408 Build Thread

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Don't worry about it Brian. It's your build, your money, your time. You'll get there eventually. And when you do, it'll all be worth it.
 
Not to shock anyone but my buddy Adam came over the other night with a six pack and he kicked me in the ***! We decided to get back working on the car a couple of nights a week until we can get it all finished up. We're gonna take small projects first and start crossing them off the "To Do" list. The first thing we decided to tackle was the fuel lines. I had purchased some Earl's braided hose and some worm gear clamps that looked like AN fittings but we were having some trouble with them and they looked pretty cheesy. We decided to make up some fuel lines using real AN fittings so we made a list of everything we needed and Summit had it on my porch in 48 hours. This is how they turned out.

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I stuck them on today and I think they turned out pretty nice and I'll probably never have to worry about them again in my lifetime. I also used some of the leftover hose to replace the plain rubber PCV hose that I had run. Here's a pic of the hoses installed.

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The next project is going to be working on the cooling system. I've got those shrink to fit hose clamps for the radiator hoses but my wife's blow drier wouldn't put out enough heat to shrink them, so I'm going to buy a cheap Harbor Freight heat gun this week. We'll just keep chipping away at these small projects and crossing them off of the white board I have hanging on the wall. Hopefully we'll get this thing on the road before winter sets in!
 
Little by little, bit by bit. Got the hoses and clamps all installed this afternoon. My buddy Adam is coming over tonight and hopefully we'll get a few more things checked off of the list!
Before
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After

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These 408's are the most impressive small blocks. I have a 91 roller motor by me for-sale for 450.00. I almost want to stop my progress on my car to grab it and stash it for later build because of you guys. Great work.
 
v8_vega said:
Glad to see y'all are back at it. And tell Adam we said thanks! Lol
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I'll tell him. He's a good friend and a good mechanic, plus he's tired of hauling me around to car shows in his car! He came by tonight and some real progress was made. The Lokar kickdown and throttle linkage were bolted back on and adjusted. Header collectors bolted on. We messed around routing some of the wiring for the gauges and ran the temp sender unit. We ran into a problem when we went to screw the sender into the manifold, it was too long and bottomed out before tightening up. We had it hooked up to the same manifold before, so I must have misplaced the piece that goes in between the sender and the manifold. I'll have to look on Summit's website and see if I can find one?

Adam said he will be back over tomorrow night and we'll jump back on it. Stayed tuned!
 
Adam had a set of unopened Sun gauges that had the necessary fitting for the temp sender so he came over tonight and as soon as he opened the package I found mine sitting on one of the shelves! So we finished hooking the gauges up and started on putting the battery in the trunk. That went pretty smooth until we pulled the back seat to run the positive cable. Mice had gotten in the car and made a nest under the back seat! No real damage, but it was nasty cleaning up mouse **** and shredded foam.

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We got everything bolted down and the cable run past the firewall using the spot where the clutch linkage should run. No pics because it got too dark but it went together pretty smooth. Seat is back in and all the aluminum trim is back on. Just a cable hanging loose in the engine compartment...for now.

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Someone was taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of the mouse crap!

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lookin´good....engine bay, whole car...and you of course ;-)

I like the clean look of the engine. Take your time, it will be good!

I´ll wait for the results with the XR292HR cam, want to put this one or a little bigger Lunati in my 408 next winter.

Michael
 
Thanks guys! I turn 54 at the end of the month and I guess I had an epiphany that time was running out and that no one is guaranteed a tomorrow. Better get this done while I have time to enjoy it!

Michael, I posted the dyno results a few pages back along with a video. I am happy with the results of the cam. It made the numbers I was looking for and the idle should be tolerable with the Continental converter I had built.
 
iw378 said:
What kind of radiator do you have in there ?
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It's a three core Champion radiator with their dual electric fan kit hooked up to a Dakota Digital controller and filled with four gallons of Evans waterless coolant.
 
We hit another snag. My son threw a rod in the car he drives to college so we've been scrambling trying to get him something to drive before school starts again. This is his last semester so we only need transportation and he can buy something nice after he graduates. I bought a 98 Ram that has a bad engine and we've been working on swapping out engines and making it dependable for him. It will be my beater/swap meet truck after he is done with it.

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And you had the momentum going. I understand, good luck on getting the ride going for your son!

Been having some issues with my 74 Duster with the 408, just so hot I have been neglecting it. Starting to cool off this week, maybe this weekend...
 
Not much going on, but the project is always front and center in my garage. The weather has started to cool, so nights in the garage are once again more comfortable. I'll try to get back to it as soon as I can. You guys are always the first to know when I've done something and I appreciate your comments and words of encouragement. Thanks to all of you.
 
It's not much but it's a start. Yesterday the temps were almost 70 so I took some time to clean up the garage as crap tends to gather during the winter when temps are low. After I swept the floor around the car, I was standing there drinking a beer admiring my work. I decided to just lay the new wiring harnesses in place just to get a basic idea of what I was going to need to hook up. Well, one thing let to another and both harnesses are in place and all of the connections have been identified and labeled.
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There's still plenty to do but I've been trying to get myself motivated and off of the sofa. Weather is supposed to be nice this weekend and I don't have to work either of my two jobs, so fingers crossed.
 
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