abloch
Member
This is my most recent acquisition. Sent away for the IBM card and information from Chrysler historical. Flew out to Vegas, caught a bus to Kingman, Arizona and drove it home to Seattle. This car is a keeper!
1961 Dodge Dart Pioneer D-500
- Thread starter abloch
- Start date
barnfind
Old Man with a Hat
Looks great, and like its doing 100+ MPH just sitting there, Congrats!
bluefury361
Old Man with a Hat
Now that's my way of thinking..... drive it home. A wonderful way to bond with the car. Your acquiring quite a nice Forward Look collection abloch.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
That is one of my dream cars in my Fantasy Garage. Congratulations and I'm thrilled that you drove her home.
That is a beautiful and rare car! Nice score!
sixtyf
Active Member
Nice one ! You can't beat a descent road trip to seal the bond 
abloch
Member
Fairly uneventful trip back. First fuel stop was a bit of a scare. All I can figure is that the car sat for a while with mostly water in it. Once it got up to temp it needed to "burp" and it burped right past the cap. I flushed the radiator a few times, topped it off with a gallon of 50/50 and hit the road. Never got hot again. The other thing was the ball and trunnion went out of balance around the California Oregon border. Had a really annoying vibration right in the sweet spot, between 62-70 MPH. So we did 70+ as much as we could the rest of the way.
78Brougham
"Chump"
CONGRATULATIONS! Love the 61's especially that one! Enjoy and get us some more pics!
SuddenlyIts1960!
Member
Beautiful car! I bet you wished the trip back lasted longer. That must have been a thrill to pilot that Dodge back home. Gotta love those reverse fins.
SuddenlyIts1960!
Member
Wow,that water in the radiator was sure rusty. Doesn't look like he had any antifreeze in there at all. My phoenix had the same vibration in the "sweet spot",on my car it was the rear u joint.
abloch
Member
I can not believe that it has been almost four years...
Still got the Dart! Went through the entire cooling/heating system. Flushed the engine three times and I am still getting rusty water out of it. Found an "HP" air cleaner on a 1958 Plymouth 350ci. Redid the interior with NOS seat covers sourced out of Australia. New Coker bias plys. oh, and a correctly date coded Carter AFB and wide finned alternator.
Current project is to install a floor shift and make it look as if it had been done by the factory.
Still got the Dart! Went through the entire cooling/heating system. Flushed the engine three times and I am still getting rusty water out of it. Found an "HP" air cleaner on a 1958 Plymouth 350ci. Redid the interior with NOS seat covers sourced out of Australia. New Coker bias plys. oh, and a correctly date coded Carter AFB and wide finned alternator.
SGT FURY
Senior Member
Here's article to say it was possiable?
abloch
Member
There is a Hurst set up on Ebay right now too! Alas, I've acquired all the bits and pieces to do something like this.
SpaceWagon
Active Member
This picture maybe helpful with the conversion to 4-speed set-up.
It’s supposed to be a legit factory 4-speed in a 1962 Chrysler 300
It’s supposed to be a legit factory 4-speed in a 1962 Chrysler 300
SpaceWagon
Active Member
Also in 1961 both the lancer & valiant were availble with manual floorshifter (from the factory).
Set-up for Dodge Lancer from the 1961 parts catalog. Again might be good insight.
Set-up for Dodge Lancer from the 1961 parts catalog. Again might be good insight.
abloch
Member
Contacted a guy local to me who has a ‘61 floor shift Newport. I’m going up on Saturday to see and measure. I’m a bit hesitant to cut out a hole in sixty year old virgin floor pans. But there is no avoiding it. Keeping the three speed!
Your new interior looks spot on from what I can recall - great find.
Love your 1961 Fury as well!
Your Dart is very close to my only remaining bucket list car - a 1961 Dodge Polara. Still can't find one after all these years. Mostly different in the rear tail light treatment:
Love your 1961 Fury as well!
Your Dart is very close to my only remaining bucket list car - a 1961 Dodge Polara. Still can't find one after all these years. Mostly different in the rear tail light treatment:
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bluefury361
Old Man with a Hat
Are you sure you want to do that swap? Are you planning on trashing the old T85 through the gears? I think I would leave it OEM, as delivered, and be very happy.
abloch
Member
Quite sure. Been driving the three on the tree (A745) long enough. Time to change it up a bit. T85 was only vaguely available at the time in '61.
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SGT FURY
Senior Member
I also have a 61 fury with 361 3 on tree. It's a chore to drive in traffic. Kinda a novelty to have.
I've thought about making a floor shift,but decided to keep it stock.
I would like to see close up pics of hump on 61 Chrysler. I want to put a floor hump in the one with yoyo shifter.
Could any of you guys tell me if a 61 poly 318 3 speed trans is the same as a 361 3speed trans? Except for bellhousing?
I've thought about making a floor shift,but decided to keep it stock.
I would like to see close up pics of hump on 61 Chrysler. I want to put a floor hump in the one with yoyo shifter.
Could any of you guys tell me if a 61 poly 318 3 speed trans is the same as a 361 3speed trans? Except for bellhousing?
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