18? Hm. I think I need to make a few measurements.
Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback
- Thread starter 1967 'cuda
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18? Hm. I think I need to make a few measurements.
LOL, we have one of my wife's grand kids that live with us, I am too old to raise another kid.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
A couple of Teresa's grandkids are pretty decent. But, there's something wrong with the other 2 million. I don't know about you but I think it's odd to see a kid chewing on the furniture.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
Teresa is a sound sleeper. As soon as she falls asleep them kids start rummaging through the cupboards, drawers, and closets. I don't know what they're looking for. I tend to wake easily and the sound of them running back and forth, opening and closing cabinets, or blaring the TV tends to put me on edge. I usually end up having Texas Chainsaw Massacre dreams.
- CRIPES! That must be what they're searching for, - my chainsaws.
- CRIPES! That must be what they're searching for, - my chainsaws.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I think I figured out a solution to our valve cover problem. The used ones we'd bought had 1&1/2" holes for the breathers and we couldn't seem to find grommets to fit our breathers. I'm going to make aluminum 'washers' with 1&1/4" holes and weld them inside. Most of the available breathers I've seen should be able to be used then.
A new Optima battery is ordered from JEGS and should be here Tuesday. While I was at it I ordered a piston stop. I know I could have fabbed one but with the way my luck has been going the end would have fallen off and I'd have had to pull the head to retrieve it. It'd be nice to have an adjustable one around for future projects anyway.
The car fired up for me today and idled nice. Throttle response seems great but I haven't put a load on the motor yet. The clutch still needs further adjustment and I'm almost out of rod to adjust. I'll probably extend it.
A new Optima battery is ordered from JEGS and should be here Tuesday. While I was at it I ordered a piston stop. I know I could have fabbed one but with the way my luck has been going the end would have fallen off and I'd have had to pull the head to retrieve it. It'd be nice to have an adjustable one around for future projects anyway.
The car fired up for me today and idled nice. Throttle response seems great but I haven't put a load on the motor yet. The clutch still needs further adjustment and I'm almost out of rod to adjust. I'll probably extend it.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I got up at 5:00 and left for a swap meet in Fremont, Nebraska today. We needed tires for the Sebring and I always keep an eye open for any other interesting stuff.
It took awhile to find tires. On my third pass through I found a pair in decent shape (60 - 70% wear left) for $30. While I'd been searching for the tires I did come across a few other trinkets.
One of the first things that caught my eye was a wall plaque from a Mopar show. There's a '65 Plymouth drag car depicted on the front and it seemed like a cool piece of memorabilia. The guy only wanted 2 bucks for it so I picked it up.
The next thing I came across was a parts washer for $15. I'd never gotten one before because I'm so limited for space in the garage but at that price I couldn't pass it up. It's not an expensive one but it's in pretty good shape.
I'd always wanted a 1/18th scale trailer to put behind my diecast 'Lil Red Express. I found one new in the box and the guy talked down far enough to make it a bargain.
Other than a few wrenches that's all I got. I may not have landed any really cool exotic stuff but I felt I got some good deals.
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View attachment IMG_6252.jpg
It took awhile to find tires. On my third pass through I found a pair in decent shape (60 - 70% wear left) for $30. While I'd been searching for the tires I did come across a few other trinkets.
One of the first things that caught my eye was a wall plaque from a Mopar show. There's a '65 Plymouth drag car depicted on the front and it seemed like a cool piece of memorabilia. The guy only wanted 2 bucks for it so I picked it up.
The next thing I came across was a parts washer for $15. I'd never gotten one before because I'm so limited for space in the garage but at that price I couldn't pass it up. It's not an expensive one but it's in pretty good shape.
I'd always wanted a 1/18th scale trailer to put behind my diecast 'Lil Red Express. I found one new in the box and the guy talked down far enough to make it a bargain.
Other than a few wrenches that's all I got. I may not have landed any really cool exotic stuff but I felt I got some good deals.
