Hey guys,

Just bought a 68 Dart 270 with a 225 /6. I plan on using it as my daily driver and fixing it up to have a little more oomph as well.

Before the Dart I owned a 01 BMW M5 (Big difference compared to the Dart ). It was a fun car but I wasn't able to do much to it. I really couldn't work on it due to lack of tools and money.

I recently got married and needed to sell the M5 to cut down on my costs so I was in the market for a new car. Wasn't sure what I wanted until a friend of mine brought another 68 Dart that he was trying to sell for a friend. Fell in love with the look of the car instantly.

http://imgur.com/a/cEOf9

It had some rough spots but I was willing to fix it up.

Originally I thought about doing a V8 swap and calling it good. Then I started looking into the slant sixes and got interested in them. Decided I wanted to break the mold and build a decent slant.

Unfortunately my friend blew the head gasket on that Dart and after fixing it he wanted too much money for it. So I set off looking for another vehicle and just happened to find another 68 Dart for sale within my price range!

So I drove 3 1/2 hours away to a tiny little town called Comptche. This Dart was a tad rougher on the inside but the body was in great shape if you ignore the paint job . Managed to talk the guy down a bit and drove home with my new Dart.

http://imgur.com/a/K8rfF

Sort of... I got 5 miles down the road and ran out of gas... Luckily I ran out right next to a hot springs that gave me enough gas to get back to the nearest town. Another 7 or 8 miles down the road and I hear a metallic clang sound... I pull over and my exhaust has snapped just behind the muffler on the bend over the axle. I was not prepared for this. :/ Luckily my wife had some zip ties in her trunk and I was able to temporarily hang it up until we drove the last few miles into town.

Promptly filled it with gas and hit the nearest O'Riellys. Bought a spool of mechanics wire and a locking gas cap to replace the duct tape over the fuel tank.

Finally got back on the road and she purred like a kitten until about 10 miles from home. Then the mechanics wire fell off. Hung it up again on the side of the road and made it home.

It was an interesting trip but well worth it. I have some plans laid out that I'll probably expand upon and get opinions in a future post but I think I've gone on long enough.

Being an IT guy I'm not an expert mechanic but I'm willing to learn and have some friends as back up just in case.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for the awesome information and especially the admins for keeping it running.

If you have any tips for me feel free to post or shoot me a PM.

Jacob

Welcome aboard.

Sounds as if you had a swell honeymoon with your new Dart. These cars are easy to work on, and parts are a steal compared to stuff you have been getting out of Munich.

Spend some time reading over "Articles on home page" and various "Stickies" found at the top of each category such as "Engine" as there is a ton of helpful information held within those pages.

Best first item you can get is a copy of Factory Service Manual for your 68 Dart. Paper and electronic editions are available on line, personally I like paper in book form as one can scribble notes in it. That document will answer and guide one correctly through just about any problem that arises with the Dart.

Post some pictures of your new car for us, and feel free to pick our brains.

Bill

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks glad to be here.

I've been looking at a lot of the info stored on the forums. I already did the fuel line mod and I'm currently looking into a HEI conversion.



I have a digital version of the 69 Service Manual but was unable to find a 68. I have a paper copy on my list of purchases. I also purchased 2 books that were recommended on the forums. The Petersen automotive troubleshooting & repair manual, and Auto mechanics Fundamentals



I posted some links in the original posting to an album I created with pictures of my Dart and the first Dart that got me interested. I thought it would be a little easier than posting them on the forums.

Jacob

Welcome to the forum, and to the world of Slant 6 Dart-dom. I have a 68 Dart 270 myself that I have owned, driven, and modified since age 16 (1988).

Enjoy!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I too have a '68 slant Dart 270 4 door. I started with a stock slant, then went 2 bbl, then turbocharged it. I started in a similar state, but the exterior paint was redone recently (starting to fade) and the interior was 100% shot.

I think I recognize that particular car. Someone on Fabo was selling one just like it that sat for a while, but I don't remember the black stripes. Maybe it's not the same one, oh well - yours now! . I just picked up another '74 4 door, but that's a 318, so no one will hear about it on these forums.

I too bought a 4 door so I could keep driving it. I modified the back seatbelts to newer ones with a much stronger latching system, and my kids ride happily in the back with car seats. I also added 3 point retractable harnesses up front because I drive it every day.

What are your plans for this fantastic more-door machine besides HEI?

Also, not sure why blowing the head gasket was a big deal for your friend, this engine has what I believe to almost be the easiest head gasket replacement ever. I have gotten down to about 1 hour, to get the head off the block. It's not that bad. All that ROOM!

