Driver's valve cover? lol
Mission Creep on a D-150
- Thread starter halfafish
- Start date
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Yeah, I saw that. And the distributor hitting the firewall. Maybe if I bolted the engine in sideways?
Can't fault a guy trying to help, I'll give this a shot with the dial indicator anyway.
So you're saying if a distributor is 10° Advance more than it's supposed to be that it will not affect cylinder pressure. I don't agree. I think igniting that fuel mixture ahead of time would cause an increase. And igniting it 10° later than you should would cause a decrease.
Just my humble opinion that I highly respect.
I should have said it will not affect the STATIC cylinder pressure. As in with the engine not running. ....and it will not.
LOL
I think the engine not running correctly seems to be the problem. Not sitting in the garage not running.
As for with the engine not running you don't even need a carburetor much less a distributor. Shoot sitting in the garage you can pull the heads off of it the cylinder pressures will stay the same. You crack me up.
What I'm talking about, Randall is the distributor has zero effect on a compression test. Understand? And no, you cannot take the head off and get the same results. I'm glad you're amused, but you clearly don't understand.
You clearly don't understand what I was saying.
Static compression doesn't mean squat if it's sitting there not running you can pull the cylinder head off of it. Because static compression is just a couple of numbers added or subtracted or multiplied or divided to come up with a guesstimate. You never mentioned a single word about doing a compression test an the distributor being involved not until now. As I said you crack me up. LOL
Just because I didn't say it, doesn't mean I didn't mean it that way. Some things I take for granted that I don't need to explain. I see I was wrong. Static compression has zip to do with cylinder pressure, which is what I was discussing. Crack you up or not, I think we just got our wires crossed.
I'm sorry I'm not a mind reader. I just couldn't tell what you were thinking because you didn't write it down. Please forgive me. But you still crack me up.
Really no big deal, Randall.
Ok Rob.
Time for an update that is long overdue. I haven't been posting much on this project or anything else due to a thorough level of disgust with my lack of success and piss-poor mechanical ability. I've turned out the lights in the shop and walked away for a week or ten many a time in this saga. However, if nothing else I'm stubborn and I refuse to let this truck get the best of me. One way or another I'm going to come out the winner.
I started by spending a week cleaning up the disaster that is my shop. When you have to slither sideways past stuff to get around, it's time for a Come-To-Jesus moment. A truckload of crap went to the dump and sold some equipment I'll never use. I sorted out, boxed up, and shelved all the Dart parts, stacked up all the manual transmissions (does anyone really need seven of them, not counting the ones in vehicles??), inventoried and stored a bunch of free parts, and presto, I can get around now!
I've been chipping away at the engine over the last few weeks. I got it out using my snazzy new - or rather new-to-me - cherry picker. This thing has legs that extend about 3' more than normal and a boom that is 6' long. That gives me plenty of reach to get the engine and trans out as one, even while it's a foot off the ground on the lift. Score, halfafish one, truck zero.
I splurged on a new engine stand that has a gear-driven head to rotate the engine. I like this thing a LOT! It makes working so much easier.
![20230413_170016[1].jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20230413_170016-1-jpg.1716082325/ "20230413_170016[1].jpg")
I stripped the sheet metal and got ready for my to-do list, as suggested in this thread:
Where is my compression and vacuum??
Ummm, that leaves only the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, was the cam set up wrong? Well yes, in fact it was. Somehow I put it in 180* out. I would have sworn the engine would not run at all like that, but for sure it did on the engine stand. Mystery solved for where is the compression and vacuum? When the exhaust valve is open as the plug fires, you get crap compression and crap vacuum. Score, halfafish one, truck one. And a self-portrait!
Next up I'm going over the cam chain, as it has a TON of slop in it and it's new with only 700 miles on it. Yet I have 3/4" of play in it. As my buddy helps spin the engine over we notice the chain is only loose part of the time, it's plenty tight other times. How can that be, maybe the gear is made off-center, or ?? We pull the cam gear and chain since we'll need to rotate the crank to get the dots lined up and start degreeing it correctly, but...........OOPS! The cam gear bushing was maybe soft or perhaps something we just can't explain, but the locator pin on the front of the cam has eaten out the backside of the gear, letting the gear flop around pretty good. This could have been a disaster had it come completely unglued while running.
![20230425_114522[1].jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20230425_114522-1-jpg.1716082349/ "20230425_114522[1].jpg")
![20230425_114528[1].jpg](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/20230425_114528-1-jpg.1716082350/ "20230425_114528[1].jpg")
As is, now I have to pull the cam because the pin is peened out in a mushroom shape and the cam gear is garbage. New Rollmaster to the rescue but with a juice head you can't pull the cam without pulling the head so basically the block is now completely stripped waiting on new parts. Score, halfafish one, truck two.
I dropped off the cam at OCG to see if they can pull the old pin and install a new one. If not I'll need a new cam.
