67 cuda FB progress UPDATE

Metallic GunMetal Grey with Gloss black stripes or Flat black stripes?

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Ok, so I have some pictures uploaded on the leaf springs.
Thankfully, the bushings were much easier to get out and new ones put in than the upper and lower control arms and sway bars!!!! Keep in mind, I did the bushings with a vice and numerous sizes of sockets. No real bushing tools here! Guess I'm either cheep or stupid, probably both but I got the job done.
The old bushings on the leaf springs were extreamly worn out and nearly fell out upon removing the bolts. The steel sleaves however, were so rusted that they were almost one with the spring eyes.:violent1:

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For some reason, I cannot upload the pictures of the leafsprinfs separated. Hm? Files maybe to large?
Anyways, I shot a picture of the box of bushings that I am using. They are Energy Suspension and I have heard a lot of great reviews on their product so I hope they are what they say. I also have an after picture of one of the springs complete. I'm still working on the other one. I'll probably have that one completed tomorrow so I can just tuck them away on my HAM room floor with some of the other finished parts, awaiting their long awaited return to the car.

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I worked on the steering column this week as well as the floors.
I'm glad I did, as the barrings were shot and the one of the two hourglass knuckles that fit into the coupler had a hairline crack in it. When I was taking it apart, it broke in half. Woulden't you know it? There is a replacement kit available at the dealership! $19.00 later and I had what I needed! Couldn't bekieve it. Apparently Mopar used this same design up till 1990 on most of there cars and trucks. Anyways, I got it stripped down, I shaved the gear indicator window off the top and the linkage bump off the side of it with a cut off wheel, as the car used to be a column shift auto car and now is a floor Auto with reverse pattern Manual valve body. I filled the hole that was left behind with epoxy, smoothed it all out with sand paper. I metal etched the whole thing down after cleaning it with wax and greese remover then painted it up Black. The interior used to be blue origionaly but am going black and grey interior. I'm not real good at remembering to take pictures as I go, so there isn't a whole lot of detail in what I've just explained as far as pictures are concerned. I'm running out of things to do, so hopefully I can get the car in my brothers paint room to spray the underside with epoxy primer and raptor liner. Then the body work can begin. I Can hardly wait!!!! Unfortunatly, he is still working on his friends 51 chebby. He is doing an awesome jobe on it. It is about a $20,000 body work and paint job show car job. so, I'll have to be patient I suppose. Till next time.:burnout:

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Here are a few pictures of the coupler assembly rebuild kit that I mentioned about yesterday. Two are of the parts and the Genuine Mopar bag that it came in and it's part number. Also is a picture of the broken piece that everyone should look out for. I'm glad I went thru the column. It could have been devistating to loose steering control on the first drive after bringing this car back from the grave.

Also are a few more pictures of the finished column with the old steering wheel back on it. It will stay on it untill I get a replacement. The old one is blue but the new one will be black.:-D

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I'm still at it!!!
I figured a little progress is better than none at all while I'm waiting for space to move the car in the other room, so I can spray epoxy primer and begin body work.
Starting to feel like a broken record at this point!
So, while i'm waiting for that to happen, I have been cleaning up parts and repairing what is needing fixed. Such as my back up lights and my running/blinker lights that go in the grills.
Below are pictures of what I got done. I apologize for the picture quality. "Cell phone camera" You may notice the grills. I actually finished repairing those and polishing them last year, but only today was I able to attach the parking/ blinker lights too them.
Hope they are worthy enough to post on here....

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Well, I got some pretty crappy news today....
Looks like both, my engine and Transmission are both going to need to be completely rebuilt.
The guy I purchased the car from is an engine builder and he said he did a complete rebuild on the engine and trans. Aparently he never ran it. so much for being worth his salt....
Anyways, he did tell the truth, it was rebuilt but the unfortunate part is that it was over 10 years ago. They were reinstalled and the car was parked in the grass for the entire time , up untill the day I bought it. I figured I would replace all the gaskets, freeze plugs and change the valve springs and lifters since it sat for so long. basically do an over all freshening up on it. When I was breaking it down I found a LOT of rust, dirt, and even wasp nests in the cylindars. The trans isn't a whole lot better. I was to pissed to even think of taking pictures, so I will try to get some of the breakdown on here soon . I still haven't let my son know yet. He's going to be pretty upset, seeing as it's his project as well as mine. How am I going to break the bad news to him about how much more it's going to cost? Dam!!!!!!!! hell of a senior project. Guess he learns a bit more on finances as well L.O.L!
 
as promised, here are some pictures of the engine teardown.
Note the heavy rust in the drivers side cylinders and how fresh the passenger side looks. They are 10:1 flat top pistons. Lukily the crank looks good, just a small amount of surface rust on one portion. This crank is a 340 crank and is extreamly well ballanced.

