1966 Polara 500 Ragtop
- Thread starter Dsertdog
- Start date
patrick66
Old Man with a Hat
Ah, you saw what I did there!
Seriously, your Dodge looks great!
Seriously, your Dodge looks great!
cbarge
World Famous Barge in a Budget
With a laser temp gun, do a before and after reading without and with spacer pointing at base of carb.
You will be surprised.
Double check hood clearance first!!
The spacer can be home made from plywood or fiber board Lol!!
Today's corn based gasoline swill does boil out of a carb quickly.
So anything you can do to avoid perculation will make you a happy driver,lol
Heat sheathing on fuel line from fuel pump up to carb, blocking the exhaust ports and 1 inch spacer makes a huge difference.
The spacer also increases velocity so you gain a few ft.lbs and hp to boot!
Hope this helps.
Cheers!!
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
@cbarge
I don't have access one of them there fancy laser guns or thermometer thingies.
A 1/2 inch spacer will clear, and since the car sees occasional use in temps that are near 32 degrees, we'll keep the heat risers open.
Ms. Ruby doesn't imbibe in moonshine.
I don't have access one of them there fancy laser guns or thermometer thingies.
A 1/2 inch spacer will clear, and since the car sees occasional use in temps that are near 32 degrees, we'll keep the heat risers open.
Ms. Ruby doesn't imbibe in moonshine.
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
Making progress...
The manifold sat in the redneck hot tub until Friday morning, then it was washed, wire brushed and painted.
![20210730_073316[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20210730_073316-1-jpg.478628/ "20210730_073316[1].jpg")
Today, I've gotten the intake torqued into place. The intake/valley pan gasket had a rectangular dimple about 5 by 7 inches in the center that seemed tailor made for siliconing a couple of small pieces of Thermal gard insulation into. It should cut down on the valve train noise without completely blocking the airflow under the intake and heat sinking the entire intake manifold.
![20210801_123701[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20210801_123701-1-jpg.478629/ "20210801_123701[1].jpg")
So far I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out.
The manifold sat in the redneck hot tub until Friday morning, then it was washed, wire brushed and painted.
Today, I've gotten the intake torqued into place. The intake/valley pan gasket had a rectangular dimple about 5 by 7 inches in the center that seemed tailor made for siliconing a couple of small pieces of Thermal gard insulation into. It should cut down on the valve train noise without completely blocking the airflow under the intake and heat sinking the entire intake manifold.
So far I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out.
stubs300
Senior Member
You gotta use what works!
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
Last Sunday Ruby refused to start and barely started with a jumper battery.
At least she stranded us in the garage...
I suspected either the starter or the battery, and after a series of tests, the battery showed a dead cell condition.
Having come with the car in 2018 in a completely discharged state, and being 3.5 years old, I guess it was time.
So I replaced it with another, and even got the fake caps and stickers to adhere for one more go around.
In the process of elimination, I disemboweled the starter relay. It was functional, but pretty toasted inside. About what you'd expect after 55 years.
Richard Erhrenberg offers a replacement relay on greed-bay that is supposed to come from an OEM Mopar supplier.
I figured I would transfer the fresh guts to the original housing, keeping the OEM part number intact.
Well, I was able to do this but had to file down the circuit board sides to make it fit in the original housing...something I figured would NOT need to be done unless the parts were made overseas.
![20210814_134511[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20210814_134511-1-jpg.481172/ "20210814_134511[1].jpg")
![20210814_134535[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20210814_134535-1-jpg.481173/ "20210814_134535[1].jpg")
Ms. Ruby seems back to her old self again.
At least she stranded us in the garage...
I suspected either the starter or the battery, and after a series of tests, the battery showed a dead cell condition.
Having come with the car in 2018 in a completely discharged state, and being 3.5 years old, I guess it was time.
So I replaced it with another, and even got the fake caps and stickers to adhere for one more go around.
In the process of elimination, I disemboweled the starter relay. It was functional, but pretty toasted inside. About what you'd expect after 55 years.
Richard Erhrenberg offers a replacement relay on greed-bay that is supposed to come from an OEM Mopar supplier.
I figured I would transfer the fresh guts to the original housing, keeping the OEM part number intact.
