History
I ordered this 1969 Dart GTS from the factory on October 26, 1968. Only 1272 GTS's were produced with the 383 engine which I ordered as an option. Only 488 were produced with the TorqueFlight automatic transmission.
In 1969 I took it to a dragstrip where it ran something like 14.05 @ 95mph. After several runs I was really hooked on racing.
In 1970 I added some Hooker fenderwell headers and 7 inch slicks, recurved the distributor and tuned the AVS carburator. I added spring clamps to the rear springs and put the pinion snubber near the floor. I had the transmission valve body modified to make it a manual shift. I also did everything I could legally do to lighten the car near the minimum weight which was 3220 pounds.
I raced it at a NHRA track in F / SA and was turning low 13s @ 104 mph. I won a couple of class trophies. Near the end of our short season (10 races) a couple of piston rings broke and I had to pull the engine. With a lot of help from a new friend we blueprinted and balanced the engine and put more clearance in the main and rod bearings. We also bought a "leagal cheater" General Kinetics cam which really improved the performance.
In 1971 we won most of the races that season with another engine rebuild, including a better version of the General Kinetics cam and a lot more work on the rest of the car. Out of 10 races minus one rainout we won 6 class races.
In 1972 NHRA made a lot of rule changes among which were forcing me to take out some of my parts and go back to completely stock or else do more modifications and switch to Super Stock which I did. The car fit the class of SS / HA really well.
The power to weight ratio for the class was 9.50 - 9.99 pounds per horsepower and my car was at 9.56 pounds per horsepower which was right near the top of the class. I worked a second job for two years paying for the changes I made to the car which included new .020" oversize custom built Forgetrue pistons with "Dykes" style top rings, Crane Compucam Special camshaft package, Edelbrock Tarantula manifold, Accel dual point distributer, B&M 9" 5000 RPM stall converter, 10 inch M & H Racemaster slicks and 4.88 gears.
I won my class in almost all of the races that year ( 7 out of 9 ) and was SS runner-up once and SS eliminator once. The best runs were 12.29 @ 114 mph.
That was the last year the track ran. A few years later I took the car to another track and with a milder Crane hydraulic cam with 320 degrees duration and .520 lift, a Holley 800 cfm carb, MSD 6A spark control, Moroso 8mm plug wires, mallory coil and new 10 inch Firestone slicks. The car ran 11.77 @ 114 mph, I didn't know that I had been loosing over a half of a second in traction. I did not know that the 114 mph that I had always ran should turn 11.7 ET. There wasn't very much information available to me about what ET a certain mph should generate when I was racing in SS / HA. Had I known, I would have been running right on the SS / HA record. Oh well, I was young and very inexperienced and had lots to learn.
1972 - 2002
The manual shift trans had been rebuilt numerous times because of burning the high gear clutches. I had the valve body replaced with a Cheetah valve body but it still shifted slow into third. It turned out to be a porous transmission case and had to be relaced. The car now shifted into third really hard like it was supposed to, but I lost the numbers matching transmission.
The car sat for a number of years waiting for another dragstrip to open. That turned out for the best in the long run, because I wasn't putting very many miles on the car.
With only 32,750 miles on it, in 2002 I had the good fortune of finding a very rare set of Mopar inner fenders to replace the originals which I had cut out for the installation of Hooker fenderwell headers.
I then decided to restore the car to very near original in appearance so that I could enter the car in car shows. I rebuilt the engine again to a more streetable version which turned out to be very fast as well. I bored the engine out to +.030 and used stock 10 - 1 TRW forged pistons. I used the same Crane hydraulic cam and lifters. I installed a set of Edelbrock aluminum heads and a set of CAT full roller rockers. I upgraded the ignition to an MSD 6AL control, MSD electronic distributor as well as MSD wires and spark retard control. I installed Mopar Super Stock rear springs and 4.10 gears. I used a set of Mickey Thompson ET Street slicks. I put in a 3900 stall converter and took it to a dragstrip. The car ran 12.14, 11.99, 11.99 and 12.03 all at 113 - 114 mph. The car was still very streetable and fun to drive.
Engine Rebuild
I then totally stripped the car and took it to a shop and had the inner fenders replaced, the factory wrinkles removed from the rear quarters, replaced the vinyl top and a good paint job done. After it was back together I put it in an enclosed car trailer and hauled it 1400 miles to Mopars at the Strip in Las Vegas where I won first place in my class. The car was also one of 30 cars chosen by representatives from The Canery Casino to be shown at a private showing in the courtyard of the Cannery Hotel-Casino which was the major sponsor of the event. I took it to four more shows and won two more first places and one third place. I then decided to save the original engine by taking it out and installing all of the stock original pieces such as heads,intake manifold, AVS carburator, distributer, exhaust manifolds and oil pan and storing it in my garage.
