1969 Dart GTS340 on the way

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17remfan

17remfan

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Hello,Im new here and after having several Pontiacs over the years , I wanted to take a crack at owning one of my true favorites.I will soon have a really cool 69 Dart GTS 340/ ...pics on the way once I take ownership.

Some info about this car.Well it sits with a very nice new paint job in a lite green color .The interior is in great shape to with two tone lite green colors, ( very nice for green and infact, I really like it ...).Here is how its equiped. Bucket seats ,column shift ,power steering ,Air conditioning and dual mirrors with stem adjuster for pass side.This is a matching numbers 340 with 727 trans ,8 3/4 posi rear with 3.55s I think and the factory manifolds and exhaust with tips are still in place.

The car is very solid and since the paint /interior are fine .That only leaves me to work on cleaning up the engine bay and engine.The AC unit is all intact but a hose has been disconected . Ill have to see if I want to try to get it working . I bet it would be good for the overall value in the end .The heater core is in place but the hoses are off. Hope I can check that without pissing antifreeze all over the rug .Im sure Ill be back here often looking for help .Well what do you guys think ??All comments are highly welcome .Wish me luck. Its going to be a fun year ..
 
Just a bit more info on the car.One non stock item is a low rise Edelbrock intake was added years back and the engine was lifted out?? and block /heads painted orange. That should be blue right??Car has the cool looking dog dish poverty caps and factory air cleaner sits on an edelbrock carb .The factory undercoating is still doing its job under the car and the floors and pannels are nice and solid.There is surface rust on the exhaust and the suspension components. I would like to see if I can use a rust inhibitor on the exhaust to avoid having to replace it.In general ,ill be using that product any place I find rust. Is that how your guys deal with that problem? The radiator is in very good shape but the clutch fan is very grimmy with some lite rust and faded paint .

The very first thing on my list is to replace all the belts ,anti freeze hoses and vac lines in addition to a new battery. The gas filter is plastic junk and sitting way to close to the exhaust for me ..that will get replaced and relocated. The car starts and runs without rough shakeing or any smoking Would NAPA be a good source for Mopar parts? Thanks
 
Just a thought,but if the heater hoses are disconnected that,s a good sign the heatercore is going to be junk.Old anti-freeze turns acidik and can also rot frost plugs from inside out.Has this car been sitting long?Check for leaks,also check rad for any stop leak product,plugs up cooling system pretty good.Good Luck!pics and price?If you don,t mind diclosing.
 
17remfan said:
Just a bit more info on the car.One non stock item is a low rise Edelbrock intake was added years back and the engine was lifted out?? and block /heads painted orange. That should be blue right??Car has the cool looking dog dish poverty caps and factory air cleaner sits on an edelbrock carb .The factory undercoating is still doing its job under the car and the floors and pannels are nice and solid.There is surface rust on the exhaust and the suspension components. I would like to see if I can use a rust inhibitor on the exhaust to avoid having to replace it.In general ,ill be using that product any place I find rust. Is that how your guys deal with that problem? The radiator is in very good shape but the clutch fan is very grimmy with some lite rust and faded paint .

The very first thing on my list is to replace all the belts ,anti freeze hoses and vac lines in addition to a new battery. The gas filter is plactic junk and sitting way to close to the exhaust for me ..that will get replaced and relocated. The car starts and runs without riough shakeing or any smoking Would NAPA be a good source for Mopar parts? Thanks
Click to expand...


First things first 17remfan, what's your name and where are you from. What works best is make a list of questions and then jump right in.

Terry
 
Hello 17remfan, welcome to the site. That sounds like a nice GTS you`ve bought there. I agree with pettyblue about the hoses, most of the time when they`re disconnected it means the heater core is toast. You can check the heater core by plugging both ends of the core and then install a hose through the plug on one end and pull a vacuum on it with a pump. If it holds a vacuum then it should be okay. If you live in a hot climate I would put some effort into getting the A/C going again. The engine should be colored turquoise if you want it correct. It`s possible though if it`s a very late `69 build ,that the engine may have been sprayed orange like a `70. If the fuel filter is too close to the manifold then it`s possible the original metal fuel line from the pump to carb has been lost and should be replaced to orient the filter back to it`s original position. Replacing all of the hoses, belts, and associated rubber parts on the engine is a good idea. I would also change ALL of the fluids as well as flushing the cooling system. You never know what the previous owner had in the car. If the car has sat a long period then flushing the gas tank is a good idea. Napa generally has good parts for our cars. It sounds like a nice clean solid car you`ve found there, keep us updated as you make progress on it.
 
Nice car, rem. These guys here really know their stuff.

By the way, you will nee MoPar dialysis to remove GM lingo from your vocabulary...it is SureGrip, not "posi."
 
Thanks for the interest in the car and by the way, My name is Doug and im from southern NY. I go to a few local car cruises in Summer dont many mopars around . They always excite me when I do spot one.Last year a friend traded his nova for a mint 69 barracuda 340. He really scored on that and it got me thinking how badly I actually want a Mopar.It sure will be fun to rumble up to him with this thing. I know Ill have a smile on my face.


Im glad that I have found this site. Im having fun here already.I have been told that hemi orange might be the correct color for my engine . It sure looks original and I find it hard to think the engine was pulled just to paint in so many years ago.Any other thought on if the hemi orange is the correct color for this engine / 69 340 GTS Dart?

