1969 Swinger 340

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Great Job!! Glad to see you found oiling the problem. Keep up the good work, I'm hooked!
 
I lucked out at a pull and pay junkyard, I bought a driveshaft from a b body four door 727 8 3/4 car to have cut for the dart, and then got home and measured it. It was spot on length wise, wouldn't have guessed the five speed was shorter! With a conversion joint and the Dakota yoke, it bolted right in tonight, gotta love that luck! Now I have to finish the rear brakes and fill stuff with fluid. I will have a delay in the progress as I will not be in town this weekend. I am heading to Florida to help my cousin with a 5.2 magnum efi swap in his '46 Ford pickup, should be a cool swap, so the Dart will have to wait a week or so.
 
The efi Mopar /46 ford conversion is complete, and only in two days, so now I'll get back on my dart. I got the fuel pump in the tank, plumbed and wired, test fired it and now it is a self sufficient car! I hope to get the back brakes together tomorrow, and maybe the car will move under its own power for the first time since I've owned it!
 
The Dart pulled itself out of the shop today! The slave for the clutch isn't working, but the sure grip is :).




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Ralphie,
Those milestones like moving under it own power, keep you motivated. I surely hope my turn is coming soon. Great Job, and keep up the diligent work. If I can help, please, just drop me line.
Martin
 
I sorted the problem with the slave cylinder, it was an undersized master cylinder. I had a 3/4 bore and it needed a 1 inch to move enough fluid to to push the slave all the way. The ax15 has it's fork pivot on the passenger side, so the slave has to travel pretty far to work properly. I changed it out last night and it slips right into gear. Also welded up a exhaust for now, and stuck it on. Tonight I tested it in the driveway and I got I to third gear, so the trans at least works that well!
 
Thanks Martin, I appreciate the help! Since it's starting to be a runner, I just see how many things are left to do before I can drive it!
 
Well I've taken a break from the dart for a week or so, I was able to take the car down the street a couple of times, this thing will be fun! Unfortunately my slapped together used parts engine is proving troublesome again, as I developed a loud lifter tick on the passenger side. Pulled the valve cover and the rear intake pushrod is loose, looks like a collapsed lifter. Being that you have to pull the head to get lifters out, it will be quite a job in the car. I think I will just move forward with the car for a while, as I am kind of tired of it being apart. I may keep my eyes peeled for a running truck hemi and just throw it in, they pop up on craigslist every once in a while for a grand or so, and then I can give this engine a real build! It sucks, but swapping engines is a weekend job and for the 500 bucks or so that I have in the ticking engine, it doesn't owe me anything. At least I dot have to push it around the shop anymore!
 
A little atf in the oil might loosen that lifter up...just be sure to change the oil after.
 
No real updates lately, I think I am going to pull the heads off and throw a set if lifters in it, but I have my dad's roadrunner clone in my shop for a four speed conversion at the moment. Once I get that done I'll be ready to get back after it!
 
Well I don't have any real updates on the dart yet, other than letting it sit in the corner with a cover on it for two months didn't fix the problem :). I finished my dad's four speed swap in his roadrunner, and worked on some welding on my other car, so now it's time to get back after this car. I threw a battery in it the other day and it fired right up like a new ram, (only noisier). My buddy loaned me a set of used lifters to try, so after Mopar nats I will pull the heads off and get after it!
 
Sorry its been so long since the last update, but I actually have made progress on the car. In the last four months I started a new job, so the Dart was obviously not the first priority, but I was able to make a lot of headway on the car. The new set of used lifters worked, and I was able to pull the heads off of the car while the engine was in, which I worried about with the minimal space in this car. I pulled the heads and rocker assemblies apart, and cleaned some residual crap out of them, and found the original lifters were pretty varnished and contaminated. Once I put it all together, it purred like a kitten, and ran great again!:cheers:



 
Once the car was running again, I had a lot more motivation to work on it, and I decided to get rid of the gray primer to "start new" lol. Red oxide epoxy primer with a black tail stripe and roof kind of hint to the final color combo, but this thing has a long trip to body work. I also got the headlight panels out of the original rusted fenders and into the glass ones. The grille is in, and all of the lights are in working order. The plan was to get it so I could take it down the street for some testing.



 
The short trips around the house made me get braver, and it went to the gas station five minutes away, to the nearest town ten minutes, and then finally I drove it to work which is about forty minutes one way. The steering box needs a rebuild, and it has a driveline vibration over 55 mph, but its officially a licensed, insured, driving car! Its definitely not pretty, but it is fun to drive for sure. The hemi is very crisp with the efi, causes it to be very traction limited...:burnout:

 
One more, my daughter yells at the end of the video so watch your ears, lol. Sorry for the bulk posting, but yeah, I'm excited to have it on the road! [ame="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll285/ralphie361/Mobile%20Uploads/trim6E16F8E2-639A-4E11-A43E-0BC215D81E4D.mp4"]
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Sweet! Nice to see an update here!! Car sounds great and I love the new look! :D
 
Thanks Caleb, I'm having a blast with this thing! Did you ever decide to use an ax15 in your Duster? Now that this thing is up and running, I can say that it feels pretty good with 3.23s. It could use a shorter throw shifter, but the gear spread feels ok for a non performance trans.
 
Yea I'll use it eventually in one of my cars. I've got a 72 and a 71 now. The ax15 will probably eventually go in my 72 behind a 5.9 magnum since the trans tunnel is already all hacked but for now I'm puttin in a 904 to get it drive able.
 
That shifter is on my wish list, someday I'll hopefully upgrade. The 5.9 with the ax15 will be a nice combo in your duster, that's what I have in my 95 Dakota (originally a v6 truck) and I haven't broken the trans in 60k miles of "spirited" driving. If you want any pointers on an efi swap let me know, I have a 68 fury with a 5.2 magnum and I converted my cousins 46 ford to an efi magnum as well, and it's a cheap, easy swap! I was originally going to do the same in my dart until I fell into the hemi and got sucked in, lol.
 
Went to the junkyard yesterday, and found an 4cyl 98 Dakota and nabbed the shift boot and shorter shift lever out of it. It makes the shifter much better, and looks nice too. Also grabbed an overflow bottle out of a minivan, with no hood the coolant would vent onto the windshield, lol.

 

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