Hello Mopar forums!

I just recently purchased a running well, driving well 69 Dodge Dart.

https://i.imgur.com/AYB3x.png

(sorry, crappy cell phone pic)

Car has a 360, and a recently rebuilt 904. Came with a 4 door parts car and plenty of boxed parts, both extras and from the partially disassembled car.

Just registered the car today, but I have a question.

The Dust/Inspection cover over the transmission, is it necessary for safe running? I swear something fell off the car on the highway today after registering it, my buddy felt it hit the floor panel under him as a passenger.

We searched high and low but the only thing we found missing was the dust cover. I of course will replace the missing part asap but I'd like to drive the car for now while I wait for the part to ship. This is a replacement for my recently dead 1997 Neon daily driver (weather permitting). Any tips on finding a low cost replacement shield are welcome too. Thanks for the responses!



My first car (at 14yo) was a 1966 Plymouth Valiant, been a V-8 kid all my life (26yo). I've got a 1970 Charger, major project car. Had a 1984 Gran Fury cop car clone too. Love my Mopars, but had a 73 Nova, and a 79 Z-28 too.

 

Welcome!

The cover is there to keep road debris out of the torque convertor. You can drive with it not there, just take it easy on roads that may have some pot holes.

 

Welcome to the forum... Replace the cover when you can........ Tim is right-on......

 

welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Sovereign -

Actually, it's not necessary. I can say that with some certainty as my big block rig has never had one. With my set up, the cover would ALWAYS contact the moving parts, so it's been sitting in my garage (somewhere) since 1982. Haven't had an issue yet. YMMV.

Archer

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to the forum. Nice looking Dart you have there.

j

 

Don't bother with the cover. It's just a waste of time to put back on IMO.

Did a 318 to 340 swap into a 70 Barracuda this weekend with my dad. Put the covers on and there was a noise, almost like a motor noise when we had it running. Pulled those off, nice and quiet.

 

i toss them when put a engine in. never no problems

 

Come on guys, take a few extra minutes and do the job right. Put the cover back on, make sure it is straight and tight. It is one of the easiest parts of the car to do. Ma' Mopar would have never put it there if it wasn't needed.

Oh, and welcome!

 

agreed
god forbid something gets damaged when it is off

 

C -

Not when three mechanics (myself included) tried, and there just isn't enough clearance.

Archer

 

Well, I'm in no rush then. I feel much more comfortable knowing it isn't super vital for regular running. Thanks for all the replies!

Now I've got to sort out another problem. The right rear tire rubs the lip of the wheel well on tight turns. I can see the tire is scratched and minor wear where it rubs. It makes a terrible noise when this happens.

Either way, I'm having a blast with the car!

 

sweet dart!

maybe crank up the torsion bars a little?

 

i would check out the bushings where the leaf-spring bolts to the car
there are 3 on each side
two in the rear (on the bracket)
one in the front of the leaf spring, where it goes into the frame

 

Nah don't worry about it, it isn't popping right now. Just like the other parts, don't worry what "might" happen.

 

S -

Tire rubs means one of two things - bad springs or over sized/wrong back spaced wheels or over sized tires. The former usually isn't the case with stock wheels and tires, but your don't look stock.

Not a good thing to ignore since it will keep happening sooner or later, the wheel well lip will bite into the tire and either kill the tire or damage the rear fender. I always like to see the tire fit completely inside the wheel well on a street driven car.

If the springs look good, you might want to look into new wheels and/or tires that fit sooner rather than later.

Archer

 

So much for these problems, the car was T-Boned in an accident earlier today.

https://i.imgur.com/zKB67.png


I'm not at fault, but it still sucks. Cant believe I've only just got the car and it's already taken a bad hit. Damn huge SUV.

Ah well, thanks for the welcome and advice so far folks!

 

bummer man

 

Oh dude... Was it a women on the phone, doing make up, eating, and messing with the children in the back seat?

Thats a bummer man... You'll get her fixed up

 

With after market parts, the cover(s) don't always fit back on correctly without something getting in the way.

It's useless. No need for it unless it's a ralley car.

Just my honest opinion

 

I'm saddened to see that happen to a car that nice. Hope the other driver is insured. How does that work for getting it repaired? Does the insurance company pay all cost of repair or do they pay blue book value and call it totaled? I often wondered about that. My car isn't ready to drive yet and I have not talked to my agent about it.

 

They'll most likely call it a total, and then he can buy it back for cheap. There is going to be a bit of work needed to repair that. Going to need more then just a 1/4 and a body work

 

okay when have you took the cover off and found it clean? NEVER, the dirt grime whatever will hold with or with out it on, never had any problems with it off, same goes with wheels why dont wheels have backing plates? 2 bolts no gasket? hmm pretty simple,

 

It was a woman driving an SUV, no kids but she came out of a parking lot whilst I assume being given the "wave of death" on a two lane road.

She gave me false info, lied about her name, contact info, etc. Local police were a huge help and tracked her down right away (all praise to cell phone cameras in an emergency, caught her license plate). Filed with my insurance, and the claims agent filed with the offending driver's insurance (thankfully insured, even if she was a scammer). She never contacted me at all so this might be a bit of a tussle but everything is in my favor legally.

The claims agent was interested in getting my car repaired commenting on the fact that he knew what value a car like this had. I was afraid at first it would have been considered totaled but I'm not too keen on policy and I know I could buy it back through auction worst case scenario. I don't have any kind of coverage other than liability on the car due to the extreme insurance cost. Given the situation, her insurance will be paying 100% of the repair bill.

I'd rather take back the accident than get a fat check. I've already got a project car, my 70 Charger. I wanted something nice to drive but now I've got two projects! Real shame, but I just gotta hit the ground rolling and keep going.

 

What a beotch!

Glad you were able to get her tracked down! Just keep on keepin on man. Glad to hear it'll get fixed by HER insurance company!

 

crazy thats why I roll with full covo on ma mopar

 

Anolther way to look at the accident is new sheet metal and some paint...the dust cover on the tranny is more to protect the front pump seal....dirt or dust on the seal or torque convertor snoot is a bad thing...good luck