The engine is finally back in!

Dino · April 23, 2016, 08:43:21 PM

Thanks to Jeff (71 SE3834V) helping me on numerous occasions, the engine is finally back in place!

As some of you know, I'm about a week away of starting grad school which will leave little or no time for car fun. I tried to get the car finished before school but I realized a while back that it wouldn't happen. So the new goal was to get engine, trans, and K member back in place. For a moment I thought that even wasn't going to happen so I decided to leave off the suspension bits and get as much done as I could.

I started this project in August and have since stripped much of the car, repaired and repainted the engine bay, made some electrical repairs, stripped the engine and trans and repainted all of it. I also installed a new cam and new seals in the trans.

Much of my time was spent installing power windows and a bunch of electrical upgrades. All that went pretty good but as always you find more stuff that needs attention. In the end I could have ignored doing the upgrades and stuck to what's in the engine bay and I may have been able to get it done, but then I would never get the power windows and all the stuff I really wanted!

I'm very happy that at least much of the work is done and the car is now sitting n such a way that when I do have a few minutes here and there it'll be easy to bolt on some stuff and make some progress.

Tomorrow I'll hook up the wiring, a/c lines and torque some bolts. I'll then clean the car, stick my boxes of parts inside and put a cover on the old girl.

When time is available again I'll strip and paint the hp manifolds and install those, and I'll repaint and install the hydrobooster.

Most of the suspension is good to go but I still have to paint the upper and lower control arms.

The install today went well except for getting the trans mount installed. What a pos part that was! I had to grind it to make it fit the trans and then it took a lot of elbow grease from the both of us. Aftermarket parts are not what they used to be!

Dropping the car over the engine went very well, we just had to go slow to not bump the steering box against the frame. I forgot how tight it is in there. I can barely stick a business card between the box and the frame!

We also had a stubborn K member bolt but in the end it all worked out. No scrapes or dings along the way and everything's looking good!

I'll be glad to get rid of those valve covers though but that's something to worry about later. I'll get more pics up tomorrow when everything's a bit tidied up.

Dino · April 23, 2016, 08:43:54 PM

more

Dino · April 23, 2016, 08:44:33 PM

more

charge69 · April 23, 2016, 08:52:57 PM

Awesome work and a major milestone ! Congrats !

igozumn · April 23, 2016, 10:03:56 PM

Nice!

rebby · April 23, 2016, 10:13:11 PM

Congrats! I remember when we installed the engine in the GL. Great day and nice hurdle to be over.

Baldwinvette77 · April 23, 2016, 10:15:23 PM

Awesome!, if your engine installs are anything like mine, youre only a year away from being able to start it again!

Good work

Chargerguy74 · April 23, 2016, 11:26:05 PM

Looking good!

cdr · April 23, 2016, 11:27:19 PM

Mopar Nut · April 23, 2016, 11:42:18 PM

Nice job Dino!

crj1968 · April 23, 2016, 11:48:45 PM

Wow looks really good Dino!

Hey what is that red box above your bulkhead wiring connections?

redgum78 · April 23, 2016, 11:55:49 PM

very nice

johnnycharger · April 24, 2016, 12:25:30 AM

God dang that is pretty Dino. I am very happy for you.

myk · April 24, 2016, 03:09:32 AM

As always, impressive work Dino.

b5blue · April 24, 2016, 04:38:50 AM

You got it!!

Dirk I advise not filling the car with parts. Even with my nasty interior I kept it empty, even the trunk. Along with not messing up the upholstery there's a Zen moment that comes from just being able to sit in the car and think. (Even if you don't wiggle the wheel and make VAROOM! noises.)

1974dodgecharger · April 24, 2016, 05:57:41 AM

Im coming over Dino and you can put a new engine in my car

tan top · April 24, 2016, 07:29:03 AM

looking good Dino !!

nice work

Just 6T9 CHGR · April 24, 2016, 07:29:20 AM

Nice work!

Dino · April 24, 2016, 07:51:32 AM

Thanks guys! It's been a labor of love...and other feelings.

I'll see if I can get some before and after shots up as well, that should be interesting. I sometimes forget what it used to look like.

Quote from: crj1968 on April 23, 2016, 11:48:45 PM
Wow looks really good Dino!

Hey what is that red box above your bulkhead wiring connections?