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I don't know what to do..
Should I rebuild the numbers matching 273? Or purchase a 318 and build that as a replacement? I'm fuguring the cost to build the 273 up again will set me back close to $3,800 and to build a 318 is about the same. thing is, I can get more from a 318 at that cost. BUT the numbers matching 273 is my dilema. The 727 trans is also the origional for this car. Would I be better off in the long run with going with what came with the car from the factory? My son want's to put a 360 in. Figures!!
I would too if I was 16 again. Any suggestions or ideas are greatly apreciated. Thanks guys...
 
ariffle said:
I don't know what to do..
Should I rebuild the numbers matching 273? Or purchase a 318 and build that as a replacement? I'm fuguring the cost to build the 273 up again will set me back close to $3,800 and to build a 318 is about the same. thing is, I can get more from a 318 at that cost. BUT the numbers matching 273 is my dilema. The 727 trans is also the origional for this car. Would I be better off in the long run with going with what came with the car from the factory? My son want's to put a 360 in. Figures!!
I would too if I was 16 again. Any suggestions or ideas are greatly apreciated. Thanks guys...
Click to expand...

I would really be tempted to put in a 5.9 magnum in it. You can get them for a lot less than a rebuild and still have a lot of miles left in them.

You can always keep the numbers matching 273 just in case you sell.
Rod
 
rklein383 said:
I would really be tempted to put in a 5.9 magnum in it. You can get them for a lot less than a rebuild and still have a lot of miles left in them.

You can always keep the numbers matching 273 just in case you sell.
Rod
Click to expand...

True. I never thought of that angle. Thanks Rod!
I'll look into it and see what I can come up with.
Aaron.
 
while I consider my options on the engine, I decided to go ahead and try my luck with repairing my stearing wheel. I couldn't find one that I liked for the prices that people wanted for a good used one and new ones seemed to modern looking. I'll post some before pictures, during the cut out of all the cracks and holes, the filling of the holes etc. in a bit.
 
Looks like your doing some nice work. I don't know why some people can't be honest and just tell the truth. Knowing it sat for 10 years after the rebuild, most likely you would've bought the car anyway. I don't understand his reasoning. At any rate, good luck with your project.
 
this is the epoxy I used. It's translucent in color. I was going to use a product by POR15 that comes in clay form but I wanted the epoxy to be more of a liquide form so it would get down well into the cracks, all the way to the steel ring without cancerns of air pockets, also so it could flow into the holes I drilled for anchoring points.

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this is what it looks like after it has been filled in with the epoxy. WHAT A MESS!!!
After it dries (I'll give it two days to cure) I will file it down with some small files. Then I'll sand it with we/dry sand paper starting with 120 then progress my way down to 400 grit. I will also use a barrel type bit on my dremel tool to smooth out the rounded corners at the cross bars on the steering wheel. Wipe it down with wax and grease remover, prime, sand again with wet/dry 400, spray with sealer then paint. I haven't decided if I will clear coat or not yet. I'll post more pictures when I get to the filing and sanding portion of the process as this is as far as I have gotten today.
I forgot to mention that the upoxy won't stick to wax paper. so if you wanted to keep the epoxy on the less messy side, you would wrap the repaired areas with wax paper. I chose not to and paid for it with a mess. Also, be sure to wear some sort of sergical syle gloves and eye protection. SAFETY FIRST!

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DartOS said:
Looks like your doing some nice work. I don't know why some people can't be honest and just tell the truth. Knowing it sat for 10 years after the rebuild, most likely you would've bought the car anyway. I don't understand his reasoning. At any rate, good luck with your project.
Click to expand...

I agree. I can't understand it either. It is a real shame to see it in this condition. I looked into several different engines and my sone and I decided to go ahead and rebuild this 273. It seems like the right thing to do in keeping all the running gear numbers matching since we have them.
Thanks for reading and your input DartOS
 
I worked on the steering wheel more and today it looks pretty good.
It's not perfect, but it will make for a real nice origional steering wheel and it saves me a few hundred dollars to put into the engine.
Anyways, after I filed the epoxy down to a more reasonable dimention, I sanded it with 80 grit to knock the thicker material down. After the 80 grit I sanded it with 120 grit, then wet sanded it with 300 grit to get close to that origional grain texture.

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After the wet sanding, I taped it off so I didn't get the horn contact ring covered with primer and paint. I wiped it down with wax and grease remover and mixed up some primer sealer and gave it a good few coats after the initial tack coat.

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Yes, I know. I see the scratches too!
What can I say, i'm not perfect. It is after all 46 years old. I do think it will still look good and I highly doubt it will ever be noticed.
 
After the sealer was dry. About 30 minutes was all, I shot it in semi gloss acrylic Lacquer. First a tack coat, then five minutes later with a little heavier coat. Finaly the last coat was applied. I let it dry for about two hours then I couldn't resist in putting the horn ring and button on to see how it was going to look.
I think it turned out prettu good considering I was going to throw it out and purchase a decent one or a new after market one. Here are a few before and after shots of it for contrast. Let me know what you think please...
Thank you!
Aaron

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