She’s alive, '68 383

[HWYCRZR]

Is your choke thermostat working? It should pull off after being warmed up.
2bbl 383?? I may have NOS one if needed.

The choke thermostat is working fabulously. It is pulling all the way open when warmed up, which puts the butterflies straight up and down. When the engine cools off and the choke rod relaxes, it sticks straight up and down and won’t relax back into place without a small tap.

 

[67ragtop]

looking real nice bud. I love the color combo

 

[HWYCRZR]

I hate doing diagnostic work over the internet, but why might my gauges fluctuate so much. I probably need to stick a volt meter on the battery as it is running to see if it correlates to the movement. I need to work on wind noise at 70 mph although I don’t have my door panels on yet either.

 

[jct]

Doesn't that correlate with the dash voltage regulator?

 

[cbarge]

I hate doing diagnostic work over the internet, but why might my gauges fluctuate so much. I probably need to stick a volt meter on the battery as it is running to see if it correlates to the movement. I need to work on wind noise at 70 mph although I don’t have my door panels on yet either.

Get an electronic gauge voltage limiter NOW!
The old bi-metal limiter is going to **** the bed and fry your gauges!
The limiter takes 12 volts down to 5 to run the gauges.
When they spike up they are getting more than the 5 volts allowed.
once the gauges get "pegged" they are junk.

This is an old one i opened up and it is obvious why they short out..

You can buy one on e bay. Expensive little bugger but cheap insurance especially when you did a full blown resto on your car.
Solid State Mopar Limiter IVR3 bolt on (Challenger, Cuda, B-body Rallye) | eBay
I use electronic limiter on ALL old Mopars I handle. Including the BoaB.
Hope this helps.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Get an electronic gauge voltage limiter NOW!
The old bi-metal limiter is going to **** the bed and fry your gauges!
The limiter takes 12 volts down to 5 to run the gauges.
When they spike up they are getting more than the 5 volts allowed.
once the gauges get "pegged" they are junk.
View attachment 284882
This is an old one i opened up and it is obvious why they short out..
View attachment 284883
You can buy one on e bay. Expensive little bugger but cheap insurance especially when you did a full blown resto on your car.
Solid State Mopar Limiter IVR3 bolt on (Challenger, Cuda, B-body Rallye) | eBay
I use electronic limiter on ALL old Mopars I handle. Including the BoaB.
Hope this helps.

Definitely worth the price.

 

[GJS]

Get an electronic gauge voltage limiter NOW!
The old bi-metal limiter is going to **** the bed and fry your gauges!
The limiter takes 12 volts down to 5 to run the gauges.
When they spike up they are getting more than the 5 volts allowed.
once the gauges get "pegged" they are junk.
View attachment 284882
This is an old one i opened up and it is obvious why they short out..
View attachment 284883
You can buy one on e bay. Expensive little bugger but cheap insurance especially when you did a full blown resto on your car.
Solid State Mopar Limiter IVR3 bolt on (Challenger, Cuda, B-body Rallye) | eBay
I use electronic limiter on ALL old Mopars I handle. Including the BoaB.
Hope this helps.

Good call, man. Thanks for that.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Regulator Ordered.

My idle range is sitting between 550 an 720. It seems like it sits in the high 600’s and low 700’s with a little mechanical advance going on then drops to 550 rpm with no mechanical advance. Timing light at 550 is right on the 7-1/2 degree mark. Vacuum gauge at about 14 in. When it jumps up to 650 to 700 rpm the timing shows advanced before the timing marks. (Vacuum advance plugged). At about 900 rpm and above the gauge goes and holds steady at 20”. There is no hesitation or pinging when I hit the throttle, it idles fine and doesn’t load up. Besides my choke hanging open until I bump it, it starts great warm or cold.

550 RPM

700 rpm

 

[HWYCRZR]

Idle video after final tune ( for now)

 

[LocuMob]

Vacuum gauge at about 14 in. When it jumps up to 650 to 700 rpm the timing shows advanced before the timing marks. (Vacuum advance plugged). At about 900 rpm and above the gauge goes and holds steady at 20”

That's exactly the information I was looking for, I got the same results trying to tune the Monaco, but I had no idea what was a good range, that clears it up. Thanks for the unintentional help!

 

[HWYCRZR]

That's exactly the information I was looking for, I got the same results trying to tune the Monaco, but I had no idea what was a good range, that clears it up. Thanks for the unintentional help!

Not sure if it is 100% correct, but it is as dialed in as I can get it. And it seems to be running fairly smooth. I think some of the idle inconsistencies is my worn out carburetor. It is clean with a new kit, but the shafts are a little worn in their bores after 100,000+ miles. Maybe next fall I may send into Dana for a complete rebuild. Should run fine this summer though. I wish I had a tail pipe sniffer to check my air fuel ratio.