I decided to build a 451 stroker engine. I used 10 - 1 compression ratio SRP pistons with 1/16 inch rings and a .990" wristpin, Eagle rods, Eagle crankshaft, Mopar 284 duration .526 lift solid lifter cam. I used my Holley 800, Tarantula manifold, Edelbrock aluminum heads, CAT full roller rockers, TTI coated 2" chassis headers, lightweight Mopar starter, aluminum water pump and full MSD ignition system. I left the 4.10 gears and 3900 stall converter in the car, but put on a new set of GoodYear Eagle 9" x 28" slicks. Because a lot of things went wrong getting the car together in time, I didn't get it running until the afternoon before our races.
After only 10 minutes running in the garage I loaded it on the trailer and took it to our once yearly drag race. First run was 11.47 @ 117.23. Next run was 11.45 @ 117.12. Third run in 32 degree Celcius heat was 11.37 @ 117.86. All of the runs were below the 11.50 minimum time for a roll cage. SInce it was our local track they let me get away with it, but for Sunday eliminations there was no way that they would so I had to try to slow the car down. I added the spare tire and jack assembly, added three gallons of gas and pumped the slicks up three more pounds.
I went out Sunday morning for one more time trial run. The weather was only 18 degrees. The car went even faster running 11.31 @ 118.65 mph!!! I tried retarding the timing a few degrees. First round of eliminations I red lit by .11 and didn't leave the line properly. I had dialed 11.50 and the car went 11.54 @ 115.27 mph.
Future Plans
Each of the fastest runs I was shifting at 6800 and going across the line at about 5600 rpm with 4.10 gears. I am sure that if I installed some 4.30 or 4.56 gears and did a little tuning, the car would turn in the 10s. Pretty fast for a street driven car.
Next season I will put the stock 3.55 gears back in the car and it should run closer to the 11.50 minimum. It will also be a lot nicer to drive on the highway.
I wrote a letter to Mopars at the Strip requesting a copy of the judged car show that I had attended so that I could see how I scored and what needed to be improved. They sent it to me and I found out that I had scored 195 out of a possible 200. For next year I plan to replace a couple of the things that I got points deducted for and see how I make out at future car shows.
In 2006 I took the 4.10 gears out partly because the car was too fast for NHRA as well as too much power on the street. One inch of throttle in second gear would break the tires loose. I installed the stock ratio 3.55 gears and took the car to Mission Raceway where it ran even faster than it had with the 4.10 gears. It ran 11.35, 11.35 and then 11.26 @ 118.5 mph. I think that because that race was the anual "Old Time Drags" that they did not kick me off the track. This year I am toying with the idea of trying a set of 4.56 gears with a pair of good axles just for the heck of it. Sure would be cool to have a couple of 10 second time slips.
Well all of a sudden it is 2008. I have ordered lots of parts to put my stock 383 engine back to pure stock. Glad I saved all of the manifolds, distributor and carb. Also have new carpet coming for the interior as the stock one is showing signs of wear. It is getting harder to win car shows in "modified" class. I did win 14 trophies with it but think it might be better to start showing it in "stock" class.
I have bought many of the parts I need including new date coded spark plug wires, coil, choke assembly, positive battery cable, fan shroud, spark plug wire brackets,heat shields and hose clamps. I am still waiting for several items including a new Mopar battery with the correct yellow caps, heater hoses, radiator cap, pump to carb fuel line, exaust manifold fastener kit, mufflers and hangers. Today I ordered a new differential with new 3.55 gears today as the set I had in the car were noisy.
I have received all of the parts that were ordered. I also ordered a new set of gears which were noisy when I installed them so I sent the third member back and they installed another set of gears. They too were noisy so I sent them back as well. They then put in a set of Richmond gears which are still a little noisy but I will live with it. Now I have to get the time and energy to start working on the rest of the car.
2008
I took the car to the races Aug 12/13 2008 with a set of 4.56 gears and a new set of Moser axles to see what it would do. During the burnout the car kept going sideways. That is very unusual as it normally stays straight. I made the run anyway. I could feel the slicks shaking and spinning a bit. When I got back to the pits, I jacked the car up and checked the rearend. The positraction was blown. The car still went 11.58 with no posi. No wonder it had spun out of the hole. I put my old 3.55 gears back in and went 11.33. First round was an easy win against a Chev pickup. Second round was against a 69 Dart with a 496" stoker. I gave him a .15 handicap and caught him in third and then lifted the throttle just enough to stay in front of him. The car ran 11.45 I won by .007 second. Next race was against a Challenger that I did the same with and beat him by .oo2 second. A few other runs were similar but not as close. I was runner up by the end of the day. What a great day it was.
Missed 2009 races because I had a stent put into my arterie that was 98% plugged.
2010
This year I was told that if I ran under 11.50 that I would get kicked off the track. I tried short shifting the car at 6000 rpm instead of the normal 6800 rpm. That slowed me down to 11.63 @ 115 mph.
2011
For this year races I took the noisy 3.55 gears out and had 3.23 gears installed. They are much nicer for road driving but sure feel like no power to race with. I took the car to our races in August and with 3.23 gears the car slowed to 11.62 @ 117.45 mph. which is perfect so that I don't need to install a roll bar. Just have to get more consistant on the lights. Car sure leave different with 3.23 gears