Well, I was able to do this but had to file down the circuit board sides to make it fit in the original housing...something I figured would NOT need to be done unless the parts were made overseas.
Ms. Ruby seems back to her old self again.
xxcarguy
Well-Known Member
Looks great
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
Merry Christmas back.
Was surprised you weren't in the Christmas parade.
xxcarguy
Well-Known Member
I was cooking pancakes and helping serve at the Rotary Pancake Breakfast.
Maybe next year!
Maybe next year!
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
It's been a busy year for me, but I've been able to do a couple of projects on the Polara.
I had a local garage replace the rear springs with a set of Espo one inch over stock springs which improve the ride and the handling exponentially!
And I've finished up replacing the timing chain. It had the max amount of play in it, but the nylon cam gear looks original and was perfect!
Don't have to worry about teeth in the oil pickup.
![20220820_190002[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20220820_190002-1-jpg.553359/ "20220820_190002[1].jpg")
I pulled the condenser to flush it, and will install it when I get my compressor kit
Otherwise, the front of the engine got cleaned and painted. Not much to see but...
![20220820_185847[1].jpg](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/20220820_185847-1-jpg.553360/ "20220820_185847[1].jpg")
I had a local garage replace the rear springs with a set of Espo one inch over stock springs which improve the ride and the handling exponentially!
And I've finished up replacing the timing chain. It had the max amount of play in it, but the nylon cam gear looks original and was perfect!
Don't have to worry about teeth in the oil pickup.
I pulled the condenser to flush it, and will install it when I get my compressor kit
Otherwise, the front of the engine got cleaned and painted. Not much to see but...
xxcarguy
Well-Known Member
Looks great Al!
How ya been. Hope all is well.
How ya been. Hope all is well.
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
All is well, hope the same is for you.
This hyperinflation though...
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
It has been a while...
Last year we lost our other dog. He was a sweet boi, and we miss him still.
Since then, we've spent a lot of money on our house. Money that was well spent but cut into Mz. Ruby's restoration budget. But I have some parts that need installing and lots of time, so I'm going to try and make the best of it.
I removed the sway bar and decided to replace the bushings. First off, the shop I has work on it decided the square link didn't need to be replaced. Well, the bushings were breaking down, so I removed the sway bar and found the upper link bushings I installed four years ago were already cracked. They were chinese Mevotechs and that wasn't impressive, but Moog's are no longer made, so whadaya do?
I found 71FGuryGT's post on rebuilding the links and referenced it to install the new bushings. I'm awaiting the delivery of new link bushings (I call them pucks) from PST and will install them. Urethane tends to be more durable than rubber.
![000_0159[1].JPG](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/000_0159-1-jpg.648458/ "000_0159[1].JPG")
After that, I need to pull the interior panel on the passenger door and figure out why the glass is crooked.
Last year we lost our other dog. He was a sweet boi, and we miss him still.
Since then, we've spent a lot of money on our house. Money that was well spent but cut into Mz. Ruby's restoration budget. But I have some parts that need installing and lots of time, so I'm going to try and make the best of it.
I removed the sway bar and decided to replace the bushings. First off, the shop I has work on it decided the square link didn't need to be replaced. Well, the bushings were breaking down, so I removed the sway bar and found the upper link bushings I installed four years ago were already cracked. They were chinese Mevotechs and that wasn't impressive, but Moog's are no longer made, so whadaya do?
I found 71FGuryGT's post on rebuilding the links and referenced it to install the new bushings. I'm awaiting the delivery of new link bushings (I call them pucks) from PST and will install them. Urethane tends to be more durable than rubber.
After that, I need to pull the interior panel on the passenger door and figure out why the glass is crooked.
Last edited:
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
I sprayed the interior panel and armrest with Herb's spray dye. I love this product!
The trim was covered with chrome tape from ebay which doesn't stick as well as I hoped. New cat hair and a little adjustment.
It's certainly an improvement.
![000_0164[1].JPG](https://forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/attachments/000_0164-1-jpg.663153/ "000_0164[1].JPG")
The trim was covered with chrome tape from ebay which doesn't stick as well as I hoped. New cat hair and a little adjustment.
It's certainly an improvement.
xxcarguy
Well-Known Member
Similar threads
