mopowers
Well-Known Member
How much water was on the ground?
MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
- Thread starter MuuMuu101
- Start date
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I just took a look. Initially I thought it was about a 1 ft x 2ft puddle, but I just realized that the puddle had run all the way across the garage.
racerjoe
Well-Known Member
You're probably OK. That plug likely burst when the system started getting some pressure. If you drained the whole system, the puddle would be much larger than a 1x2 puddle.
What EFI system are you planning on using? I"m using MS3X full sequential. I don't have any miles on the car yet but I've started it a few times and messed with the idle configuration. It seems pretty easy so far. I do like how easy it starts when cold.
What EFI system are you planning on using? I"m using MS3X full sequential. I don't have any miles on the car yet but I've started it a few times and messed with the idle configuration. It seems pretty easy so far. I do like how easy it starts when cold.
Holley Sniper with Ready-to-Run Distributor for now.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
You're probably fine. Find the leak and fix it, fill it back up with water and fire it up.
This has to be the most epic thread on here. Constant updates and learning.
....and just out of curiosity, Where'd the MooMoo101 screen name come from? You may have already said, but I am lazy and hat diggin. LOL
....and just out of curiosity, Where'd the MooMoo101 screen name come from? You may have already said, but I am lazy and hat diggin. LOL
Well, the thread title does say it's a "Learning Process..." Honestly, ever since college and working on the SAE Baja Club, working on cars has given me a lot of anxiety with the fear that I will make a mistake or ruin something. It was a very negative environment and every time I messed up someone would either cuss me out or tell me how worthless I was despite the crazy hours I put in. That's why I left the club after 2-3 years despite how successful we were. My physical and mental health declined very quickly. It's pretty difficult for me to deal with even 5 years later. I'll watch car build on Youtube and think to myself, "I can do that! That's easy." Then when the opportunity for something small arises I freak out. I try to be as hands-on as possible and want to be the best engineer/person I can be (I have a Master's in Mechanical Engineering for crying out loud and may possibly pursue a PhD). But even when the small stuff breaks, they always seem like mountains to me and I tend to break down and get discouraged very easily. Confidence in my abilities is still something I'm working on. It always seems like everyone else thinks I can do it, but me. But with everything that happens, I always try to learn something and never want to stop learning. I just have to push myself.
MuuMuu101 was something I thought of in middle/high school. MuuMuu came from the Simpson's episode where Homer tries to be morbidly obese to work from home. He wears a MuuMuu (his dress). I just thought that was a funny episode as a kid and no, I do not wear MuuMuu's. 101 was just an addition to it. I guess a number I liked. Since I used it on one forum my first year of college, I just started using it on multiple forums.
It's funny taking my friends/family to Fall/Spring Fling. Often from a distance someone will be screaming, "Hey MuuMuu! How are you doing?!"
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mopardude318
Well-Known Member
Like was mentioned, put another cap on it, or run a heater hose to the manifold. Fill it back up with coolant and start it up.
Well MuuMuu, that's a pretty cool story. I guess we could say the 101 could mean 101 as in entry level. Like Dart building 101. How bout that?
I have BSME and MSME also; Masters is in Dynamic Systems and Controls.
I was an ASE certified Master Tech who previously worked for MSD, worked as a crew chief for a circle track car and also worked crew on a top alcohol dragster. At work I was a shop foreman. I went to college for two years at UTEP and the SAE Baja guys were pretty laid back, liked it when I had time to drop by and help them out. I then transferred to UT Austin. In Austin they did not have Baja but they did have Formula SAE. It was a toxic little click, the core group was pretty full of themselves. I stopped by and asked if they could use a hand, did not tell them anything about my background. They treated me like something that was stuck on their shoes and told me that essentially they knew everything and didn't need any help. If I wanted to join their club I could start out by helping sand down the paint on a 38 Chevy they had sitting out back. I was working a lot of hours, was married, and was going to school full time so I just stayed clear. Every once in a while I would walk through to see what they were up to. Eight years later when I went back and did my Masters there the group was a little more laid back but did not seem to be as competitive.
You are probably over thinking everything. I started working on cars when I was 16 and didn't know anything. Because I didn't know anything I was fearless. Just dive in. These old cars are pretty simple machines.
