Last edited:
Well, I typically finish everything I ever started...but life had other plans for my Dart. I had to say goodbye to my 2-owner 69 GTS 340 due to a health diagnosis I received shortly after buying it! I also said goodbye to 6 other cars in my collection. Funny how life works. But I'm back now. I'm not as good as I was, I'm actually better!! So, I FULLY INTEND ON FINISHING THIS NEXT PROJECT, but with another 67-69 Dart!! So I'm on the hunt for another candidate in restorable condition to make a nice street machine as I originally wanted. I am happy to say that a local guy in my area got my Dart and he's a FANTASTIC owner! Couldn't have sold it to a better guy. At least that worked out!! Mods, you can close this. It's history. I'll start a new build thread when I get a carcass!! It's good to be vertical!!

Ted
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top