Project Black Betty

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Yeah I was thinking about it. Mine are pretty snug surprisingly but it wouldn't hurt to box em while they are out and clean.
 
Progress update

It was too cold to keep the garage door open long, so I worked on what I could. It was 4° at 9 am today...

I turned down the slider bushings , boxed the lower control arms, installed the conversion ujoint. I ordered new leaf sprint bushings from Rock Auto which will be here tomorrow... hopefully they're the right ones.
 

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Progress update

I feel so frustrated! the bushing I ordered came in today and it was the same damn size as the one I got from work.:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: :wack: I did some looking around at different vehicles and apparently a 85 Jeep CJ7 has 1.5"dia bushings,which I might try if they fit.

I got a first coat of Por-15 on the lower control arms,centerlink,and strut rods. It was drying slow today so I didn't get a second coat on yet.

I got one slider complete and I need to remove a little more metal from the other side so I can weld the other one.

I finally got the pitman arm off...I forgot to mention that in a previous post. I couldn't get it off for the life of me. I was putting so much force on my wrench it was actually flexing the open end of the wrench. I tried heating it and that didn't work. So today I cut a slot on each side and jammed a cold chisel in the slot to try to break it free. It did the trick,I put the pitman puller back on and the arm slipped right off!:cheers:
 
Progress update

I got a second coat of POR -15 on the lower control arms.

The sliders are finished! Not the best looking welds.
 

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Progress update

I got the front suspension and brakes installed today! :blob: Also mounted the brake booster. It's so pretty, shiny and black! :cheers: Everything fit together so nicely! I was nice to have day that felt like I accomplished something. Tomorrow afternoon I plan to start working on brake lines and hopefully on Thursday I'll have everything I need to get the rear end under the car to set the pinion angle.
 
I've said a few bad words because of stubborn pitman arms.
Nice progress.
 
I got most of the brake lines in today...I messed up the drivers side front more than once trying to get it right, so I have to get more line to finish the passenger side. I made a bracket to mount the Wilwood proportioning valve.

I got the Energy Suspension bushings in today and they fit! The axle is under the car finally and ready to set the pinion angle.
 

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I finished the last brake line with the exception of the differential which will be a piece of cake.

I started to finish weld the spring perchs until I ran out of gas again... I need to invest into a larger tank. So tomorrow I'm going to pick up some more and get it finished so I can paint the axle tubes and get it under the car permanently! Then all I should need to do is install the rear brakes, add fluids, bleed the brakes and make sure the tie rods are adjusted good enough to get it to the alignment shop just down the road.
 
BTW does anybody know the torque specs for the camber bolts? I checked my service manual and can't find it.
 
Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant 1967 thru 1976:
Front suspension torque wrench settings: ft lbs

upper ball joint nut................55
lower ball joint nut................100
lower control arm pivot nut.....145
control arm upper cam bolt.....65
rebound stop nuts.................25
crossmember bolts................150
idler arm mounting nuts...........45
shock absorber lower mounting....50
shock absorber upper mounting....25
steering knuckle bolts (lower)....100
steering knuckle bolts (upper).....55
drag strut nut (front)...............40
drag strut nut (rear)................110
anti sway bar nuts...................30
tie-rod end ball joint nuts..........40
tie-rod end clamp pinch bolts......15
steering box mounting bolts......100
pitman arm nut.......................175

Hope this helps you out!!!
 
Thanks!

Progress update

I'm waiting for the banjo bolts for the front to come in so I can bleed the brakes and get an alignment. They were supposed to arrive today but as of 5 pm they weren't at my apartment leasing office and weren't in my mailbox when I got home from work. Hopefully in the morning they'll be at the leasing office when I check , otherwise I'll have to wait until Monday to get my alignment done :banghead:
 

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Woohoo it's at the alignment shop! I was able to get banjo bolts from Napa which on there website said they didn't have anything that matched my car which is why I ordered from Amazon. But my parts didn't arrive yet so out of desperation I decided to go to napa and see if they had anything. ..and they did!

The only problem now is the brake pedal won't return on its own. Not sure why. There was a rubbing sound coming from the rear as well, maybe it's the drive shaft against the exhaust. I think the parking brakes were dragging too. Little stuff now. Already handles a lot better!
 
Well my car is finally on the road again! I took it home from local speed shop today. Turns out the brake pedal issue was due to the pushrod being on the wrong side of the pedal... whoops! It's so weird having power brakes in this car after almost 3 yrs with manual!

The only problem now is my battery is probably toast. It was already on its way out, but I was hoping it would last a little longer so I could relocate the battery to the trunk at the same time.
 
So the battery was toast. Got a AGM battery, hopefully I can relocate it to the trunk soon.
 
Lookin at that diff installed, with the bushings on my desk. Kinda cool.
Keep us posted.
 
Here's a few more pics.
 

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Had to replace my throttle cable today. The other night my throttle got stuck almost wide open after peeling out on some wet pavement. After I let up on the pedal the engine was still racing and I quickly threw it in neutral and cut the car off. Realized after checking the carb , the cable was frayed. I couldn't find a cable for a '70 so I ordered on for a '73 and luckily it fit...cus I was just guessing and had my fingers crossed.
 
Scary deal with the throttle. Sounds like you reacted well.
Post up a pic of the new seats!
 
Will do soon! I haven't taken them out of my Grand Cherokee yet where they have been for a few days... I went to the junkyard to get a rear door for the GC and I found out they had a '05 CTS in the yard. I got kinda lucky because someone before me had the passenger seat unbolted, but the driver side had one bolt hidden behind the track and being a power seat kept the average joe from taking them both! I MacGyver'd power to the seat by borrowing a used battery from the battery pile,then I cut some heavy wire from the body harness and jammed them next to the large pins of the seat's connector,and the seat moved forward! I only had to remove that one bolt and the seat was out. :blob:
 
I know I haven't post anything recently but I moved to a different apartment and I don't have a garage any more. :wack: So I did take a 45 min highway trip a few weeks ago and wasn't happy with the 3.55 gear ratio... not only did it cause my RPM's to run around 3000 but i sucked a half tank of gas, that before only took a quarter tank . So I am going to go with 3.08 for the 8.8 since that is the closest to the original 2.96 that the old rearend had.

The brakes do a great job stopping the car! The only problems that are driving me crazy are the brakes squeal ALOT... sometimes when you're stopping and sometimes when you're just driving!:banghead: Does anyone know what the rubber band looking items that come with the brake hardware packs do? I feel like they are supposed to pull the pads off the rotor when you're foot is off the pedal...I didn't use them because I could find any info on them.
The other issue is the cap on the DrDiff master cylinder leaks out fluid,which is annoying.
 
Pics as promised! They need some cleaning but in pretty good over condition...just need seat belt receivers, apparently someone nabbed them before me.:wack:
 

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You are going to love them. Comfy!
 
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