I found this one on craigslist in Mendocino. Guy had it stored at a friends in Comptche.


My first car was only a 2 door/4 seater and while it was a nice car I just hated not being able to take friends with me. My best friend has 3 younger brothers so we would always end up in his 76 Nova to seat us all. From then on I always wanted 4 doors on my car.


Where did you end up getting seat belts? I definitely want to replace mine and add ones to the middle seats.


For starters I've gotten some quick ratio idler/Pittman arms to increase the ration to 12:1. Haven't put them in yet due to an oil leak that I'm still tracking down. I put in new plugs and I'm waiting on a new set of Magncor wires recommended on the forums.

In the future I was looking at the Aussiespeed long runner 2bbl intake with a Weber 38/38. Also was looking at the Clifford shortie headers and doing a dual exhaust with an X-Pipe and exiting out the sides. I'm would welcome any suggestions on this as I've heard that Clifford isn't what it used to be and I really don't know much about exhaust setups.

I also plan on getting a Ford 8.8 out of an Explorer and swapping out the rear axle. (Is this a fairly simple swap? Seems the info I've dug up says that they are almost a perfect match to the original setup)

I also have a friend that does custom suspension fabrication and says he could help me do a 4-link suspension in the rear. It sounds nice but I've not seen a lot of info on doing this to the A-bodies.

For the interior I have another friend that's a seamstress and she wants to try her hand at upholstery. She 'll do it for the cost of supplies and a low price so I'm willing to give her a change. I'll probably do a 2-tone with an outer trim of black carbon fiber vinyl and an inner section of charcoal grey fabric.

On the outside I was looking into plasti-dip. It seems like a fairly inexpensive way to paint the car so I might give that a go with a sublime green color. I'm currently testing the durability of it by coating my wheels with it.

I also want to convert the front brakes to a disk setup and get bigger wheels. The kit I'm looking at requires at least a 15" wheel so I was probably going to go with a classic Chrysler rallye wheel in 16". My friends are urging me to go with a 17" to make it easier to find tires but I'm not sure of how that would look. I like a little more tire on older cars personally.

Questions comments and concerns are welcome of course I'm sure there is something I'm missing here.

Jacob

Sounds like a fun start of ideas. I ran a 38/38 Weber on my slant for about a year and a half. It was a great carburetor. I sold it recently to someone on Facebook who bolted it on their slant and they're in love with it too. I switched to a Holley 350 because I couldn't bear to cut up that brand new Weber for a turbo setup. (Also the Weber cost me $340)...

But I had mine bolted to the stock Super Six manifold. They sell a kit on Amazon from Redline that is for the Jeep with a Carter carb setup. It bolts right up ready to go, and i personally didn't need to rejet or anything. Plugs were all nice and tan with no issues. I highly recommend that option if that's the route you're going. Also if you're dealing with an automatic car, I have a solution for the kickdown on a thread here. It worked great and it is a free solution rather than hunting down the 2bbl kickdown.



These plates come with it to bolt it right on.

For seat belts, I bought mine military surplus, they are intended for TOW missile Humvee's, are DOT approved and have super heavy duty components. They are about $30 a piece, and work BEAUTIFULLY. If they are in any position other than vertical they lock, so if you flip they lock you tight. Any jolt locks them just great. Each "piece" comes with the receiver as well, so for every $30 you spend you get one full setup. I have two spares too in case I ever need to replace one or something.

Also your stock setup should have had seat belts for the middle seats if it came stock with benches. They may have been removed, or the back seat one may have fell behind the seat.



For the back I got similar ones, I found them off Ebay from a company in Texas. Many people sell them, but they're all the same belt. It comes with the receiver, that bolts where the old belt receiver does, the retractor, and a mount. On the upper pillar, I manufactured an aluminum plate that screws to the pillar I drilled a 1 1/4" hole right below where the plate goes, and slid a 1" plate up into the pillar and sandwiched a 3" bolt between the two and put a nut and a nylock in the pillar (rather tricky) and the seat belt pivot on the outside. For the height I just made it comfortable for myself, in such a way that it did not travel across my neck. I made it the same height on the other side.

I got the idea for twin plating it from a conversion kit intended for classic Mustangs. I just made what I saw. The face plate is 1/4" aluminum. The interior plate is 1/4" steel bar stock.





I did my interior fabric with carbon fiber vinyl as well. The gray stripe in my seats are carbon fiber vinyl. I found a few bolts of it at the fabric store and just had to incorporate it somehow. Then I did diamond tuck for my door panels. I bought a sewing machine, taught myself how to sew basically and went to town. It was fun.



