65 Barracuda daily driver

[65barracudaLA]

Your pistons look like Speed Pro's, but it would be hard to say for sure unless you can see a part number. Honestly, I don't know if I'd mess with them other than wiping the tops with a rag with some brake cleaner on it. Use a shop vac to clean each cylinder really well after you clean the deck surfaces to prep for the new head gaskets, just in case any debris might fall down into a cylinder. While the heads are off, it might be a good idea to run a stiff wire, like a coat hanger down the oil holes between cylinders 1 & 3, and then again on the hole 6 & 8. That will tell you if they are clear, so oil can get to the rockers. You could also spin the oil pump with a hex rod and shoot oil across both fenders.....lol. Clean all your head bolt holes and chase them with a tap if you have one, before you put the heads back on. Put a few drops of oil on the threads of each head bolt hole before you install them, so they will torque more accurately. Hopefully, the new heads will be a nice improvement!

Thank you for the advice! I started cleaning the pistons and deck surface. The part number on the pistons is 2260P - any idea what compression ratio that would give me with the 675 heads?

 

[JDMopar]

I looked around and the only info I could find was that they are older Sealed Power pistons, which are the same a TRW. They are forged, but I couldn't find any specs as far as compression height. Depending on the CC's of your heads, my WAG on compression is maybe 8.5 - 9.0. After all the work you've done, if it runs good enough to put a smile on your face....it's got enough compression, lol.

 

[mosleyme]

Thank you for the advice! I started cleaning the pistons and deck surface. The part number on the pistons is 2260P - any idea what compression ratio that would give me with the 675 heads?

Bring piston to top dead center, measure how far down in the hole. Then need to look up piston to get dish (or measure). Need compressed thickness and bore of gasket (published by gasket mfg). Need measured volume of combustion chamber. Then it is all math from there. Anything else is guessing.

You do not know if the block has been decked. You do not know if the heads have been milled.

My guess - flat tops with valve notches, block probably not decked, open chambers - 9:1-ish

 

[65barracudaLA]

I looked around and the only info I could find was that they are older Sealed Power pistons, which are the same a TRW. They are forged, but I couldn't find any specs as far as compression height. Depending on the CC's of your heads, my WAG on compression is maybe 8.5 - 9.0. After all the work you've done, if it runs good enough to put a smile on your face....it's got enough compression, lol.

I just like to have an idea of what I'm dealing with and I'm always curious to learn something new. It's a '69 block, so the stock pistons should have been not that far in the hole.

Bring piston to top dead center, measure how far down in the hole. Then need to look up piston to get dish (or measure). Need compressed thickness and bore of gasket (published by gasket mfg). Need measured volume of combustion chamber. Then it is all math from there. Anything else is guessing.

You do not know if the block has been decked. You do not know if the heads have been milled.

My guess - flat tops with valve notches, block probably not decked, open chambers - 9:1-ish

The bores are 0.30 over, otherwise all stock and neither heads nor block have been decked. The 675 heads are supposed to be around 68cc from the factory. The gaskets are gonna be Fel-Pro 8553 PT, which are advertised as Manufactured Thickness .0468" - .0572". I couldn't find much on the pistons online, but supposedly they are equivalent to a TRW L2329F, which has a compression height of 1.759". Technically it should be very close to a stock '69 318 when done, so that would be around 9.2:1.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Finally had some time this weekend to work on the Barracuda. Cleaned up the pistons and the block.

Heads on and torqued.

When I was cleaning up the threads I noticed one of the bolt holes for the rocker arm was potentially problematic. I should have addressed that before bolting on the heads, but I heli coiled it and it should be fine.

I put on the valve covers on only to keep the dust out, but it finally starts looking like an engine again. While the heads were off I also swapped out the trans dipstick. I had mangled the old slant six one to make it fit, but now for the first time it's the right tube in the right place. Now I need to put the intake back on, water pump, radiator and alternator. I got an alternator and a/c bracket from CVF racing and I'm planning on installing that too. It's getting close and I can't wait to fire it up again!

 

[65barracudaLA]

A little bit of progress. I re-installed the intake, throttle linkage, fuel pump, exhaust manifolds (almost), etc. I also mocked up the a/c compressor. It finally looks like it's gonna work. I needed CVF racing's alternator bracket to make it work. Unfortunately one of the spacers was missing, but a stack of washers is in its place right now. I wanted to install it with an idler pulley I had laying around, but I realized that if I'm using a 2-groove water pump pulley it'll work too. So I just ordered one from CVF and asked them to throw in that spacer. The crank pulley is also a CVF 2-groove, so now it'll be all from the same manufacturer. The alternator bracket uses a much shorter belt than stock, so I'll have to get one of those too.

