James’ 1974 W200 build

[mopardude318]

got the cam broke in today. frickin thing just started right the hell up.

i didnt hook up the PCV, i think pressure built up and blew the rear main seal, and also the front right corner of the intake manifold, it was leaking down the block from there. ****. i remember reading about that happening.....is that for real though? does that happen?
i hooked it up and the leak was much less, now it only seeps. i think the damage is done, gotta change that out.

heres a short clip at a little high idle, little pop here and there, ill fix that. i think the cam is too mild. i dont like it. lol

 

[j par]

got the cam broke in today. frickin thing just started right the hell up.

i didnt hook up the PCV, i think pressure built up and blew the rear main seal, and also the front right corner of the intake manifold, it was leaking down the block from there. ****. i remember reading about that happening.....is that for real though? does that happen?
i hooked it up and the leak was much less, now it only seeps. i think the damage is done, gotta change that out.

heres a short clip at a little high idle, little pop here and there, ill fix that. i think the cam is too mild. i dont like it. lol

I use "the right stuff" black on everything... Triple extra on n intake manifold corner's...

 

[mopardude318]

I use "the right stuff" black on everything... Triple extra on n intake manifold corner's...

**** man, that's what I used! I don't know if I used triple extra on the corners though....do you think excessive crankcase pressure was the culprit? seemed to not leak as much when I hooked that PCV up.

 

[j par]

**** man, that's what I used! I don't know if I used triple extra on the corners though....do you think excessive crankcase pressure was the culprit? seemed to not leak as much when I hooked that PCV up.

Were the valve covers plugged? I know mine seem to have less blow by problems after it broke in... But that took a considerable amount of time...

 

[mopardude318]

Were the valve covers plugged? I know mine seem to have less blow by problems after it broke in... But that took a considerable amount of time...

I had a twist in breather on the other side....i dont know, maybe just bad luck.

heres a video of the leak.............LOL............

 

[j par]

The rear main would be my bigger concern.. more of a pain to get to..

 

[j par]

You will need to find a Chevy Dana 44 or 10 bolt. They are the same. I think ‘73-‘87 are the years. Must be a 3/4 ton 8 lug truck. I found a complete axle for 80 bucks. K-that is unusually cheap. The rotors and pads I got at Summit, 110 to my door for those. I spent 250 at RockAuto for inner/outer wheel bearings, wheel seals, axle u-joints, and upper/lower ball joints. I had to buy 16 new wheel studs because the ones that came off the donor axle were too rusty. $50 at Orielly Auto Parts. The calipers were reman units I got at CarQuest, those were $50. I also had to buy new warn hubs, the ones off my donor axle were missing. I opted for Warn Premiums, at Summit those are $127. Roughly $670 total all parts including the donor axle.

You probably don’t have to go to the extreme like I did, most likely your wheel studs would be okay, the old rotors could be turned, mine were shot. You don’t need warn premiums, you could save $50 by going with the mile markers. So there is a couple hundred savings right there.

from the Chevy axle you will need everything from the stub shafts out. Use the existing dodge knuckles, the Chevy knuckles have a bigger hole for the tie rod ends which doesn’t work with the dodge’s steering link.

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Do you remember what size those studs were? Mine are fine I just need to get lug nuts for them. There are larger than my half by twenties that are currently on the truck. I'll have to order half by twenties for the back and they look like 9/16 but I don't know the thread pitch?...

 

[mopardude318]

Do you remember what size those studs were? Mine are fine I just need to get lug nuts for them. There are larger than my half by twenties that are currently on the truck. I'll have to order half by twenties for the back and they look like 9/16 but I don't know the thread pitch?...

they are 9/16-18.

 

[mopardude318]

Got the intermediate shaft made. Expensive little bastard, it cost the same as the rear. LOL. Shop said the smaller parts are more scarce. I could actually drive it if I wanted. Leaks and all. Lol. Gotta make a rear brake line, and add fluid, bleed ‘em. Tighten up all the suspension. Gotta do a backyard alignment somehow. Still quite a few small things before the maiden voyage. Maybe in a week or so.

 

[j par]

Did you do the twin stick mod when you did the transfer case?..

 

[RustyRatRod]

Dammit. That's almost like the rear main's installed backerds it's leakin so bad. Yall will ultimately be happy with too "small" a cam in a truck, I do believe. It sounds good.

 

[mopardude318]

Dammit. That's almost like the rear main's installed backerds it's leakin so bad. Yall will ultimately be happy with too "small" a cam in a truck, I do believe. It sounds good.

Thank you Rusty. I have a new rear main seal I will install, and I’ll do the intake manifold gasket too, it leaks a tiny bit. The rear main is not that bad anymore, I need to clean the mess up and see what it’s doing. It kinda stopped after I hooked up the PCV.