As if I'm not having enough fun today, when we checked the leaky rear main seal we found out the aluminum hoop that holds the lower half of the seal is cracked. Maybe this was the cause of the leak, maybe not. However now I need a new one. My buddy thinks he has one, if not I'll be putting out an APB for a replacement. If that doesn't work I'll have to yank the rusted up dead slant out of the Barracuda and rob that part for the truck. If I need a new cam and can't find a core I'll have to use the Barracuda cam to regrind it for the truck. Score, halfafish one, truck three.
The fun never stops at Chez Halfafish! I'll be busy cleaning all the parts that need to go back together, while I wait on the gasket kit, main seal holder, and cam to sort themselves out.
Mebbe I should have stuck with truck driving instead of trying my hand at working on old cars. Just Sayin...
I started by spending a week cleaning up the disaster that is my shop. When you have to slither sideways past stuff to get around, it's time for a Come-To-Jesus moment. A truckload of crap went to the dump and sold some equipment I'll never use. I sorted out, boxed up, and shelved all the Dart parts, stacked up all the manual transmissions (does anyone really need seven of them, not counting the ones in vehicles??), inventoried and stored a bunch of free parts, and presto, I can get around now!
I've been chipping away at the engine over the last few weeks. I got it out using my snazzy new - or rather new-to-me - cherry picker. This thing has legs that extend about 3' more than normal and a boom that is 6' long. That gives me plenty of reach to get the engine and trans out as one, even while it's a foot off the ground on the lift. Score, halfafish one, truck zero.
I splurged on a new engine stand that has a gear-driven head to rotate the engine. I like this thing a LOT! It makes working so much easier.
I stripped the sheet metal and got ready for my to-do list, as suggested in this thread:
Where is my compression and vacuum??
- Check the distributor for 180 out?
- Is the distributor’s mechanical advance working right? Have you checked timing marks with TDC??
- I'd start by verifying the balancer mark with a piston stop.
- Spark plug wire order
- Has the outer ring on the damper slipped
- Check the cam degree job.
Ummm, that leaves only the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, was the cam set up wrong? Well yes, in fact it was. Somehow I put it in 180* out. I would have sworn the engine would not run at all like that, but for sure it did on the engine stand. Mystery solved for where is the compression and vacuum? When the exhaust valve is open as the plug fires, you get crap compression and crap vacuum. Score, halfafish one, truck one. And a self-portrait!
Next up I'm going over the cam chain, as it has a TON of slop in it and it's new with only 700 miles on it. Yet I have 3/4" of play in it. As my buddy helps spin the engine over we notice the chain is only loose part of the time, it's plenty tight other times. How can that be, maybe the gear is made off-center, or ?? We pull the cam gear and chain since we'll need to rotate the crank to get the dots lined up and start degreeing it correctly, but...........OOPS! The cam gear bushing was maybe soft or perhaps something we just can't explain, but the locator pin on the front of the cam has eaten out the backside of the gear, letting the gear flop around pretty good. This could have been a disaster had it come completely unglued while running.
As is, now I have to pull the cam because the pin is peened out in a mushroom shape and the cam gear is garbage. New Rollmaster to the rescue but with a juice head you can't pull the cam without pulling the head so basically the block is now completely stripped waiting on new parts. Score, halfafish one, truck two.
I dropped off the cam at OCG to see if they can pull the old pin and install a new one. If not I'll need a new cam.
As if I'm not having enough fun today, when we checked the leaky rear main seal we found out the aluminum hoop that holds the lower half of the seal is cracked. Maybe this was the cause of the leak, maybe not. However now I need a new one. My buddy thinks he has one, if not I'll be putting out an APB for a replacement. If that doesn't work I'll have to yank the rusted up dead slant out of the Barracuda and rob that part for the truck. If I need a new cam and can't find a core I'll have to use the Barracuda cam to regrind it for the truck. Score, halfafish one, truck three.
The fun never stops at Chez Halfafish! I'll be busy cleaning all the parts that need to go back together, while I wait on the gasket kit, main seal holder, and cam to sort themselves out.
Mebbe I should have stuck with truck driving instead of trying my hand at working on old cars. Just Sayin...
MidnightSwinger
Well-Known Member
Just keep at it, it’ll be a sweet running truck in the end. Can’t say your description of working on cars sounds different from mine. **** happens, and we learn, and it can be very frustrating. Keep fighting the good fight.
Dangit. Well at least you're still moving forward! So, halfafish two, truck three. You're catchin up!
j par
Well-hung Member
... CAM 180° OUT!!!???....You're kidding me!!!....
I've never heard of such....
amazing what stubbornness can drive a person to do - I have realized that I need to recheck everything I do 3 or 4 times to ensure it was right - I'm 50/50 on results - good I catch at least that much, if I could up that ratio I could retire early
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