1973 Dart Sport
- Thread starter Deceus
- Start date
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Looking good Dude! It has to be way easier working on the project while at home and on a concrete floor rather than out in the county on plywood and cardboard. Easier to roll stuff arround
yeah it was definitely a smooth couple of days. It's a little cramped and I definitely need a toolbox because I'm tired of sifting through a bag everytime i need something but things are looking pretty good. I need to get it rolling and then I can get it in the 2 car garage at my new place. Should be pretty smooth sailing from there for sure.
Ran into a lot of issues this weekend. Mainly not having the right hardware for the transmission mount and the radiator fan not clearing my water pump pulley by a mile. Was going to throw the front rotors on but realized I moved my manual to the new place so I didn't have the diagram or instructions in front of me or any wheel bearing grease so I moved on to bigger and better things for the weekend. Did managed to get the pitman arm and starter on the car. Nothing is torqued down yet but progress is progress. Need to get this thing rolling by the end of the month or the new tenants just might get a free project car with their move in LOL
bbrroowwnn
never re member
they always sound awesome with no exhaust....sounds good
Not gonna lie, it scared the hell out of me because I thought it had backfired through the carb at first. It revs so fast, I can't wait to see what it does in gear.
Dude! Did you put a Demon nose on that Sport?
Yeah I grabbed those parts a while back. Drove from DC to New Jersey to Newport News and back to DC for them. Only set me back $800. Looks so much better to me and sure beat paying 5k for a non-painted Demon roller.
Got her back from a very expense alignment. Going to try and do some light autocrossing this weekend. Going to throw on a Wilwood brake kit since the driver side caliper is wrong and won't bleed properly. Also have to wire up a Ron Francis turn signal switch for the brake lights and the radiator fan. Think I got everything figured out, just waiting on the parts now. Getting the shifter cable right is the only thing that worries me at this point. It wasn't going into park before but I think I have it adjusted better this time. Will test it today.
Well I drove it around a bit today. Got the master cylinder bench bleed, back on and got the mufflers on. Drove it up onto some ramps, fought with the sway bar for a few hours and got it on. Was feeling really good to finally be done and have the chance to really drive it. Hopped in to back it off the ramps and all i got was a small bump. Went and got the battery charged in case I drained it with few times I've fired it up to test the brakes and shifter and still get nothing but a single small bump. To say I'm disappointed would be a massive understatement ...
The starter solenoid connectors had gotten loose. Threw the starter back on and had some similar issues again after 2 good starts. The starter sounded like it missed the ring gear for a second. I went under and noticed it wasn't quite flush. Hooked up the radiator fan and turn signal switch kit from Ron Francis. The fan kicked on right away but I'm still not getting anything from the switch. Sounds like the feed is working because it's clicking but there's nothing all around. Not sure if it's a bad ground or just crappy connections at the butt connectors. Will have to try again tomorrow.
Doesn't help when you decide to redo everything and change your mind on just about everything haha.
Made a better ground on the subframe below the trunk and got it to fire again but then it went back to the way it was before after a quick drive. It seems I'm going to have to run the ground wire up to the block and do things by the book, not a big deal.
Think I'm just going to ditch the booster all together. It's just causing too many issues that are too hard to solve. It MAY be a bad booster but I'm not really sure how to 100% verify that. It bogs the engine down at idle and the pedal is only soft with the engine running so that definitely narrows it down. The biggest issue with doing this is trying to find a way to hook the master cylinder back up with it being a few inches further back. Might try to run short braided lines to bridge the gap because I REALLY don't feel like redoing those hardlines.
Think I'm just going to ditch the booster all together. It's just causing too many issues that are too hard to solve. It MAY be a bad booster but I'm not really sure how to 100% verify that. It bogs the engine down at idle and the pedal is only soft with the engine running so that definitely narrows it down. The biggest issue with doing this is trying to find a way to hook the master cylinder back up with it being a few inches further back. Might try to run short braided lines to bridge the gap because I REALLY don't feel like redoing those hardlines.