It's a maxi fuse holder with a 50A fuse. It's replacing the fusible link. I rewired my charging system and have a 6 gauge wire running from the alternator to starter relay and another from the battery to the relay through an ANL fuse. From the starter relay an 8 gauge wire goes to the maxi fuse and another 8 gauge wire runs from the fuse to the power wires under the dash. The original ammeter wires have been removed and I'm running a volt meter.

WHITE AND RED 69 · April 25, 2016, 01:51:38 PM

Hey! Hey! Way to go Dirk! Looks so nice and shiny

Mytur Binsdirti · April 25, 2016, 01:58:30 PM

It's about damn time!

Nice work.

RallyeMike · April 25, 2016, 02:18:03 PM

Looks great. You should be able to squeeze in enough time to get in driving soon!?

CDN72SE · April 25, 2016, 03:18:08 PM

Good for you, nice job.

firefighter3931 · April 25, 2016, 04:01:55 PM

Nice work Dirk !

Engine looks fantastic in the sparkling white engine bay

Ron

BLK 68 R/T · April 25, 2016, 05:29:45 PM

Looks really nice

Charger_Fan · April 25, 2016, 05:53:42 PM

That is one purty engine right there, even the spark plugs!

That's gotta feel fantastic to finally have it sitting back in it's home after all that time.

BTW, thank you for not putting a Fram filter on it.

Dino · April 25, 2016, 08:30:22 PM

It sure is a good feeling!

It's just a Microguard filter but it'll do for the initial break in. I'll put a Wix on there after that.

Ah yes spark plugs, I keep forgetting to order them so these went back in for now.

I wish I was close to making it drive ready but there's just way too much left to do. All the brake work, much of the electrical, the doors are still shells with locks in them. There's lots left to do.

That said, I'm happy with the progress that was made. Yesterday I made sure all the bolts were torqued and everything fit as it should. All the wiring is hooked up, at least that which could get hooked up. I don't have the ignition parts in there yet.

I bolted the driver side exhaust manifold on there so I could route the battery cable properly. I had headers before and a full size starter so this was like a dream come true. I couldn't believe the amount of room I had!

I added some before shots as well. Going from all black (a beat up version of it)) to a crisp white engine bay is just too damn cool for words. It's a joy working in the engine bay now.

They are not exactly perfect angle shots but you get the idea.

I loaded up all the parts in the car and I'm a bit amazed at how many parts I have left to do! And it doesn't include brake rotors or calipers even...damn!

Tomorrow I'll put a cover on the car as opening the garage door tends to drop dirt and water into the engine bay, and that'll be it. School starts a week from today so time to shift my focus.

Dino · April 25, 2016, 08:31:03 PM

more

Dino · April 25, 2016, 08:31:54 PM

more

Dino · April 25, 2016, 08:32:43 PM

last ones

Charger4404spd · April 25, 2016, 08:35:47 PM

Looks really good Dino!

charger chris · April 25, 2016, 09:43:21 PM

Nice work looking good

Charger_Fan · April 26, 2016, 02:24:27 PM

That is really awesome, a total night & day difference!

So was the car originally black, or was the black engine bay just compliments of a previous owner?

Dino · April 26, 2016, 02:42:38 PM

The car was originally F8 green. I'm not sure who's responsible for the engine bay. The black paint was everywhere. All the under hood parts and the wiring were painted black. The before shots were taken after I did a bunch of cleaning up and adding the modern a/c. It used to be worse than that even.

There was still shiny green under the black paint as well. At least it made the paint easy to remove!

Charger_Fan · April 26, 2016, 03:01:49 PM

Well, you've definitely done a huge improvement to it. It looks like a freaking show car now!

PlainfieldCharger · April 26, 2016, 05:54:10 PM

AWESOME transformation!! Great Job!

timmycharger · April 26, 2016, 06:32:33 PM

Super clean. Great job, Dino!

71 SE3834V · April 26, 2016, 08:41:54 PM

Eat your heart out Charger porn lovers. I've seen it in person! Ha!

Quote from: Dino on April 25, 2016, 08:30:22 PM

It's a joy working in the engine bay now.

Oh yeah! A whole lot more enjoyable working in a nice clean, bright engine bay!

I hope I don't have to wait 2 years to hear how that cam runs. You owe me a ride.

If you start having withdraw symptoms the passenger seat in the '71 is always open.

