67 GTS 4-Speed: Daily Summer Driver
So this fathers day weekend I went home in hopes of getting the car started, as well as the charger started. but failed on both counts. I got the Fuel pump in with no problem, got the distributor set in with no problem, battery tray and starter relay in with no problem, gas pedal in with no problem and that was about it...
Ordered new alternator brackets since the set I had was for an AC car. When they came in it was clear that they were for the 66 and earlier big block, so it wouldnt work with the 70 block that is in there now. Thankfully there was a 400 sitting in the corner of the garage that was a non AC car so I robbed the brackets off of that and got the alternator installed. I also liberated it of its temperature sending unit as well.
Got a new mini starter for it and when I tried to install it, it would not want to sit flush against the bell housing. For the life of us we couldnt figure out why. First we thought it was flashing on the block, so we ground that off and it still wouldnt fit. After about an hour of screwing around with this I saw there was some scratched engine paint on the block about 10 inches forward of the mounting location. Long and behold the electrical connecting adapter that came on the starter was hitting the block and preventing it from sitting flush on the mounting flange on the bell housing. So I removed the adapter and POOF! everything lined up. Go figure haha.
We had a couple of carbs to chose from for this engine. The old man was trying to push a Carter AVS on me. But after he looked through his stash of AVS he realized there wasnt one in there in decent enough shape for break in. So we ended up putting on a remanufactured Holly he had on the polara years ago that he never really got running right (so he switched the polara to an AVS and hasnt had a problem since)... So hopefully the carb is good enough to get the car running and broken in. Then hopefully I can get that carb (or one of the others) running right.
The crank pulley went on with no hitch, but ran into an issue with the water pump pulley. So it appears the crank pulley diameter changed depending if you had AC or not and the belt groove location for the water pump changed depending if you got AC or not, go figure. So I had a A/C crank pulley for a C-body, water pump pulley for an AC car, and a non A/C alternator. So needless to say those three grooves didnt line up. So We found a Non-AC water pump pulley but that ended up interfering with the crank pulley. So now I need to find a crank pulley with two grooves (since I am putting power steering in it) that is about 6 3/4" diameter.
I also think I ran into an issue with my drive shaft. So I found a drive shaft at a junk yard and last month I tried to install it. Well it was to long, go figure. So according to the service manual they list two dimensions for a 67 dart, basically the length changed depending if you got a 7-1/4" rear end or a 8-3/4" rear end. So I took the measurement in the book, which has it listed as center line to center line of the universal joints, and had it cut down. The shop cut it to length and I tried to install it. I had the damnedest time installing it, but after a little help it was in. However I think the transmission yoke is to far in the transmission... I will post another thread in the help section to see if this is normal.
Since I am planing on running the TTI shorty headers on this car, I needed to find some other manifolds to use for break in. So I took an idea from Mopar Mitch in his 68 dart GTS build and use cast iron manifolds and weld up flexible exhaust tubing to a flange and use that for break in. I found a set for a C-body big block and I got the passenger side exhaust manifold in, spark plugs in (they will be a pain in butt to change in the future... by golly), and the pipe bent up and installed. Drivers side was another problem. Used the C-body Drivers side and realized there was no way I could bolt that flexible pipe up to that side due to the manifold outlet being right above the torsion bar. So I switched to a B body drivers side and saw the flange was hitting the firewall. So I put the C-body exhaust manifold back on. Ran out of time but I basically need to cut the pipe of the flange and weld the pipe to said flange at an angle and that should take care of my problem.
All in all I got a lot done, figure out a lot of stuff but still didnt get it running... its close though
maybe next time
So this fathers day weekend I went home in hopes of getting the car started, as well as the charger started. but failed on both counts. I got the Fuel pump in with no problem, got the distributor set in with no problem, battery tray and starter relay in with no problem, gas pedal in with no problem and that was about it...
Ordered new alternator brackets since the set I had was for an AC car. When they came in it was clear that they were for the 66 and earlier big block, so it wouldnt work with the 70 block that is in there now. Thankfully there was a 400 sitting in the corner of the garage that was a non AC car so I robbed the brackets off of that and got the alternator installed. I also liberated it of its temperature sending unit as well.
Got a new mini starter for it and when I tried to install it, it would not want to sit flush against the bell housing. For the life of us we couldnt figure out why. First we thought it was flashing on the block, so we ground that off and it still wouldnt fit. After about an hour of screwing around with this I saw there was some scratched engine paint on the block about 10 inches forward of the mounting location. Long and behold the electrical connecting adapter that came on the starter was hitting the block and preventing it from sitting flush on the mounting flange on the bell housing. So I removed the adapter and POOF! everything lined up. Go figure haha.
We had a couple of carbs to chose from for this engine. The old man was trying to push a Carter AVS on me. But after he looked through his stash of AVS he realized there wasnt one in there in decent enough shape for break in. So we ended up putting on a remanufactured Holly he had on the polara years ago that he never really got running right (so he switched the polara to an AVS and hasnt had a problem since)... So hopefully the carb is good enough to get the car running and broken in. Then hopefully I can get that carb (or one of the others) running right.
The crank pulley went on with no hitch, but ran into an issue with the water pump pulley. So it appears the crank pulley diameter changed depending if you had AC or not and the belt groove location for the water pump changed depending if you got AC or not, go figure. So I had a A/C crank pulley for a C-body, water pump pulley for an AC car, and a non A/C alternator. So needless to say those three grooves didnt line up. So We found a Non-AC water pump pulley but that ended up interfering with the crank pulley. So now I need to find a crank pulley with two grooves (since I am putting power steering in it) that is about 6 3/4" diameter.
I also think I ran into an issue with my drive shaft. So I found a drive shaft at a junk yard and last month I tried to install it. Well it was to long, go figure. So according to the service manual they list two dimensions for a 67 dart, basically the length changed depending if you got a 7-1/4" rear end or a 8-3/4" rear end. So I took the measurement in the book, which has it listed as center line to center line of the universal joints, and had it cut down. The shop cut it to length and I tried to install it. I had the damnedest time installing it, but after a little help it was in. However I think the transmission yoke is to far in the transmission... I will post another thread in the help section to see if this is normal.
Since I am planing on running the TTI shorty headers on this car, I needed to find some other manifolds to use for break in. So I took an idea from Mopar Mitch in his 68 dart GTS build and use cast iron manifolds and weld up flexible exhaust tubing to a flange and use that for break in. I found a set for a C-body big block and I got the passenger side exhaust manifold in, spark plugs in (they will be a pain in butt to change in the future... by golly), and the pipe bent up and installed. Drivers side was another problem. Used the C-body Drivers side and realized there was no way I could bolt that flexible pipe up to that side due to the manifold outlet being right above the torsion bar. So I switched to a B body drivers side and saw the flange was hitting the firewall. So I put the C-body exhaust manifold back on. Ran out of time but I basically need to cut the pipe of the flange and weld the pipe to said flange at an angle and that should take care of my problem.
All in all I got a lot done, figure out a lot of stuff but still didnt get it running... its close though
maybe next time