My '69 340 Swinger

[BJCHEV396]

Originally Posted by 70 Forest Green Zee

Here's one I owned about 20 or so years ago....fun and fast, 383 with a 4 speed but drove like a truck. Got a lot of looks and thumbs up at car shows and cruise nights though.

Great color combo! I've heard that the 383 Dart is not much faster than the 340?

[RALLY]

Originally Posted by BJCHEV396

Great color combo! I've heard that the 383 Dart is not much faster than the 340?

The 340 Darts from what i read and was told could beat the 383 Darts all day long at the track. Those 340 engines had a good parts, good 2.02 X heads, high rise cast iron intake, forged crank, rods and pistons and free flowing cast iron exhaust manifolds, a hydraulic camshaft, windage tray etc. Well built engines.

[BJCHEV396]

Originally Posted by RALLY

The 340 Darts from what i read and was told could beat the 383 Darts all day long at the track. Those 340 engines had a good parts, good 2.02 X heads, high rise cast iron intake, forged crank, rods and pistons and free flowing cast iron exhaust manifolds, a hydraulic camshaft, windage tray etc. Well built engines.

But only had a horse power rating of 275....wink wink,lol!

[RALLY]

Originally Posted by BJCHEV396

But only had a horse power rating of 275....wink wink,lol!

Exactly, just like the 69 Camaro Z-28 302 engines, 290 horsepower. 340 Dart i think actually produced 340 horsepower. All for insurance reasons.

[Bill Pritchard]

Originally Posted by RALLY

The 340 Darts from what i read and was told could beat the 383 Darts all day long at the track.

x2. In addition to the additional weight of the big block, the 383 Darts had some pretty restrictive exhaust manifolds.

[GrumpyJeff]

Originally Posted by RALLY

The 340 Darts from what i read and was told could beat the 383 Darts all day long at the track. Those 340 engines had a good parts, good 2.02 X heads, high rise cast iron intake, forged crank, rods and pistons and free flowing cast iron exhaust manifolds, a hydraulic camshaft, windage tray etc. Well built engines.

I had a good buddy in High School 1979/80 had a 340/4SPD Dart, With the right Gears, Sticky Tires & Headers on the Street was Tough to beat from Red light to Red light... Hurt alot of Big Block Guys feelings. In Fact the other 2 Cars that gave him a Good Run were a 65 L79 4 spd Chevelle & a 70 LT1 Z28 automatic w/a Vega Torq converter ,4.56's

[BJCHEV396]

I only street raced the Swinger once and it was against my friend Gary's '69 Chevelle 396/350.I'd always beat him out of the hole but he'd eventually catch and pass me.

[RALLY]

Originally Posted by GrumpyJeff

I had a good buddy in High School 1979/80 had a 340/4SPD Dart, With the right Gears, Sticky Tires & Headers on the Street was Tough to beat from Red light to Red light... Hurt alot of Big Block Guys feelings. In Fact the other 2 Cars that gave him a Good Run were a 65 L79 4 spd Chevelle & a 70 LT1 Z28 automatic w/a Vega Torq converter ,4.56's

Cool story. Yes those 340 Darts set up right for traction were tough to beat. I am a Chevy guy thru and thru but the Dodge Dart Swinger 340 4 speed cars would be my second choice without a doubt. Years back my former neighbor growing up had one. I took a ride in that car and it was impressive. Again never thought of asking him if i could buy that car when he sold it. It was all stock too, not even headers. Kick myself to this day which i am sure we all have a story to tell we had a chance to buy these types of cars.