I’ll leave the cam for now. Ultimately I REALLY want solid flat tappet cam. I have a real nice set of 273 rocker arms I had RAU do the works treatment to. So if I can later use a similar cam, only solid.

 

[mopardude318]

Well since I moved the steering box, and used a more modern pump, I had to make custom lines. So I had to adapt from the metric O-ring to 37 deg AN flare.

 

[mopardude318]

Did you do the twin stick mod when you did the transfer case?..

No, I was looking at doing it, but at the moment I don’t really have a need for it.

 

[j par]

No, I was looking at doing it, but at the moment I don’t really have a need for it.

I can't think of a need for it except for I need to have gadgets LOL.

 

[mopardude318]

I can't think of a need for it except for I need to have gadgets LOL.

Yea my brother has a doubler on his 1 ton square body, so he’s actually got a triple stick. I’m not even about to mess with that.

 

[j par]

Yea my brother has a doubler on his 1 ton square body, so he’s actually got a triple stick. I’m not even about to mess with that.

It's actually pretty easy but even easier if you take care of it when you're rebuilding it. It's mostly in the rod for the front wheel drive. It needs to be ground down or modified or just buy one done which I plan to do it's about 100 bucks. And I'm going to use a pleasure locally called JB fabrication and they have a cable driven twin stick which to me eliminates the possibility of the frame twisting on the body and kicking it out of gear. It's about 250 for the sticks with the cable and I'm just a little over a hundred bucks for the modified front wheel drive rod that goes through the transfer case...

 

[mopardude318]

well today I pulled it out of its spot for the first time in months. I went down the mile long driveway and came back...there's quite a few things I have to address...

-the throttle is like a light switch, its on or off...You can't even ease into it...??? I definitely, absolutely need to get that fixed. I don't know what it could be. I have the dang thing hooked up just like any other mopar...

-those mud grapplers are all over the damn place, truck wanders pretty bad, I've read they're like a tractor tire, they do that...? granted I don't have shocks yet, that could contribute. I also did a back yard alignment the best I could, so that needs improvement. They are 35's....I think they're too big, there's a bit of a rub at full lock. I'm probably going to go down to 33's...

-the clutch...I installed a new clutch and pressure plate. It's a Mcleod Diaphragm. I took out a borg and beck...it feels like there is no pedal, like a hydraulic pedal on a honda civic. it seems to work, but there's really no feel to it at all... it's so light and there is no effort, I don't really like that. Is the difference between a borg&beck and diaphragm that severe??

-the brakes feel spongy...ya know how there's rust build up on the rotors and ya gotta wear that off? maybe that's what I gotta do. I probably have to bleed everything again now that the truck is moving and going through the motions...Those little plastic caps on my master cylinder leak like a sonofagon, maybe I have the reservoir filled too much...

-the Detroit Locker out back...I think I hate it. Although I've never had one before, It pops, it bangs, it makes a whole bunch of noise, and the truck kinda jerks...I guess that's what they do, but holy ****...LOL. it makes it difficult to diagnose and listen to other things when ya have that going on too.

-open headers is fun for a second, I really need some exhaust so I can hear what the truck is doing...But damn, it sounds good! lol

-I have to fix my manifold and rear main seal leak pronto. But I want to get all this other stuff sorted out first.

Dammit. That's almost like the rear main's installed backerds it's leakin so bad. Yall will ultimately be happy with too "small" a cam in a truck, I do believe. It sounds good.

after my short drive today, I think you're absolutely right.

here's a short clip. i tell ya, I probably looked confused as hell, I kinda was...LOL. I guess it was successful, lotta stuff I gotta sort out. I really had hoped I'd be done and I'd drive off into the sunset happy...not the case really. I dont know if I'm satisfied, or not satisfied...

needs improvement - YouTube

 

[j par]

well today I pulled it out of its spot for the first time in months. I went down the mile long driveway and came back...there's quite a few things I have to address...

-the throttle is like a light switch, its on or off...You can't even ease into it...??? I definitely, absolutely need to get that fixed. I don't know what it could be. I have the dang thing hooked up just like any other mopar...

-those mud grapplers are all over the damn place, truck wanders pretty bad, I've read they're like a tractor tire, they do that...? granted I don't have shocks yet, that could contribute. I also did a back yard alignment the best I could, so that needs improvement. They are 35's....I think they're too big, there's a bit of a rub at full lock. I'm probably going to go down to 33's...