Still fighting issue after issue with the brakes but at least it's starting consistently now. I grounded the engine to the frame and that seemed to resolve the starting issues. When it dawned on me that the battery was the only thing grounded to the frame I felt like an idiot. I suppose it was grounding through the K-member bolts up until now and that's obviously not a great setup.
Ditched the booster to simplify the brakes since everyone seems to think it's unnecessary for A bodies in general. Still getting a really soft pedal and I think it's related to the handbrake. The handbrake itself is really soft and not even close to locking anything up and it seems to have some play in it when I press the brake pedal in. Not sure if there's air trapped in there in a really bad spot that won't bleed or if it's just a bad MC. These issues seem really common because the internet is littered with threads complaining about the same thing.
Picked up some speed bleeder screws to work with my vacuum bleeder so I can knock this out myself. I was just pulling air past the threads when I tried using it yesterday. Push comes to shove I also picked up a -3 AN coupler to bypass the handbrake and see if that resolves anything. It will be a while before they'll be any need for it anyways.
Other than that, I got a leaky transmission and upper radiator hose. The hose just sucks and the transmission is over-filled because the Lokar flexible dipstick seems to sit high. Think it ended up with about 11 quarts before it read remotely close to full. Not sure if it's just coming out of the vent or if I've blown my front seal. There's no drain plug on my pan like I was hoping so I'm not quite sure what to do except pull one of the cooler lines and put in it an empty milk jug.
Ditched the booster to simplify the brakes since everyone seems to think it's unnecessary for A bodies in general. Still getting a really soft pedal and I think it's related to the handbrake. The handbrake itself is really soft and not even close to locking anything up and it seems to have some play in it when I press the brake pedal in. Not sure if there's air trapped in there in a really bad spot that won't bleed or if it's just a bad MC. These issues seem really common because the internet is littered with threads complaining about the same thing.
Picked up some speed bleeder screws to work with my vacuum bleeder so I can knock this out myself. I was just pulling air past the threads when I tried using it yesterday. Push comes to shove I also picked up a -3 AN coupler to bypass the handbrake and see if that resolves anything. It will be a while before they'll be any need for it anyways.
Other than that, I got a leaky transmission and upper radiator hose. The hose just sucks and the transmission is over-filled because the Lokar flexible dipstick seems to sit high. Think it ended up with about 11 quarts before it read remotely close to full. Not sure if it's just coming out of the vent or if I've blown my front seal. There's no drain plug on my pan like I was hoping so I'm not quite sure what to do except pull one of the cooler lines and put in it an empty milk jug.
I know how you feel, you work on detailing things, then you get leaks, your detail work gets dirty and smeared, I HATE LEAKS!
Had to drop the booster and bend my lines real ugly to get the manual setup to work. Lost a good bit of paint on my driver side inner fender too. I don't even care how it looks anymore, I just want to drive the damn thing lol.
So I woke up Saturday feeling like crap but I wasn't gonna let that stop me. I had a wedding to be at by 3 in the 757 as well, so I didn't have much more than an hour to hang out at the cars and coffee. It was a bit nerve wracking to drive the car there. I still haven't updated the insurance yet but I'll be meeting with an appraiser before it makes another journey like this. I'd **** a brick if I wrecked this thing and got handed $1000.
I was mostly worried about a freak fuel leak or a balljoint snapping and sending me into oncoming traffic. It was pretty smooth sailing though. Definitely need to patch the hole in the floor I made for the shifter cable. Wasn't a great turn out but there were 2 other shows and Sportscenter Gameday going on in town. It was still great to be part of the action and not just spectate.
I was mostly worried about a freak fuel leak or a balljoint snapping and sending me into oncoming traffic. It was pretty smooth sailing though. Definitely need to patch the hole in the floor I made for the shifter cable. Wasn't a great turn out but there were 2 other shows and Sportscenter Gameday going on in town. It was still great to be part of the action and not just spectate.
Put a few more finishing touches on the car and took the car to it's first race at the beginning of the month since the weather was still decent. It got a lot of attention and did pretty well except for some fuel issues which caused it to die in 4 of my 6 runs. Was still a blast to get a chance to stretch this thing's legs. Have a few things to fix. starting with tuning the carb. I'll likely have to replace the k-member as well since the alignment is weird on the side that was patched and the tire is rubbing the frame rail.