813Demon340
Well-Known Member
It's not a big deal, just swap out the plug/cap, add coolant and you're done. Its a 10 min job.
goldduster318
Overzealous Car Modifier
In my opinion, you are fine, the amount of abuse most engines can take exceeds what you'd guess. In any case, if you still have the same oil pressure, I would not worry.
This is a minor issue, IMO, caps like that are a reliability hole. If you were doing a DFMEA on this based on other experiences it would have a high occurrence, moderate severity, and moderate detection so something you'd want to mitigate. So, a few ways to go...loop of heater hose to the intake, OR put a pipe plug in the end of it (remove pump, tap, clean, install plug), swap to an edelbrock pump, or hook up your heater core.
At my school (Kettering University), the FSAE/SAE Baja had a lot of the same issues...some know it all's that made stuff up on the spot. Spent literally one evening down there and then said forget it. I mean I walked in there at 18 years old having already owned and worked on my Duster for a long time, and my dad and I always worked on stuff heavily at home before that. Had the same issue with the First Robotics team in HS.
I'm a BSME 10 years out of school, and I can honestly say that your confidence and drive at work is far more important than the degree you have. I decided against doing an MS degree since I wasn't really sure what that would do for me. I'm currently literally a direct peer with a much older guy with a doctorate of engineering. We do troubleshooting type stuff for probably 40-60% of our total work time, I do everything from product development, work on manufacturing and lab tooling and fixtures, plan and review testing, etc.
My mindset is always "what's the worst that can happen?" when working on stuff. Worst case, you got a real experience out of it. I think a lot of people have a hard time doing it only because they don't believe they can. You'll be fine. The car is an inanimate object and therefore can always be fixed.
mopardude318
Well-Known Member
My motto is " If I can't **** it up, then no one can"
racerhog
RacerHog likes his Mopars
You will get it... Remember it's not the end of the world... Just keep chipping at it... 
Finally had time to work on the Dart on Monday. Had some extra heater hose and bought some all-thread to plug the pump. Forgot my keys at my house so I didn't have time to start it. I'll play with the car on Saturday, a little.
mopardude318
Well-Known Member
That Might work for now as a temporary fix. Coolant might weep past those threads.
More testament to total chinkesium parts. Dang. You just keep adding on and adding on don't you? Man you're gonna chronicle the life of your car right here. How cool!
What happened to the hose nipple on the manifold? If I am bypassing the heater I usually loop it.
Went to my mom's house to work on the Dart. I started it up and it was still leaky through the threads of the all-thread which I figured. So, I decided to throw in the towel and get a rubber cap like I had before. I went to the local Autozone, which has been pretty good to me, but they didn't have anything. So, I decided to go to the local Ace Hardware to see if they had a 3/4" bolt as all Home Depot had was 3/4" all-thread. I got to Ace and they didn't have anything more than 1/2". Ironically, right next to the bolts, I found these tapered rubber plugs for $0.40-0.60. So, I bought a couple and went home. I got the wrong size, so after lunch, I went back and got one size smaller and came home. So, I took the heater hose and all-thread off, placed the plug on the water pump, reinstalled the heater hose with the all-thread and hose clamped it together. So, basically the all-thread only keeps the plug in the water pump. When I started the car back up, no leaks! I let it get up to temp and shut it off because I had to go. It sounds a lot better and I believe it will be ready to go to the new home soon.
So, I had a lot of people tell me when I first brought this issue up, "Just plum it back into the intake?" and I didn't quite understand it until I looked at your picture. So, I pulled out my Mopar M1 intake and realized that manifold had an extra threaded section for a nipple to be threaded into to reroute the heater hose in there. I found a post on FABO that explained all the holes and ports on an LD4B and apparently it doesn't have that threaded hole to reroute the heater hose. Instead there is a threaded boss to mount an AC compressor.
NO! Reconsider. 7 YEAR thread.
goldduster318
Overzealous Car Modifier
Shame you're thinking about selling. Not sure the reason, but mine sat for years while I sorted other things out in my life.
Some people are car guys for awhile, others are car guys for life.
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