67/68/69 cuda dilemma

[JAmes Dodge]

Hey Moparmat, cool projects you have there. It's nice to see your Son helping!
Now I know where the vinyl top trims I bought came from
Let's keep in touch.

 

[moparmat2000]

Sure, no problem, lets do. I would love to see a resto thread on your dart. Started cutting and grinding brackets off the explorer axle yesterday. Will get pix up soon.

 

[moparmat2000]

So i am working on a mod kit of sorts for this car. Its a 2 speed wiper setup with a manual foot pump washer. Pump is shot, a NOS one is insanely expensive, used ones are about as bad as what i have, nobody makes repops.

So awhile back i bought M&H wiring harnesses from yearone, and the wire for an electric washer is serviced in the dash harness which i would have expected because the OEM dash harness has that wire. but the electric pump washer wire is also serviced in the engine side harness as well. The OEM engine harness normally doesnt have this wire. Its added in on the assembly line if the car got the upgraded Vspeed and electric washer.

Anyhow being the foot pump is shot, it got me thinking. Most of the wiring is serviced in new harnesses, and the pump wire going to the 2 speed wiper switch is unused, i will make an electric pump setup. I cannot mod the 2 speed switch to operate a pump motor, but i can mod the foot pump bracket, and unpin the pump wire from the plug going into the wiper switch, using packard 56 terminals and single wire insulating plugs to make it appear stock, i will extend with a brown #12 ga wire and run this wire down to a water resistant normally open momentary contact switch built into the foot pump bracket, then run the wire back up and with another packard 56 spade tie it into the fusebox.

I removed the fragged foot pump, and removed the cup, then cut out a 2" hole in the main bracket, flipped the cup upside down and tack welded it in 4 places on the back side. This gets the height up for a switch, and gives enough room for wires having to come out of the back side of the switch so the switch has enough room that the wires can bend and not hit the floor and short out. So far its sandblasted and in primer. Will eventually get painted gloss black.

I am still researching my options for a water resistant switch or a switch that i can fit a rubber boot over that will fill the existing hole. The rest such as the wiring will be pretty easy. See pix below for a switch i found. Would be nice to find one with a black button.

 

[moparmat2000]

Also started cutting off the brackets that are on the xploder rear. Slow going to remove without digging into the tubes, then more slow going grinding down the leftover weld to make the tubes smooth again without digging into the tubes. Took two brackets off the other day, got everything smooth and then hit em w a little rattlecan primer. I got 4 more to go, then i can shorten the long side.

 

[moparmat2000]

Got this in the mail today. Not bad all Koyo bearings rebuild kit ford truck and exploder 8.8 rear diff. Includes axle bearings and seals. Evilbay was doing another 15% off one day sale got this kit for $65 shipped.

 

[moparmat2000]

Also got a clutch kit for the traction lock diff with a bottle of friction modifier, yukon gear clutches, new cross pin bolt for $56 shipped and a yukon gear crush sleeve eliminator kit for $46 shipped on the same 15% sale.

 

[moparmat2000]

Working on cutting the rear swaybar brackets off today. All these brackets are a ***** to cut off. So i have been doing 2 at a time then calling it quits for the day. Doesnt help that its 100° out there today. Progress is slow but getting there.

 

[moparmat2000]

Finally got left side done. Right side only one perch left to cut off. Shot can of cheap primer just to protect from flash rust. Plus i have a nice surface to measure and mark on for my lay line and cuts. I plan on having the weld for the shortened tube under the new drivers side perch with it straddling it.

 

[moparmat2000]

Sandblasted the bumper equalizer brackets, and 8.8 U bolts & nuts. Used some leftover epoxy primer that was headed for the waste drum to cover em up. Will eventually topcoat the brackets w rustoleum gloss black, and use cast iron grey on the U bolts.

 

[moparmat2000]

Got a bunch more done. U bolts painted. And custom brake cables made. Mopar in the front, ford xploder disc brake setup in the back. If interested in a set of these cables. PM me and i will get you part numbers and where to get them. Or just visit the 8.8 buildup thread in the drivetrain section. Its in there around page 25 or so.

 

[moparmat2000]

Didnt want the ford VSS left in the 3rd member since it wont be connected to anything. So I turned it into a blanking plate with some help from JB weld lol. I was going to pipe tap the hole and put in a hex key plug however this leaves the hole unmodified in case an electronic speedometer gets put in later on in the future, another VSS can be easily installed.

 

[moparmat2000]

Also got thrown a bone the other day. I needed some 3" C channel so i can make a jig to cut this axle tube down. Steel places around here want minimum sale of 10 foot. Well i dont need that much of it, or have a use for it for anything else. A buddy of mine mentioned a local metals recycling place. I went down there, and right in a metal scrap bin at the door opening to the place was a couple 3 foot long cut offs. I told the guy running the place i only needed 30" of it and actually 2 pieces at 15" long for an axle jig. He measured and cut me 2 pieces out of it 15" long, told me scrap steel was .45 cents a pound. So he weighed it, and said oh heck just take it. Bring it back when you wear it out lol. I thanked him for his generosity and left with my new treasure. Its even pre painted. Bottom pic is a still shot from a post in the 8.8 thread on narrowing the long tube. This is what i needed the steel C channel for.

 

[moparmat2000]

Also been working on the seatbelt anchor points for the 3 point shoulder belts that will go into my 67 and my sons 69. The 69 will need these lower attach points too even though it already has an upper anchor point. Pix shown are from my 67, but the attach points and anchors will be the same for both cars.