View attachment IMG_6248.jpg
View attachment IMG_6256.jpg
View attachment IMG_6251.jpg
View attachment IMG_6252.jpg
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1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
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1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
After I'd posted yesterday about ordering a new Optima battery from JEGS, famous bob sent me a private message. He asked what I paid and told me the batteries were available on eBay for $154.99 with free shipping. I'd paid $214.99.
I knew the order wasn't supposed to ship until Monday so I called JEGS back up to get a price match. They said they'd refund me the extra $60.
THANKS FAMOUS BOB!!!!!!!!!!
rayer:rayer:rayer:rayer:
I knew the order wasn't supposed to ship until Monday so I called JEGS back up to get a price match. They said they'd refund me the extra $60.
THANKS FAMOUS BOB!!!!!!!!!!
rayer:rayer:rayer:rayer:
$60 gas money.................
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I re-measured the valve covers we wanted to use to make sure I'd fabricate the parts correctly. I needed to make 2 aluminum washers and weld them beneath the existing 1&1/2 holes. The outside diameter would need to be 2" and they'd need a 1&1/4" center hole.
I ran to the local weld shop and had them chop me off 2 chunks of 1/8" X 2" aluminum flat stock 2" long. After taking them home I ground them into round pieces and drilled the center holes out. I'm not set up to weld aluminum so I took the parts and the valve covers back to the weld shop to have them welded. They were too busy today but I should get them back tomorrow.
I also ran to one of the parts stores to get a 3/8" X 24 coupling nut. I figured I'd use it to extend the clutch fork rod. I about crapped when they wanted almost 5 bucks for it.
I ran to the local weld shop and had them chop me off 2 chunks of 1/8" X 2" aluminum flat stock 2" long. After taking them home I ground them into round pieces and drilled the center holes out. I'm not set up to weld aluminum so I took the parts and the valve covers back to the weld shop to have them welded. They were too busy today but I should get them back tomorrow.
I also ran to one of the parts stores to get a 3/8" X 24 coupling nut. I figured I'd use it to extend the clutch fork rod. I about crapped when they wanted almost 5 bucks for it.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
As I was about to modify the clutch fork rod I noticed that the hole was pretty worn out. It was probably enlarged by 3/8" to 1/2". There wasn't a whole lot of 'meat' left on the one side. I stopped working with it and went online to get a replacement. I called several suppliers and was told the earliest I could hope to get one was October 10th. I went ahead and ordered one. If it turns out the replacement rod is holding up progress I'll try to do a temporary fix on the old one.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
Nothing from JEGS today and the weld shop didn't get the valve covers done.
The Sebring is acting up so I spent my time working on the truck so Teresa had transportation.
I suspect the Sebring's issue is with one of the half shafts up front. I'm so old school that I've got little confidence in my ability to diagnose what's making noise on newer cars. I realize that mechanical devices have somewhat universal behaviors but in this case I prefer to rely on a better trained eye to spot issues that I might miss. I hate working on any vehicle that's got it's driveline shoehorned in the engine bay anyway.
The Sebring is acting up so I spent my time working on the truck so Teresa had transportation.
I suspect the Sebring's issue is with one of the half shafts up front. I'm so old school that I've got little confidence in my ability to diagnose what's making noise on newer cars. I realize that mechanical devices have somewhat universal behaviors but in this case I prefer to rely on a better trained eye to spot issues that I might miss. I hate working on any vehicle that's got it's driveline shoehorned in the engine bay anyway.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
As soon as I clear one hurdle something else jumps up and bites me in the butt. Every time I make plans something screws them up.
The weld shop still didn't get around to the valve covers yet. It's just a 5 minute job. I guess I can't finish them today.
UPS did drop me off some packages from JEGS today. - The replacement Optima battery, the piston top stop tool, and a set of Max Wedge head gaskets.
With the top stop I checked the accuracy of our harmonic balancer TDC mark and it was right on the nose. Although it's good news, it also means that I haven't solved what's going on with the starting issue on the Roadrunner. I re-checked the rotor phasing and it was spot on.
We've been following the instructions to a T. This thing should have fired right off and only needed minor tweaking. - That's why I've been double checking everything. The motor was a fresh rebuild when we bought the car so things such as the condition of the harmonic balancer were unknown but assumed to be alright. I'm tempted to pull the engine apart and check to see if the cam is properly timed with the crank.
