Deepwater Horizon

The garage floor is awash with transmission fluid! I managed to crack one of the transmission cooler lines while trying to "persuade" it to line up with the new (thicker) radiator. I didn't realise this until I started the car and reversed it out of the garage. I've bought a short 20" length of 5/16" OD steel line and some brass fittings so hopefully I can bend and shape it replace the busted section. Ideally I'd replace the entire line but at $75 for the preformed set I'll have to pass on that for the time being.

As you may have infered from the above the engine is back together and the car is now running. It took a while as the fuel had drained back into the tank and before the mechanical pump could draw it through to the carb the battery had gone flat. An overnight recharge and a turkey baster full of gas to prime the carb bowl and we were good to go. Not sure I've got the electric choke set up correctly but it idled well once it was good and warm.

I flushed the block thoroughly by removing the thermostat and reinstalling the housing then I disconected the upper hose from the radiator and stuffed a hose pipe into the rad opening. Turn on the water and start the car and use the upper hose to direct the "waste" water away from the fan. After a few minutes the water should start to run clear and the old antifreeze and old accumulated crud is flushed out.

In other news we've just returned from 11 days in the "old country" and I've developed a fascination with 80's Turbo cars including the Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler Conquest, XR4Ti and Dodge Charger. I want turbo lag and I want it...............now!

You nod and I'll hit it

New radiator arrived and brought with it more troubles. Because it's a bigger radiator the inlet and outlets aren't in the same place as the original 19" one so I've been trying to find the correct hoses. Further research shows that the radiator is in fact designed for the 70-73 Dart and the 68-73 Valiant so I've ordered an upper and lower hose that look like they may fit. Rockauto show 15 different upper and 7 different lower hoses so it's anyones guess what will work.

With work on the car at a halt I took the opportunity to install a new cat door in the garage. The easiest option would be to put it in the (fiberglass) garage doors but this also looks the worst. Best option is through the concrete block wall to the side and nicely out of sight. The wall is 8" thick, however the blocks are hollow center and look like the ones below so I figure it'd be pretty easy to drill all around the perimeter of the hole and then smash it out with a club hammer and chisel.

What I didn't bargain on was the hollow centers being backfilled with concrete, and this stuff is even harder than the block. Took me a full day to drill and hammer out a hole 9 inches square and it cost me 2 blisters and purple thumb where I missed the chisel and whacked it. Another half day to line the hole with plywood and repair the mortar and the job is all but complete. Those cats better appreciate it.



Best musical ever made????

This could possibly be my new favourite movie. Yes it's camp, yes it bombed in the cinema, yes it only scores 15% on RottenTomatoes, yes it's the Beatles music BUT it is the Bee Gees and it's very 70's and it's just arrived on Netflix.

It has possibly the greatest cast assembled since The Great Escape with so many unexpected cameos. Check out the movie trailer courtesy of YouTube.

Back to the car, I've been trying to get the new manifolds to fit properly. This has involved grinding away at them to ensure that they are free and clear of the new studs. I want that 'baby' to be able to slide as intended and not crack. Here's a shot of the new pairing in situ.

It's a heavy beast to lift in and out to test fit and while doing so for the umpteenth time I managed to knock the flashlight off the fender into the engine bay. It bounced of the power steering pump and put a hole in the radiator! On closer inspection it has a lot of verdigris staining down one side so i suspect it was leaking and on its way out.

I've ordered a new heavy duty one (Spectra Premium CU527) from RockAuto and its designed for a car with A/C, this was due to availability and cost ($160 v $300). These HD ones are 22" wide as opposed the non A/C ones which are only 19" so this should help the car stay cooler in the Florida summers.

Stud maker

Had a great day in the garage and started with installing the new studs. Degreased the holes and mounting face with brake cleaner and dried them with compressed air. Applied some thread sealant to the stud threads (as the open into the water jacket) and screwed them in hand tight. Using the double nut method I tightened the studs so that they are nice and secure. Yeah I know that rocker cover needs some work that's next on the list once I've got the car back together.

On to the exhaust manifold next. I couldn't get any suitable studs for the choke pocket, I needed 1/4"-28 on both ends but it wasn't to be had anywhere. Best I could find was a 1/4" - 28 bolt that was only part threaded. I cut the head off and attempted to use a die to thread the other end. Unfortunately the bolt was grade 8 material and was too tough. I kept slipping in my vice no matter how hard I tightened the handle. Gave up and went to Plan 'B' which was to make my own from 1/4" steel rod. This proved easier than first imagined and the super long studs can be seen below. I'll trim them off once I know how long they need to be.

