68 4-door "Sleeper"

-
Wow. This build has made me look at more door cars in a whole other respect. That is going to be one of the nicest four door cars around.
 
ateam said:
>Great pictures and progress. It looks like your steering link is on "top" of the steering arm ? I suspect this angle will generate "bump steer". I think it's supposed to match the angle of the lca. ? Good Luck, ateam.:)
Click to expand...

I know that the steering link is supposed to go on the bottom, but I ran into a problem with it hitting the rim. (picture below) If it causes some bad bump steer problems, I will have to get different rims. I really want to keep the "factory" look, though. Wheel Vintiques doesn't offer a 16 inch wheel.
SDC10733.JPG
 
Midnight Valiant said:
I see in your pic you have a wiring harness drapped over the 5.7 Hemi but you quote in your future expenses that a MOPAR harness is $4500. If you cant use this one on the engine cant you just get another junkyard harness and ECM? I would really hate to see you spend that kind of money on a harness when there maybe a few other options.

Great buiild though, I was toying around with a 5.7 Hemi daily driver as my next project. In a A-body of course!!
Click to expand...

My plans did change since I started. I acturally went with a FAST (www.fuelairspark.com) wiring harness. It's going to be a while before I am able to put it in, though. Too many other things precede it.
 
you need a deeper dish rim or a narrower rim.... something the puts the center closer to the inside...we had the same issue w/ the HemiDemon...started with 15x6.6 rims and went to a Stockton 15x5 to solve the problem.

Hope that helps
Denny
 
4door68 said:
I know that the steering link is supposed to go on the bottom........If it causes some bad bump steer
problems, I will have to get different rims........

SDC10733.JPG
Click to expand...

Look carefully at your photo. You see how the tie-rod, when mounted
correctly on the bottom of the arm, follows the angle of the lower control
arm? This is not by accident and is the way it must be to elimate bump-steer.
That's why their sleeve is exactly as long as they made it.

If you mount the outer tie-rods to the top of the arm you will have so
much bump steer that the car will be ennormously unsafe to drive.

I can not emphasize how huge this problem will be. You could easily
loose control in any situation where you get on and off the gas at
highway speeds or on a rolling road which excercises the suspension.

One drive is all it will take to park it until a solution is devised to
get wheels with the proper clearance.
 
hemicop said:
You DO realize if you plan to drag race this car, the brake lines along the firewall are illegal & probably won't pass tech?
Click to expand...

Really?!? That's where all stock A body brake lines run?!? The reason I ask is that I'm currently replacing my brake lines and planned on going back to the same clips along the firewall that held the factory line. Anyone else have any input on this??
 
Old Man Mopar said:
Look carefully at your photo. You see how the tie-rod, when mounted
correctly on the bottom of the arm, follows the angle of the lower control
arm? This is not by accident and is the way it must be to elimate bump-steer.
That's why their sleeve is exactly as long as they made it.

If you mount the outer tie-rods to the top of the arm you will have so
much bump steer that the car will be ennormously unsafe to drive.

I can not emphasize how huge this problem will be. You could easily
loose control in any situation where you get on and off the gas at
highway speeds or on a rolling road which excercises the suspension.

One drive is all it will take to park it until a solution is devised to
get wheels with the proper clearance.
Click to expand...


WOW! You seem very adamant about this. Is it from experience? I have never experienced any significant bump steer, so I think I will take your advice. I will buy some wheel spacers to get the necessary clearance. It wouldn't take much of a spacer to solve this problem.
 
we're still tryin' to get his fingernail marks out of the dash
 
"Old Man Mopar" convinced me to mount the tie rod ends on the bottom to prevent bump steer. But, I still had the clearance problem. What I did, was put washers on the bolts and mount the wheel. Each time, checking the clearance. Once the wheel cleared, I measured the thickness of the stack of washers and bought wheel spacers.
SDC10735.JPG


Everything worked fine on the right wheel. It cleared by just a fraction of a cunt hair.
SDC10734.JPG


This worked fine on the right side since it had no wheel-balance weights on it. Once I installed the wheel on the driver's side, I ran into a problem. The Wheel balance weight hit the tie rod bolt. I guess I will be getting thicker spacers to clear the wheel-balance weights.
SDC10736.JPG
 
or use stick on wheel weights. i prefer those over the clamp ons. less wheel damage, and they dont have a tendancy to come off at 80+
 
might have to invest in some quality wheel spacers like jegs or summit sells...I have always got wheel whobble w/ the cheap Autozone spacers...(jegs sells the cheapies too)...but the qualitiy ones are machined to closer specs and aren't so '''one size fits all"
 