Because the motor sounded as though it had too much advance I decided to test my theory. To properly adjust the timing further retarded I'd have to re-do the rotor phasing. It's not a major job but rather than go through the entire process I thought I'd try doing a simple distributor rotation first. I dropped the timing about 10' and hit the ignition. Although it didn't pop right off, it did start much easier. Without re-phasing the rotor I'm not sure I could have gotten any better results. Tomorrow I'll re-phase the rotor positioned at 15' less advance than the FAST instructions recommend. They have you set their system up with the distributor set at a 30' advance. Their ECU controls the distributor's actual timing so I'm not sure exactly when it's giving the spark signal when cranking yet. We hadn't gotten far enough on things to have put a timing light on it.
The parameters are supposed to be fully adjustable with our laptop and we'd tried retarding the initial timing with it when my son was still here but it didn't seem to help. If I don't see any improvements in results I'll try bugging Mike (from MRL) for advice. He's set up a number of engines with FAST efi systems and said he's had perfect results so far.
View attachment IMG_6257.jpg
The weld shop still didn't get around to the valve covers yet. It's just a 5 minute job. I guess I can't finish them today.
UPS did drop me off some packages from JEGS today. - The replacement Optima battery, the piston top stop tool, and a set of Max Wedge head gaskets.
With the top stop I checked the accuracy of our harmonic balancer TDC mark and it was right on the nose. Although it's good news, it also means that I haven't solved what's going on with the starting issue on the Roadrunner. I re-checked the rotor phasing and it was spot on.
We've been following the instructions to a T. This thing should have fired right off and only needed minor tweaking. - That's why I've been double checking everything. The motor was a fresh rebuild when we bought the car so things such as the condition of the harmonic balancer were unknown but assumed to be alright. I'm tempted to pull the engine apart and check to see if the cam is properly timed with the crank.
Because the motor sounded as though it had too much advance I decided to test my theory. To properly adjust the timing further retarded I'd have to re-do the rotor phasing. It's not a major job but rather than go through the entire process I thought I'd try doing a simple distributor rotation first. I dropped the timing about 10' and hit the ignition. Although it didn't pop right off, it did start much easier. Without re-phasing the rotor I'm not sure I could have gotten any better results. Tomorrow I'll re-phase the rotor positioned at 15' less advance than the FAST instructions recommend. They have you set their system up with the distributor set at a 30' advance. Their ECU controls the distributor's actual timing so I'm not sure exactly when it's giving the spark signal when cranking yet. We hadn't gotten far enough on things to have put a timing light on it.
The parameters are supposed to be fully adjustable with our laptop and we'd tried retarding the initial timing with it when my son was still here but it didn't seem to help. If I don't see any improvements in results I'll try bugging Mike (from MRL) for advice. He's set up a number of engines with FAST efi systems and said he's had perfect results so far.
View attachment IMG_6257.jpg
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1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
We've been in contact with Mike from MRL about the 512 engine build. The 408 has been pretty much a success story and now my son wants Mike to do the machine work for his Charger. To obtain the amount of power Spencer has for a goal Mike said we'll need to go to a Max Wedge head design. We ordered the new intake gaskets to use as a template. I was pretty sure our blower intake already had the big ports but Mike wanted us to confirm it. The gaskets were a perfect match.
The old Optima battery from the Roadrunner was purchased more than 2 years ago. My son bought it and couldn't remember where he'd gotten it from. I called JEGS but they checked their records and it wasn't from them. I checked the OPTIMA website and got their number. My hope is that they'd be able to tell me someplace to exchange it. After 20 minutes of hitting buttons on the phone I gave up. I hate businesses that use automated voices that prompt you to go through series after series of button punching that seem to lead to nowhere. I suppose I'll try again tomorrow.
