First Car Restoration by a Learning Rookie: 1968 Dodge Dart GT

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TallGuyFitz

Unofficial Rookie Mechanic
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
7
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26
Location
Trenton, NJ, USA
'68 Dodge Dart GT I bought from my late uncle's estate. I only have a minor knowledge of cars and will be learning something new with every step.

Modifications, repairs, or things bought/replaced before this thread:

-Starter $49.99 (Duralast)
-Battery $99.99 (Duralast)
-Master Brake Cylinder $31.99 (Autozone)
-Fuel Tank $112.81 (Carparts.com)
-Ignition Coil $22.14 (Carparts.com)

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'68 Dodge Dart GT I bought from my late uncle's estate. I only have a minor knowledge of cars and will be learning something new with every step.Modifications, repairs, or things bought/replaced before this thread:
-Starter $49.99 (Duralast)
-Battery $99.99 (Duralast)
-Master Brake Cylinder $31.99 (Autozone)
-Fuel Tank $112.81 (Carparts.com)
-Ignition Coil $22.14 (Carparts.com)

Hello TallGuyFitz,
Welcome to FABO.
My condolences to you and your family.
Wishing you the best of luck with that sweet ride.
Drive it proudly and enjoy the +!&# out of it.
The FABO family is here to help with any questions you have.
The search feature on the home page is a great asset.
Enjoy.
Stay Safe......
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.
 
Hello TallGuyFitz,
Welcome to FABO.
My condolences to you and your family.
Wishing you the best of luck with that sweet ride.
Drive it proudly and enjoy the +!&# out of it.
The FABO family is here to help with any questions you have.
The search feature on the home page is a great asset.
Enjoy.
Stay Safe......
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.


Thank you! I'm already diving into a few things regarding the spark issues I'm facing, so I can't wait to post updates!
 
Restoration? Throw those parts on it and done. Drive the tires off it.
Nice car, keep your eye out for a 340.. lol

Definitely is going to need some trunk and TLC in general, so maybe I was using the term too strictly. Either way, my wallet will be screaming for the next eternity! (Just kidding, I'm loving every second.)
 
Welcome,
A couple pieces of advice;
Firstly, have fun. You have a nice ride there.
Parts buying; FABO members can help, go to the "forum" ie. "parts wanted" and post for an item you're looking for. You may find a part or you'll find out the best spot to get one. I'd avoid EBay, it is overpriced in about 90% of the times.
FABO website; Have a close look. You will find there are "forums" on several different topics. And there are "threads" on several different types of repairs. Read Read Read. You'll get a lot of help. Then as another member said "search" what you're interested in and you'll likely come up with a "thread". BUT always check the date of what you're reading once you've searched. Sometimes you'll come up with a part you're looking for but the thread was started in 2018 and the part is long gone.

All the best!! Welcome!!
 
'68 Dodge Dart GT I bought from my late uncle's estate. I only have a minor knowledge of cars and will be learning something new with every step.

Modifications, repairs, or things bought/replaced before this thread:

-Starter $49.99 (Duralast)
-Battery $99.99 (Duralast)
-Master Brake Cylinder $31.99 (Autozone)
-Fuel Tank $112.81 (Carparts.com)
-Ignition Coil $22.14 (Carparts.com)

View attachment 1715530785

View attachment 1715530786
Nice car. have fun with it.

Jake
 
Sorry to read about your loss. Welcome to the site! Nice car!
 
Restoration? Throw those parts on it and done. Drive the tires off it.
Nice car, keep your eye out for a 340.. lol

340s are expensive... ask me how I know :lol:
Throw a 360 in it if you want to make power and not kill the bank.
 
Also beautiful 68 dart, in my opinion its the best year by far because it has those awesome round turn signals/side markers add in the fact that you have a convertible. :thumbsup: Drooling over here.
 
340s are expensive... ask me how I know :lol:
Throw a 360 in it if you want to make power and not kill the bank.
I was lucky I guess, In my quest I checked out an add for a 67 barracuda, supposed to have a 340. wanted 1100, talked down to 900. His story- driveline out of his totaled 69 S car. Swapped the driveline to my 67. #s matching 340 to 4spd + 8-3/4 sg.

Though this was about 20 years ago lol
Car`s still rockin to this day.
 
I was lucky I guess, In my quest I checked out an add for a 67 barracuda, supposed to have a 340. wanted 1100, talked down to 900. His story- driveline out of his totaled 69 S car. Swapped the driveline to my 67. #s matching 340 to 4spd + 8-3/4 sg.

Though this was about 20 years ago lol
Car`s still rockin to this day.