Carry on sir.

Charger_Fan · April 26, 2016, 11:06:45 PM

Quote from: 71 SE3834V on April 26, 2016, 08:41:54 PM
Eat your heart out Charger porn lovers. I've seen it in person! Ha!

Total tease!

myk · April 27, 2016, 05:09:43 AM

Dino your car is oh-so-nice....

Charger-Bodie · April 27, 2016, 07:05:32 AM

The only thing I don't understand ( and maybe I missed something) is why you didn't take full advantage of the process? Like having more stuff on the engine like manifolds distributer, wires. Etc.? Much easier when out in the open to make it all really neat and nice.

Dino · April 27, 2016, 07:51:05 AM

Time. I didn't have the time to get it all done.

I wanted the engine in place before this week so I could focus on some other things before going to school and I just couldn't get it all done.
The exhaust manifolds need to be stripped and painted. I also decided I wanted them off anyway since I need to work on the hydroboost system and it's easier to work on that without them on the engine. I dry fitted one to route the starter wires and they're super easy to install unlike headers.

Plug wires I may replace so I didn't want them on there either. Again it's so easily added it didn't matter much.

The initial plan was to have it all installed with the engine bay finished but I simply ran out of time. It was supposed to have the full suspension on there as well.

Sometimes the plan just doesn't work out.

bakerhillpins · April 27, 2016, 08:06:00 AM

Looks absolutely fantastic Dirk!

So glad to see that 71 SE3834V was able to help you with the push to make your stretch goal. I have no doubt that it's going to give you a important and positive boost as you begin your grad school endeavour.

Can't wait to find an excuse to visit Detroit again and see her first hand. Makes me feel like I might actually get somewhere on mine one of these days. LOL.

RIDELIKEHELL · April 27, 2016, 08:18:55 AM

Great work! Looks Awesome!

Charger-Bodie · April 27, 2016, 12:36:04 PM

Quote from: Dino on April 27, 2016, 07:51:05 AM
Time. I didn't have the time to get it all done.

I wanted the engine in place before this week so I could focus on some other things before going to school and I just couldn't get it all done.
The exhaust manifolds need to be stripped and painted. I also decided I wanted them off anyway since I need to work on the hydroboost system and it's easier to work on that without them on the engine. I dry fitted one to route the starter wires and they're super easy to install unlike headers.

Plug wires I may replace so I didn't want them on there either. Again it's so easily added it didn't matter much.

The initial plan was to have it all installed with the engine bay finished but I simply ran out of time. It was supposed to have the full suspension on there as well.

Sometimes the plan just doesn't work out.

Gotcha! Makes perfect sense.

GOTWING · April 27, 2016, 01:08:34 PM

that white engine compartment really pops with that orange !

71 SE3834V · April 27, 2016, 09:08:55 PM

Cold temps this spring didn't help either. After having many warm days this past winter which allowed us to progress with the engine work the temps didn't want to stay up this spring long enough to get the engine and parts painted.
It was a mad dash with some long days last week just to get as far as we did. I don't even want to know how many hours Dino spent this last winter on her. Been there, done that.

Dino · April 28, 2016, 06:41:25 AM

I don't want to know either!

If I had more funds I could have had it all done, but there were many long periods of having to wait until something got sold before I could buy more parts. I still don't have everything I need!

You definitely deserve a few rides in the car when it's done, heck you can borrow it for all I care!

I'll be sure to hit you up to go for a ride in yours. I'll bring the ear plugs.

71 SE3834V · April 28, 2016, 05:54:35 PM

Quote from: Dino on April 28, 2016, 06:41:25 AM
I'll be sure to hit you up to go for a ride in yours. I'll bring the ear plugs.

Ah it's only loud when you mash the go pedal. We'll just take a nice slow cruise. After all, isn't that why they made the big blocks for?

Dino · April 29, 2016, 10:56:40 AM

Quote from: 71 SE3834V on April 28, 2016, 05:54:35 PM
Quote from: Dino on April 28, 2016, 06:41:25 AM
I'll be sure to hit you up to go for a ride in yours. I'll bring the ear plugs.

Ah it's only loud when you mash the go pedal. We'll just take a nice slow cruise. After all, isn't that why they made the big blocks for?

Sure they're great for a slow cruise...but they're much more fun screaming down the highway!

News:

The engine is finally back in!