The Nitrous 340 4-speed 68 Dart

[Nitrous340Dart]

Well here I go again with my second Dart project... My first was back in high school with a 67 2 door post that was just a shell but had a fresh non-fired 340 with eddy heads crower solid and fresh cheatah manual 727. With 3.91 it did pretty good holding its own. I never liked the post car so I was about to throw lost of money at it or keep it for a long time. It had been sitting for about 3-4 years after I took it apart to convert it to 4-speed and rebuild the motor. So I started looking for darts again about a year ago and found a killer deal in Washington for $2,000. It was a stock 273/904 2 door coupe with black interior and 20ft paint. I called him at the butt crack of dawn and told him I would be sending him half the money that day. Drove up checked it out, loaded it, and headed back for California... Thank god the girlfriend came to help with driving. The tranny puked fluid from the pump so when I brought it back I took the motor and tranny out and sold it to my buddies girlfriend who also has a 68 dart.

Its been a few months since I've brought it back but now I'm getting going on it again and hopefully wont stop till its drivings. I've taken a few pics of were I'm at now. I like how FlyBoy has documented everything he been up and I will try to do the same.

 

[GTXperience]

Looks like a super nice foundation car. Keep us up to speed on your progress.

 

[flyboy01]

Thats a great starting point, way better than my dart.

 

[OldVart]

Great starting point. And you're right, flyboy has done a great job of documenting his progress, and I'm sure everyone would appreciate it if you do the same. Good luck.

 

[Snake]

You have no idea how bad I want a 69 DART.You luckey guy.:snakeman:

 

[OldVart]

Snake, check the front grill - signal/park lightsssssssss. It's a 68.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

When I first picked it up I thought I really lucked out and it didn't have much or any rust.... Then i started to take stuff apart and crawl all over it and check out more hidden crevices and found this crap.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

I've also been gathering some parts for the project here are there=P~

 

[GTXperience]

Oh, I've seen those tubular control arms in South SF before. ;-)

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

Well Worked on the old dart again this week. Got a fender and the hood off... man, taking a hood off by your self kinda sucks!! Got more of the suspension off and reinforced the lower arms. Is there something else I can do for the mounting point for the lower ball joint?? It looks like a potential weak spot for wheelies:-D.

Got the Strange axles with the dana bearing kit last week. Axles were about $396 with 1/2 studs, bearings and retainer plates. All the carrier bearings, races, pinion seal and ring gear bolts was $110

Does anyone know where to get new splash shields that go inside of the front fenders to kept crud off the door hinges? Mine are kind of toasted.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

some more pics. The strange axle is next to a stock 8.75 A-body axle.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

I found a new best friend.... paint stripper! I tried using a knotted wire wheel on the old undercoating, that just basically covered me in undercoating. Chemical strippers work! I just bought an aerosol can to try it out... I'm sold, I'll be buying a gallon or so tomorrow and going to town.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

Its been way too long since I've worked on this thing....

 

[Dart_Guy]

Your using chemical stripper on the undercoating? What kind and where to you get it? I am using a heat gun and scrapper... Time consuming but ir works. If the chemicals work pretty quickly I will try it out. Of course I am on hold until warmer weather for now.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

I can't remember the brand name but they sold it at Home Depot and some other local hardware stores. You could buy in a really handy aerosal can or buy the gallon jugs. I haven't worked on it in a long time and hopefully will be bringing it to my new garage. But if you use the chemical use it in a well ventilated area AND use a mask... I was outside using it and after about 3-4 hours of use I had a sore throat for 4days after.

 

[Snake]

yep i remember seeing your post and how bad i wanted a Dart well now i have one

 

[mark_68_dart]

awesome project

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

Thanks, I kinda put this one on hold over the summer and played with my truck a little bit. But now I got a garage and hope to get this thing going over the winter so I can drive it in the summer! I got so many parts for this thing I just need to start building it.

 

[Joe Mc]

Hey Nitrous340Dart - what's your location? Noticed your signature and that you have a Cummins (with a Dodge wrapped around it - lol) See same in my signature - are you a TDR Member? PM me if you don't want to reply in this thread.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

So its been a long time since I've worked on the dart, I finally got a garage and brought it over last weekend, so hopefully I will be making some headway soon.

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

Fuel cell mock up

 

[Burntorange70]

Looking good.

 

[Boxer]

good to see ya back at it again, how many gallon tank is that?

 

[NONHOG]

Your using chemical stripper on the undercoating? What kind and where to you get it? I am using a heat gun and scrapper... Time consuming but ir works. If the chemicals work pretty quickly I will try it out. Of course I am on hold until warmer weather for now.

I just used this , worked great . torch and putty knife sucks (but works)

 

[Nitrous340Dart]

Its a summit 15gallon. My first Dart had a 12g plastic cell, the top of the cell sunk in making it look like crap. When I tore that car apart to do the nitrous motor I bought a summit 20g tank.... that thing was huge. I ended up selling that car as a rolling chassie, I'm glad I got the 15g, it fits really nice.