I have not done a rear end swap yet, so I can't offer any info there, and still have drum brakes all around, but discs are in my future. The '74 Dart we have has discs so if you ever needed a reference picture or something I could supply you with that. My car is on sagging leafs and shackles, and am planning on getting some super stock springs to just toss the whole setup, and allow it to sit higher without help. I personally like the rake look, so that's not for everyone.

If you're chasing an oil leak, touch the back of the head by the firewall, and see if your hand comes back oily, they like to drip there if the valve cover gasket isn't set, at least mine does if I neglect to put rtv in that back lower corner on top of the gasket.

Wow thanks for the info. How hard is it to find a super six manifold?

I do have an automatic but at some point I want to swap it with an A833 with an overdrive. Someday...

Those seat belts look like a great deal at only $30. I'll have to get a couple. I figured it should have had all 6 but the middle seats are definitely missing them. I believe the previous owner *may* have taken them along with a few other items for another project he had going. If you look at the pictures in the album the car had a stock gas cap on it. I didn't realize it until I had gotten home and didn't want to bother with confronting the guy.

Those seats look nice. How is the vinyl when it gets hot? That's the only thing I'm worried about with it. My work has an uncovered parking lot and it can get up to 105 degrees around here in the summer.

Jacob

The manifold can be found either in a junkyard off a late 70s volare or similar with the "supersix" setup, or you can scour ebay, or this forum and fabo. They usually pop up for $100-$150. The kickdown to make it work is usually $150 on its own, but since you have a '68, I have a free solution for you where the stock kickdown remains just where it is.

If you use a weber 38/38, the spring return even goes to the same spot as the holley 1bbl, so no need for a return arm.

I have a thread on here somehwere of how it all went together. I did not buy anything else except the carb kit and manifold.

The seat belts are definitly nice to have, but expect to fabricate some parts. They don't work in the stock 3 point location for the 68. The top point puts the belt right across your face - at least it did for me, and I'm 5'10". They also aren't really long enough for it. Getting the receiver end through the bench seat is also a little bit of a chore as it is wider than the stock receiver end. You just fish around till you find a spot to push it through then drag it over to where it goes.

The vinyl does just fine on hot days, but my rear 3 windows are also heavily tinted, so it's not really the best example.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/ ... e015db.jpg[/img]

It's been a fun couple of weeks... A few weeks ago the Dart wouldn't stay running at idle on the way to work. Managed to limp it there and then to my mechanic friends garage at lunch. He diagnosed it as a large intake leak on cylinders 4 and 5. Looks like the gasket just disintegrated. Limped it over to his home garage and used my wife's car for the day.

Bought a Fel-Pro gasket at Oreillys and we started the process of replacing the gasket.

It should have been fairly simple but the problems just kept compounding. We figured this was the best time to drill out the busted exhaust stud on cylinder 1 and replace it with the new one. It had been in there so long though that it didn't want to be removed. Ended up drilling it out and using a helicoil.



Then we turned to the manifolds. Cylinder one on the exhaust manifold had warped about 1/4 back from flush. My mechanic wanted to sandblast the manifold and then run it on a belt sander to get all the legs flush.

First the gloves on the sandblasting cabinet had to be replaced. Of course you can only get them online. 2 extra days. Then while running the manifolds on the sander the belt snapped. Had to wait another couple of days for a new belt. The 3 bolts securing the intake to the exhaust of course all snapped and had to be removed and replaced. The exhaust flange bolts both broke and had to be replaced.



Finally we got the manifolds back on and managed to get it leak free. Also got a new coolant overflow tank.



Then while tuning the carb coolant sprayed out of the overflow tank. Turns out my thermostat had been stuck shut. Don't know how I missed that and how it didn't overheat like crazy.

Got a new water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, hoses, and radiator cap.

Spilled a ton of transmission fluid unhooking the lines to the radiator... Couldn't get the thermostat housing to seal with the gaskets provided. Had to use RTV. Ended up staying up till 1:30 AM trying to get it running so I could drive to work in the morning...

Still love my car though [/img]

Me quoting me: Marital bliss, the honeymoon continues! You are handling your car's little peccadillos in stride. Soon you will take her for granted.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Looks like a sweet find! See this post for guidance on safety, performance, and other upgrades throughout the car.
That's an interesting place to start. It's a good idea to carefully scrutinise the whole front end for worn parts and bushings (unless the front end has recently been rebuilt, there's likely to be quite a complete list of parts in need of replacement).

Tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread.
Why? Are you building a race car...? There are many(!) options much more reasonably suitable for street use.
Be very careful before you decide to spend any money with Clifford. They have a long and ugly reputation for being a bunch of clowns; see for example here, here, here, here, and here. Much of what they sell is inaccurately described, and a lot of it is not even slightly cost-effective. The good news is that you don't need to go to Clifford to get hot rod parts for slant-6s; there are lots of other, better options. See for example Dutra Duals and header options discussed in this thread and this one, Erson custom cams, HEI ignition upgrade, Mike Jeffreys windage trays, Hurricane intakes, other exotic intakes. Hi-perf engine buildup here, high-perf parts and build info here.
V8 ideas don't necessarily translate well to inline-6 applications. Better results with a 6-into-2-into-1 setup (Dutra Duals into a neatly-made Y-pipe such as this one, then into a thoughtfully-sized single pipe and thoughtfully (there's that word again!)-selected muffler...
...and a full tailpipe dumping downward-rearward out the back, unless you want yourself and your passengers to be trapped in a moving cloud of exhaust at low speeds and when stopped in traffic.
This swap is well documented. Is there a particular reason you have a rear axle swap in mind...?
Why? Aside from being able to say you have a 4-link suspension in the rear?
It is. It is also not a very durable way to paint the car.
Smart.
Beware of feature creep. The ideas you're tossing around won't give a good and durable result if done in isolation or with the mindset that an old car will respond the same as a new car to them -- it will not. For example, giant wheels relative to what came on the car will put extreme overstress on suspension and steering components that weren't designed for it. Stuff can break. Stuff can bend. Stuff can wallow out. This doesn't mean "don't touch it, leave it stock", but be aware of the full scope of the effort and expense(!) needed to get a good and durable end result given the car you're starting with and the ideas you have in mind.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I haven't actually installed the pittman and idler arm yet as I'm going to rebuild the front suspension with a kit. Most likely a PST kit.

I'm curious why the AussieSpeed intake wouldn't be suited for street use? Is it due to the long runners? It seemed to be fairly well sized for street use.
http://www.aussiespeedshop.com/product/ ... hurricane/

Of course I'm by no means an expert.


I've looked at all the info on Clifford and I probably won't do business with them. I'll probably end up doing Dutra Duals like you suggested. Not really a fan of the look of them but whatever.

The HEI install is underway now and I'll probably have it done this weekend hopefully. I had already purchased new Magnecor wires and plugs earlier.

I have come to understand your reasoning on the exhaust. Due to the break the day I bought it it currently dumps out just in front of the axle and it does cause some issues with the window open...

The Ford 8.8 comes with discs and can be had for dirt cheap around here. I can also get a LSD for it if I ever decide to go that route.

I plan on the 4 link because my springs in the rear are in bad shape and looking at the price of new springs for it was almost the same amount as building a 4 link.

I know Plastidip isn't durable but I can paint the whole car for under $200 and it'll last for a couple of years. By then I hope to be able to give it a real paint job.

Hopefully these mods aren't too out there. I know the Dart won't ever be a major performer but I do want to get the most out of it. It's a vehicle that I want to have for a long time. I welcome opinions though so fire away.

Jacob

As an owner of the aussiespeed 2v intake, I'm not sure I'd do it again. I'd definitely not recommend it to anyone else. Even considering the half price that I bought it at.

The long runners are what makes it unsuitable for street use, along with the fact that it's not heated. No matter what v8 chebby guys will tell you, on a slant that intake needs to be heated, especially with a decently long intake as the hurricane. Also, this intake has stock sized ports, and really isn't that great on performance. Especially not for a 600 dollar intake!

I think a hogged out super six intake with adapter plate and the 2300 Holley or Autolite/motorcraft wouldn't be much less performance wise, and considerably cheaper while keeping sane fuel economy. The problem is, 2 barrel intakes are getting pricey. It may be better to jump in with both feet and find an Offy 4 barrel intake (still has exhaust heat) and a small 4 barrel. Offy's can be had for ~240 new, and as low as $100 used. Same or better performance, with a much wider selection of carbs, not to mention lower priced.

And I'm no expert either

Oh, and what springs are you looking at that a 4 link/coilovers would be cheaper?!

JBracey: That will soon change to; too many tools and not enough money. Not to worry, Harbor Fright has lots of big tool boxes on wheels and 20% off coupons.

Progress is being made, and repairs you have made are typical and not uncommon for these cars; soldier on my man.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC