1969 Race Dart w/ 426 Hemi- garaged for 45+ years

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Swinger 340 said:
Not sure what you mean by "original condition". The door panels are from a Swinger, but not sure if it was a 340 swinger, by the "DART" name plates on the front fenders. It does have the shoulder belts as a 340 would. The grill is painted as a swinger. The seats are from a Dodge Van, as was the 68' Dart Hemi. Funny how the hood inner supports were removed, but the rear seat was still there, as the 68' Hemi had no rear seat. The roll cage is also added to the original car. Original, as in a "set up" race car from the day, is awesome!!!! I agree, leave it as is.
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The vin starts with "LM23P" so that is a swinger. According to the fender tag, it has almost no options, and appears to be "stripe delete" also.
 
Swinger 340 said:
Along the bead and stamp into the tire, not raised. I believe it is just a number. The week and last number would be the year. I'm sure the tires are way outdated. I would buy new tires and save the old ones until you can find more history of the car. Nice project you have here.
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Thank you. I plan on getting DOT legal for the back. I will definitely save the old ones. We will know a lot more next week when we take the engine out.
 
Very nice nostalgia Whats your plans driving or racing. If driving tell the engine rebuilder and find out if that hood is leagal in your area for the street. That is the nicest project anyone would love congratulations.
 
Swinger 340 said:
Not sure what you mean by "original condition". The door panels are from a Swinger, but not sure if it was a 340 swinger, by the "DART" name plates on the front fenders. It does have the shoulder belts as a 340 would. The grill is painted as a swinger. The seats are from a Dodge Van, as was the 68' Dart Hemi. Funny how the hood inner supports were removed, but the rear seat was still there, as the 68' Hemi had no rear seat. The roll cage is also added to the original car. Original, as in a "set up" race car from the day, is awesome!!!! I agree, leave it as is.
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The vin denotes a 340 swinger for sure. The code V88 on the fender tag says or means strip delete. If you chose stripe delete you got fender badges (Dart) in Lou of the stripe. On a GTS it would have GTS emblems on the front fender in Lou of a stripe. As far as the statement "original condition " , I believe he means as you already pointed out, original from back in the day as what a lot of motor heads were doing to their vehicles not that it is a factory production vehicle. Just my thoughts.
 
Bennoel 10 said:
The vin denotes a 340 swinger for sure. The code V88 on the fender tag says or means strip delete. If you chose stripe delete you got fender badges (Dart) in Lou of the stripe. On a GTS it would have GTS emblems on the front fender in Lou of a stripe. As far as the statement "original condition " , I believe he means as you already pointed out, original from back in the day as what a lot of motor heads were doing to their vehicles not that it is a factory production vehicle. Just my thoughts.
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Thank you! Appreciate the info on the stripe delete :thumbsup:
 
MILO said:
Very nice nostalgia Whats your plans driving or racing. If driving tell the engine rebuilder and find out if that hood is leagal in your area for the street. That is the nicest project anyone would love congratulations.
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Thank you! I live in West Virginia so pretty much everything is legal.............:thumbsup: I plan to drive occasionally and take it to shows as a tribute to my FIL. Engine builder is on top of it, Thanks again!
 
Hemisurfer said:
What an awesome find. I have a 68 Dart Hemi car automatic, its an old drag car so a similar situation. Just from my experience, I would have the entire drivetrain taken apart, motor, rear, transmission. Did it with mine and we found lots of issues that could have been a disaster had I romped on it hard one too many times. Get the mechanicals right first and consider if you want to drive it on the street, track or both.
Some observations, while really cool looking and interesting the roll bar looks sketchy, only an issue if you want to make passes in the car. I personally would get rid of the mag and run a period correct distributor set up for an MSD. Hide the MSD under the dash, will allow for better drive ability and a reliable rev limiter in case you miss a shift. Original Hemi Darts came with a transigniter ignition, cool old ignition but the MSD is just superior in many ways. If it is slick shifted you will be able to tell when you attempt to downshift at low speeds. The catch can is cool and still available from Mr. Gasket. I have one, decided not to run it for now because the lid is lose and sloshing water on the drag strip by accident and getting it on the rear tires is a bad situation. Might get that fixed and install it but just something to consider. I have an aluminum Weiand tunnel ram for my hemi and a magnesium cross ram. I am running the magnesium crossram and I have a replica Hemi Dart Hood that I got from Kramer Automotive. They also made the tunnel ram in magnesium, the magnesium versions are more valuable, check what you have. Dana is a necessity for a 4 speed car btw. If you swap cams consider a modern roller. Since it was a race car you prob have 12.5-1 pistons/pop ups. I run those, swapped in some good billet rods for reliability. Heads, guessing you have iron heads, I drive mine on on the street as well. I have aluminum Mopar heads less weight and less likely to detonate. Painted them engine color, nobody really notices they aren’t vintage. The seats in your car have the welting, 68 darts had no welting. The seats could be original 64-65 Hemi Super Stock seats which had the welting. Check the suspension, see if you have a snubber on the rear end. I would recommend adding one if not. Springs should be Super Stock versions, lots to check. By 72 when it was raced original hemi darts were being sold and parted out some of those parts could be on your car. Just guessing but your FIL may have run it as an A/MP car. Without going through everything associated with these cars I would recommend the Super Stock Hemi restoration guide so you can ID what parts you have, some of them could be quite valuable.

