1969 Dodge Dart Custom Sedan Slant Six, Father-Son Project

Okay, restoring a sedan has its challenges. Good luck finding replacements for headliners and seat upholstery. Especially seat upholstery. The market is driven by coupe restorations, and after purchasing and returning the ‘wrong’ parts more than once, we needed a break from the interior. ( I did finally find a headliner, and it’s on its way.)

Prior to purchasing it from him, the original owner disclosed that the #2 cylinder was dead due to a burnt exhaust valve. And the exhaust sure made pretty clouds of blue smoke when you stomped on the gas during our initial test-drive, so we knew that we were getting into a car that needed a full-up engine rebuild. I’ve pulled and rebuilt a few motors in the past, and my son was looking forward to learning how it was done.

What an easy motor to pull out! I love these older cars for their simplicity. Sure enough, the #2 cylinder exhaust valve was toast. The crank mic’d in 0.009 to 0.0014” past the wear limits (con rod and main journals both), so it’ll get a 0.010” undersize machining done along with a +0.030” cylinder bore. We found a machine shop near us that can do the work, and a rebuilt kit is on the way.