1973 Dart 340 Sport Project

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supertruck

supertruck

Unretired Old Fart stock car racer
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2016
Messages
794
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Location
Gloucester, Va
Bought this one because it's exactly like my very first new car - 73 Dart 340 Sport, black exterior, white interior, 3.91 Sure Grip. Lots of work to do, as the photos show, but I'm retired and able to spend some time (and money!) getting it done. Structurally it's fine but lots of sheet metal work to do. Doing the work myself so I'm sure there will be hiccups but I'll get there. Plan to put it back mostly stock appearing but adding a 408 stroker and the 200-4R transmission. Just completed heater box restoration, interior repairs, and dash re-do, waiting on the PST front end kit and new interior pieces now. Plan is to redo the suspension, re-do the engine bay, build and install the engine/transmission, then tackle the exterior sheet metal. Last will be completing the interior and repainting. Wish me luck!

Driver floor pan.jpg


Engine bay.jpg


Floor primed.jpg


Holes in floor.jpg


instrument panel.jpg


Interior as bought.jpg


Left Side.jpg
 
Some random pics of the progress. Lots going on at the same time, but getting there. Installed the PST front end rebuild kit, larger sway bar, drilled and slotted rotors, larger torsion bars. Got a Helwig rear sway bar with new springs. Recovered the seats with legendary covers. Stripped and painted the dash frame. Bought a new Sure Grip with 3.91 Motive gears. Installed the leaf spring 1/2 inch relocation kit, re-welded the spring perches on the rear end housing. Replaced the rotted out floor pans. Stripped and repainted the under hood area. Decided to stay with the 340. Bought Edelbrock heads, a Lunati Voodoo cam. Rocker geometry corrected by B3 Racing Engines, the 1.6 rockers will give the Voodoo a .527 / .547 lift. Will post more pics as I get a chance.

Floor pan removed.jpg


Floor pan.jpg


Under hood.jpg
 
Wow not one comment so far. Looks like a a solid project. Floor looks great What kind of primer did you use?
 
I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer for just about all of it so far. Lots of sanding, wipe it down with degreaser, and spray. So far it's working well. Used that under the hood, too, then satin black for the top coat. Had to replace a partial rear frame rail on one side and both quarters are shot. One is about 50% bondo so both of them have to go. Other than that it's a pretty solid car.
 
Photo of the Edelbrock heads. Also, since I didn't have the rocker shafts, I found a piece of copper pipe the same diameter and used this to take the measurements that Mike at B3 Racing Engines needed for his geometry correcting kit. Got the parts and he does very nice work. Will probably start the engine build in a month or so, depending on how the other work goes.

Edelbrock heads.jpg


Measurements for B3 Engines.jpg
 
Here's a pic of the front suspension after the rebuild. PST poly super kit, Hellwig sway bar, KYB shocks, PST 1.03 torsion bars, LCA reinforcement plates, drilled and slotted Bendix rotors, new brake lines. Also blasted and painted the K member after welding up the factory shortcomings.

Front suspension.jpg
 
Right - has to be a labor of love, never get out of it what you put into it, at least not in money terms. Yours looks nice, can you give me some details? PM if necessary.
 
Yes it is a 73 340 Sport and I didn't go back original paint or motor (I do have though) just wanted an affordable hot rod mopar so this is what I found. I could have bought a nice b or e body but hey I have learned a lot lol.
 
supertruck said:
I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer for just about all of it so far. Lots of sanding, wipe it down with degreaser, and spray. So far it's working well. Used that under the hood, too, then satin black for the top coat. Had to replace a partial rear frame rail on one side and both quarters are shot. One is about 50% bondo so both of them have to go. Other than that it's a pretty solid car.
Click to expand...
How much did you have to thin the rustoleum to shoot it? Did you use lacquer thinner? Acetone?
 
I'm on the cheap side - used the rattle cans. If I'd tried the gun I'd have over spray everywhere - I can do about everything except paint from a gun.
 
I decided on the Custom Autosound stereo / CD player for the Dart. My original dash frame had been butchered so badly that a new stereo would not fit - would fall right through the dash cutout. After some creative fitting and welding, I got the unit mounted to the dash frame and all the wiring done. Had to cut the dash cover I bought from a FABO member to make the new unit's drop down cover fit. Just noticed the heat / AC controls are a bit slanted so I have to revisit them. Now that I have this done, I'm ready to tape off and paper the dash to keep it protected while I work on the rest of the interior / exterior. A small accomplishment, but every little bit counts.
Radio in dash.jpg
 
Got the Schumacher Tri-Y headers yesterday. Thanks FABO member Pauly! Since I plan to go with the 200-4R trans, I'll be able to provide some info on how these headers work with it. Also, I disassembled the 340 Sunday. It's a 0.030 over engine and you can still see the cross hatching in the cylinders and there's no lip. I plan to hone the cylinders and then take some measurements. Hopefully no further boring is required. Then it's off to the machine shop.
Schumacher headers.jpg
 
Very cool car. My Dad had a 1975 Dart Sport 360 when new. Are you painting it black again, or the yellow in the engine compartment?
 
The yellow is from 73hcode. I'm painting mine black like my original one. White drip on the side but no tail panel stripe.
 
Finally ready to start the 340 build. Block was bored 0.040, align honed, decked, and sonic checked. Eagle forged crank, Eagle H beam rods, and SRP forged pistons. All machine work and balancing was done by CAMS Racing Engines in Gloucester, VA. Got the Wilcap adapter with flywheel, crank spacer, and all bolts, a top quality piece. Picked up a 2004R trans from an '86 Monte Carlo SS but still need to get it rebuilt. Long way to go, but anxious to get started.

Block.jpg


Eagle crank.jpg


Eagle rods.jpg


SRP pistons.jpg


Wilcap adapter.jpg
 
Looking good Bill..... If you can squeeze it in send the heads over to the machine shop and have them check your clearance on the guides...... I have had my hands on 2 sets of eddy's in the last few months and both have had tight guides.... Just an FYI.

JW
 
Thanks for the tip, I'll certainly do that. In fact George at CAMS Racing mentioned it to me when I told him I was going with those heads.
 
Got the short block assembled today. Can't say enough about the great machine work George at CAMS Racing Engines did. All 5 main bearing clearances were exactly the same. Rod bearings were within 0.0005. Rod side clearances were within 0.0010.
George also reworked the Edelbrock heads. Had to open up the valve guides, replace the cheap seals that came with the heads, lapped and back cut the valves, set the spring heights for the Voodoo cam, and cc'd them. Advertised at 63cc, measured out to 64.5cc.
Gonna be a sweet engine when completed.

Short block.jpg


Short block 2.jpg
 
Finally got the sub frame connectors fitted and tacked in place. Won't weld them up until I get the drive train installed. More trimming required than I expected. Took about a day to get the undercoating off and do all the trimming and grinding. Also got the CVF pulleys test fit on the engine. ATI damper fouls the timing tab so disassembly and rework is next.

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