Cars have an interesting way of finding me sometimes. In 2000, a 1969 Dodge Dart GTS, which I still have today, wound up in my possession. Sure, there’s a whole lot more detail to this story of course. So…here it goes.
I purchased this 1969 Dodge Dart from my friend, who oddly enough, is actually a die-hard Ford guy. I’m told that the car was originally owned by an elderly lady who traded it in to a small used car dealership on South Broadway in Englewood, CO. From the dealership, the car was sold to a gentleman who had planned on doing a complete restoration on it.
While the original 340 CI engine was removed from the Dart and sitting on an engine stand, the engine was supposedly stolen out of the second owner’s garage. And so, the gentleman purchased another 340 CI engine. He then proceeded to begin restorations on the Dart, but soon found himself in legal troubles, which forced the sale of the car. At this point, my Ford friend, who knew the gentleman, decided to purchase the car to help out.
My friend owned the Dart for about five years. A local driveline company wanted to buy it first and turn it into a drag car, but he didn’t want to see the car cut up. This is how I came into the picture to be the car’s next owner.
When I bought the Dart from my friend, it was an original 340, 727 floor shift, console car (sans the original engine of course) that had 72,000 miles on it. Residing 50-miles away from my friend, I trailered the car home and almost right away, I stripped it down to bare metal. Surprisingly, the car had no rust on it.
I completed all the bodywork, and when it came time to paint it, another friend of mine, who managed the body shop at the local Lincoln Mercury dealership, let me use their paint booth. I painted the Dart with a color called Gold Iridium. After painting, I disassembled the motor, replacing all the seals, gaskets, and rings. I replaced all the interior with new replacements from YEARONE.
Living in the Denver area, I found myself bringing the Dart to Bandimere Speedway on a few occasions to make some passes. Between visits, I continued to modify the car. I ported and polished the heads and intake, and (because why not?!) added a 100-shot of nitrous. I pulled the 750 Holley double pumper off and went to a 650. I found that the 750 was too much carburetor for the altitude. Lastly, I changed the rear gears from 4.56’s to 3.55’s. I tried to run the Dart on full drag slicks, but it didn’t yield any better results. I found that the best time that the Dart ran, a 12.37-quarter mile, was on street tires.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this story, the Dart is still with me today. When I bought it, it had 72,000 miles and it currently shows 80,000 miles. The car has won three awards to date and this restoration has made me feel especially proud because all the work was done by me, and mostly in my garage, except for the painting. I never expected to win any awards with the car, and that unexpected accomplishment makes me smile. The Dart doesn’t just sit in my garage. In fact, I drive it all the time – even to run errands.
By Jim Ochs
