Resurrected Junk
The Dart has been great as daily driver. That's not to say that it's perfect, but the issues that remain are not major deals, there's just a bunch of them. I spent two weekends, and two cans of contact cleaner working through the bulkhead connectors. Interior lights are better and the Ammeter seems to report better news. (Wait til I get the water temp gauge going to read some real engine temperature.
Tragedy struck on the third Saturday in July. No, it wasn't an accident, it was a catastrophic failure of the rear wheel seals and bearing on the driver's side of the rear axle. Smoke poured out of the wheel well. By the time I got to a point where I could diagnose the problem, the wheel bearing sounded like a Cuisinart working its way though a bunch of yak bones. Oh yeah, it was on fire.
Initial diagnosis was axle seals and wheel bearing. The 7¼ axle is easy to fix on this score, but the work is not for the faint hearted. What makes it tough is that the only way to remove the retainer collar is to cut it with a chisel. Slip and you've nicked the axle. In this case. It was 2x. The collar chisel removal is expected because it's in the repair manual that way. The second part was that the bearing had also become fused to the axle.
The bearing on the 7¼ axle is a ball bearing design, not the roller bearing like the front wheel. On this one, bearings were popping out as spheres, hemispheres, and semi-hemispheres. The inner race on this bearing is very stout. I would have done Dr. DeBakey proud by chiseling my way through both the retainer collar and the bearing without so much as a scratch on the axle shaft.
Because the brake shoes has been coated in GO90, I did a brake job on both rear wheels. While I was under the car, I replaced the shocks and put real shackles on the rear to replace the f*#k-em up/jack-em up units installed by a PO. I also installed a new rear brake hose to replace the seriously frayed unit I had inherited. I was feeling pretty good until I started getting a softer brake pedal and an empty forward well on the master cylinder. Figuring that the fire had boiled some of the whoa juice out of the system, I bled the brakes again. The next day out, same results.
While I was under the car, I checked the differential fluid. First, it was over full. Second, it had a bunch of water in it. It had a nice cafe au lait color to it. Even so it was still thick, which makes it easy to avoid getting a mouth full when starting the siphon hose. I got the siphon started at 9:00 PM and it finished around 9:00 AM the next morning. I refilled it with 2 pints of fresh GO 80/90.
Bummer. This time, I had a little brake fluid in the drum to let me know the problem was inside the wheel. The rebuild kit for the wheel cylinder was a little over $5. Then I would need a small cylinder hone to clean up the existing cylinder and the patience of Job to clean it up prior to re-assembly. Or, a complete rebuilt cylinder was $9.00. I have no incentive to preserve anything original in the car, so I went for the assembly. The most noticeable difference is that the bleeder screw sticks out farther than it did on my Brake-Fire unit.
Assessment: The rear end runs quieter due to the new bearing and gear lube. The new shackles and shocks make for a much improved ride. Time well spent, just didn't like the tyranny that made me do it now!
After 3 jobs in 1½ weeks, I am a whiz at brake bleeding. With the El Cheapo one man brake bleeder kit available at either AZ or O'Reilly's, it's a snap. If anyone wants to know, a single system bleed with a wheel cylinder replacement can be done with a small can of brake fluid. I went through over a quart of brake fluid with the changed brake hose and wheel cylinder.
I'll see if I can assemble the wheel bearing debris and make some photos over the weekend.
Since decent weather has returned to the Edge of the World, I get under the car, get greasy, and make a few improvements.
Plans are:
1. Overhaul, new overhauled carburetor. There's at least one gasket bad (leaks) and who knows what else is giving me 426 fuel economy with a 225 engine. It was good at first, but I started getting crappy results right after the warranty expired. Now I got the time, the parts, and a bad attitude towards Holley rebuilds.
2. R&R power steeing pump. I'd like to go to bigger tires and a smaller steering wheel, but need to get this guy fixed. FWIW, you can use the faster ratio power steering box without the pump. However, below 20 mph, it takes a fair amount of effort to move the 185/70-14s that are on the car. At normal city driving speeds, it is easy to drive. At highway speeds it can be driven with one finger.
3. Get some tunes going. I had tried a post type cassette player and an external amp. It didn't work too good, other than it looks like it belongs in the deluxe interior dash. The problem is that I'll have to cut the dash to use a DIN chassis unit. If I were going for a 100 pt restore, I'd hide it in the glove box. However, I want something I can use, which means I need to be able to read and reach it while I drive.:love7:
The Dart has been great as daily driver. That's not to say that it's perfect, but the issues that remain are not major deals, there's just a bunch of them. I spent two weekends, and two cans of contact cleaner working through the bulkhead connectors. Interior lights are better and the Ammeter seems to report better news. (Wait til I get the water temp gauge going to read some real engine temperature.
