My new 78 NYB

[Payton Mitchell]

Picked this car up here in Texas on a trade deal. I'm guessing I have $800 in it I plan on driving it alot next Summer. I'm planning on swapping intake for a Eddie aluminum and swapping dis for hei. Also considering purchasing the Fitech system and installing it on the 440. I am the third owner I tracked down the pervious owner and he bought it in the early 90s. Only put a couple thousand miles on it when he had it. Any input would be appreciated thanks in advance .

 

[oliver]

Nice find! Congratulations.

 

[JC68vert300]

Awesome. Always loved that color combo.

 

[Mr C]

Nice car. How's the wipers? If the intermittent plastic gear is toast, the solution has been found by the smart people on this site.

 

[Davea Lux]

Picked this car up here in Texas on a trade deal. I'm guessing I have $800 in it I plan on driving it alot next Summer. I'm planning on swapping intake for a Eddie aluminum and swapping dis for hei. Also considering purchasing the Fitech system and installing it on the 440. I am the third owner I tracked down the pervious owner and he bought it in the early 90s. Only put a couple thousand miles on it when he had it. Any input would be appreciated thanks in advance .

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If has been mostly sitting since the early '90's, you will want to take a good look at all of the rubber hoses and all of the brake hydraulics. Could also have a bunch of crud in the fuel system that will probably break loose once you start driving it any amount. Still, it is a nice find for the money. If you decide to go with fuel injection, it will take a fair amount of tinkering to get it to run right, so be forewarned. Also be sure to put a fuel filter ahead of whatever fuel pumping system you install to protect it. This car most likely has a Thermo-Quad carb that is coupled to the electronic distributor and the lean burn computer system, so if you opt for an after market ignition, the Thermo-Quad and the lean burn system will have to go away as well as it won't work without all of the components.

Dave

 

[Payton Mitchell]

Nice car. How's the wipers? If the intermittent plastic gear is toast, the solution has been found by the smart people on this site.

Wipers work great

 

[Payton Mitchell]

Thank you is there any way I can clean out the tank? The front breaks are dragging jacked car up and can not roll the tires breaks dragging.

 

[1978 NYB]

Thank you is there any way I can clean out the tank? The front breaks are dragging jacked car up and can not roll the tires breaks dragging.

Replace the front brake hoses. The brake hose is collapsing and not releasing the brake fluid back into the master cylinder. I would replace the front calipers too if it was mine. I assume you planned on new pads and rotors.

 

[78Brougham]

Nice looking car congrats!

 

[70bigblockdodge]

the Thermo-Quad and the lean burn system will have to go away as well as it won't work without all of the components

The carb is not connected to ignition box on air cleaner. Only time it lean is cruise and idle. WOT is usually rich on these carbs, less than 12.5, can usually be remedied by bending wide open stop tang on the air door allowing it to open further and reduce the low pressure area around the spray bar drawing less fuel. Idle mixture can be adjusted after limiting caps removed, and cruise can be fattened a touch by filing a slight flat spot on the side of the metering rods on the fat section and maybe the middle section.
They take some fiddling but can be made to work.
I believe the OP is just going to rip all the stuff off, and reinvent the wheel so it's a moot point.

 

[Payton Mitchell]

Replace the front brake hoses. The brake hose is collapsing and not releasing the brake fluid back into the master cylinder. I would replace the front calipers too if it was mine. I assume you planned on new pads and rotors.

Yes sir that was the plan

 

[1978 NYB]

Yes sir that was the plan

Great. Bullet proof the brakes from the get go and you won't have to worry about stopping her.

 

[Davea Lux]

Thank you is there any way I can clean out the tank? The front breaks are dragging jacked car up and can not roll the tires breaks dragging.

The gas tank, if it is full of debris, will have to come out of the car to be cleaned. I would suggest running most of the fuel out of the car and removing the fuel tank sending unit. If the fuel pickup tube is badly rusted and the sock on the end of the tube is full of crud, that will be a good indicator as to the condition of the tank. You can also disconnect the fuel line to the carb and hook a piece of rubber fuel line into a capture container while cranking over the engine (Pull the coil wire so it does not start). If the fuel obtained in the container is discolored and smells bad, you probably are going to have tank issues.

Dave

 

[Davea Lux]

Thank you is there any way I can clean out the tank? The front breaks are dragging jacked car up and can not roll the tires breaks dragging.

You are going to need to rebuild both front calipers, replace the hoses as mentioned in the previous posts. In addition, I would suggest replacing or rebuilding the rear brake cylinders. As this car had a lengthy "rest" they are most likely rusted up. Be sure to also replace the rear brake hose. Carefully check the master cylinder for leakage also, any sign of leakage replace it as well. If your are going to do all of this, it would be a really good time to upgrade to DOT 5 brake fluid. This fluid eliminates most of the issues relating to corrosion in the braking system so you are not back in the same place four or five years down the road. DOT 5 works best when all of the brake system components are "new".

You will need to Mic and turn the front rotors if there is enough left of them. Wheel bearings will need to be inspected and packed if reused. Do not bother with the cheap Chinese bearing races that come in most new rotors, buy good ones from TRW. They are well worth the extra cost.

On a car that sat for this long, you should consider replacing all of the rubber fuel lines as they were not designed for today's oxygenated fuels which degrade the rubber in the hoses and cause leakage. There is also a high likely hood that the radiator and heater hoses are rotten as well.

Another item to check is your timing chain. Unhook the coil wire and turn the engine to TDC. Take off the distributor cap. Have a helper with a breaker bar and socket on the harmonic balancer nut rock the crankshaft forward and back. If there is more than 10-12 degrees of free play before the distributor rotor starts to move, the timing chain needs to be replaced. Doing this now will save you a lot of expensive grief later.

Dave

Dave

Dave

 

[cantflip]

Picked this car up here in Texas on a trade deal. I'm guessing I have $800 in it I plan on driving it alot next Summer. I'm planning on swapping intake for a Eddie aluminum and swapping dis for hei. Also considering purchasing the Fitech system and installing it on the 440. I am the third owner I tracked down the pervious owner and he bought it in the early 90s. Only put a couple thousand miles on it when he had it. Any input would be appreciated thanks in advance .

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Looks alot like my "parts car"... which I couldn't part.

Stay Mopar, 70's electronic ignition is simple, cheap and reliable... I doubt the intake will do much for you either. TQ or Eddie carb should do what you need fuel wise, FI is a nicer thought than the reality of the $$ merits... IMO it's just changing the skill set required to tune it.

@Mr C already mentioned the Achilles heal of the 78 wipers. For road trip purposes, I would plan for rain. Rainx or get the parts to modify the wipers in advance... you don't want to get caught without on the road.

 

[1978 NYB]

Wipers on a 78 can be ok if you don't try to sweep the snow off the glass with the wipers or try to turn the wipers on if they are frozen to the glass. My Newport has the original wiper cam but I already have the small cam donor parts to convert it when the big cam fails.

 

[Payton Mitchell]

Thanks everyone for the in put I've also got a parts car also kinda.

 

[commando1]

I believe the OP is just going to rip all the stuff off, and reinvent the wheel so it's a moot point.

That was my first and immediate impression.

 

[MarPar]

Great lookin' car! and love the sign! MAGA

 

[Payton Mitchell]

Great lookin' car! and love the sign! MAGA

Thanks stole sign off the interstate day after election