(Another) 383 2 bbl to 4 bbl conversion thread, anyone got a parts list?

[Gerald Morris]

I fixed it. The hose I reused was hard & rotted. It split in a place I could not see. Works now. Waiting for the replacement that looks like the original one. Next question. Exhaust. The pipe at engine if leaking. Donut? How do I get the windows to roll down with out calling King Kong to turn the manual crank.

We don't do donuts for the exhaust. If the original exhaust downpipe and bend is still alright, replace the manifold to flange gasket. I like thick graphite gaskets myself and have had excellent results with them. If the old pipe itself is burnt out, read the next paragraph.

Get a flanged short downpipe the same diameter of your current exhaust, a coupling, a bit of flex, the same diameter again and a flex coupling, cut off the rotted stuff at the exhaust manifold, install new flanged downpipe, couple to flex, couple flex to remaining exhaust pipe.

Now, for stiff windows: Remove the door panels, clean the crap in the gears out with a nice solvent, lubricate with Lubriplate grease, replace any broken stuff, and it will serve you well. Is the glass still sealing with the trac in the door? Are the "cat's whiskers" window sweeps on each side of the glass still good? Are the nylon bushings attaching the glass to the regulator still good? All this stuff merits attention. I still need to attend to the rear windows, but the big door windows do very nicely.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Time to take the door card/panel off. Use a metal trim removal tool since the fiberboard has a good chance of ripping out and the steel retaining clips can be stuck real tight; on every door panel of my car I tore out 1-3 clips pulling off by hand lol.
Remove the moisture barrier, if it's falling apart now is the time to replace that too, I used 100 micron-thickness builder's plastic. Butyl tape is great to stick it on, but may make future servicing more annoying; it's very sticky and tacky, like melted cheese. If you ever need to take it off again without making a mess, you'll need to slice through the tape slowly while pulling the sheet away from the door.
Get some water resistant grease and coat the gear teeth, sliding surfaces and pivot points of the regulator assembly. The main pivot point for the sun gear may be impossible to reach with your fingers; use spray grease with a long thin nozzle - spraying this pivot point alone with lithium grease made the biggest improvement for me.
If your vent window cranks are buggered, this is also the time to repair them. Grind down the rivets until smooth (not all the way down flush with the surrounding area) then drill out a hole in each to stick a bolt in. I used a 3.5mm drill bit and an M4 bolt with M4 and M6 washers to hold it down. It seems to hold up well even when forcing the crank at its maximum travel. (Shoutout to @65CopCar for the vent window plate - it's working perfectly now, thanks!)

Worth mentioning that when I put the door cards back on, the front door windows became harder to wind - it seemed like the door panels themselves were applying enough pressure against the glass to make it difficult to crank.

One can use Velcro or magnets to reattach the door panels if those clips pull out too much. I recommend FINGERS for pulling those old vinyl coated masonite cards loose from the doors, as much as possible, or a broad but thin pry-bar. The more surface area one can apply force over, the less likely one is to rip the clip out of that old board. Still, one can expect losses. This is when the Velcro or magnet tape comes in handy. Makes it easier for the next session.

A good large trash bag can be cut to replace the original moisture barrier, if you live in a region where this may be of concern. I forego such here. I use an 8-32 screw on the window vent pivots if the old rivet has failed. Our '66 had that problem on the driver side.

 

[edbods]

The more surface area one can apply force over, the less likely one is to rip the clip out of that old board

Absolutely true, I should've clarified that when using those steel trim removal tools, the goal is to apply pressure to the clip itself - if you've got the below style of clips, you might be able to wedge a screwdriver and push from there:

 

[Gerald Morris]

Absolutely true, I should've clarified that when using those steel trim removal tools, the goal is to apply pressure to the clip itself - if you've got the below style of clips, you might be able to wedge a screwdriver and push from there:

Even with the older, wire clips, I've used a large flat blade screwdriver to good effect. The BEST Thing to do isn't to replace the clip, but rather, the door panel. I'm looking at sundry vinyl and nylon sheets for that, and have for nigh 30 years. Then, one must cut the stuff exactly to form, and bend it, using a heat gun. All feasible enough, with Time and Money.

 

[edbods]

The BEST Thing to do isn't to replace the clip, but rather, the door panel

Do door panel clips in general ever have issues aside from maybe corrosion? I've never really had problems with them failing in any car. More often than not, they seem to be too good at their job...

