My new ride, almost

[qkcuda]

Been busy driving the car since I got it registered, and haven't posted any updates. I was having typical Carter fuel boiling issues, so I decided to pull the carb, and look what I found. I knew it was a thermoquad manifold with an adapter to a square bore carb, but I didn't expect it to be installed upside down. Neither gasket had more than an eighth of an inch of contact. Anyway, I removed the adapter entirely and added a quarter inch thermoquad fiber gasket and two square bore gaskets sandwiching a four hole aluminum plate. I also adjusted the kickdown linkage and it shifts much better now, and no heat soak to speak of. I will change the intake and carb over the winter, but I will have to redo the throttle and kickdown linkage, as someone just bent the two barrel linkage to fit.

 

[qkcuda]

The air cleaner was a piece of work also, with a stock two barrel top and a modified 14 inch drop base. Notice how they notched the base and air cleaner element to fit over the fuel line. Nice sharp edges over a 3 foot long fuel hose. I replaced the fuel line with a hard line and added my restored air cleaner. Luckily it fit. The driver's side snorkel just fits between the two A/C lines.

 

[qkcuda]

Got the brakes redone and I have to say, I am having a blast driving the car. It is a great cruiser, and my wife even likes riding it it.

Thought it was time to change my avatar.

 

[ocdart]

Ya' gotta love hack jobs!
That twin-snorkel air cleaner looks much better.
Are you considering updating single-pot master cylinder to something that will provide a bunch more safety?

 

[qkcuda]

The master was already brand new, so I left it for now. I wanted to be able to drive it right away so I replaced everything in the brakes except the hard lines and drums. The plan is to do a front disc conversion next year, which will include a dual master and power brakes. I didn't want to redo the hard lines twice.

 

[Machmeter1]

Glad you like the car, seems like it was an ok deal. There is always something to do on our cars, but once you got a good base to start, it makes things so much easier and saves a lot of headache.

Cheers,
Wolfgang

 

[qkcuda]

Thanks Wolfgang. The body is rust free and the interior is in pretty good shape. The mechanical stuff I can deal with. I am actually pleasantly surprised with how well the 361 runs. I was planning all kinds of performance upgrades, but now I may just do the intake and carb and leave it at that. The car cruises so well on the highway it is a pleasure to drive.

 

[RAT ROD AL]

A friend of mine I used to work with and race at Gateway with. Badass

 

[Machmeter1]

For a cruiser it's definitely better to invest in, brakes, suspension, drivetrain, reliability and interior. Performance usually gets you fast, but not very far! Unless lots of money invested and matched correctly.

 

[Darter6]

Totally cool ! Speaking for myself as you get up in years the go fast stuff gives way to cruising in style and comfort.

 

[qkcuda]

Went over to my sister's for dinner and my brother in law charged up the air for me. We just about froze ourselves out on the way home.

 

[qkcuda]

Haven't updated in a while. Decided to run a compression test before I tore it down for the intake manifold swap. Found one cylinder low at 60, all the others were between 125 and 140. Retested after squirting some oil in the cylinder and no change, so at least it's not the rings, but the heads have to come off. Started stripping it down and took some pics of all the brackets for the factory air. This is going to be a pain. I will have to rig up a bridge to suspend the compressor.

 

[GGs66GT]

Why does that intake look like it has EGR and a date of 12.1.78 ?
I don't recall the '66 having Thermo Quads either . Should have been an AFB or AVS Carter 4 bbl back then .
Me thinks you have a later engine or they swapped the 78 4bbl manifold .
Check the block casting numbers .

 

[qkcuda]

It is the original engine that was a 361 two barrel single exhaust. The previous owner converted it to a four barrel and dual exhaust. He put a spreadbore manifold on it with a squarebore AFB carb. I am replacing it with a performer intake.

 

[GGs66GT]

Good choice
Enjoy the ride !

 

[Les Gibson]

After selling the cuda, and looking for a long time, I finally located a nice 1966 Charger and made a deal yesterday. The seller is headed out on vacation, so I will not be able to pick it for about a month, which may help weather wise. Since it's a B Body I may not be posting much here, but I may have engine and drivetrain questions to bounce off of you. Just happy to be back into the game...almost.

View attachment 1715460046

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My very first car was a 66 Charger. 383 four barrel auto. Loved that car!

 

[qkcuda]

I realized that I have not updated this thread in a long time. I rebuilt the top end of the engine last winter and have been driving it this summer. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

[qkcuda]

A few more

 

[qkcuda]

Now that the engine is done I am starting to deal with a lot of little issues. The headlights were cutting out on the high beams, so I am looking into converting to a relay system. The problem I see is with the limited space to run wires through the pivot shafts in the rotating headlight pods. The back of the headlights were still covered with Arizona dust. They might be original?

 

[Demonracer]

Dang, even has the old 1157A turn signal bulbs, replete with peeling paint. LMOA

 

[Keith Mopar]

Your engine and engine bay looks awesome!

When I had the problem with my high beams cutting out I found the ground pins on the old plugs were very loose, actually all the pins were flakey. I purchased new H4 plug ends and did the relays as well and has been good for 4 years now.