69 Notch Barracuda - Rebirth

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  • Pushrods (Trick Flow Chromoly 8.500")
  • Rockers (stamped stock)
  • Valley pan
  • Intake manifold (Performer RPM)
Soaked the lifters, dabbed assembly lube all over the touch points of the lifters, pushrods, and rockers.

Valley pan and intake mount holes, as well as the tops of the ports (pencil lines across the tops of the intake runners and heads to look for a match), lined up perfectly. Chased the carb mount hole threads in the intake before final install. Cleaned all metal surfaces with mineral spirits. Also made my own valley pan rail hold-downs with 3/4" X 1/8" Aluminum stock from Menards.

Copper coated the valley pan, top and bottom (where it meets the metal).

Put a small bead of high temp Red RTV along the front and back rails, with an extra dab on each corner.

All went excellent, except for the fact that I forgot to use the lesser torque values for the valley pan bolts (front and back), and the intake bolts. I've been doing great remembering to check the appropriate, lesser-value torque figure up until this point. My bolt kit is stainless from Alloy Boltz Inc., and they require less torque than stock bolts. I always use the Aluminum antisieze, however. Hopefully the small amount of over-torque won't be a big deal. I just made a note of it. I didn't feel like it was worth starting all over and possibly needin a new valley pan.

Also... dry fitted the water pump on at the end of the day. The harmonic balancer seems to rub the Chrysler water pump. Is it pretty common to have to grind some material off of the water pump for HB clearance?

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I realize now that I probably should have circled the entire bolt hole on the end rails under the valley pan, but I was trying to minimize the amount of RTV that could make its way inside the block. I'll do some cleaning and seal the bolt heads from the top to try and stop any oil seepage that may come up through the bolt hole. It's possible that enough of the RTV squished around the opening, but damn, this is one of those little details that will nag at me for a while.
 
Great build man. I with you on function over ridiculous shiny cars. I like your style.
 
JAndrea said:
I realize now that I probably should have circled the entire bolt hole on the end rails under the valley pan, but I was trying to minimize the amount of RTV that could make its way inside the block. I'll do some cleaning and seal the bolt heads from the top to try and stop any oil seepage that may come up through the bolt hole. It's possible that enough of the RTV squished around the opening, but damn, this is one of those little details that will nag at me for a while.
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Those holes are blind, you should not have any problem.
 
Decided to paint the valve covers hemi orange. Bought these a while back from a great guy (Mpls Craigslist) near my home for $25. One of those great experiences when you walk up a driveway to make a purchase, not knowing what to expect... but then you meet another mopar connection with a car in the garage that he/she is dying to show off and chat a little.

Scraped out the old gaskets, scrubbed them with degreaser and a pile of paper towels... the purple power cleaner... then the pressure washer to make sure to get all the grit out from under the second layer of metal inside.

Then I stripped all the loose paint with my wire wheel and rattle canned some self etching primer, a handful of orange coats, and a few clear enamel coats (duplicolor)

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Caps on.. a little gasket sealer visible, but was cleaned. Yes the water pump housing is a different color, but I bought it at the Mopars in the Park (Mn) swap this summer and the paint was in good shape. I'll probably tape and paint the water pump itself... or maybe not. I'm not worried about it.

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Tear Down-
Beginning the rebuild of the AED (Holley) 4150 HO HP 750 DP carb. Probably didn't need it done, but since it was purchased used, and I'm doing a 'nut and bolt' restoration... why not?

Take lots of photos and collect all parts in bins marked as Primary and Secondary. Also take notes of what # jets you have on each side, etc.

Also, take a few minutes, if needed, to file down a flat screw driver to a sharp edge to drive into the tight seam between the mertering blocks. Mine were super tight and wouldn't budge. The screw driver I first used was too blunt So I ended up slightly damaging a small part of the body (float bowl lip)

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Mounted the carb and went with an AED 4150 Morse cable bracket (wish I'd have picked blue now, but whatever).

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Started breaking down and inventorying the replacement parts for the brake system. I'll be running all new lines, fittings, master cylinder, new rubber lines, etc. what a beast of a job to unbolt the MC plunger from the brake lever. Very little room to fit wrenches up underneath the steering column!

Anybody know if the wire that wraps the tight bends is necessary?

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Are you considering bending replacement brake lines? Asking as I saw your question concerning the wire armor on the bends,, before you bend your own, check out replacement brake line sets from Inline tube,, I put their replacement brake lines on two vehicles,, they fit great. Inline also has the distribution block.
 
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my68barracuda said:
Are you considering bending replacement brake lines? Asking as I saw your question concerning the wire armor on the bends,, before you bend your own, check out replacement brake line sets from Inline tube,, I put their replacement brake lines on two vehicles,, they fit great. Inline also has the distribution block.
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Excellent! Yes... I was planning on bending my own. I totally forgot to go and look for the pre-bent lines... I had seen them months ago online. Thanks!
 
68HAVOK said:
Hows things coming along?
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Hey!
Well... back in November, after spending a full day, or more, cleaning the parts for one caliper... then totaling up the replacement parts like pistons, brake hoses, shoes, etc... I've been waffling back and forth about buying modern calipers, or replacing the old parts. I have no idea if they even sell a more modern replacement caliper that bolts up to stock.

Since i have so much room in the bay, I was hoping to get the brake system in order before getting the rest of the engine put together.

Not much is happening... I'm also contemplating a natural gas garage heater. It's been super cold in MN, and I'm worried about the moisture in the garage when I burn my old propane heater. Pretty sure I saw condensation under the plastic wrap (loosely bagged) of my motor after just a couple of hours of using the heater while I worked on the caliper. Kinda freaked me out a little.
 
Starting back in on the car, now that I can spend some time in the garage without getting intensely angered by the cold ;)

I’m always getting distracted by shiny things, flirting with the idea of spending the $ I’ve saved on grand parts schemes like a complete suspension and brake upgrade.... then, luckily, I always fall back to my main strategy of getting the car on the road in the short term.

So, I’m starting in on the brakes, trying to restore all of the things I can inside of the engine compartment before the engine goes in.

I’ve cleaned up the front calipers, ordered replacement pistons, seals, pads, and misc parts.

I’ve got a good start on building my own brake lines. Though it’s a great feeling to know exactly how all of this is done, and to know that I did it myself, I’m not getting any younger, and this process takes a lot of time. So if I were to do this again, I would probably buy a complete kit from inlinetube, or the like (I may still... I haven’t spent all that much yet). What I’ve learned from this process is that you spend nearly as much as the entire kit costs. Luckily my nephew, who’s been a train mechanic, and Now works on big rigs, had a hydraulic Matco line flaring tool that I could borrow. The $18 flaring tool that I bought was absolute junk.
 
I had to use an air hammer to get he pistons out. The inner walls look very smooth, so I decided to stick with the originals for Now.

Also... all of my old brake lines are pretty pristine. I only changed them for peace of mind. I’m assuming there is no resale value in fifty year old brake lines?
 
EVERY darn time I've rebuilt calipers they leaked....I gave up and just buy new ones....LOL
Looking good!

Jeff
 
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