Chrysler 400 big block spray can rebuild

This is the 400 before I yanked it out of a 1975 dodge truck. as you can see it's pretty crusty and greasy. It's factory rated at 185 HP which really sucks so the scheme is to clean it up and try to squeeze some more power out of it and hope it doesn't blow up.

After I got it on the stand I pulled everything I wasn't gonna use,like the factory two barrel intake,truck oil pan,exhaust manifolds etc. and started scrubbing and scrubbing for what seemed like forever!

This thing still had the factory timing chain! It was pretty loose and the plastic teeth were cracked so it wasn't gonna last for long. I replaced it with a double roller timing chain from Mancini Racing. At this point I was really tempted to swap cams for more power.But in the end I decided to leave in the stock cam for smooth idling and trouble free cruising whenever this engine makes it back into a car.

I'm planning on installing this engine in my '73 Fury so I had to change oil pans. while I had the oil pan off I checked the bearings and added a windage tray from Milodon. I also changed oil pumps.

Finally after all the cleaning paint begins to flow! It's best to spray several light coats instead of one heavy coat.I used Depli-Color Chrysler Blue spray paint,It's a close match and a bunch cheaper than ordering it from Chrysler.

The Intake manifold is a Mopar Performance M-1 dual plane fogged engine color. The exhaust manifolds are 1970 HP which flow a little better than the 1975 units.The vintage Cal Custom valve covers are probably too "Hollywood" for the Fury so I'll probably end up using some cleaned up stockers.I still need to scrounge up the proper pulleys and brackets,But next time you see this engine It'll be between the fenders of the Fury.

8 3/4 rearend rebuild Part III

After a long delay due to some costly home improvement projects, I finally returned to the garage to thrash on the junkyard Chrysler 8 3/4 rearend. After laying a bead of RTV on the housing I dropped the Third member into the housing with a gasket and torqued the bolts to 45 ft lbs.

You need to be careful sliding the axles in. The splines can cut the axle seals and cause a leak.

The passenger side axle has an endplay adjuster.refer to the factory service manual for the correct procedure to adjust endplay

This little bugger is the endplay retaining clip. Do not lose these things because nobody makes them anymore.

This is the finished product. I still need to install the pinion snubber and brakes. And since the original brake lines were trashed I'll be bending new hardline when I get time.

1973 dodge dart carb install

I don't own this car,I often whore out my automotive talents and work on other peoples cars. This is a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger owned by Ryan Tucker It has a 318 with a 904 tranny and 4.10:1 cogs in a 8 1/4 rearend.It also has front disc brakes and large bolt pattern Rally wheels. Did I mention It was a California car with very little rust? A huge change from the rusted out hulks that usually grace the driveway.

To continue the persistant carburburetor theme on this blog we spent a day swapping out the old crusty 600 cfm Holley (left) for the shiney new 570 cfm Holley street avenger

When test fitting the carb we noticed the throttle blades caught on the manifold. So a carb spacer was needed

We ended up using this old Mr. Gasket carb adapter on an even more ancient Weiand intake manifold.The throttle linkage was really hacked together by the previous owner which caused a ton of grief.

The new carb ran nicely,The stock jets were #54 which were waay lean I went up to a #64 (the smallest I had) to fatten up the fuel curve.besides the weiand intake the 318 also has an aftermarket cam with unknown specs.The headers flow into a pair of glasspacks. This little car moves pretty good for what it is. It still needs the electric choke hooked up and maybe some additional tuning, But the owner is happy with the performance so I'm happy.

                                  
     I started getting the Holley 850 cfm double pumper ready for the challenger,I did a quickie cleanup and added a chrysler throttle lever extention  HolleyP/N 510-20-7

I also had to change the power valve from the stock 6.5  to 3.5. The method to determine the correct power valve is to take a vacuum reading and divide it in half. I had a vacuum reading of 7 inches which gave me 3.5. here I am getting "intimate" with the power valve to make sure it works.

 Heres the 850 installed and ready for action! next on the to do list is to get the slicks mounted and install the long lug studs on the axles.

8 3/4 rebuild Part II

I pounded in the axle seals P/N 8695S with some RTV

These are the 11inch drum brakes I'm using....These have been on the shelf for a long

time I'm glad they're finally being used.

The 3.23 Third member was pretty sludgy I'm gonna clean it up with mineral spirits,cross my fingers and bolt it in

8 3/4 rebuild Part 1

 

Top to bottom: Housing gasket,axle seals,metal flange gasket and outer foam gasket

My original plan was to use the aftermarket "Green"axle bearings but since the factory timkens were in fine shape I decided to keep them. I packed the bearings with high temp grease using a needle tip on a grease gun.

I cleaned up all the threads on the housing and cleaned the gasket surfaces

I thoroughly cleaned the housing and coated it with POR 15.....Wear gloves with this stuff because once it gets on your hands it doesn't come off.

I scored this C-Body 8 3/4 housing in a junkyard. A common theme in my projects

The 9 1/4 rearend was introduced for the 1973 model year. It's an extremely durable unit and was used by Chrysler until the late 90's . The only problem is there isn't much to be had for aftermarket gears and posi units. Which is why I'm switching to a 8 3/4 with a used 3.23:1 "sure grip.

This is my 1973 Plymouth Fury III I purchased on september 1, 1997 for a whopping $1900 it had 55,000 miles on the 360 2 barrel. Last summer I finally got the Fury back on the road after sitting dormant for about 8 years. I yanked the 2 barrel carb and cast iron manifold and replaced it with an edelbrock performer and a 600 cfm Holley carb. I replaced the stock wheels and tires with 15x7 cop car rims with P235/70R 15 Uniroyal tigerpaws. The single exhaust was replaced with a 2 inch dual exhaust with Hooker super comp mufflers. The first project on the Fury will be swapping out the 9 1/4 rearend for a 8 3/4 with a 3.23:1 "sure grip"