273 Build

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My son and I are black and red fans, hope your dad is feeling better.

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65Vart said:
My son and I are black and red fans, hope your dad is feeling better.
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The photo of your Dart was one reason I decided that black would be the right color. I like your car ! I have struggled with the original color and all it's clones since I bought the car 6 years ago. I decided I need to paint it something I like or sell it (and I couldn't do that) LOL Thanks Vart!!!!! Dad has a 100% blocked carotid artery but they don't operate on those. He is home now and happy about that. LOL
 
Man it's hot here today. I was hoping to get out in the garage and do some sanding under the hood but it's too hot and humid. The heat index is 115 right now. I think I'll re-wrap my wiring harness in the cool basement and keep hydrating myself with Miller Lite. I just noticed something pretty cool. The voltage regulator in the photo, is the one that came with the car but the tin cover was not in good shape so I switched the cover with a Filko brand regulator I bought a few years ago on E-bay. Even though the old regulator causes the lights to flicker at idle it works good and doesn't overcharge. I had tried different regulators including a electronic one that overcharged and burned most of the light bulbs out and fried my battery dry. Long story short, a few minutes ago I noticed a part number stamped in the rust on the old regulator cover. The number was 2098300. I looked it up in my parts book and it is the original regulator the car was built with. (unless someone replaced it with a Genuine Mopar part from a dealer.) I am surprised it still works so good! LOL The photo is just a few small parts I have scuffed and will paint soon. Mike

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Ah finally I can contribute somthing. Hey Mike, You can actually get a duralast VR706 which is solid state non adjustable and a much better regulator. The black top off the old regulator will fit over top of this for a stock appearance. I have one . Works great, can make it look stock with modern guts. courtesy of Mopar muscle/or Action can't remember.
 
Thanks for the tip Vart. I've found the electronic regulators control through the ground side of the circuit. I wonder If I had a bad ground and that's what caused it to overcharge. Mike
 
Well, right or wrong, I scuffed and painted some black this morning. It's pretty humid already but I hope the paint dries clear. It'll be far from perfect but it looks much better than before. Dry days seem to be few and far between here in Iowa and I need some progress. I would like to hear my new engine run before summer is gone. Mike

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Hi Mike,the engine bay is looking all cleaned up and shiney!WooHoo!I once had a black car and swore to never again.I found it too hard to keep clean and was just to dam hot with no A/C,with hedders and dual exhaust.I,ve seen 65Varts car and the black exterior and red interior just screams OLD car too me.Now get that engine in,times a wastin!Here,s a pic of my old brand X heatbox.LOL
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Scott, You never know. I may change my mind on the outside color. I just know I don't like green. LOL My first pick was burnt orange but a red engine would look bad next to orange. I don't want to be a copy cat either. There is a burnt orange 66 Dart vert in town already. If I do paint it black I may have to install AC to keep it cool. The paint is still tacky from 4 hours ago. The humidity is 85%. Slow drying today. MIke
 
We had baseball playoffs this weekend but I did get some things done on the Dart today. Gees, these projects take sooooooooooo looooooooong. I just have to be patient. LOL The engine compartment looks good black. The paint didn't turn out as good as I had hoped but after looking at the before and after photos
there is a big improvement. I am getting closer to putting the drive train back in. I need to reinstall the wiring harness and I'm about there. Hopefully this coming weekend I can set her in. toolmanmike

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I got the motor/trans set in today. I have a new camera and the settings made the red look strange but at least it's in the hole. Start hooking things up tomorrow. Mike

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You are building a great car and it has been fun to watch. I am looking forward to the finished product. Be sure to post us a driving video with sound when you get it running.
Rat:mrgreen:
 
Great job Mike!! You beat me! Mine is still on the engine stand. Baseball and softball season is over now for the kids, so maybe I'll get some nights in the garage...once the heat index goes below 100.
 
It's been a busy weekend. I worked on it Wednesday and Thursday night and all day and about 12 hours a day since. I have a few small things to do before I fire it up. Probably tomorrow. (I hope) I overhauled the carb tonight. It was sludge inside. It is the original and I should have painted it with some of that Eastwood carb paint but I didn't. I hooked up a oil pressure gauge and pre-lubed
it. About 65# with a cordless drill and I got oil to the rockers when I bumped the motor over. I static timed it and spark checked the distributor to 10 deg. before so hopefully it will fire right up without a lot of cranking. I think I'll squirt some gas in the bowl vents of the carb to give it a head start. I need an alternator which hopefully the correct one comes in tomorrow. I need to fill the radiator and top off the tranny. I ran out of lube after 3 quarts. I also have to work on my exhaust. The over axle pipe almost slid out of the muffler and I tightened the clamp. It put a ridge in the pipe and I need a torch or a expander to fix it. That's about it. Wish me luck. I hope to have a video to show. MIke

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Damn, someones been busy! Can't wait to hear how it sounds after all that work. Looking good Toolman!
 
Good luck!

Yes be sure to fill the carb bowls up a bit and right before firing it up some gas straight down the carb it wants. I have a tiny funnel I made from an old gear lube bottle I cut the bottom 3/4 off. Works really nice.

If it fires and sounds weak, likely needs more advance. If it cranks hard or feels rough if it does still start, timing is too advanced.

I went with total timing. Took all the plugs out--and pushrods. Had a buddy crank it over while I looked with a timing light. The dist was set for max advance. I went with 35 degrees and got 38 I seen a few mins after it fired.

I also used a garden hose the cool off the rad every few mins during the cam break in. Pushed it outside after 1 min of it sounding great. Man were does all that smoke come from off the engine at first, lol A few mins later it was gone and at no time smoke came out of the exhaust.

Hope your start up goes as cool as mine did. A buddy is helpful, like when he pushed my ride outside while I revved it at 2,500 rpm's.
 
Lookin great, Mike. Is that single exhaust I see under there? You're really goin resto, aren't you? Gonna be a nice little car.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Lookin great, Mike. Is that single exhaust I see under there? You're really goin resto, aren't you? Gonna be a nice little car.
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I put on the HP273 exhaust from Accurate LTD. 2" pipes off the manifolds into a 2 1/2" intermediate pipe, through a low restriction muffler and 2 1/4" over axle pipe tho a stainless tipped resonator. I'm excited to hear it.
 
Great job Mike!! Nice "original" resto look. One day when it's the wagon's turn....it'll get the same treatment. How did you set your rockers? Did you leave 'em loose by about .002?
 
redfastback said:
Great job Mike!! Nice "original" resto look. One day when it's the wagon's turn....it'll get the same treatment. How did you set your rockers? Did you leave 'em loose by about .002?
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I set them to spec. (.018 & .021? or something like that) and I will readjust them hot after the oil drains back in the pan. Don't want to make a huge mess. LOL
 
toolmanmike said:
I put on the HP273 exhaust from Accurate LTD. 2" pipes off the manifolds into a 2 1/2" intermediate pipe, through a low restriction muffler and 2 1/4" over axle pipe tho a stainless tipped resonator. I'm excited to hear it.
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Yeah, that'll sound good. Now you need a 75 horse dry shot of nitrous on it to make it a real sleeper. LOL
 
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