The intake and headers are installed and torqued down. Two minor oil leaks at the sending unit and drain plug were fixed, they just weren't tight enough. Thar she be folks, ready to go back in the truck.
Here is some work that's above my pay grade when it comes to fab skills. The cold air intake had to be measured, double checked, and then the hole cut in the area below the turn signal.
Then the piping installed.
Ands what it looks like when the battery tray is back in.
I'm pretty happy with how it came out. It's discrete and fits like a glove. There is about a 3" space between the engine side of the front support, and the grill side of the support. From either side it looks like it's only one sheet of steel but it's hollow - this is where the inlet goes. The next update should be this puppy back in the truck and running down the road.
Hello gentle readers,
I've come to the conclusion I should have started a separate thread for the truck build, but honestly I thought it would be a two weekend $100 project. Hah. That was wildly off course. So I have decided since I've done a stellar job hijacking my own thread, I'm just going to wrap up the project here, and get back to the Dart. So, you ask, what's new?
The first good news, the engine is back inside the truck. I still need to do all hook-up stuff, but it's in the frame.
After that victory, there's lots of stupid stuff. Everything I touch takes five times as long to complete as I would have thought, and involves many delays for parts and fasteners. For tonight I got the starter wired up which meant cutting the factory wiring job and splicing in the different wiring for the solenoid as I went to a mini-starter. I got the carb throttle bracket and choke cable junk sorted out. That involved robbing a throttle cable bracket off a junkyard truck, cutting it down to fit, and grafting it onto the bracket I got on Amazon. It will work, but it's a bunch of hillbilly engineering. However, being an honorary hillbilly this doesn't concern me.
More info as I get it. This process is mind-numbingly slow, but I am indeed making progress. This would go much faster if I knew what I was doing as opposed to having to figure everything out as I go. Multiple times.
Some days I think I must be channeling Bill Burr - I keep losing my ****. I absolutely, positively know I pulled a throttle cable from the junkyard. I have the pedal, but where did the cable go? I think it evaporated. And it took my shorty 7/16" socket with it, I can't find that either. Over an hour was lost scouring the shop for the two of them. Perhaps they eloped and are off on a Mexican Honeymoon. I hope they enjoy Cancun and come home soon.
It was wiring day today. I started with trying to figure out what of this mess I need, and what I don't. This was a lean burn truck but it was all removed by the PO except for the wires. After unwrapping all the looms, I picked out the stuff that went to nowhere. That resulted in this double handful of spaghetti wires.
And here's the engine bay after the wire-ectomy.
Then I started cleaning up and re-routing wires. I moved the HEI module, moved the coil, and ran new wires to both. It looks pretty decent at the moment. I'm not going to wrap this stuff till I make sure everything is working. The truck was a daily driver before the timing chain took a dump so I'm hopeful all is well. I have a couple of wires I can't figure out, it will be time to get out the FSM and peruse it over a cocktail for clues.
Oh, and one project not mentioned earlier, I also pulled a receiver hitch from the junkyard off an 86 D250. It was filthy and rusty so it got all purdied up, then with an entire day of finagling with the hitch, bumper, and mounting holes it is in place. Lots of labor but it was only $35.
I need to level the engine in the bay. My slant is overly slanted so I'm going to see how to rotate it to get it flat. With any luck tomorrow will be transmission day if I can get my buddy to help me manhandle it into place. It's a snail's pace at the House of Halfafish, but I keep chipping away at it.
Tonight's progress, such that it is. I swear, every day I work on this POS I spend hours on the job but have, basically, jack **** to show for it. Tonight is a prime example of that. I was in the shop for about 5 hours, and only got the carb plumbed, and the alternator and PS pump installed. Part of the problem is I have to climb into the engine bay to do anything, which means if you need a different wrench, fitting, zip tie, or whatever you have to climb back out, get the whatever, climb back in, lather, rinse, repeat...
However, progress made.
I couldn't even make a subsistence income as a mechanic. I'd have to join all the lifer welfare slugs and give up as a contributing member of society.
After three previous attempts I'm very happy to post today's update, I finally - FINALLY!!! - got the transmission back in. It took three of us and a stand-up trans jack to get it done, but this cantankerous thing is bolted up.
I'm still fighting a number of stupid small things. The belts and pulleys don't line up right, I'm working through that in another thread. I can't seem to find the right u-joints for the driveshaft. I'm on my third set and none fit - that will get more attention today. I have to change the heater hose routing as it will interfere with the alternator belt once I get that crap sorted out. I got the stereo wired up so all I need to do is a test run to make sure it's working right and I can get the dash back together. Lots of time and effort for little results, but I'm plodding my way to the finish line. This afternoon I'll get the shifter re-installed and hopefully the driveshaft if I can get the right u-joints. Who knows, I just might be able to drive this truck in the not-too-distant future. What a concept...
Today's update. The shifter and linkages are all in and work nicely. However, I can't seem to recall what the hell I did with the clutch pedal return spring. (Sigh...) I shall have to go excavating to see if I can find it. If not it should be simple to rig up another one.
I finally got the right u-joints. Four hours to get the old ones off, another hour to clean up the holes in the driveshaft, and another two hours to get the new joints back in. This seized up mess was almost more than could be solved even with a 20 ton press. I thought I was going to bend or break something but I finally got it.
The fan belt for the alternator is done. I had to press the pulley mount over a half inch toward the pump to get it to line up. That was an all-night project as I'd push it on a little, do a test fit, push, test, push, test, till I was dizzy. Again, perseverance pays off. It lines up just right. Somehow the fan belt is now too short so it's off to NAPA for a longer one. Go figure.
The pulley for the PS pump is next up. It's backset about a half inch from the crank pulley. While fiddling with it I discover a ton of slop in the shaft so I got a new pump which will go on today. Maybe I should splurge for new pressure and return lines instead of these crusty 40 year old ones? Not so fast, Bucko! Napa discontinued the pressure line, AZ and O'Reilly say many weeks out as a custom order. I found one on Rock but it will be almost a week till it gets here. Boohiss. Ah well, there are plenty of other things to keep me busy till then.
Another trip to P-N-P and I cobbled together enough parts to finish the cold air intake. It came out nicely if I do say so myself. Or maybe, this is just a case of setting your goals low enough that you are likely to hit them.
I'm off to NAPA for the belt, then back to the shop. If I don't get busy
@j par is going to lap me, and he's doing a spit shine resto down to the last nut and bolt with more holes than metal at the moment.