Now I have a black a/c bracket and a polished aluminum alternator bracket, so I'll paint those tomorrow and also install the water pump for real. I also want to paint the a/c compressor black to make it look a bit more period correct.

I still need to hook up the rest of the a/c system. I'm sure summer's gonna be over when it finally works...

 

[65barracudaLA]

I wasn't super fond of the look of the CVF brackets, so I cut and ground them until all the corners were round. Just looks a bit more period correct. They're not even that visible once everything is installed, but I really like how they turned out.

I painted the compressor too and installed water pump and everything else. Now I'm just missing that 2-groove water pump pulley. And the right belts.

 

[66fyssh]

Yup, those brackets are way to sharp edged from the factory. Nice work rounding them.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Well, that was frustrating haha... So the exhaust stud on the "new" heads had already been repaired previously, but I assume it just rusted out again from the coolant side.That was not possible to tell before I actually started torquing down the manifold and the insert came out. I tried heli coils, but there was just not enough material to thread into. So I went another step up, drilled out the hole to 27/64. My plan was to use a 1/2-13 EZ-Lok threaded insert. Here's the frustrating part... I had bought a tap from Amazon a while ago, but it just didn't want to grip. I also had a Harbor Freight tap, but I didn't have much hope for that one either, so I went to Autozone and got a "SureBilt" tap set. Wasted some more time with that and went nowhere. I ended up going to Home Depot and got a Milwaukee tap and it gripped immediately and got the job done. The EZ-Lok went in easy and 5 minutes later the exhaust manifold was bolted on and torqued. I guess a good carpenter doesn't blame his hammer, but in this case the hammer was made of Jell-O and only wasted time and money. I guess lesson learned (again). So yeah, if you're trying this yourself, get a really good tap and use thread cutting oil. The EZ-Loks already have a thread locker coating. As you can see 1/2-13 is probably as far as you can go as there is not much cylinder head left after that.

Anyways, I also got the radiator back in, and a few things here and there. Next step is to put new oil in, prime the oil pump, fill radiator, top off ATF, drop the distributor in and start the car for the first time in something like 2 months with the brand new timing chain and the 675 heads.

I also had another thought about that clacking noise that happens when the car starts. It lasts for a few seconds and I always thought it was the lifters. It usually happens when the engine is cold, there's no oil pressure for a few seconds and then the RPMs go up and the oil pressure shoots up. Could it be that the starter doesn't retract as it should? Or essentially it retracts only after the engine starts and hammers against the starter until it retracts? It's a mini starter that came from a junkyard and was on the old slant 6 for years. When I swapped the small block in I rebuilt it, but who knows whether that made it better or worse. Not sure how I'm going to test that, but I guess it's worth looking into.

 

[hcallaway]

You met that challenge head on. Good advice for the rest of us.

 

[66fyssh]

That's good old fashioned Hot Roddin'. Nice work!

I haven't run across a starter not retracting far enough at first but anything is possible on these ole girls!

 

[65barracudaLA]

And she runs again!

 

[JDMopar]

That's awesome! How did it do when you took it for a spin?

 

[65barracudaLA]

That's awesome! How did it do when you took it for a spin?

The car did well! After taking it to a car wash (so dusty) and it ran well, I went home and change the rods in the carb to make it a bit richer. I put in the #1455 (.073" x .042") rod. It was stock before and spark plugs etc indicated too lean. Adjusted the idle mixture and took it for another spin and it was quite the improvement. I'm gonna order that FBO limiter plate so I can advance the timing a bit more (without pinging). So far so good. There's a small oil leak from the 90 degree adapter that drops straight onto the exhaust, which is not great, but I'm not super worried about that right now. Pretty much just stoked I can drive the car again!

 

[JDMopar]

Sounds good except having to fool with that pain in the butt bolt again to fix the oil leak...lol. Did you use a big copper flat washer between the bolt head and body of the adapter? I can't remember. If you didn't, shoot me a PM with your address and I'll hook you up on one.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Sounds good except having to fool with that pain in the butt bolt again to fix the oil leak...lol. Did you use a big copper flat washer between the bolt head and body of the adapter? I can't remember. If you didn't, shoot me a PM with your address and I'll hook you up on one.

View attachment 1716290145

Yup, I used the copper washer, but the problem is that with the TTi exhaust installed you can't really get a wrench on the shortened 1-3/16" head of the bolt. So at some point I have to take the passenger side pipe out, but then I will replace the bolt with either one that has the smaller 3/4" head or this one: Mopar 340 90 degree oil filter adapter gaskets, HIGHFLOW lightened long bolt | eBay I just don't know if that ebay bolt will work with the TTi exhaust. It has a 7/8" head.

