1969 Dart Street/Strip (Re)Build

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I tighten mine with a wrench by hand as tight as I can get them if that helps any.

While you are down there check your starter as well and make sure it did not come loose. After that check to see if your header tubes are close to anything.

I also had a balancer come apart before. It made some horrific noises as well. It started to eat the timing cover and the engine was rattling etc because it was out of whack.
 
also check for exhaust leaks. i once tore an engine down and pulled the cam because i swore it had wiped a lobe. ended up being a small exhaust leak.
 
You guys nailed it! Loose converter bolts! I knew I shouldn't have trusted that torque I used. One was finger loose and the rest I bet I got a half turn out of them. Started it up and knock gone. What a relief.
 
clinteg said:
You guys nailed it! Loose converter bolts! I knew I shouldn't have trusted that torque I used. One was finger loose and the rest I bet I got a half turn out of them. Started it up and knock gone. What a relief.
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Heck yes! Go run the bageeeebers out of it!
 
Loaded up the car this evening and giving her a send off tomorrow. She'll be resting the next couple weeks at the engine builder getting a rear main seal leak and head gasket leak fixed. I'm also going to have him compete the drive shaft loop, figure out why my brakes pull hard left (probably gunked caliper), send my fuel pump back to Aeromotive, and a couple other small things.

Took a friend of mine for a ride yesterday. He has a '70 Challenger with a 512 stroker in it. No slouch of a car and as beautiful and clean as they come. He just got his motor done around the same time I got mine done. Anyhow I took him out and I wasn't nice to the car of course. I drove how I built it to be driven! He says to me "Damn dude, this makes my 512 seem like a normal 440. This is the fastest car I've ever ridden in!" He also mentioned how I can't keep my foot out of it. Duh! I built a MOPAR GO CAR not a SHOW CAR! But I thought it was cool how impressed he was with it.

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Mad Dart said:
Looking good! Hot Small block's & A Body's are like peanut butter and Jelly! They just work great together! Don't forget to tell your buddy to change his underwear! haaaaaaaaa

WTF is next?? View attachment 1714758663
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There is a guy that works with Jim (Challenger owner) and I that was saying "Oh there's no comparison between a stroker big bock and a stroker small block. He just ain't driving it hard. Your car ain't faster. Blah blah blah" I was just like whatever man. I've ridden in the Challenger (with GoPro video as well to see the action) and he had the pedal to the mat when I rode with him. It just doesn't have the ballz that the Dart has. Even Jim has admitted that and told this guy. But he still doesn't believe it. That's ok though. Skeptics are everywhere :burnout:
 
Now that the car is in the shop, I've started to get some time rearranging the garage and getting pictures of stuff I need to sell. Also got a few old pictures off the camera that I never posted. I can tell that I didn't take many pictures towards the end of the build. I supposed I was in "get the damn thing runnning" mode. But anyhow, here's some from the summer.







This is the exact same coil that MSD puts their name on and doubles the price for. I think this was $27 or $28.



Had to cut away the fan shroud to clear the water pump motor.







Battery tray in and hiding the wiring









Brakes and such



Exhaust









And this is what you'll have to do when you don't tighten your lug nuts and almost loose a wheel!



 
Thanks for the read, and the motivation for my 69.

Keep up the solid work man.

Subscribed..
 
Got out to the track in Tulsa today for the Mopars at the park. First time ever driving on a drag strip and driving the car second run went a 10.99 with only 28 degrees timing on the motor which is what I run for pump gas.p I was pleased since I really didn't expect to hit 10's today! 60 ft times are not great at 1.6X best. I couldn't get it to hook real well on launch but it still went good. Ended up 10.89 best ET and I want to say 123.6 was my best mph. I think it will really need slicks to get those 60ft times down. Weighed it too. Came in at 3094 lbs without driver. Anyhow, now I know it can run 10's, I can spend the rest of the winter finishing it up and get it ready for spring. Stoked!
 
Oh and just a bit of info on the speedhut gauges, I checked the ET on the speedo to the track time on the second run. The gauge read 11.00 and my slip said 10.994! I'd say the GPS is very accurate!
 
I've been following your build for a long time. It has to be a GREAT feeling to go out and turn a time like that! Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy your car a long time.
 
bvt69dart said:
I've been following your build for a long time. It has to be a GREAT feeling to go out and turn a time like that! Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy your car a long time.
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It's definitely a great feeling to get to this point. I didn't think I'd get 10's that day with my driving experience and not having to tweak the car to get it there either. It was exciting to say the least. Now I can rest the winter knowing the car is into the 10's as I'd hoped. I'll get the interior finished out, thinking of installing a wideband sensor too, will probably tweek the cutouts so they don't hang so low, and in the spring put it on a chassis dyno. And to think about a month ago I was ready to sell it! I think I would have hated myself if I had done that.
 
Recap of last weekend's racing at Mopars at the Park meet.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSejJEr67MA&list=UU-GzoYKbSrF_XhzeLWfzn-g&feature=player_detailpage"]First Race Day in the Dart - YouTube[/ame]
 
Car runs real strong. For first time out you did WAY good! It will only get better from there with some tuning and some Race fuel so you can BUMP the timing up about 6* or so.
 
Mad Dart said:
Car runs real strong. For first time out you did WAY good! It will only get better from there with some tuning and some Race fuel so you can BUMP the timing up about 6* or so.
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Was running 110 in it. Had it kept at 28 degrees the first couple runs then moved it to 36. I didn't notice a huge difference really and not sure why. Only saw a 10th better over the 28 degree timing. Still couldn't lay into it off the line though.
 
You still did good first time out. When you bumped the timing it probably got more loose on you out of the hole.
 
Mad Dart said:
You still did good first time out. When you bumped the timing it probably got more loose on you out of the hole.
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Thanks! It was tons of fun though. I was a little strung out with adrenaline, worry, happiness, concern, my mind didn't know what to feel! Lots of learning to do yet. My 60ft is what didn't change so I think you're right. My mph did go up with the timing change.
 
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