Tragedy struck on the third Saturday in July. No, it wasn't an accident, it was a catastrophic failure of the rear wheel seals and bearing on the driver's side of the rear axle. Smoke poured out of the wheel well. By the time I got to a point where I could diagnose the problem, the wheel bearing sounded like a Cuisinart working its way though a bunch of yak bones. Oh yeah, it was on fire.
Initial diagnosis was axle seals and wheel bearing. The 7¼ axle is easy to fix on this score, but the work is not for the faint hearted. What makes it tough is that the only way to remove the retainer collar is to cut it with a chisel. Slip and you've nicked the axle. In this case. It was 2x. The collar chisel removal is expected because it's in the repair manual that way. The second part was that the bearing had also become fused to the axle.
The bearing on the 7¼ axle is a ball bearing design, not the roller bearing like the front wheel. On this one, bearings were popping out as spheres, hemispheres, and semi-hemispheres. The inner race on this bearing is very stout. I would have done Dr. DeBakey proud by chiseling my way through both the retainer collar and the bearing without so much as a scratch on the axle shaft.
Because the brake shoes has been coated in GO90, I did a brake job on both rear wheels. While I was under the car, I replaced the shocks and put real shackles on the rear to replace the f*#k-em up/jack-em up units installed by a PO. I also installed a new rear brake hose to replace the seriously frayed unit I had inherited. I was feeling pretty good until I started getting a softer brake pedal and an empty forward well on the master cylinder. Figuring that the fire had boiled some of the whoa juice out of the system, I bled the brakes again. The next day out, same results.
While I was under the car, I checked the differential fluid. First, it was over full. Second, it had a bunch of water in it. It had a nice cafe au lait color to it. Even so it was still thick, which makes it easy to avoid getting a mouth full when starting the siphon hose. I got the siphon started at 9:00 PM and it finished around 9:00 AM the next morning. I refilled it with 2 pints of fresh GO 80/90.
Bummer. This time, I had a little brake fluid in the drum to let me know the problem was inside the wheel. The rebuild kit for the wheel cylinder was a little over $5. Then I would need a small cylinder hone to clean up the existing cylinder and the patience of Job to clean it up prior to re-assembly. Or, a complete rebuilt cylinder was $9.00. I have no incentive to preserve anything original in the car, so I went for the assembly. The most noticeable difference is that the bleeder screw sticks out farther than it did on my Brake-Fire unit.
Assessment: The rear end runs quieter due to the new bearing and gear lube. The new shackles and shocks make for a much improved ride. Time well spent, just didn't like the tyranny that made me do it now!
After 3 jobs in 1½ weeks, I am a whiz at brake bleeding. With the El Cheapo one man brake bleeder kit available at either AZ or O'Reilly's, it's a snap. If anyone wants to know, a single system bleed with a wheel cylinder replacement can be done with a small can of brake fluid. I went through over a quart of brake fluid with the changed brake hose and wheel cylinder.
I'll see if I can assemble the wheel bearing debris and make some photos over the weekend.
Since decent weather has returned to the Edge of the World, I get under the car, get greasy, and make a few improvements.
Plans are:
1. Overhaul, new overhauled carburetor. There's at least one gasket bad (leaks) and who knows what else is giving me 426 fuel economy with a 225 engine. It was good at first, but I started getting crappy results right after the warranty expired. Now I got the time, the parts, and a bad attitude towards Holley rebuilds.
2. R&R power steeing pump. I'd like to go to bigger tires and a smaller steering wheel, but need to get this guy fixed. FWIW, you can use the faster ratio power steering box without the pump. However, below 20 mph, it takes a fair amount of effort to move the 185/70-14s that are on the car. At normal city driving speeds, it is easy to drive. At highway speeds it can be driven with one finger.
3. Get some tunes going. I had tried a post type cassette player and an external amp. It didn't work too good, other than it looks like it belongs in the deluxe interior dash. The problem is that I'll have to cut the dash to use a DIN chassis unit. If I were going for a 100 pt restore, I'd hide it in the glove box. However, I want something I can use, which means I need to be able to read and reach it while I drive.:love7: