1969 Dart Street/Strip (Re)Build

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What ball joint are you using Clint? They pretty much all do that with aftermarket arms. The threaded cup is taller than the stock mounting point and doesn't let the boot push up and seat the way is supposed to. The QA1 ball joints do have a nice dust boot that actually stays on and seals up, you could try those if it bothers you too much. The QA1's the body is actually longer i believe so it comes past the threaded cups you get with aftermarket arms and allows you to seal the boot.

I'm not sure what they are except Moog. They came as an upgrade in the kit. Thanks for the additional info!
 
I pulled the spindle back apart and swapped the upper and lower boots. Notice the lower is taller than the upper.



Here's how it came out. It barely covers the edge which I don't know if it's correct or not.



The spindle should be fully seated to the ball joint so that's as best as it's going to get.



Does anyone recall the scene where lieutenant Dan goes crazy on the shrimp boat in Forest Gump? That's about what I felt like when I discovered that the caliper on the passenger side isn't sealing up and is leaking everywhere. Isn't hot rodding wonderful?

 
Ouch. Where'd you get the Wilwoods from?
 
Ouch. Where'd you get the Wilwoods from?

Got them used, but they were only bolted to a car, never actually ran. That was the only reason Wilwood took the rotors back. They're about 3 years old. Hopefully a new seal kit will fix it.
 
Got them used, but they were only bolted to a car, never actually ran. That was the only reason Wilwood took the rotors back. They're about 3 years old. Hopefully a new seal kit will fix it.

yeah probably just dried out seals. hope that streak of issues and gremlins stop for you man
 
The saga continues. So the third and final time the company coated the parts, they still F'd up. Everything looked good until a liquid of some sort began bleeding out from the end of the K frame and stripping the powdercoat off. I ended up getting a bunch of money back and I left it as it was. Took it home, hung it to allow anything else to drain, cleaned it up and painted the end with Roll Bar and Chassis paint. Really terrible quality control in that place. Live and learn, move on.






The stuff that oozed out is all the grease and accumulated road grime, and trapped impurities in the metal when it was formed. It seems to me they don't outgas their customers' parts first before blasting and coating (a typical rookie inexperience issue). Chances are good that the two prior hearings also brought similar crap to the surface and that's probably what the contamination was from to start with. I hate to see anybody get ripped off; at least you got a partial refund.
 
The stuff that oozed out is all the grease and accumulated road grime, and trapped impurities in the metal when it was formed. It seems to me they don't outgas their customers' parts first before blasting and coating (a typical rookie inexperience issue). Chances are good that the two prior hearings also brought similar crap to the surface and that's probably what the contamination was from to start with. I hate to see anybody get ripped off; at least you got a partial refund.

It's impossible for that to be road grime. The kit is brand new. This was the 3rd time those parts had been coated. They held the parts in chemical stripping tanks to strip the coatings. What was inside was either chemical stripper or the metal cleaner they used after. Whatever it was burned your skin when you touched it. It was definitely a stripping or cleaning chemical. It's now flaking off on the edges where they were laser cut. I asked them for a full refund since now I've found that the coating didn't even seem to adhere properly. They refused so I told them I'd gladly share my experience with their company.

Save yourself the headache and don't even consider using PowderTech in Wichita.
 
It's impossible for that to be road grime. The kit is brand new. This was the 3rd time those parts had been coated. They held the parts in chemical stripping tanks to strip the coatings. What was inside was either chemical stripper or the metal cleaner they used after. Whatever it was burned your skin when you touched it. It was definitely a stripping or cleaning chemical. It's now flaking off on the edges where they were laser cut. I asked them for a full refund since now I've found that the coating didn't even seem to adhere properly. They refused so I told them I'd gladly share my experience with their company.

Save yourself the headache and don't even consider using PowderTech in Wichita.

If it's flaking on the laser edges that may not be a powder issue and more a laser issue. When you laser cut steel with oxygen you get an oxidized edge that needs to be removed before powder. If this isn't done the powder will chip on the laser edges. The only thing the powder company could do to remove it would be grind or sand blast.
 
If it's flaking on the laser edges that may not be a powder issue and more a laser issue. When you laser cut steel with oxygen you get an oxidized edge that needs to be removed before powder. If this isn't done the powder will chip on the laser edges. The only thing the powder company could do to remove it would be grind or sand blast.

I paid an extra $100 for them to blast it to get rid of the laser scale. The metal underneath appears to be blasted to me but it didn't adhere well.
 
I'm finding out that the oil pan won't come off without moving the headers. Ugh
 
Oh you poor thing!!! What a nightmare you're going through. I am sorry to read about these experiences and hope things turn around for you.
 
Can you just loosen the passenger side? Put wedge in bottom side of flange to push it out and hold it?

Yeah that's my plan. I just didn't want to unbolt the exhaust and didn't want to have to mess with new header gaskets either.
 
Oh you poor thing!!! What a nightmare you're going through. I am sorry to read about these experiences and hope things turn around for you.

No sympathy needed. Just part of Hot Rodding. I'm hoping things get better too!
 
Finally got the pan out. Had to drop both headers to do so without really scratching the headers up. Wow I was amazed at how easy it was to drop the headers! Once they are unbolted from the exhaust, it only takes about 5 minutes a side to drop them! I'm never going to have to complain about removing headers with this setup.
 
Received the QA1 double adjustable shocks. These are amazing in the sense that it's so easy to adjust compression and rebound. On the drag setting, the shock pulls very easily as it should. Then it has 3 more recommended settings for smooth ride, stiffer ride, and aggressive handling. Everything went together well here.



 
Here's where I'm at on the pan swap. Had to drop both headers which turned out to be really easy.















New pan vs old pan, nose to nose.











I don't understand the new pickup. It's much different than the old one. This is what stopped me last night.

 
I called Kevko and found that they did not provide the 3/8" NPT plug. So will have to go pick one of those up and get the pickup swapped.
 
The way you have the oil pans setting I just wanted to confirm....the sump is in the rear....like a truck pan....correct?
 
The way you have the oil pans setting I just wanted to confirm....the sump is in the rear....like a truck pan....correct?

Yes rear sump. Sitting nose to nose. It actually is a truck pan and I'm adapting it to the build. Would have liked one of their other pans but the headers won't allow them to work. I may have to move the dipstick on the new pan to a new location because of the headers too.
 
Here's the 200-4R core that I will be using. Dropped it off at the builder's place over the weekend to tear it down and get ready to machine the bellhousing off.



 
Spent some time cleaning off the old rtv sealant. A Dremel and wire wheel make a tough job much easier. Bad thing is that it flings that stuff everywhere so I used some plastic bags to keep their internals clean while brushing.







And what I figured would happen here. Will need to move the dipstick fitting somewhere else. Can't decide whether to put it on the driver's or passenger side. Either way I think I'm going to have to get a longer dipstick.











 
Here's where I had the indication that the Wilwoods may have an issue lol

[ame]https://youtu.be/OhowQ5yhmhI[/ame]
 
Nice work man. That's the only thing I hate about the dart. There is no effing room! I'm still waiting for QA1 to make a big block a body k member. They say "the demand is just not there " blah blah.

R those the same small mopar bolt pattern?

I've got the original Kelsey Haynes brakes and the first pedal push goes almost to the floor and the rest are just fine. Not too sure what's going on there but I may switch to wilwoods in the future.
 
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