1973 Plymouth Fury big block swap

  I often have a hard time getting to sleep at nights. I attribute it to my heavy diet coke habit and my overall "night owl" tendencies. My chronic insomnia has given my mind lots of time to wander as I toss and turn. The byproducts of my insomnia are a string of brilliant epiphanies and half-baked schemes that end in disaster,this next story falls somewhere in between.

  When I wrecked my 76 dodge powerwagon I bought a 73 dodge truck as a parts donor to repair it.  The 73 parts truck was equipped with a low deck 400 big block with a fragged fuel pump, which I pulled before the 73 was sent unmercifully to the crusher. At first the 400 took up floor space in the shop as I dreamed of building a 451 stroker engine out of it. Then I woke up and realized I'm poor and came up with another plan: I always thought full size C body mopars with small blocks were lame, and I owned a small block C body mopar. My 1973 Plymouth Fury was powered by a 360 small block, I modded it with an Edelbrock performer intake and a 600 cfm Holley carb and a dual exhaust. The modifications I made helped the car pick up some much needed power because the thing is damn heavy and nothing moves a heavy car better than big block torque, And I just happened to have a spare big block laying around.

    With limited funds a full rebuild on the 400 was not an option, Instead I replaced key components for the most reliability and performance. I started by scraping and scrubbing off the 30 plus years of crusted pennzoil frosting and stripping it of everything I wasn't going to use. I replaced the timing chain,oil pump,fuel pump,valve seals and threw a gasket kit at it. I also added a windage tray and a swap meet sourced aluminum 4 barrel intake manifold,I used some 1970 HP exhaust manifolds to replace the truck log style units. I recurved the distributor and finally painted it to make it pretty.

  Then I let it set for about a year as I frantically worked on the four other project cars (I often say I have project car ADD as I often jump from one car to another for no reason)  The project was jump started after I sold the aforementioned 360 in the Fury which was still in the car. I battled the sweltering july heat and a swarm of wasps that took up residence under the huge plymouth. And pulled the 360 from it's home for over 38 years.

  I had the engine done but I still needed a transmission, I reused the 727 torqueflite from the truck.
chrysler 400 engines have a cast crank and are externally balanced. That means the torque converter has balance weights welded to it from the factory so I'm limited on converter selection so I stayed with the stocker. I drained the torqueflite,adjusted the bands,and installed a fresh filter and pan gasket. I'm about 90% sure the tranny will work.

  I stole the kickdown linkage and some assorted brackets from the small block torqueflite.The tranny cooler lines from the small block worked on the big block which was a relief.

   With everything bolted together I dropped in the 400/727 combo with motor mounts from my junk pile. I use an engine tilter which works trick when installing an engine by yourself. I was able to reuse the old driveshaft but the exhaust wasn't even close to matching up, So later I'll have to make a trip to the muffler shop.

  It took several weeks of scrounging to make everything come together,The pulleys came off the small block, I got the alternator bracket from mancini racing,It was originally chrome but I scuffed it and painted it black. The biggest pain was rewiring the ignition,since the distributor on a big block is on the front I had to lengthen all the wires. Other than that Its mostly junkyard parts. The first fire was kinda anti-climactic due to a wiring issue that had no power to the key. With the electrical snafu fixed it fired right up and ran pretty snappy the only other problem was a small gas leak. With the cold weather rapidly closing in I still need to get the exhaust fixed and find the right power steering bracket. I'm not really sure I'll be able to get in a road test before the snow flies. But a mild winter might fix that problem (crosses fingers) So stay tuned for that. Next summer hopefully I'll be doing bodywork on the Fury and installing a 8 3/4 rearend with a 3.23:1 sure grip.

  I thought this was going to be cheap! After crunching the numbers this thing really nickel and dimed me bad! And I'm not finished spending. All told I spent about $650 to make all this happen.

400 cubic inch Pontiac buildup: Part 4

  The Pontiac engine buildup resumed once a replacement timing chain was procured. I was lazy and installed the cam "straight up" without degreeing it. I installed the fuel pump eccentric and torqued the bolt with threadlocker.

  I next installed the valvetrain. The pushrods and roller rockers are from Comp Cams. Posi-locks are used to keep the valves adjusted. This is a real basic build and the roller rockers are the only real "trick" pieces on the engine.

  With the valves adjusted I installed valley pan,valve covers and intake manifold. The intake is a vintage Edelbrock P4B (pontiac four barrel) it was kinda grungy so I painted it Dupli color aluminum blast paint. The Valve covers are Moroso anodized gold held in place by the wing nut valve cover bolts.Most of these parts are to give off the vintage 70's vibe.

 Here is the finished product with the front cover and water pump installed and the Hooker super comp headers. The ignition will probably be a HEI although I would like to use a Pertronix ignitor kit so I can use the old points distributor. Once I get the transmission squared away It'll be time for installation and startup......I can't wait

400 cubic inch Pontiac buildup: Part 3

   Its on to the oiling system. I started out by installing the pickup tube on the Speed pro high volume oil pump. Some people weld the pickup to the pump,but I hedged my bets and used safety wire to keep everything in place

 Next I installed the windage tray. It's a cleaned up stocker.the oil pump was installed with the proper gasket and torqued to 30 ft lbs.

Instead of cleaning a beat up stock oil pan thats probably seen the business end of one too many floor jacks,I opted for a stock replacement from Milodon. It has a few extra baffles that the stock one doesn't have. I haven't decided whether to paint it or leave it the anodized gold

I painted and installed the oil filter adapter and torqued the bolts to 30 ft lbs

  I took a huge leap of faith and purchased some rebuilt #62 heads off ebay. The guy I got them from claims less than 2000 miles on them and I believe him because everything looked fresh. The #62 heads have 2.11 intake valves and 1.77 exhaust and have 75cc combustion chambers. With a .042 crush head gasket this should give me a pump gas friendly 9.5:1 compression ratio.

 I slammed the heads down on the block. The ARP head bolts require 30 weight oil on the threads and a torque spec of 135  ft lbs. Sadly,I self sabotaged this project once again by dropping the cam sprocket on the floor and breaking a few teeth off of it. So I'll be patiently waiting for the UPS guy to deliver a replacement.So stay tuned for the 4th and hopefully final installment.







1973 Dodge Dart underhood rehab

Last weekend I  thrashed on my friends 73 Dodge Dart. Although it ran well there was several things happening under the hood on the 318 that really bugged me. The ancient Weiand intake manifold was a piece of junk,It didn't fit well and it needed a carb spacer for the Holley 570 street Avenger carb to work. Which caused a ton of problems making the carb linkage and Auto trans kickdown work properly, And caused hood clearance problems.The cheap Taiwan chrome valve covers were warped and were constantly leaking.

The previous owner rigged up this train wreck carb linkage, The Auto trans kickdown linkage wasn't even working properly. Torqueflite transmissions need the kickdown function to work otherwise it will greatly shorten the lifespan of the trans. The Weiand intake was a pain to install,several bolt holes were hard to get at with a socket and the carb spacer probably killed a little low end torque on this 318 which it really can't afford to lose.

We replaced the Weiand intake with an Edelbrock performer. The Edelbrock is basically a stock replacement manifold, It will allow us to ditch the carb spacer and use stock carb and kickdown linkage. The only hassle was finding all the right pipe plugs to get the Edelbrock ready for installation.



The Edelbrock manifold installed easy and solved all of our linkage and hood clearance issues. Mopar Performance cast aluminum valve covers (made in USA) with cork gaskets replaced the leaky Taiwan chrome junkers,Cast aluminum valve covers don't warp like the stamped steel stockers and have superior sealing ability. We also recurved the distributor for good measure and did some additional tuning. The engine now pulls 20 inches of vacuum to keep the power brakes happy. This probably isn't the end of the 73 dart saga but thats all for now.





Chrysler 400 big block spray can rebuild update.

  Last June I scraped 30 years of crud off this Chrysler 400 and made it pretty. I also replaced some key mechanical components which will hopefully help it make a few more horsepower. Within the next few weeks hopefully It'll be off my garage floor and in my 73 plymouth Fury. The only thing holding me back is finding the correct pulleys and brackets. I'm hoping the weather and life cooperate to make this happen because I've always wanted a big block Fury.

400 cubic inch Pontiac buildup Part 2

 The crankshaft is a factory nodular iron piece. It's been turned .010 under on the main journals and .020 on the rod journals. The oil passages have been chamfered on the journals to increase oil flow. The crank will be spinning in grooved Clevite bearings.

It doesn't get any more old school than this. TRW forged aluminum pistons P/N: L2262F-30 on reconditioned stock rods with ARP rod bolts. For rings I used Speed Pro moly rings.