 

[Gerald Morris]

Do door panel clips in general ever have issues aside from maybe corrosion? I've never really had problems with them failing in any car. More often than not, they seem to be too good at their job...

They can rust a bit over 5-6 decades. The big problem is their ripping out of that old masonite/cardboard crap used for the door panel medium back then. Best thing to do is use the old panels for templates, then cut some vinyl/fiberglass paneling as new stock.

 

[HOTTODDY6757]

New subject. Gas tank & gauge. I was out enjoying a very nice sunny day in my Polara. Made a few stops for groceries & dinner. The engine kept getting harder to start after each stop. I got home & left the car half way out of garage to get into truck. 19 feet wide garage & 19 feet long car. Any way. She would not start. Gas gauge showed a 1/4 tank & battery has a 85% charge. No luck. I removed the gas line from carb & attempted to see gas going into container. Maybe a 1/2 cup & nothing more. Luck I had a full gas can for lawn mower. Fun time pouring gas into a gas cap behind license plate. Reconnected gas line after seeing gas in container. Not sure how much a 383 ci engine is supposed to have out of fuel pump. Started up & runs. Ran out of gas or poor fuel pump out put. Question? The dash gauge does not show empty. Right now with about 5 gallons of gas added. Did not move. Makes me wonder if the gauges in speedometer cluster have been tapered with. or improperly or broken gas gauge sender? The milage when purchased last year was 51,000 miles. Seems to be low for a car that went to 5 western states & hauled a trailer requiring a class 2 hitch. Ideas?

 

[Gerald Morris]

New subject. Gas tank & gauge. I was out enjoying a very nice sunny day in my Polara. Made a few stops for groceries & dinner. The engine kept getting harder to start after each stop. I got home & left the car half way out of garage to get into truck. 19 feet wide garage & 19 feet long car. Any way. She would not start. Gas gauge showed a 1/4 tank & battery has a 85% charge. No luck. I removed the gas line from carb & attempted to see gas going into container. Maybe a 1/2 cup & nothing more. Luck I had a full gas can for lawn mower. Fun time pouring gas into a gas cap behind license plate. Reconnected gas line after seeing gas in container. Not sure how much a 383 ci engine is supposed to have out of fuel pump. Started up & runs. Ran out of gas or poor fuel pump out put. Question? The dash gauge does not show empty. Right now with about 5 gallons of gas added. Did not move. Makes me wonder if the gauges in speedometer cluster have been tapered with. or improperly or broken gas gauge sender? The milage when purchased last year was 51,000 miles. Seems to be low for a car that went to 5 western states & hauled a trailer requiring a class 2 hitch. Ideas?

Time to check the gas gauge. Get under the car, disconnect the blue wire from the sending unit, measure resistance of sending unit to ground. Should be between 10-73 ohms. If the tank has but 5 gallons in it, the resistance likely will be a lot closer to 73, like, 55-60 ohms. Those old wiper and coil sending units are NOT linear, BTW.

Next, with the blue wire WELL away from the sheetmetal, turn your ignition switch to either Acc or ON, and measure the output voltage to ground from the wire. If its more than 6 V, then the little "regulator" behind your speedometer has shorted, and is sending too much voltage. More likely, it will read ZERO, meaning the regulator has burned out.

If the blue wire reads between 5-6 VDC to ground, then the GAUGE needs attention/replacement. Look in your FSM on how to remove the instrument cluster. You will need to replace the gauge if it fails to move after supplying between 2-6 VDC to it.

MORE likely than trouble with the gauge, your sending unit has transmogrified to a lump of metallic oxides and organo-metallic compounds. Since your gas tank is nice and low, you can easily remove the sending unit. Do so, if it reads open, or 0 ohms to ground. Realize that you MUST use an ohmmeter which will read LOW resistances ACCURATELY. Many sold today, don't.

If you read something between 10-73 ohms, the wiper may be stuck. Remove the unit, inspect it. If the float is either flooded, or missing, replace that, IFF the wiper still reads variably between 10-73 ohms. Inspect the pickup sock also. If less than perfect, replace it. They go for about $10, or did Before Trump. Now, maybe $20....

Report your findings to us here, with plenty pictures.

P.S. If your sending unit isn't working properly, your ride MAY have been sabotaged by vile Communist Agents. In this case, the thing is hopeless and should be sold to me, cheap. I will charitably come get it, as a Public Service.