The old Optima battery from the Roadrunner was purchased more than 2 years ago. My son bought it and couldn't remember where he'd gotten it from. I called JEGS but they checked their records and it wasn't from them. I checked the OPTIMA website and got their number. My hope is that they'd be able to tell me someplace to exchange it. After 20 minutes of hitting buttons on the phone I gave up. I hate businesses that use automated voices that prompt you to go through series after series of button punching that seem to lead to nowhere. I suppose I'll try again tomorrow.
famous bob
mopar misfit
yea, and 98% of them can`t speak english good enough to understand !
Or don't know diddley squat about basic automotive, much less actual hot rod funk.
SNKEBIT
Spending $$ on Mopars
^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Some of the best parts guys are former mechanics or do their own wrenching. A really good parts guy is hard to find.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I must have been born with a KICK ME sign on my back. It seems that wherever I am there's at least one nasty douche-bag that tends to single me out. I still manage to get along great with most folks so I don't think I'm doing anything to stir up trouble. Awhile back I said I needed to work on my own 'evil side'. There's got to be a way to make myself seem to be the type of person no-one wants to screw with.
I had a knock on my door yesterday a little after 7 p.m. Local law enforcement paid me a visit in response to a noise complaint. I'd been trying to tune the Roadrunner around 6:30. The car idles at around 950 RPM and I never revved it past 2000 RPM. The car has full exhaust and it's not very loud.
I'm fairly certain any complaint made would have been from the neighbor west of us. The guy and his wife are 40-ish and total a-holes. They throw parties frequently that ARE loud and last well into the middle of the night. The day afterwards I usually have to pick up cans and bottles that they throw onto our property. Their teenage kids and their friends sometimes come onto our property in the middle of the night when they're having their parties. Sometimes when I've turned on the lights to check on things I've been greeted by a few of them shouting 'F You'. The husband works as a 'groundskeeper' for the courthouse. - That means he mows the lawn there. He is buddies with most of the local police because he hangs around them with his job.
There's an alley between our properties and we have a hedge between us on our side. I never start or run any of our vehicles past dark. - Usually not past 7 p.m. They constantly block the alley so we cannot access any of the cars we've got on our lot behind our house. On the few occasions I've asked them to move their cars so we could get through they flipped me off and refused.
Their other next door neighbor (south of them) has had similar problems with them. He told me his basement had flooded after the cans they'd thrown on his roof clogged his gutters. To most people in the town they probably seem like pillars of the community.
I had a knock on my door yesterday a little after 7 p.m. Local law enforcement paid me a visit in response to a noise complaint. I'd been trying to tune the Roadrunner around 6:30. The car idles at around 950 RPM and I never revved it past 2000 RPM. The car has full exhaust and it's not very loud.
I'm fairly certain any complaint made would have been from the neighbor west of us. The guy and his wife are 40-ish and total a-holes. They throw parties frequently that ARE loud and last well into the middle of the night. The day afterwards I usually have to pick up cans and bottles that they throw onto our property. Their teenage kids and their friends sometimes come onto our property in the middle of the night when they're having their parties. Sometimes when I've turned on the lights to check on things I've been greeted by a few of them shouting 'F You'. The husband works as a 'groundskeeper' for the courthouse. - That means he mows the lawn there. He is buddies with most of the local police because he hangs around them with his job.
There's an alley between our properties and we have a hedge between us on our side. I never start or run any of our vehicles past dark. - Usually not past 7 p.m. They constantly block the alley so we cannot access any of the cars we've got on our lot behind our house. On the few occasions I've asked them to move their cars so we could get through they flipped me off and refused.
Their other next door neighbor (south of them) has had similar problems with them. He told me his basement had flooded after the cans they'd thrown on his roof clogged his gutters. To most people in the town they probably seem like pillars of the community.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
I spent most of today working on the Sebring. After seeking out the opinion of a much more experienced mechanic we came to the conclusion that the problem was most likely with the right front wheel bearing. There was no noticeable drag or play in it but he thought it was just starting to go bad.
I normally try to avoid working on anything newer than mid-seventies vehicles so I usually don't have all the tools I'd need for the newer cars. My selection of metric wrenches is pretty slim. I had to run to the parts store for an E-14 external star socket that I needed to remove the bearing housing bolts. No big deal but why in the heck do they feel a need to create new fasteners that require new tools?
