True color?

[Tarr]

Does anyone know what the true engine color is suppose to be on a 69 340 Dart?
I've seen blue (pretty sure that came later) red (saw it on some 273's and the old orange. I'd really like to know what it came with. I've looked at all the pix I can find and the colors are all over the place.

Thanks.

 

[AdamR]

depends on who you ask. Early cars may be red (as were 68s) some guys say orange, while others say Turquoise. 70 340s were orange, 71s were orange till around April when they went blue.

 

[340Dart]

My 69 Dart Swinger 340 was Turquoise. It still was all original from the original owner. Engine was never taken out. I wish I still had the car. Rust took it over. The engine is in my car now.

Fred B

 

[tomt966]

I can tell you without a doubt that the '70 was orange. I think the 69 was turquoise.

 

[George R]

My original 69 Dart 340 was turquoise from the factory. The orig turq paint was still on it..

George

 

[Tarr]

has access to Chrysler's info on this. People seem all over the place on this and IF I ever decided to show the car, I wouldn't want to be gigged for the wrong color. My 340 was blue because it is a 72 engine but I want the correct color before I put it in the car. Car is in body shop now and will have everything painted so don't want to mess it up with over-spray.

 

[norshorblufish]

Try mymopar.com the 69 340 was turquoise.
here's a link http://mymopar.com

 

[norshorblufish]

sorry the link didn't work must of missed something.
you could probably just go to their site.

 

[Tarr]

Searched for engine paint and all it listed was one color for 60-69 and didn't state the color.

 

[7071DartGTReg]

OK People!
The 1969 340 in Swingers was 2 different colors! EITHER the Hemi Orange or the Turquoise. As for 273 Red - I have never seen a 1969 340 That color. It seems to depend on the Build Plant and Date of Build. I was a judge at a show around 17 years ago where I first ran into this issue, We had 1 1969 340 Swinger of each. Both were unrestored originals. I have ran into this issue several times since then. The Turquoise engines seem to have come from the St. Louis, MO plant with a Build Date up to December 1968. The Hemi Orange engines seem to be in all after January 1969. This is what I have seen and read in several articles about this issue to date.

As a show judge for the matter of 1969 340 Swinger engines I see both/either as correct engine colors in general show judging. In concours judging I look at the Build Date and Plant to determine points for correctness. Hope this helps.

This is based on MY personal experiances and should be taken as such! No more, no less.

Later,
Bruce B.

For the purpose of this reply the following 1969 Mopar engine colors are referenced:
Turquoise P4120752
Hemi Orange P4349216
Reference from: http://www.mymopar.com/enginecolors.htm

 

[70dart]

Depends on the build date of your car. Were you able to locate the build sheet for your car?

 

[MtNemoMopar]

Mine was blue. Build date-Jan 30, 1969. Hamtramck plant.

 

[Tarr]

My car was originally a green car with a green int. Someone before me changed the entire interior to blue so I don't have a build sheet. I'm having the car painted B5 Blue so I don't have to change the effort that someone else has spent the money to change the trim. Not to mention that I like the B5 and don't like the pale green the car came with. I would prefer black but I don't think it would look right with the blue interior. I love black/black but it is h_ll without a/c.

 

[Tarr]

This is a point of confusion. You can tell from the post that there is some confusion. I just wish I knew which my car was suppose to have for the car I have. What can I look for to see what I need?

 

[AdamR]

Well if your car is no longer the original color interior/exterior and either orange or turquoise is considered correct just do it what ever color you like better.

 

[mcodecuda]

My '69 340 Formula S is all original. It was built at the Hamtramck plant with a build date of 2/22/69 and it is turquoise.

 

[63dartman]

Just what AdamR said, If you don't have a build sheet then it's up to your preference. Especially since it's not original.

 

[Tarr]

I would love to have a numbers matching original but couldn't swing it. The fact that like to flog the cars I have always ends up costing me an engine at some time. It would be a shame to destroy a numbers matching car. With what I plan, I can run it hard and not worry about that.

 

[yellowdartdave]

Check the Data Tag for the scheduled production date and assembly plant if you want to get real picky.
since it is your car and not the original motor, I have only one thing to say...


Hemi Engine Orange looks great against B5 Blue !!

 

[1BADGTS]

There is a TSB that in the below website calls out the engine colors.
Hopefully, you can access it at:
http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/TSBs/1969/D69-25-1 page5.jpg
On some of the applications it calls out a turquoise color on the standard engine and orange on the high performance one, like my 383 Dart. As far as I know there was only one 383 motor available and it was orange.
On the 340 tho it is pretty consistant, turquoise.

 

[fulltank]

Thanks guys after reading the info I found out my 68 318 LA
Block should be red not blue, now I gotta pull it out LOL