You have to be INSANE to have long-tube headers on a big-block A-body Mopar!
I posted a couple of weeks ago that I have started working on a forgotten car in my collection - an original 69 383 4 speed fastback Formula S Cuda. This car has been sitting in my garage piled full of parts since 2008. After I got it set up in the garage extension i built just for that car, I removed all the parts piled inside, cleaned 12 years of dust off the windows and started doing some basic "restoration" stuff.
I drained the oil replacing it with "conventional" Castrol GTX 10w-30, a new Frame filter, new fuel filter and new antifreeze. I siphoned the old gas out of the tank and put in 5 gallons of Marathon Premium. I filled the Master Cylinder with brake fluid but found it will not pump up the brakes so i ordered a new one from Summit.
About 5 years ago, I had put a new battery in this car just to see if it would start and all the starter did was "click." So I knew I would have to replace the starter, but I really didn't think about that project - until now! So I added a Mopar brand mini-starter to my Summit order and it should be here any day now.
So I spent a lot of time just staring at the car's 383 with nice chrome valve covers and chrome headers. I think they are TTI's but I don't know for sure. I knew the mopar GIANT OEM starter was buried behind the driver's side header but I knew the starter wasn't going to fix itself so I started on this "repair."
So how many of you guys have replaced a OEM starter on an A-body Mopar with a factory 383 and long-tube headers? I've installed a number of starters on old cars in my 66 years, however, I've never done THIS particular car and starter. If I told you I'm ready to put a cube of C4 plastic explosive under this car, get a safe distance away, and then press the detonator button - would that surprise you? If you've done this repair, my idea shouldn't surprise you.
So far, I've removed the left front wheel; disconnected the exhaust from the header collector; removed all the header head bolts; removed two spark plugs; removed the driver's side front wheel tie-rod link; and the Pitman Arm hex nut. Tomorrow I'm on a search for a Pitman Arm puller tool. As all you guys who are now laughing your asses off at my "adventure", you already know that a set of long-tube headers just BARELY fit on a 383 in a 69 Barracuda. I have cranked the steering drag link clear over to the right and the Pitman Arm is still blocking the header so i'm going to remove that arm tomorrow and push the drag link out of the way. I'm HOPING that this will give me enough clearance to either push this header up past the starter or pull it down out of the car. I do have the car up in the air on multiple jackstands about two feet so I think I can get the header down out of the car if I can get it to clear "everything."
Soooo... do any of you guys have any "tips" or suggestions on a better way of changing a starter on this car? Am I making any big mistakes when there is a better way to do this repair? I really don't want to disconnect the motor mounts and try jacking the engine up or over to the passenger side for more fender well clearance. That is going to be my LAST option if at all possible!
PLEASE share any experience you may have with this repair and any tips you learned. Here is a picture of what I started with. The garage all around the car now looks like a bomb went off with all kinds of tools and antifreeze on the floor.
I posted a couple of weeks ago that I have started working on a forgotten car in my collection - an original 69 383 4 speed fastback Formula S Cuda. This car has been sitting in my garage piled full of parts since 2008. After I got it set up in the garage extension i built just for that car, I removed all the parts piled inside, cleaned 12 years of dust off the windows and started doing some basic "restoration" stuff.
I drained the oil replacing it with "conventional" Castrol GTX 10w-30, a new Frame filter, new fuel filter and new antifreeze. I siphoned the old gas out of the tank and put in 5 gallons of Marathon Premium. I filled the Master Cylinder with brake fluid but found it will not pump up the brakes so i ordered a new one from Summit.
About 5 years ago, I had put a new battery in this car just to see if it would start and all the starter did was "click." So I knew I would have to replace the starter, but I really didn't think about that project - until now! So I added a Mopar brand mini-starter to my Summit order and it should be here any day now.
So I spent a lot of time just staring at the car's 383 with nice chrome valve covers and chrome headers. I think they are TTI's but I don't know for sure. I knew the mopar GIANT OEM starter was buried behind the driver's side header but I knew the starter wasn't going to fix itself so I started on this "repair."
So how many of you guys have replaced a OEM starter on an A-body Mopar with a factory 383 and long-tube headers? I've installed a number of starters on old cars in my 66 years, however, I've never done THIS particular car and starter. If I told you I'm ready to put a cube of C4 plastic explosive under this car, get a safe distance away, and then press the detonator button - would that surprise you? If you've done this repair, my idea shouldn't surprise you.
So far, I've removed the left front wheel; disconnected the exhaust from the header collector; removed all the header head bolts; removed two spark plugs; removed the driver's side front wheel tie-rod link; and the Pitman Arm hex nut. Tomorrow I'm on a search for a Pitman Arm puller tool. As all you guys who are now laughing your asses off at my "adventure", you already know that a set of long-tube headers just BARELY fit on a 383 in a 69 Barracuda. I have cranked the steering drag link clear over to the right and the Pitman Arm is still blocking the header so i'm going to remove that arm tomorrow and push the drag link out of the way. I'm HOPING that this will give me enough clearance to either push this header up past the starter or pull it down out of the car. I do have the car up in the air on multiple jackstands about two feet so I think I can get the header down out of the car if I can get it to clear "everything."
Soooo... do any of you guys have any "tips" or suggestions on a better way of changing a starter on this car? Am I making any big mistakes when there is a better way to do this repair? I really don't want to disconnect the motor mounts and try jacking the engine up or over to the passenger side for more fender well clearance. That is going to be my LAST option if at all possible!
PLEASE share any experience you may have with this repair and any tips you learned. Here is a picture of what I started with. The garage all around the car now looks like a bomb went off with all kinds of tools and antifreeze on the floor.