I think that the incredible Hulk must have been working the assembly line when they attached the big outer bearing nuts. I used a 6' long cheater bar on my 1/2" breaker bar. I didn't manage to get it loose but I did manage to break my breaker bar. I was pretty sure I'd have to resort to heating it with a torch but I called my mechanic buddy up and he suggested I hit it with a product called PB Blaster. I'd already been soaking it down with WD-40. I took his advice and it did work. It was still one hell of a pull but it finally broke free.
The weld shop finally got around to the valve covers. They aren't on the car yet because I decided to buff them again before putting them on. I don't know what you guys are using to keep aluminum from tarnishing but I should coat these things. I'd polished them a year ago and they were already losing luster.
In this picture you can see the top view of the washers welded in place to reduce the hole size.
They didn't make the prettiest welds but it should work. I wish they hadn't melted my baffle stanchions. I'll still need to fabricate those too.
I'm glad we got these to work. I really wanted to reserve those Mickey Thompsons for the Charger motor.
View attachment IMG_6264.jpg
View attachment IMG_6265.jpg
View attachment IMG_6260.jpg
I normally try to avoid working on anything newer than mid-seventies vehicles so I usually don't have all the tools I'd need for the newer cars. My selection of metric wrenches is pretty slim. I had to run to the parts store for an E-14 external star socket that I needed to remove the bearing housing bolts. No big deal but why in the heck do they feel a need to create new fasteners that require new tools?
I think that the incredible Hulk must have been working the assembly line when they attached the big outer bearing nuts. I used a 6' long cheater bar on my 1/2" breaker bar. I didn't manage to get it loose but I did manage to break my breaker bar. I was pretty sure I'd have to resort to heating it with a torch but I called my mechanic buddy up and he suggested I hit it with a product called PB Blaster. I'd already been soaking it down with WD-40. I took his advice and it did work. It was still one hell of a pull but it finally broke free.
The weld shop finally got around to the valve covers. They aren't on the car yet because I decided to buff them again before putting them on. I don't know what you guys are using to keep aluminum from tarnishing but I should coat these things. I'd polished them a year ago and they were already losing luster.
In this picture you can see the top view of the washers welded in place to reduce the hole size.
They didn't make the prettiest welds but it should work. I wish they hadn't melted my baffle stanchions. I'll still need to fabricate those too.
I'm glad we got these to work. I really wanted to reserve those Mickey Thompsons for the Charger motor.
View attachment IMG_6264.jpg
View attachment IMG_6265.jpg
View attachment IMG_6260.jpg
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Those neighbours sound like real charming people. I never could understand why some people need to be a-holes.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
It never makes any sense to me. You'd think they'd stay focused doing things they enjoy and let others alone.
Understanding why people spend time bullying someone else is difficult for me. I may not agree with or like everyone else but I have no desire to make others miserable.
If I had to guess I'd say there's a lot of sociopaths among us that are incapable of feeling empathy for others and fail to respect the rights of someone else. In this case these people aren't trying to stir up trouble with every neighbor. They seem to maintain on good terms with those that are relatively wealthy and those that have a higher status in the community. It keeps them from jeopardizing their own image amongst those they consider to be their peers.
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famous bob
mopar misfit
hey 67, isn`t the dist. supposed to be set at 20, instead of 30 , on the fast 2.0 ? :coffee2:
Buy some aero kroil, my local napa sells it.
It is a way better penetration fluid than pb blaster.
http://www.kanolabs.com/msn/
It is a way better penetration fluid than pb blaster.
http://www.kanolabs.com/msn/
Are you saying you think they feel superior to you and therefore don't need to show you any courtesy? That doesn't exactly help their standing in my book.
1967 'cuda
Dropped on Head as a Baby
The initial setup instructions they sent us say 30'. I am planning on trying to set the distributor phasing at 20' next to see if it takes care of the starting issue. All the behaviors I'm seeing so far point towards too much initial advance, - that's why I started playing with less by rotating the distributor but I haven't phased the distributor at that setting yet.
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