 

[JDMopar]

Yeah, I knew you'd have to take the down pipe loose again. I'd try the bolt first with the adapter still in place with the old gaskets, to do a test fit with the down pipe to see how it goes. Save the new gaskets for the final installation. If it were me, I think I would heat and ding the down pipe if needed, to get good clearance on the bolt head vs cutting the bolt head. That bolt is worth what the dude is asking for the kit!

 

[66fyssh]

When I did my 5.9 swap 4-5 years ago, I had a slow drip from the 90⁰ adapter onto the header. I shoehorned an adjustable wrench (I know, I know...but sometimes...) in just enough to give it snug and stop the drip. Nothing since.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Yeah, I knew you'd have to take the down pipe loose again. I'd try the bolt first with the adapter still in place with the old gaskets, to do a test fit with the down pipe to see how it goes. Save the new gaskets for the final installation. If it were me, I think I would heat and ding the down pipe if needed, to get good clearance on the bolt head vs cutting the bolt head. That bolt is worth what the dude is asking for the kit!

It's a bit of a pain in the *** to get those down pipes out. You the torsion bar has to come out and even then it's not fun. I was hesitant about the ebay bolt because I'm not sure it's gonna clear, but dinging the pipe is maybe not a bad idea. If that bolt actually improves oil flow - even better!

@66fyssh At some point I the adapter wasn't dripping one bit, but then I repositioned it for dumb reasons and it dripped just the tiniest bit, but now that I repositioned it again to make the new transmission dipstick tube fit, it's leaking more. I can't get it tight, I tried the adjustable wrench and even cut a 1-3/16" wrench in half to make it fit through the suspension etc, but I can't get it tighter.

I never want to have to take that adapter off again, so I think I will get that ebay bolt and tighten it until it's leak-free. It currently leaks when I spin the oil pump with a drill, so that's a good way to test it.

 

[JDMopar]

If I remember right, it's supposed to torque to 50 ft. lbs......but how the heck would you get a torque wrench on it in the car?!?! I always black Permatex both sides of the big ring gasket and also a little smear on both sides of the big copper washer.

 

[65barracudaLA]

If I remember right, it's supposed to torque to 50 ft. lbs......but how the heck would you get a torque wrench on it in the car?!?! I always black Permatex both sides of the big ring gasket and also a little smear on both sides of the big copper washer.

I just ordered the ebay bolt. Since the torsion bar will have to come out I hope I can get a torque wrench on there from below on ramps?! We'll see...

 

[65barracudaLA]

I changed the metering rod to the 1456 (073 x 047), because it was running a bit rich (you could smell the fuel at the exhaust).

By now I have the FBO advance limiter plate, but right now with (I think) 12 degrees initial it doesn't ping and runs great! I don't really want to mess with it right, so I might do the FBO plate some other time.

The leak at the oil filter adapter seems to have mostly healed itself haha. You can still smell oil burning once in a while, but not a drop of oil has dripped to the ground.

I have all the parts to fix it, but it's not as urgent anymore. Currently I just enjoy daily driving the car again without having to work on it.

 

[66fyssh]

Good deal

...and with your small block, you now have a little (or a lot!) more getup and go to help you stay safer while daily driving!!

 

[65barracudaLA]

After working on the Barracuda pretty much non-stop I needed to do some other things with my free time and I've been enjoying just driving the car for a change. However, when you drive your car a lot, you notice the little things. The speedo had been pretty bouncy lately, so I lubed the cable and added a little spacer between the cable and the cluster housing. It's a replacement cable that you have to cut to length and apparently it's a little too long. The spacer takes the pressure off and prevents binding at the speedometer. I already got another cable, but I want to figure out the correct length before I cut it.

The other day I was watching an episode of Dead Doge Garage and his rear view mirror fell off. He mentioned that he needed to tighten the screw in the back. After owning this car for 15 years, I had no idea that there was a "screw" that holds the mirror to the base. It's actually a hex head, at least in my case, and I was finally able to tighten the mirror that never stayed in position. Now I know that I didn't even had to take the mirror off.

Anyways, the car runs great, there seems to be an issue with the transmission when you manually shift from D/ 3rd in to 2nd and I read somewhere that it's probably a band adjustment, but I'll look into that some other time.

 

[clifftt]

Hell, I never noticed that. My mirror has been sloppy for years. Will have to checkout. Thanks!