My 74 Dart (The Bondo Bucket)

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My son and I got the short block fully disassembled. I honed the cylinders cleaned the block with degreaser and hit it with the pressure washer. Then I took the block to work and removed all the casting flash from the lifter valley , thread chased the head bolt threads, main cap bolt threads and timing cover bolt threads. I cut off the two bosses from the sides of the block everyone says may interfere with header clearance. Cleaned all the gasket surfaces with my Roloc wheel and then degreased and washed again. Back at home we pulled all the old rings off and have the piston / rods soaking in a super clean / purple power solution. We cleaned and prepped the block , timing cover and oil pan for paint.

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Then I sprayed those with a couple coats of Mopar Street Hemi orange paint. Very happy with the results so far. ( My son’s favorite color is orange so he is thrilled I told him I didn’t do it for him lol)Next up is cam bearing removal and installation. I ordered the cam tool and bearings. First time doing this myself but I think we can handle it. Need to take the crankshaft to work and get it cleaned and ready to go back. My main bearings came in yesterday so I hope to be able to get the cam and crank back in the week.

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if you snap an old piston ring to give you a half moon piece the sharp edge works great for scraping carbon from the piston ring grooves (carefully of course). put some tape over the other end of the 'tool' as it will be sharp to hold. it's surprising how much carbon builds up in those grooves.
neil.
 
mygasser said:
but that's $24.99 plus the cost of the mineral spirits plus the week or so. my way does the same job for free and now, so no waiting :thumbsup:
did i mention for 'free'? :lol:
neil.
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You forgot the $5.00 for bandaids when the ring cuts the crap out of your fingers.
Yes I used the old ring trick many times, and cut myself each time.
 
mygasser said:
i got that covered, i mentioned taping over the end as it's sharp :thumbsup:
so i guess a roll of tape then, lol.
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So true, I would still soak them in mineral spirits to soften the carbon up.
The ring groove cleaner tool works pretty slick, I have used one for years.
 
sireland67 said:
So true, I would still soak them in mineral spirits to soften the carbon up.
The ring groove cleaner tool works pretty slick, I have used one for years.
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oh, i totally agree the tool is slick but the old rings are always to hand (don't have to remember where the tool is) and did i mention 'free'? :rofl:
 
Old cam bearings removed and new ones installed. Got my new to me camshaft cleaned and installed with some assembly lube. This was my first attempt at cam bearings and everything went great. Bought a cheap Chinese version cam bearing tool off EBay. It did great and held up well. Should last me a long time. Anyway put the thrust plate on and just put cam gear on temporarily just to make turning cam easier. Next up is getting the crank cleaned and ready to go back in. Sorry about the crappy pics.
 
My son and I got the Dart turned around in the driveway the other day. Got the front up on jack stands and got the front wheels off. Last night and this morning we worked on getting the front suspension and K-frame removed. Cleaned them real quick with some purple power and the pressure washer.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I have the same one the little expander broke the first time I used it and had to but a new one after that it worked great just a heads up if you need it again lol. I didn't see where you posted what cam are you using? Is it a roller cam or flat? You have the specs on it?
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It’s just a stock 5.2 cam. It’s a Magnum so factory roller. My original one had a couple wear spots I didn’t like on a few lobes. I found a guy on Fakebook who built a 390 stroker so I bought his oem cam.
 
74 DART' said:
It’s just a stock 5.2 cam. It’s a Magnum so factory roller. My original one had a couple wear spots I didn’t like on a few lobes. I found a guy on Fakebook who built a 390 stroker so I bought his oem cam.
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Thats great! Make sure you check your roller lifters too did you get a set of them with the cam?
 
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