 

[cbarge]

Not sure if it is 100% correct, but it is as dialed in as I can get it. And it seems to be running fairly smooth. I think some of the idle inconsistencies is my worn out carburetor. It is clean with a new kit, but the shafts are a little worn in their bores after 100,000+ miles. Maybe next fall I may send into Dana for a complete rebuild. Should run fine this summer though. I wish I had a tail pipe sniffer to check my air fuel ratio.

Is the motor a fresh rebuild?
If so the idle and vacuum will go up and down and will take about 500 miles to get all internal parts to gel and settle in after break in.
Needs to be driven.
Idling is not good for a fresh motor.
Needs acceleration and deceleration to set the rings.
I recommend running about 10 degrees timing at 750 RPM. you should be at 20 inches at idle.
550 RPM is too low in my opinion and can lead to loading up the engine and fouling the plugs..been there.
The vacuum gauge is the next best thing to tell you where the motor is happy compared to a sniffer.

Finally,a fresh motor deserves a fresh carb for optimum tuning.
Like putting worn out strings on a new guitar...not happening.
Hope this helps.

 

[cbarge]

I see you are running the old mechanical voltage regulator under the hood.
I recommend swapping it out for an electronic one.
Duralast VR706
I get them at Autozone for under 30 bux.
Plug n play for all C's 65-69.
Just pop the cover off and glue your old cover on it .
Looks stock and super reliable unit.

 

[LocuMob]

Not sure if it is 100% correct,

I got 14# when in hooked up my gauge, and no idea if that was a good number at idle or not. I got 20# with the rpm higher, and knew that was good.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Is the motor a fresh rebuild?
If so the idle and vacuum will go up and down and will take about 500 miles to get all internal parts to gel and settle in after break in.
Needs to be driven.
Idling is not good for a fresh motor.
Needs acceleration and deceleration to set the rings.
I recommend running about 10 degrees timing at 750 RPM. you should be at 20 inches at idle.
550 RPM is too low in my opinion and can lead to loading up the engine and fouling the plugs..been there.
The vacuum gauge is the next best thing to tell you where the motor is happy compared to a sniffer.

Finally,a fresh motor deserves a fresh carb for optimum tuning.
Like putting worn out strings on a new guitar...not happening.
Hope this helps.

Fresh rebuild so a little stiff yet. Runs and sounds good for now. Probably up to 50 miles now. I have tested the kick down adjustment a few times. Sets you back nicely in the seat when you hit it at 55. I will use my current carb for break in and get it rebuilt next winter.

For the 550 RPM I was trying to follow ma Mopar’s propaganda from their 68 technicians guide. Says is set at 550 rpm from the factory so that after 500 miles when the engine loosens up it will be at 600.
I will drive when I can. Need to finish my dash and belt line trim so I can put the door panels on.
I have to keep checking the Gorilla tape holding my rear tail light lenses on until I get my bezels back from the second round of re-chrome.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I see you are running the old mechanical voltage regulator under the hood.
I recommend swapping it out for an electronic one.
Duralast VR706
I get them at Autozone for under 30 bux.
Plug n play for all C's 65-69.
Just pop the cover off and glue your old cover on it .
Looks stock and super reliable unit.
View attachment 284945
View attachment 284946
View attachment 284947

It is a good fit. No glue needed the gasket and the clip from the original work fine with it. The actual cap from the new one looks close as well. Someday I will find a new cap with the red part numbers.

Old cap on new solid state. New cap by old regulator.

Solid state installed.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I see the new tool, have you tried it out yet?

Back on post 12 I was struggling with the meter from harbor freight.
Now I really do like it. The directions were not very clear for RPM. I hooked the induction wire to the #1 spark plug wire and could not convert the reading into a rpm. After some searching I found that the induction clamp hooks to the coil wire for a direct reading. No converting. The dwell also worked fine and as an additional bonus it comes with a temperature probe. For less than $50 it was a good buy.

 

[HWYCRZR]

To close this thread out, I did replace the IP voltage regulator with a solid state one. It sucked I had to pull my panel back out to disable my old one which is internal to the fuel gauge.
See link for replacement thread.

Don’t wanna, but need to pull IP to modify regulator

Also new video of it working.

 

[HWYCRZR]

About 900 miles since total reconstruction. Runs great, idles great, starts great.
Only issue is choke sticks wide open after running and doesn’t allow fast idle to reset. So first start I have to pop the hood and tap the linkage. Yes the auto choke is clean and temperature spring works fabulously. My choke shaft may have a little wear causing it to stand straight up and not fall back down to re-set.

Stuck open

Re set

 

[65sporty]

I think the choke should be closed more when the engine is cold or is there some heat in the engine in that pic?