-the clutch...I installed a new clutch and pressure plate. It's a Mcleod Diaphragm. I took out a borg and beck...it feels like there is no pedal, like a hydraulic pedal on a honda civic. it seems to work, but there's really no feel to it at all... it's so light and there is no effort, I don't really like that. Is the difference between a borg&beck and diaphragm that severe??

-the brakes feel spongy...ya know how there's rust build up on the rotors and ya gotta wear that off? maybe that's what I gotta do. I probably have to bleed everything again now that the truck is moving and going through the motions...Those little plastic caps on my master cylinder leak like a sonofagon, maybe I have the reservoir filled too much...

-the Detroit Locker out back...I think I hate it. Although I've never had one before, It pops, it bangs, it makes a whole bunch of noise, and the truck kinda jerks...I guess that's what they do, but holy ****...LOL. it makes it difficult to diagnose and listen to other things when ya have that going on too.

-open headers is fun for a second, I really need some exhaust so I can hear what the truck is doing...But damn, it sounds good! lol

-I have to fix my manifold and rear main seal leak pronto. But I want to get all this other stuff sorted out first.


after my short drive today, I think you're absolutely right.

here's a short clip. i tell ya, I probably looked confused as hell, I kinda was...LOL. I guess it was successful, lotta stuff I gotta sort out. I really had hoped I'd be done and I'd drive off into the sunset happy...not the case really. I dont know if I'm satisfied, or not satisfied...

needs improvement - YouTube

For everything wrong, it sure looks good......

 

[mopardude318]

Okay... been a while since I updated...I fixed the throttle issue, I made a 1 inch square spacer block and raised the throttle cable in line with the throttle shaft on the carburetor and it pulls straight. Feels and works much better. There’s a thread of mine floating around on that subject with pictures.

I’m going down to a 33/13.5/15 super swamper or Nitto Mud Grappler. A narrower 35” tire would probably work just fine, the ones I got are 16” wide! I found out and as most people on the truck pages say 16” wide is very wide and of course they’ll rub, go down to a 12 or 13” wide. Duh. Lol

The brakes are okay, for now. I fixed the master cylinder caps they were kinda leaking, on those aluminum masters with the plastic caps, there’s a Dorman cap and seal set that fits tighter. Seems to fix that leak when I swapped to the Dorman caps and rubber seals.

The clutch is fine now, that’s how they are. After a few more test drives, I’m used to it. Still think I like the borg and beck style.

I’m ordering shocks next week hopefully.
I need a front driveline before I can have the exhaust made, so that’s next. I’ll call the driveline shop tomorrow.

Today I pulled the intake manifold, I saw where it was leaking. Front right corner as I didn’t put enough RTV. It wasn’t even squished down in that corner. Lol

I attempted to install the manifold with new felpro gaskets. But I was rushing, I used the right stuff gasket maker and it just dries too damn quick and I couldn’t get it. Pulled the manifold off again and I wasn’t about to try and scrape all the gasket sealant off, I threw em out. I’ll order another set this week. Anyways, that’s it for now. Lol

 

[mopardude318]

Got the front drive line back from South Bay Drivelines. I got the manifold all back on. No more leaks. Just gotta do the rear main seal.

Still need a set of shocks and exhaust. It’s running lean due to the open headers.

 

[mopardude318]

Got new tires. 33/13.5/15 Nitto Mud Grapplers. I really like the white wheels.

 

[RustyRatRod]

View attachment 1715716406 View attachment 1715716407 View attachment 1715716408 Got the intermediate shaft made. Expensive little bastard, it cost the same as the rear. LOL. Shop said the smaller parts are more scarce. I could actually drive it if I wanted. Leaks and all. Lol. Gotta make a rear brake line, and add fluid, bleed ‘em. Tighten up all the suspension. Gotta do a backyard alignment somehow. Still quite a few small things before the maiden voyage. Maybe in a week or so.

That's a small shaft. I bet you hear that a lot. lol

 

[RustyRatRod]

Got new tires. 33/13.5/15 Nitto Mud Grapplers. I really like the white wheels.

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I like them wheels. There aren't many things they actually look good on but 4x4 trucks is one.

 

[mopardude318]

Well Hot Damn. I dropped the pan and did my rear main seal today... Took off the windage tray, oil pump main cap and loosened all the other main caps to drop that crank down just a touch. That trick seemed to work nicely. I tried first not doing it with no luck, didn’t wanna loosen the other mains but I did it and it worked great.

You can see the original seal, it’s tore up. Like it was installed with no lube, maybe it grabbed the crank and spun? there was a strip of rubber on the crank I had to scratch off with my fingernail.

Took me 9 damn hours today.
20 dollar part, 1,000 dollars labor. LOL

don’t know if it leaks or not, haven’t had a chance to put oil in it and fire it up. Got late.