My First Mopar 4-speed - 1964 Dart GT

-

TNT440_Cbody

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
174
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Coast, California
Hi all,
I just picked up a car that is "several firsts" for me:
First 4-speed Mopar
First A-body
Smallest V8 I've owned (273- of course)
First car with manual drum brakes! :shock:
First car my fiance wants to help me fix up because she thinks it's "cute" and wants to drive it. She loves the 4-speed! All of my other cars are too big or too fast. 8)

It has been sitting for almost 10 years but I got it running right there in front of the guy before I drove it away. (let me tell you it helps to have knowledge of the Mopar ignition circuit, specifically the routing of the BLUE wire!)

My first question to the group is: How many 4-speed Dart GT's with a V8 were built in 1964? I can only find the number of all V8's at 12,000. But how many are 4-speeds??!?

The car smokes out of the right side tailpipe (true duals) but idles and runs pretty well other than that. Today will be spent cleaning it up and changing fluids, bleeding brakes, etc so I hope it STOPS better after today!

Here are some pics- the water is from hosing 10 years of dirt off of the windows!

4507125586_c327a4a51d.jpg


4506485397_ea4491f1f0.jpg


For reference, my other classic cars are:
1968 Chrysler 300, "TNT 440" 2-dr ht, 4600 lbs (1/4 mile: 15.9@86 - all stock and burning oil- got a fresh engine since then)
1965 Pontiac Bonneville, tripower 455, 4460 lbs (1/4 mile: 12.95@104)
1977 Firebird Formula, 4-speed, chebby 350 (was a 305 stock, 1/4 mile 13.9@102 but it's a stiff suspension road race build so the 60' is real bad!)

The Dart is car number 35 (or is it 36?) in my lifetime, which is more years than I've been alive, and up until now EVERY Mopar I've owned has been a C-body and I've loved them. Mopars and Pontiacs are my thing!

Hope to get lots of information from this site and I'm looking forward to figuring out what to do with this Dart! :read2:
 
That,s a great score!IMO a 64 V8 4 speed is gonna be a rare find for sure.Welcome to the best Mopar site on the web!8)
 
Nice I have had my 64 V8 Dart since 74 I am the 2nd owner, car is a CA car verfified 42k miles on mine.

take your time and restore her.. nice drivers, little 273 is zippy in a lite weight 64 Dart.

the only main draw back is a weak 9.5" clutch, you have to not beat on them to hard, they dont last. I know, i went through 18 of em, even custom built ones at that, a 10'5 is what is needed if you build her into a monster, but for stock a HD 9/5 is fine just drive sane is my 2 cents...

Good project car...:)
 
Welcome to FABO. A 64 Dart is my all time favorite. (even though I own a 66) It looks like you've found a nice one.
toolmanmike
 
Great score, you're a wise man to find a Mopar to keep the fiance happy. By the way c-bodies are dear to my heart too but the a-bodies have an appeal all their own. Welcome to the club!
 
Thanks for all the replies. 8)

I haven't even taken a pic of the C-body for a long time so this is as good as you'll get for now. ;-)

1968_300f.jpg


I worked on the Dart today and got the brake/tail lights working (was just the fuse), bled and adjusted the brakes (boy did that help!!!!) and changed the oil. I also checked the dwell- yes it's still got a points ignition!

The dwell was at 32, that sounds about right but I don't have a factory service manual for it.

Turning the idle mixture screw on the left side of the 2-bbl carb did basically nothing. What could be the problem here? I'm pretty sure it's 2-bbls... I forgot to count the venturis! :lol:

Third cylinder back on the left (passenger) side is wet inside and the spark plug came out wet but it doesn't overheat and doesn't appear to use any coolant. Could it be oil? It MUST be oil.... The car smokes a lot out of the left side tailpipe (true duals, no crossover). I wish I knew if it was a headgasket failure or something worse. :pale:

All of the other spark plugs were sooted up but looked fine. There was only the one wet cylinder.

Ideas?
 
-
Back
Top