Unfortunately, there is not too much progress to report. I dont' want to drop the engine in until I make sure that there are no leaks in the brake system. That means that I need to put in the "new" (to me) rearend in. However, I am having a difficult time removing the emergency/parking brake cable. I read somewhere to use a 1/2 inch wrench to "squeeze" the tongs. Once the tongs are squeezed, the cable should come right out. However, I tried the 1/2 inch, 12 mm, 13 mm, and 14 mm wrench. None of them could squeeze the tongs enough for me to remove the emergency brake cable.
SDC10738.jpg


I decided, instead, to remove the parking brake cables from the "equilizer" and then remove the emergency brake cables while the rearend is OUT of the car. Hopefully, it will be much easier. I will let you know, soon.

The other thing that I have been working on is the driver's side vent. I showed before, the rust damage. (Picture below).
SDC10679.JPG


Instead of trying to create a new sheet metal vent and trying to make it look perfect, my goal is to make it last until I am dead. So, I fabricated a new vent, and then, I put a bunch of epoxy on the "lip" to seal it in there. It can't be seen and I will be dead before it rusts through. So, I am OK with my "fix". Anyway, here is the "fix".
SDC10739.jpg


I hope to have more to report soon. Hopefully, my wife will find something to do on the weekends (like getting a job) so that I don't have to "entertain" her all weekend.
 
It's been a L-O-N-G time ago, but I seem to remember using a small hose clamp, tightened up around that cable stay to squeeze down to a size that would start through that hole....




4door68 said:
I am having a difficult time removing the emergency/parking brake cable. I read somewhere to use a 1/2 inch wrench to "squeeze" the tongs. Once the tongs are squeezed, the cable should come right out. However, I tried the 1/2 inch, 12 mm, 13 mm, and 14 mm wrench. None of them could squeeze the tongs enough for me to remove the emergency brake cable.
SDC10738.jpg


I decided, instead, to remove the parking brake cables from the "equilizer" and then remove the emergency brake cables while the rearend is OUT of the car. Hopefully, it will be much easier. I will let you know, soon.

The other thing that I have been working on is the driver's side vent. I showed before, the rust damage. (Picture below).
SDC10679.JPG


Instead of trying to create a new sheet metal vent and trying to make it look perfect, my goal is to make it last until I am dead. So, I fabricated a new vent, and then, I put a bunch of epoxy on the "lip" to seal it in there. It can't be seen and I will be dead before it rusts through. So, I am OK with my "fix". Anyway, here is the "fix".
SDC10739.jpg


I hope to have more to report soon. Hopefully, my wife will find something to do on the weekends (like getting a job) so that I don't have to "entertain" her all weekend.
Click to expand...
 
Bill Dedman said:
It's been a L-O-N-G time ago, but I seem to remember using a small hose clamp, tightened up around that cable stay to squeeze down to a size that would start through that hole....
Click to expand...

I tried the small hose clamp. It worked great. Thanks for the tip.
 
I discovered a few problems when installing the rear end.

First, the rear end that I bought did not have the "parking-brake-lever" that spreads the brake shoes. I have the one from the original rear end, but it is not long enough. (pic below). I have been searching for this part for a Chrysler 8-1/4 rear end, but I don't even know what the correct name of the part is. Everyone wants to sell me the entire rear end. Does anyone know what the correct name of this "brake-shoe-spreader-lever" is called? Or, where I can get them?
SDC10001.JPG


The other problem I am having is with the "U-Bolt-Plate." Again, I don't know the correct name for the part. The axel tubes on the 8-1/4 inch are wider that the ones on the original 7-1/4 rear end. I had no problems finding the correct U-Bolts on ebay. However, I am having problems finding the "U-Bolt-Plate/Shock Mount." (pic below) Does anyone know what this is called and where I can get them?
SDC10003.JPG
 
I got some shock mounts from Mancini racing, but I also have on a car long ago made the holes larger on the 7.25 shock mount plate to work with the larger ubolts. On the e-brake, call stephen's performance. They probably have it.

Ian
 
I just got a set of shock plates from mancini yesterday.
The holes are slotted so they fit 8.75 and 8.25, they are about $100.00 a pair.
 
sireland67 said:
I just got a set of shock plates from mancini yesterday.
The holes are slotted so they fit 8.75 and 8.25, they are about $100.00 a pair.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I just bought a pair. Now, for the "brake-shoe-separator-lever" :sad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top