Photos will be on the way here shortly.Maybe this weekend .I see interesting ,factory marking on the suregrip rear. Looks like a large A and an X along with an other letter hard to make out maybe O C or G. Did AC cars come with 3.55 or 3.91 gears ? or would it more likly be the 3.23s?3.23 or 3.55 would be fine with me ....
 
Welcome to FABO. I believe the correct color is turquoise, but the swinger guys should be able to confirm this, (George R, Skipsdart, Etc....). Sounds like you have a mostly original car. I don't believe the remote pass side mirror is correct, but once again someone might chime in and correct me or confirm you.

Good luck with the car and can't wait to see pics.
 
Photos will be on the way here shortly.Maybe this weekend .I see interesting ,factory marking on the suregrip rear. Looks like a large A and an X along with an other letter hard to make out maybe O C or G. Did AC cars come with 3.55 or 3.91 gears ? or would it more likly be the 3.23s?3.23 or 3.55 would be fine with me ....

The X on the side of the center section or pumpkin means that the center is a 741 style which is the smallest pinion shaft of the 3 types of 8 3/4" rears. The other 2 are 742 and 489 and the numbers are the last 3 digits on the center section casting number that you'll find on the bottom of the pumpkin. There's really no telling what your gears are cuss they could have been changed over the years but the quickest way is to jack up the rearend so's both tires are off the ground and turn the pinion and count how many times the the pinion turns to 1 turn of the wheels. If the pinion turns 3.9 times she's a 3.91 to 1 ratio. Also while you've got it in the air turn 1 wheel in forward motion and if the other wheel turns in the same direction she is a sure grip for sure.

Terry
 
Thanks for the information about the rear in my car . Smallest pinion diameter offered seems right since its an AC car .I talked to a friend with a shop and we will get it in there to see what needs doing . I will probably have him pull the engine out to get the engine and engine bay back in order.It should go pretty quickly if I take that route. Might as we tackle it head on . Once thats done and the bottom of the car is freshened up and re undercoated, shes going to be pretty darn sweet.
 
I found this chart online which shows the engine color of the 69 340s to be red.Ill have to think a while on this. I like the hemi orange color very much. Here is the chart. Maybe it can be useful to others here.I remember now ,my dads 67 273 valiant engine was red as the chart shows .

http://www.turbinecar.com/misc/enginecolor.htm
 
All 69 340's were blue(but it is debated that early ones were 68 colour...red, NO 69's were orange)
Welcome aboard. It's nice to see another brand x'er join the dark side.

69 Swinger1 (Small).JPG
 
*1969 and 1970 340LA engines - were painted Street Hemi Orange - for any 340 engines that appears to be more orange than red were probably Mopar Paint P4349216

The above is a quote I got online at the bottom of a mopar engine paint color chart.
 
Sorry friend, they are wrong. 69's were blue, 70's were orange. Lots of folks try to claim that 69's were orange so they can paint theirs orange. Not saying this is dyed-in-wool, but I've NEVER seen a 69 painted orange from the factory.

DSCN0105 (Small).JPG
 
17remfan, there`s a lot of information that`s inaccurate or only partially correct in print and on the internet. For probably 98% of the 340`s produced in 69 the correct color is turquoise with a few early 69`s coming in red (68 color)and a few late 69`s orange (70 color). The orange or red `69 ,340 is real rare but have been documented. Do some research and find out the build date of your Dart ,I`d love to know when it left the factory. If the orange is original you have a rare color there. One thing to remember with Mopar is ,never say never, nor all.
 
I had an "expert" at a show tell me that my engine HAD to be a 318, because it was blue. I have been tempted to paint my 68 engine orange, but I'm still on the fence(someone please tell me this would be ok LOL)
 
Thanks for the info . I trust you Mopar eating and breathing guys anyday. LOL I think I did spot a tiny bit of blue on the dipstick tube and the other owner says the thing was repainted orange by someone long ago.
 
Here is some paperwork about the paint colors. The thread is on this site somewhere

69Moparenginecolors.jpg


69moparenginepaintcolorchange.jpg
 
MtNemoMopar said:
All 69 340's were blue(but it is debated that early ones were 68 colour...red, NO 69's were orange)
Welcome aboard. It's nice to see another brand x'er join the dark side.
Click to expand...

17remfan said:
*1969 and 1970 340LA engines - were painted Street Hemi Orange - for any 340 engines that appears to be more orange than red were probably Mopar Paint P4349216

The above is a quote I got online at the bottom of a mopar engine paint color chart.
Click to expand...

Even Galen swears they were "some sort of blue" but after having beat up by Judges at the Mopar Nationals and original 1969 340 owners, the 1969 340 was indeed TURQUOISE, not blue, and certainly not 1968 340 Chrysler Red (Not Hemi Orange either.)

17remfan Please send me the info on your new GTS so I can register it on the website.
For more info about the 67/68/69 GTS check out the GTS Registry at:
www.geocities.com/gtsreg/
 
I only said "blue" because I can't can't spell turkoys. LOL
And maybe I'm colour blind, because it sure as hell looks blue to me. The old big blocks looked more turkeyeoys though....at least to me.
 
Well guys here are a few photos of my car what do you think
dart048.jpg
 
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