Decide what’s right for you but I would make the car safe and reliable so you can run it hard like it should be and not have to worry about it turning into an pile of parts. BTW either intake Crossram or tunnel will foul your plugs even with an MSD if you just drive it around like a normal car. The fuel will puddle in the intakes until you get some air flow going both are race intakes. There is a Super Stock forum on here if you want more info. As it sits easy 40-50K value, fixed up rebuilt much more IMO. Nothing like the sound of a well tuned and running race hemi. It’s so rowdy you will be amazed. Awesome unique car, congrats
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Thank you! Lots of great information, I appreciate it. The motor will be pulled this week and we are going through everything on the car to make it safe and reliable. It is a 4speed car and has a Dana 60 rear, not sure on the trans specifics yet, we will know this week. I will make sure to document everything and take a ton of pics..............Thanks again!
 
Hemisurfer said:
If you experience the plug fouling problem you can get a plug cleaner from Harbor Freight for 20 bux, the other option is to run it hard to clean the plugs up but that isn’t always viable. I think its worth the hassle to run the vintage race intakes and performance setup. I have a friend with a vintage drag car with a race hemi that has a rat roaster, same fouling issue. Check the read end ratio also, I am running 4:56 gears in a Dana 60 with the auto and a 4500 stall converter. I believe the original Hemi Darts with 4 speeds had 4:88 gears.
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Thanks! Here is an old plug cleaner from my FIL............

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Got the new front tires mounted on the car. I really like these wheels that were in the back of the car when I pulled it out of the garage. Simple, steel, I think they will stay as the fronts :thumbsup: Just need to clean them up and repaint them.

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Maxcustody said:
Got the new front tires mounted on the car. I really like these wheels that were in the back of the car when I pulled it out of the garage. Simple, steel, I think they will stay as the fronts :thumbsup: Just need to clean them up and repaint them.

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Belive it or not, alotta guys ran "Steelys" (y or ie?) Back in the day. In fact I had a magazine article with the 69 and a half 446 pack for Speed Roadrunner jacked out in the black steelies with chrome lug nuts in the same color as your car. It looked Wicked!
 
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Ironracer said:
Belive it or not, alotta guys ran "Steelys" (y or ie?) Back in the day. In fact I had a magazine article with the 69 and a half 446 pack for Speed Roadrunner jacked out in the black steelies with chrome lug nuts in the same color as your car. It looked Wicked!
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Steelies in front and the Keystones out back :thumbsup:
 
Hemisurfer said:
Bucky runs one of the fastest Hemi heritage 68 Barracudas in the US, he knows Hemis and has been around a long time he might have known your FIL and maybe knows some info about the car. Never hurts to ask, hes into racing.

Local tracks in the 60-90’s I used to go to were Mason Dixon in MD, 75-80 in Monrovia MD, Capitol Raceway in MD. Bucky would have been around those tracks as well as any drag strips in WV in 1972. BTW that car in 1972 would have been a very stout performer one of the fastest door cars at the track.
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Thanks, Great info I had no idea.............My FIL was in NJ and that is where the car was the last 50 years.
 
My stepson is a leo and I'll tell you the same thing I would tell him , Aren't you going to feel like a hypocrite everytime you break a traffic law ! Oh I forgot cops never speed .
 
Hemisurfer said:
The whole area Delaware, MD, PA, WV, VA, NC, Ohio, was a drag racers dream in those days so many tracks and racers in that area. I spent many late nights watching and over the years at times racing with my family saw so many iconic race cars and legendary drag racers. Check out “That Dart” online original factory hurst Hemi dart it used to run 10.20’s or so in original factory set up. One of my favorites along with the 1968 AMX super stocker “Wild Child’. I believe Bucky either owns or restored That Dart.
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I remember watching the hemi under glass the 1/4 mile was great nowadays a lot are 1/8 a lot has changed whats next I guess time will tell
 
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