rexus31
Senior Member
Thanks! Truth be told, that's how the wires were when I tore the car down. They only fit in the groove if they are lined up side by side.
I work better with an incentive
- Thread starter Zymurgy
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Thanks! Truth be told, that's how the wires were when I tore the car down. They only fit in the groove if they are lined up side by side.
Scott, I'm just amazed at any and all detail pictures I see of your beautiful vert!
bajajoaquin
Senior Member
I wouldn't let lack of experience stop you. I say this as the guy who got held up by a window regulator.
In the '90s, I had a '68 Dart with a small block. Ran awesome and hard. Then one day it started making a god-awful clatter. I didn't know what was wrong, and I couldn't get a straight answer. My genius plan was to rebuild the whole thing, figuring that I'd fix whatever was wrong.
I yanked the engine, found some machine shops locally, and dissassembled it. Bores looked good, bearings looked good, and I found the source of the problem: flat lobe on the cam. I had it hot-tanked, put in new bearings all around, new rings, cleaned up the heads, new cam (unfortunately, the same grind, which had too much lift for the stock valvetrain, causing the flat cam), and then did the reassembly myself.
I bought the book, How to Rebuild Your Small Block Mopar and followed that, along with the help of a friend. Went back together really well. Car ran well, and had no problems (other than the too-big cam) after that.
One advantage of pulling the heads is putting in hardened seats, so it runs reliably on unleaded gas. You can then put in thicker head gaskets, as suggested, so it runs a safer compression ratio. Then, just take a look. Do the bores look good? Any ridge? Gunky? You can probably turn it over and look at the bearings (someone can confirm if you can untorque them and then safely retorque), and see what it needs.
If it's nothing, you then know it. If there's a surprise, it will be a much smaller surprise than if you put the engine back in first.
Thanks everybody for the input this is why I love the site.
I had a good day working on the engine bay. The only thing that gave me any problems was removing the steering box from the pitman arm. I was working on both ends of the pitman arm and finally got it removed from the tie rod. I am going to have it rebuilt at Steer and Gear, boy was it oily.
I was amazed at how easy the exhaust unbolted from the exhaust manifold. I sprayed it with Liquid wrench late morning and removed them after lunch. I used 3/8 ratchet to brake it loose and after 1 rotation I could spin it off the rusted bolt with my fingers.
Everything in the engine bay is basically disconnected and the radiator removed. I am going to have my local Mopar buddy come a week from Monday to help me pull the engine and transmission.
s_dancing2:
I was amazed at how easy the exhaust unbolted from the exhaust manifold. I sprayed it with Liquid wrench late morning and removed them after lunch. I used 3/8 ratchet to brake it loose and after 1 rotation I could spin it off the rusted bolt with my fingers.
Everything in the engine bay is basically disconnected and the radiator removed. I am going to have my local Mopar buddy come a week from Monday to help me pull the engine and transmission.
s_dancing2:
Which is absolutely fabulous !!!
So it can look like this:
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So it can look like this:
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rexus31
Senior Member
I had a good day working on the engine bay. The only thing that gave me any problems was removing the steering box from the pitman arm. I was working on both ends of the pitman arm and finally got it removed from the tie rod. I am going to have it rebuilt at Steer and Gear, boy was it oily.
I was amazed at how easy the exhaust unbolted from the exhaust manifold. I sprayed it with Liquid wrench late morning and removed them after lunch. I used 3/8 ratchet to brake it loose and after 1 rotation I could spin it off the rusted bolt with my fingers.
Everything in the engine bay is basically disconnected and the radiator removed. I am going to have my local Mopar buddy come a week from Monday to help me pull the engine and transmission.
View attachment 23303
Looking good, Mike. If you are planning to restore the bay, I would recommend removing the grill and core support to easily remove the assembled motor and trans. The stuff is going to be removed anyway to properly do the engine bay. I wouldn't reassemble until the motor and trans are back in. It just makes it sooooo much easier to slide in and out with the core support out of the way.
Concur with this and I'm trying hard as hell to resist going into the short block for this very reason. My Conv has 82K on it am I'm reckoning i's fine. When I pulled the intake it looked like it only had a few thousand miles on it and when I turned it over I could hear the compression strokes as it sucked and pushed air.
I've had a set of 915 heads done and am seriously thinking of putting a MP 272 cam in but am resisting because its a slippery slope. Everything outside the short block will be replaced or refurbed and it will be repainted turquoise and put back in..
BTW getting a set of better later heads like 915 / 906 / 452 done with hardened seats minimal porting and performance multi-angle valve job and an electronic ignition if you don't have it already and a 750 eddy carb and you are probably at 400 crank HP anyway. If not a mild retro purple shaft cam and you are definitely there with a nice set of heads.
Forgot one thing you should also add a modern dual plan alum intake and you can still paint it and it will look still like an original engine. And before you change heads see what casting number you have.
If they are closed chamber the only thing you need to do is enlarge the ex valve to 1.74 and a little porting or just go with the stealth heads and get them checked out and install better locks. Can't recall older intakes sizes but if they aren't already 2.08s probably cheaper to get one of the heads I mentioned above
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Thanks Scott, that is my plan. It want to repaint the silver and black areas around the grill and the only way I can do that also it to have it all removed. That makes it a no brainer.
rexus31
Senior Member
Don't forget to black out the core support. Take note of the factory spray pattern and don't mask it. It shouldn't be a clean line. I feee handed mine with a spray can.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I had to make a decision with my New Yorker. 80k and a paper trail showing neurotic maintenance. Ran like a FI Lexis engine but the exhaust would could make Baby Jesus cry.
What to do....
Think with the brain this time. Not the heart.
Underneath was dry as a bone.
Read the plugs. Grey ash. Good.
Compression check. 140 -+ 5 across the board.
Hmm, may get away with just the heads. Pull head and make decision.
Clean! No sludge. No ridge at top of cylinder walls. Just a lot of carbon.
Seeing how it did local short trips for 38 years, it made sense.
Damn, I dodged that bullet. Just do the heads it is.
Everybody's circumstances can vary.
One head gasket STILL on backorder though leaving me stranded up creek. One damn gasket. Grrrrrr...
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What to do....
Think with the brain this time. Not the heart.
Underneath was dry as a bone.
Read the plugs. Grey ash. Good.
Compression check. 140 -+ 5 across the board.
Hmm, may get away with just the heads. Pull head and make decision.
Clean! No sludge. No ridge at top of cylinder walls. Just a lot of carbon.
Seeing how it did local short trips for 38 years, it made sense.
Damn, I dodged that bullet. Just do the heads it is.
Everybody's circumstances can vary.
One head gasket STILL on backorder though leaving me stranded up creek. One damn gasket. Grrrrrr...
Posted via Topify on Android
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Thanks for the reminder, I remember reading the original thread where this topic was discussed. Did you just use a rattle can for the effect or did you use urethane and then coat everything with clear?
rexus31
Senior Member
I roughed up the bc/cc on the core support with 150 or 200 grit then sprayed it with flat black, no top coat.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Blackout is down from down below I lay down on floor and spray up, sounds funny but works.
Thats ok, you can drive your unwashed ford in the meantime. ;)
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
In 2056 that thing is going to have a patina to die for.
I have everything ready to pull the engine and transmission a week ahead of time. That means I can move on to removing the rest of the engine bay next weekend and start sort what gets painted what color. So far so good.
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