I was lucky with my car too, essentially the same scenario. I have a 68 gts 340 engine, 8.75 sg etc swapped into my 69 custom (727 tranny sits in the corner never to be used as my 904 is lighter and doesn't suck the hp a 727 does). The gts was all rusted out so the previous owner swapped over parts from it into the custom. I purchased my car for 8500 last year with spare parts for days. And the guy still has a shop full of trim, badges, and all kinds of goodies for the dart waiting for me to go buy it one day.

But building a 340 is expensive, a 360 is much cheaper to build so everyone says lol. A good friend tells me "340s are for the restoration guys and 360s are for the guys who want to go fast." :lol:
 
Restoration? Throw those parts on it and done. Drive the tires off it.
Nice car, keep your eye out for a 340.. lol

Now what might be so rare/important about the 340 that I would want to replace the 225? As you know, I'm learning all about cars so hearing opinions and facts will only help bolster my knowledge!
 
Welcome,
A couple pieces of advice;
Firstly, have fun. You have a nice ride there.
Parts buying; FABO members can help, go to the "forum" ie. "parts wanted" and post for an item you're looking for. You may find a part or you'll find out the best spot to get one. I'd avoid EBay, it is overpriced in about 90% of the times.
FABO website; Have a close look. You will find there are "forums" on several different topics. And there are "threads" on several different types of repairs. Read Read Read. You'll get a lot of help. Then as another member said "search" what you're interested in and you'll likely come up with a "thread". BUT always check the date of what you're reading once you've searched. Sometimes you'll come up with a part you're looking for but the thread was started in 2018 and the part is long gone.

All the best!! Welcome!!

This is definitely useful navigating! I can understand law and fire science, but I can't seem to navigate a forum! LOL! Thank you for the tips!
 
Now what might be so rare/important about the 340 that I would want to replace the 225? As you know, I'm learning all about cars so hearing opinions and facts will only help bolster my knowledge!

I dont think 340s are rare or important, I'm partial to 340s because I have one. The engine is great. A 360 is a cheaper route if you wanted to build an engine and they look almost identical
 
Now what might be so rare/important about the 340 that I would want to replace the 225?

The majority of people want performance, so will go with a V-8 over a slant six. A 340 will really get up and go if that's what you want. Then, there are others who like slants for the cool factor (and indestructability). It's a preference thing. I am firmly in both camps with a 69 Dart GT with a 340, and a 66 Valiant 100 with a slant. I wouldn't change either one of them.
 
UPDATE: (Figure I'll keep a mental track for myself by making an underlined and bold update tag for myself.) I put in the distributor, got a nice crank out of it for about 2 seconds before I heard it die down immediately. Bought it from carparts.com for a decent pricing, and am trying to get a refund (they e-mailed me back and said they would call, but its been a week and they're making me take the long route to process this return). At first I saw the bottom gear stripped, so I thought it was that, until I saw from spinning the shaft of the distributor (I'm hoping I get these terms right, my service manual isn't by my side right now) that the lead arm inside was not moving as smoothly as it should, and it was moving with a lot of friction/drag which I believe might have been the problem?

I spoke to a buddy of mine who recommended this product for electric ignition to better help with different altitudes [especially being in the Northwest, it can vary plenty].

for MOPAR Slant Six HiRev Electronic Ignition Kit OEM Plymouth Dodge 225 170 198 | eBay

The link above is the kit I am going to get from the "fun money" I set aside after my next paycheck.

Thanks everybody for all the likes and interest! This is only just beginning but I hope to wow some people with the progress over time!

IMG_3362.jpg
 
UPDATE: (Figure I'll keep a mental track for myself by making an underlined and bold update tag for myself.) I put in the distributor, got a nice crank out of it for about 2 seconds before I heard it die down immediately. Bought it from carparts.com for a decent pricing, and am trying to get a refund (they e-mailed me back and said they would call, but its been a week and they're making me take the long route to process this return). At first I saw the bottom gear stripped, so I thought it was that, until I saw from spinning the shaft of the distributor (I'm hoping I get these terms right, my service manual isn't by my side right now) that the lead arm inside was not moving as smoothly as it should, and it was moving with a lot of friction/drag which I believe might have been the problem?

I spoke to a buddy of mine who recommended this product for electric ignition to better help with different altitudes [especially being in the Northwest, it can vary plenty].

for MOPAR Slant Six HiRev Electronic Ignition Kit OEM Plymouth Dodge 225 170 198 | eBay

The link above is the kit I am going to get from the "fun money" I set aside after my next paycheck.

Thanks everybody for all the likes and interest! This is only just beginning but I hope to wow some people with the progress over time!

View attachment 1715534759

Sorry about the distributor that kit you have picked out looks like a good. You might also be able to find the replacement parts in FABO as well, just post a wanted add.
 
Have you rebuilt a distributor before? If not I can shoot you a link to a tutorial put together by a local slant distributor wizard.
 
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