Belts are from wesco performance in Kalifornia. $212 shipped for 2 front shoulder belts and 2 rear lap belts. They have an 8" upper sash so the belt doesnt cut into your neck. The retractors still lock even on the slight angle they are at. When i got them, the tag sewn into the belts said they were made by Seatbelt Solutions in Jupiter Florida, however their catalog doesnt show an 8" upper sash for the shoulderbelt. I will likely buy a duplicate set of these from wesco performance to keep both cars the same.

Anyhow on the 69 as on the 67 there still needs to be an anchor point on the floor forward of the retractor for the belt. You can see why in pic #6.

I whittled out 2 sets of floor anchors for both cars out of 3/16" thick 2&1/2 square tubing, and made under floor reinforcements out of 1/8" plate. The reinforcements fit inside the rear reinforcement channel for the front seats. Its like this location was made just for this.

 

[moparmat2000]

Cut off the stupid looking "ears" on either side of the sensor location on the rear axle housing, and reshaped the metal. They were probably fine when it was under an xploder. Probably there to protect the sensor if the truck was taken offroad. No longer needed. I wire wheeled the general area around where i cut with an aggressive wire wheel on my angle grinder, and shot it with a little rustoleum primer. I will likely leave the strengthening rib on the left side, but file it down a bit more to where it tapers in better. I will probably will remove the nub thats remaining on the lower left side. Looks much better so far IMHO

 

[moparmat2000]

I whittled a little more off the VSS mount pad to make it appear a bit better. I think i'm done with that now. Wire wheeled the **** out of the top half of the 3rd member and primered it.

Got to get this 8.8 apart to do the axle shortening thing. First things first though, its got 1/4" of dried crust on the bottom probably very slow leaking from the diff cover. I employed some paper, an oil catch pan, and some easy off heavy duty oven cleaner. I let it soak about 30 mins before starting to scrape the crust off. Rinsed it all with a squirt bottle and warm water. Want everything clean before i pull the cover. Dont want **** falling inside.

Will go medieval on the bottom of the 3rd member with the wire wheel and then shot can it with rustoleum before i pull it apart.

Stay tuned, i am going to figure out a pinion snubber for this thing too.

 

[DartOS]

Hey Matt, I've still got a few A Body(67-69)parts. I'll donate most to the cause.
I do have a V8 k-frame w/lca's. I've pretty well liquidated my A-Body inventory since I last talked to you. I still have my Dart and just finished my 65' Belvedere. Give me a call sometime.

 

[moparmat2000]

Cool thanks so much !!!!
I will be in touch. Maybe this weekend i can travel out and visit if your not too busy. I found a 67 slant K frame, and its under the car now to make it a roller, but would have to weld on a V8 pass side mount on it, and convert the idler arm mount to 68 up. What year is the K you have?

 

[moparmat2000]

Looks good on the inside so far

 

[moparmat2000]

Latest and greatest. Apparently this axle was from either a coastal vehicle (gulf coast) , the rust belt, or run through lots of high water in its lifetime. When i pulled the axles out, i had to use a plastic headed hammer to bang off and remove the brake backing plates. The flanges were so loaded with rust. I hate rust. One of the reasons i moved from the rustbelt was to get away from that bullshit. Anyways, i ended up wire wheeling the **** out of them to knock the heavy scale off, then spent almost an entire day with 3" diameter 36 grit rolocs on my air angle grinder to blend down the remaining steel to remove all the rust pitting down to clean unpitted metal, then sanded that with 80 grit on a DA to smooth it. Finally shooting it with 3 coats of a fluid resistant epoxy primer out of a preval sprayer. This should eliminate this problem permanently.

 

[moparmat2000]

As such the "big cut" to shorten the long side i planned on doing sunday didnt happen. Heres a preview though. Some machinests dye, a lay line. And at 20" long from casting to outer flange on the long tube, i marked it at 10" dead center marked M for middle. I will shorten it at 1&1/2" on one side of the center line and 1&3/8 on the othe side of the center line. Those are marked C.for cut.This gives me 2&7/8" the exact number i need to shorten it making it a match with the passenger side. I figure dead center on the tube is probably the strongest part of it to splice the tube back together. Today i have to run my argon tank back to Praxair to drop it off to be refilled.

 

[moparmat2000]

Axle rough cut down, got welding gas bottle filled. Need to finish filing it to fit, clean out the tubes and chamfer the ends, then its time to weld it up.

 

[moparmat2000]

Need to make a mount for a pinion snubber. An A body 7.25 snubber might just work. If my idea fails theres always some vintage lakewoods i can use.

 

[moparmat2000]

Well shes all one piece again.

 

[gdrill]

Nice work Matt. It is good to see people take these things on themselves. So many don't have the tools or place, and that is a reasonable excuse to outsource. This is what hot rodding is all about. You are doing a great job.

 

[moparmat2000]

Nice work Matt. It is good to see people take these things on themselves. So many don't have the tools or place, and that is a reasonable excuse to outsource. This is what hot rodding is all about. You are doing a great job.

I do this because i love doing this stuff, and its definitely the cheaper way out to do it myself. I loved the fact that i was able to repurpose an xploder 8.8 to use on a mopar. Its a good strong piece at a dirt cheap price. Had i not done an 8.75 for my 67 i would have gone xploder 8.8 on that car too.