Finally the block off plate. I ended using a piece of 2" wide 3/16" flat steel bar to make the block off plate. First attempt was pretty dire and managed to make a complete mess of the second cut so had to junk it. I blamed this on being hungry and a ham and mustard sandwich soon had me back on track. Second attempt went much better, I made a new template and then using a combination of angle grinder, Dremel 4000, hand file and emery cloth I made the new plate. I'll spray it up to match the exhaust manifold so it will blend in a bit better.

The promise of things to come

Not much real progress been taken on the car but I've been busy collecting all the pieces of Humpty Dumpty. Unfortunately not one place stocks all the studs, nuts, bolts, gaskets etc etc so I've had to order from multiple retailers and pay each of them their extortionate shipping and handling. I mean does it REALLY cost $8 to ship six 5/16" nuts??

Mr Gasket Exhaust gasket material from JEGS to seal off the choke pocket

Castellated Nut, 5/16-24 from Pegasus Racing

Brass Manifold nuts from Napa

Electric Choke Conversion from CarbsOnly

High temp thread sealer (not threadlocker), high temp RTV gasket, high temp anti seize lubricant all from ACE hardware.

Anyhow I've got tomorrow off work, Mrs P is away in Orlando, the kids are at school so I'm hoping to get some spannering time in. Watch this space....

I'd tap that

Managed to get some more time on the car today and focussed on drilling and tapping the 3 broken studs. All were sorted with out too much hassle and much safer than risking easy-outs. Learnt my lesson there.

I had to get a new drill bit and tap set as I didn't own the required 'F' sized bit to drill a 5/16" - 18 hole, HomeDepot got me sorted. To make things easier I had to remove the thermostat housing and found a relatively new looking t-stat heavily stuck in place with a load of gasket sealer. The housing is pretty beat up and corroded so I've ordered a new one (along with a new t-stat) from RockAuto.

Now I've just got to deal with the one remaining stud and figuring the best way to get it out.

Crack kills

January and February are busy months for us as 4 family birthdays fall at this time, plus if  you throw in the 2 weeks of everyone being sick then not much progress has been made on the car. However past couple of weeks I'm been working on the exhaust manifold.
I've had the new (used) intake and exhaust manifold sitting in the garage for a while now. It's from a 70-72 model, which means the choke pocket is open to the exhaust gases. Originally there was a stainless steel cup that sat in the hole but this is no longer available new and NOS is super pricey.  As I'm going to convert to an electric choke I don't need this pocket so I just need to make a plate up and cap this off and then I'll be good to go.

Went to a friend's workshop and used his bead blaster to strip and clean the new intake and exhaust manifolds. They came up really well and while we were there tackled the broken stud. The left hand bolt hole had a snapped off stud in it. I had already drilled and tried an "easy-out" on it which I'd also snapped. Those things are made from super hard steel and can't be drilled. Luckily we managed to punch it through the stud and could redrill and tap it. The other stud was stretched and bent and again snapped during removal, but was drilled and tapped too.

I sprayed the intake manifold with VHT silver and it looks like new. I need to find some black super high temp paint for the exhaust manifold and then it will look like the dog's proverbials.

I decided to try and take the existing manifold off and have been soaking the bolt in PB Blaster. Yes I said bolts as some previous owner or "mechanic" ditched the Dodge/Chrysler installation procedure of studs and special hardware in favour of an assortment of bolts and multiple washers.The manifolds are designed to float so that as they get hot they can expand. If they can't expand and slide then this happens.

Yep, cracked in to two pieces no wonder it was noisy, smelly and low on power. There are also 2 other cracks on it so it's fair to say it's junk.

Here's the block sans manifolds. I snapped one of the studs off (one of 2 remaining) and the last one is chewed up and needs replacing too.There were also 2 studs snapped off in the head already so I'll drill and retap these too. I've got the new studs already from silver seal and the new exhaust manifold from Remflex so I'm pretty much ready to go. I'd like to use brass nuts on assembly but I'm having a hard time locating them, so may have to switch to stainless.