Still weird seeing a complete car whenever I peak into the garage.
Big things coming next year. I'll likely switch over to hydroboot system at some point over the winter as well. I'd really like to go with an EFI system and fiberglass hood but those are on the backburner until I build my savings back up a bit. Been a little too reckless for a little too long I think but I'm glad I saw this thing through to the "end".
Still weird seeing a complete car whenever I peak into the garage.
Big things coming next year. I'll likely switch over to hydroboot system at some point over the winter as well. I'd really like to go with an EFI system and fiberglass hood but those are on the backburner until I build my savings back up a bit. Been a little too reckless for a little too long I think but I'm glad I saw this thing through to the "end".
So the crankcase pressure is too high. It's leaking at the front of the intake and under the oil filter at WOT. Didn't leak a drop on the runstand or for the first hundred miles or so that I babied it. The good news is I don't think the front seal on my trans was ever leaking. It looks like some of the oil from the filter was making it into the bellhousing and then trickling out once I parked the car. Took it for a spin to get gas and found the a light coat of oil on the front of the entire trans. There's oil splatters on the exhaust and inner fenders too so I need to get to the bottom this quick.
Gonna start with oil change to make sure I haven't lost too much oil. I didn't trim my lokar dipstick right away so I'll do that once I know for sure I have 5 quarts in the pan. Then I'll need to check to PCV valve to make sure it's getting vacuum. Going to try a double breather setup. If I'm still having issues I'll have to pull the trigger on a compressor and leak down tester to see where this coming from.
Gonna start with oil change to make sure I haven't lost too much oil. I didn't trim my lokar dipstick right away so I'll do that once I know for sure I have 5 quarts in the pan. Then I'll need to check to PCV valve to make sure it's getting vacuum. Going to try a double breather setup. If I'm still having issues I'll have to pull the trigger on a compressor and leak down tester to see where this coming from.
Managed to pinpoint the crankcase issue to some bent pushrods. With the help of this wonderful forum I found out that was likely due to my rocker shafts being on wrong and causing some exhaust valves to stick due to oil starvation. The cam seemed fine and I got everything back together last weekend. Spent some time on the car this weekend to make sure everything was back to 100% and ran into a few issues.
Figured it'd be a nice and easy day. Just wanted to change my oil, get the car up to temperature, do a quick test run and clean up some of the wiring. It was pretty smooth up until the test run. The run itself went pretty good. The valvetrain is a lot quieter and engine definitely feels like it's running a bit healthier. But when I pulled into the garage, I notice a small puddle of oil coming off the bottom of the transmission. I figured the excessive blow-by may have ruined the oil filter seal so I made sure it was snug and gave it another quick run. The ground was wet this time so I noticed a series of nice oily rainbow puddles in the driveway this time. My passenger side header was also smoking a bit. Took a close look and noticed the oil was on the outside of the bellhouse and not by the filter. I traced it back up to the engine and found a few small puddles on the backside of the block. My intake wasn't sealed well at all in the back and the oil was running down the top of the bellhousing. I figured the bead of gasket maker I used was a little thin around the distributor so it wasn't too surprising but still a little frustrating. Kinda hard to eyeball how much you need especially with the engine in the car instead of on a stand. I think I might switch back to the cork gaskets this time and just coat them with RTV to be safe. No water leaks so I can't be too mad.
Figured I just continue on with the day like nothing happened. Wasn't ready to crack that can of worms just yet. Did some pretty good work on the wiring, still need to cut the spark plug wires to length and put some better thought into routing them. Was pretty happy with the outcome, even if it took most of the day to get done. Some before/afters:
Drained the coolant before dinner and broke all the bolts loose. Was hoping when I cam back I could pop the intake off cleanly and not have to replace the intake gasket but it tore at one corner at one of the water jackets. Wasn't going to risk that so I just cleaned all the surfaces and covered everything back up for another day.
At some point I'll just get to enjoy the fruits of my labor and just enjoy the car ...