  I carefully set the crank into the block making sure not to nick the journals. With the ARP main studs the factory torque specs are no longer used. After installing the cumbersome rope rear main seal (rubber ones are available) I torqued the rear main 120 ft lbs and the rest 90 ft lbs with the supplied ARP moly lube on the bolt threads. The machine shop checked the bearing clearances for me but I still re-checked them with plastigauge.

 I'm doing this a little bit backwards. It's easier to install the camshaft before the crank because it's easier to navigate it through the block without nicking the cam bearings. So the cam in question is a dual pattern Crane cam with .467 lift and 222 degrees duration @ .050 on the intake and .494 lift and 234 degrees duration @ .050 on the exhaust. Pontiacs,especially ones with stock type heads like dual pattern cams due to weak flowing cylinder heads on the exhaust side. I used some of the sticky Comp cams assembly lube on the cam.

  After checking ring endgap and installing the rings,It was time to slam in the slugs. I used an adjustable tapered ring compressor. All was going well until I broke a piston ring which halted all forward progress on the engine. Since it's an engine thats been out of production for 30 years It's gonna be at least 3 to 5 business days before the replacements are in. What a huge letdown.

When installing the pistons I used these cool Clevite "bolt booties" to prevent any crank damage. The cheap alternative is to use some spare fuel line on the bolts. As soon as my replacement piston rings comes in I'll be back with part 3 cylinder heads and valvetrain

How to assemble AN fittings

  AN fittings are like bling for hot rods. Besides the fact they look cool,they also serve a purpose. Most racing sanctioning bodies frown upon rubber fuel lines since it's kind of a fire hazard. That leaves fuel delivery options to either AN tubing and fittings or metal hardline. AN fittings are of military lineage,They date back to the World War II era when the Army and Navy (hence AN) agreed on a standard size for tubing used. Sizes range from -2 (dash 2 or about 1/8) to -32 ( about 2"). Many parts stores carry cheap sleeving that fits over regular rubber hose to look like AN fittings. Don't be a poser,get the real thing. Follow along as we assemble -8 (1/2) AN fitting and tubing.

  Braided steel hose is a little spendy (about $5 a foot) so the old adage "measure twice cut once" has never been more relevant. When cutting braided steel line it's important to wrap it with electrical tape to prevent fraying. Use a hacksaw or cutoff tool, Although I've never tried it some people use a really sharp chisel and a sharp hammer blow.

After removing the tape, slide the nut over the hose until it is flush with the inner lip.

 Aeroquip makes these aluminum vise inserts that are really handy to prevent scuffing the fittings.
Place the Hose/nut in the vise. To begin threading the inner fitting onto the nut/hose coat the threads with some light oil. I use a special AN wrench to further prevent scuffing the fittings,you can also use a crescent wrench wrapped in tape. Remember these fittings are aluminum so it's easy to cross-thread.

                                            The finished product!

400 cubic inch Pontiac buildup: The Procrastination Pontiac Part 1

Here it is,17 years in the making, I'm finally building the 400 for my 1973 Pontiac Ventura. I have no real viable excuse for why it's taken 17 years to get to this point but whatever. The engine in question is a 1973 400 pontiac 2 bolt main block,It had well over 100,000 miles on it when it was torn down. The fact that it had so miles is a good thing,It means the block has been through thousands of heating and cooling cycles and is less susceptible to core shift,therefore a great rebuild candidate.

At the machine shop the engine block went through a battery of procedures that will hopefully make a strong running engine.After the block was thoroughly cleaned The cylinders were bored 0.030 over,The deck has been milled 0.010. The main bolts have been replaced with ARP main studs for increased strength the main bores were also align honed.The machine shop also installed cam bearings.

First thing I did was tape off the machined surfaces and paint the block to prevent flash rust.
I then installed brass freeze plugs, Brass freeze plugs are a good investment because they won't rust like the steel ones. In the long run it's cheap insurance. I like to paint the block then install the freeze plugs because I think it makes for a more custom appearance. It's also perfectly acceptable to fog them engine color

This is a biggie! Most machine shops remove the passenger side oil galley plug when they clean the block. If it isn't reinstalled the engine will have little or no oil pressure.
  Stay tuned for part 2 when we assemble the bottom end

1970 Dodge Challenger update: 2011 edition

   Of all the junk cars I've owned It's my 1970 Dodge Challenger that gets the most comments/questions. Unquestionably it's the nicest,fastest,most valuable vehicle I've ever owned. With the prices of Musclecar era mopars skyrocketing in recent years It's safe to say I'll probably never sell it. With that being said I'm as they say in Vegas "all in" when it comes to the challenger.
Several weeks ago I awoke my prized dodge from it's winter slumber. I changed the spark plugs and the oil. I did some experimenting with the plugs by trying a set in a colder heat range. With the oil I used Valvoline VR-1 racing oil, It has a high level of ZDDP, which is a critical ingredient thats lacking in most oil today,and crucial for any older engine utilizing a flat tappet camshaft.
 I screwed up big by not putting any stabil in the gas which made a full tank of new gas pretty much useless. It still ran decent with the bad gas, I eventually got it running and idling rather well. After some tuning I got it to idle at 900 rpm and pull about 9inches of vacuum, It still has a choppy idle due to the camshaft grind having a narrow 108 degree LSA (lobe separation angle) Mopar Performance has since released a cam with identical specs but on a the wider 110 degree LSA which would have a nicer idle. I thought the clutch was burnt up but was simply in need of adjustment and I think it's working fine. I'm still working towards getting some seat time in the challenger at a dragstrip soon,time and money permitting. For dragstrip action I need to install longer wheel studs and get the slicks mounted. After that my only goal is to drive it often and violently. I really want to put some serious miles on the car to work out whatever bugs it still has. It still has a laundry list of little things that need to be addressed. I need to get the front turn signals working,the grease boots on the front suspension are dry rotted from years of sitting and need to be replaced,the steering box leaks a little,the dome light doesn't work, I replaced the leaf springs last year but I still should replace the shocks to call it good. So it's pretty much normal stuff for any vintage mopar owner.

pros and cons of a winter beater

 Old man winter definitely wasn't a car guy. How else could you explain the brutal suffering of automobiles at the hands of old man winter? If the cars can survive the icey roads and the sub-zero engine killing cold starts, Theres always the ever present road salt which will surely turn your pride and joy into a rusted hulk in a few years time. As much as I would like to drive my Challenger year around, The latitude I live at makes that nearly impossible. So to preserve one of the few nice cars I own I employ the use of "winter beaters" for those unfamiliar with the concept,It's simple: park your nice car and buy something cheap for old man winter to abuse. I have three criteria for a winter beater:(1) It needs to have a functional heater (2) It needs to be somewhat reliable (3) It needs to be cheap. Sometimes you can ignore 1 and 2 if 3 is a killer deal,But that often backfires when the repair bills start racking up. I typically don't pay more than $1000 for a winter beater, The Cash for clunkers program a few years back dried up supplies considerably,but deals are still out there. The downside to purchasing a winter beater is that it's a cheap car and you get what you pay for. If you're hung up on luxuries like functioning gauges,windows that roll down and a radio that gets more than three stations, You better keep driving your shiny new car. Owners of modern automobiles are so coddled these days, They seem lost without their myriad of cupholders,satellite radio,and heated seats. The people who drive beaters are in some ways automotive masochists,We love telling stories of our vehicular hardships (my favorite story is driving my 73 Fury in a rainstorm with no wipers and sketchy brakes)

I've often resorted to desperate measures to keep junk on the road. When the passenger door on my 95 blazer broke, I simply welded it shut General Lee style. Duct tape and zip ties are a beaters best friend. My current beater is a 1995 Olds cutlass,purchased for $600 from my dad (family discount) It's actually the nicest beater I've ever owned, It's even got a functional cassette player,I've never had it so good. I think I'm ready for a few more months of winter.........maybe not.

Rebuilding the Chrysler Electronic Distributor for performance.

 Electronic ignition started showing up in some Chrysler vehicles in 1972. The following year it became standard on all models.Externally the new electronic distributors were identical to it's breaker point brethren. Internally It's a different story, The breaker cam that activated the breaker points was replaced with an iron-core reluctor with eight sharp projections around the periphery.(six cylinder models had six) The breaker points were replaced with a magnet/coil pickup. As the distributor shaft rotated the reluctor tips come in close proximity to the pickup and the magnetic field flow. The low level "pulse" of electricity created triggers the external control box (ECU),which in turn supplies current to the coil.Since there are virtually no rubbing parts the Chrysler electronic ignition distributor is a well-performing piece with almost no maintenance. But as good as it is, we can always make it better.

 Last June I did a quickie spray can rebuild of a Chrysler 400 with hopes of it someday being installed in my '73 Fury.

Since where I live we seem to be stuck in the winter that will never end. I decided to refurbish the distributor for the 400 instead of just stabbing it in and hoping for the best. Todays ingredient list pictured left to right are: Lightweight advance springs from TransDapt, Magnetic pickup coil and vacuum advance. New parts not pictured are distributor cap and rotor.

 After removing the old cap and rotor I carefully pried the reluctor wheel off the shaft with a pair of screwdrivers. Be careful not to lose the tiny roll pin. After that I removed the vacuum advance and the pickup coil plate.

The pickup coil is held on to the plate with this funky black "Y" shaped spring.

 This is the advance plate. I've welded up the slots on the plate to control mechanical advance. After welding the slots I file them to dial in the desired mechanical advance. This is sometimes a trial and error endeavor. I probably won't know the optimum mechanical advance until the engine is running,so additional welding/filing may be necessary. But we're in the ballpark. The advance plate is retained on the shaft by a "U" shaped clip accessed with a needle nosed pliers.

 After ditching the heavy factory springs,I lubed the mechanical advance weights with light grease and installed the new lightweight springs.With the modified advance plate installed you can see how the mechanical advance will be limited.This will insure full mechanical advance at around 2500 to 3000 rpm.

 With Pickup and plate assembly,Vacuum advance and reluctor wheel all reinstalled It was time to set the air gap adjustment on the pickup coil. Using a brass feeler gauge set the gap to between .008 and .010. Now install the cap and rotor.

Heres the finished product installed in the engine.

 This is the venerable Mopar Performance "orange box" ECU. These provide reliable spark up to 6000 rpm which is safely in our operation parameters. But buyer beware: Chrysler has outsourced production of these units to China years ago and since then quality control has been sketchy. Some have lasted while others have failed after only a few hundred miles. Make sure your ECU is grounded and as far away from engine heat as possible.

How a resurrection really feels

 The garages and shops across america are littered with unfinished project cars. Invariably these cars are owned by "Someday Guy". You know the guy, He always says stuff like "Someday she'll run" or "Someday she'll be good as new" He always talks big but never finishes anything. I hate "Someday guy" and my 1973 Pontiac Ventura has been making me sound dangerously close to "Someday Guy" recently. I bought the Ventura on October,17 1993 for $2,200 It was my first car. My dad fronted me the money which I paid him back in weekly $20 installments. Back then my Pontiac was poop brown with a 350 two barrel Pontiac engine. It was a low-option "stripper" model with no A/C,power steering or power brakes,Like a real musclecar,even if it didn't really have a musclecar engine. I drove it in that configuration throughout high school racking up speeding tickets and bald tires from excessive "power braking". After graduation I purchased a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a 4-speed 440 six-pack combo. As I turned my attention to my new mopar I began to neglect the Ventura.South Dakota winters are brutal on vintage sheetmetal and eventually the constant barrage of  road salt started to show on the lower quarter panels. Then after a close encounter with a bridge the Ventura became less of a head turner and more of an eyesore. I enrolled at Southeast tech in the Auto Body program,and in November of 1997 my much neglected pontiac entered the shop to go under the knife. I ended  up replacing both rear quarter panels,outer wheelhouses and trunk extensions. The Ventura returned home in primer and still needing tons of work,Everything was worn out and needed to be replaced, I rebuilt both front and rear suspensions and upgraded the front brakes to discs. The 350 two barrel was yanked in preparation of a more powerful 400 cubic inch Pontiac engine. Then life happened,A couple crazy girlfriends and a home purchase put a hurt on my finances,By the time I recovered,my interest had waned and I wasn't sure if it was ever going to be finished. honestly for several years I didn't care if it ever got finished. The only thing keeping me from selling it was the fact that I could never recoup my investment (restoring a Pontiac Ventura isn't very financially lucrative) I turned my attention to some of my other project cars,and as I started making progress I began to warm up to the idea of working on the Ventura again. I still had a basement full of new parts for the car so it only made sense to forge ahead. Recently I finally got it painted and installed the interior,The engine is currently at the machine shop and I'm giddy at the thought of having a running engine finally.So now It's 2011 and I've owned the car for almost 18 years,With renewed ambition and fear of being "someday guy" I'm optimistic for the first time in a long time of resurrecting my first car. The plan at this point is to have a retro theme with the car. I've collected lots of vintage speed equipment over the years and I would like to use them on the car. With six cars in my fleet it's easy for one of them to get lost in the shuffle.I hope to make sure the Ventura never gets ignored again.