8 3/4 rebuild part IV

I finally got around to bending the new brake lines on the junkyard 8 3/4 rearend. I also installed new wheel cylinders. bending hardline can be a little nerve racking,One screwup and you have to redo the whole thing.
Now I'm waiting on brake shoes and assorted hardware and I have to get the drums turned before I'm done

Confessions of a junk car addict.

I came to a realization lately that people think It's weird I drive old junk cars.To put things in perspective Gerald Ford was president when my '76 Dodge Powerwagon was built.It's not that I can't afford a new car,I just don't want one I leased a '02 and '04 Ford Ranger. I've started calling that five year period "The dark ages" I felt weird about it the entire time,It was nice driving something where everything works (a problem I haven't had since) But it wasn't me.I guess I would describe myself as a non-conformist,And driving the Rangers made me feel like a member of the herd.Once my lease was over I purchased a 1977 Ford F-150 and I immediately felt revitalized,Theres just something about being surrounded by vintage sheet metal and having a V-8 taking commands from my right foot that feels right. I enjoy the challenge of keeping a vehicle on the road that should've been crushed years ago.When I drove the new stuff I felt like some of my auto repair skills eroded from lack of use.It came back in time of course,but I remember standing over a Holley carb knowing what was wrong with it but not remembering how to fix it.I'll even admit the new stuff is way better,fuel injection is way more efficient than any carburetor and engines today can go 100,000 miles before a tune up. I currently own five cars and have enacted a zero population growth edict on myself. Which means I can't buy another car without getting rid of one. This rule can be hard to abide since I'm known as the "Old car guy" and I'm often tipped off to some killer deals that are hard to pass up. A lot of people look at me with pity when they see what I drive,Women have refused to date me based on what I drive. I'm OK with that,sometimes the pity and disgust goes both ways. I have to drive to the grocery store now......I hope my truck starts.

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