Figured it'd be a nice and easy day. Just wanted to change my oil, get the car up to temperature, do a quick test run and clean up some of the wiring. It was pretty smooth up until the test run. The run itself went pretty good. The valvetrain is a lot quieter and engine definitely feels like it's running a bit healthier. But when I pulled into the garage, I notice a small puddle of oil coming off the bottom of the transmission. I figured the excessive blow-by may have ruined the oil filter seal so I made sure it was snug and gave it another quick run. The ground was wet this time so I noticed a series of nice oily rainbow puddles in the driveway this time. My passenger side header was also smoking a bit. Took a close look and noticed the oil was on the outside of the bellhouse and not by the filter. I traced it back up to the engine and found a few small puddles on the backside of the block. My intake wasn't sealed well at all in the back and the oil was running down the top of the bellhousing. I figured the bead of gasket maker I used was a little thin around the distributor so it wasn't too surprising but still a little frustrating. Kinda hard to eyeball how much you need especially with the engine in the car instead of on a stand. I think I might switch back to the cork gaskets this time and just coat them with RTV to be safe. No water leaks so I can't be too mad.
Figured I just continue on with the day like nothing happened. Wasn't ready to crack that can of worms just yet. Did some pretty good work on the wiring, still need to cut the spark plug wires to length and put some better thought into routing them. Was pretty happy with the outcome, even if it took most of the day to get done. Some before/afters:
Drained the coolant before dinner and broke all the bolts loose. Was hoping when I cam back I could pop the intake off cleanly and not have to replace the intake gasket but it tore at one corner at one of the water jackets. Wasn't going to risk that so I just cleaned all the surfaces and covered everything back up for another day.
At some point I'll just get to enjoy the fruits of my labor and just enjoy the car ...
Got everything buttoned back up and it seems the leaks have stopped. The engine seems a lot happier too so hopefully I don't have to tear the intake off for a while now. I hooked up a Flex-a-lite probe style fan controller so the radiator fan is no longer on all the time and installed a three point harness using the package with a plate underneath it for reinforcement. Think I tracked down my front turn signal issues too. It seems they're not getting power unless the headlight switch is on parking lights. I'll need to splice the front running light wires into the rear ones to get it to behave like it should.
Got some big things coming in the mail this week. Pulled the trigger on a Holley Sniper EFI throttle body and RobbMC Powersurge to supply it. That should be the end of any sort of fuel issues and the best part is I no longer need to track down someone else to tune my car. I also have a QA1 K-member on the way to hopefully fix the alignment issues I'm having. Already bought the biscuit style brackets and a set of solid mounts, just waiting on the K-memeber. I was really dreading sending the car off to get aligned. It just doesn't sit well with me having someone else work on this thing so I picked up some toe plates and a camber gauge to do it myself. Should be fun.
Race season is almost here, it's crunch time. Still need to log some miles on the engine. The odometer is still only sitting at 185 but we've had a pretty brutal winter here in VA. I'd like to see 500 before I really start getting in it.
Got some big things coming in the mail this week. Pulled the trigger on a Holley Sniper EFI throttle body and RobbMC Powersurge to supply it. That should be the end of any sort of fuel issues and the best part is I no longer need to track down someone else to tune my car. I also have a QA1 K-member on the way to hopefully fix the alignment issues I'm having. Already bought the biscuit style brackets and a set of solid mounts, just waiting on the K-memeber. I was really dreading sending the car off to get aligned. It just doesn't sit well with me having someone else work on this thing so I picked up some toe plates and a camber gauge to do it myself. Should be fun.
Race season is almost here, it's crunch time. Still need to log some miles on the engine. The odometer is still only sitting at 185 but we've had a pretty brutal winter here in VA. I'd like to see 500 before I really start getting in it.
Marcohotrod
Well-Known Member
cool car and build thread. my 2 cents is from 40 years of ups and downs - keep it simple. some aftermarket stuff is trick, some is not so much. Chrysler engineering is very sound. My low miles 1970 has stock : carb, wiring, brakes, steering, radiator, alternator etc. Daily driver runs 11.7 at 116 mph
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