New engine build- stumbling under acceleration-issue found

[Kern Dog]

Have not had time to work on car lately. Work slowly crushing my soul.

I've been there as well. I've always worked 39-40 hour weeks but sometimes the commute has sometimes been a killer. I'm talking 2.5 to 3 hours getting home! That almost always killed my motivation to do anything once I finally got home.   

[NHCharger]

Have not had time to work on car lately. Work slowly crushing my soul.

I've been there as well. I've always worked 39-40 hour weeks but sometimes the commute has sometimes been a killer. I'm talking 2.5 to 3 hours getting home! That almost always killed my motivation to do anything once I finally got home.   

Ugh, that is a killer commute. I found the source of my brake issue. I had a buddy over the night I installed the new distributor, we also pulled a couple plugs to check them. He did not get the plug wire back on #5 all the way. When I first started the car it ran real rough (not knowing plug wire was off) when I revved it up a bit he claimed something shot out of the carb right by his head. Yesterday I found the plug wire off, car ran better but still seemed off. After the no brake issue I tested vacuum because the pedal was hard. I tested at the manifold, when I tested at the Bendix booster something looked wrong, I shined the light on the vacuum connection and it appeared there was a cap missing. I did a search of the garage floor in front of my car and sure enough, in a cardboard box with some rollers six feet away was a black plastic cap, it snapped back onto the vacuum connection. I'm now wondering if the cap was never fully inserted onto the connection. Will test drive today.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Its sounding like this is not a carb issue at all.

[NHCharger]

After going around with the engine builder numerous times I finally had a Mopar mechanic look at it. He said I had a massive vacuum leak. I swapped the intake and it cured some of the issue. Went back to the builder again and he said that probably the cam I supplied doesn't work well with the heads and suggested a set of 906 or aluminum heads. At that point I said fu*k it and ran the car as is until I had time to pull the motor. Finally had time to pull the motor last weekend. Yeah, not real happy at this point.

[70 sublime]

Guess you found the problem

[cdr]

You need to pull the heads & make sure the valves did not hit the pistons & get bent.

[NHCharger]

Yeah. I sent some pics to the engine builder, he called me with in ten minutes, couldn't believe that he did that. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. He said whatever it takes to make it right.

[C500]

What was the main problem of bad brakes - the cap on the booster missing or something else too?

[Kern Dog]

Yeah. I sent some pics to the engine builder, he called me with in ten minutes, couldn't believe that he did that. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. He said whatever it takes to make it right.

Am I seeing that right? The crank sprocket is 3 teeth off? That is over 24 degrees retarded.

[Mopar Nut]

After going around with the engine builder numerous times I finally had a Mopar mechanic look at it. He said I had a massive vacuum leak. I swapped the intake and it cured some of the issue. Went back to the builder again and he said that probably the cam I supplied doesn't work well with the heads and suggested a set of 906 or aluminum heads. At that point I said fu*k it and ran the car as is until I had time to pull the motor. Finally had time to pull the motor last weekend. Yeah, not real happy at this point.

Glad you found the problem, good catch.

[Mopar Nut]

Yeah. I sent some pics to the engine builder, he called me with in ten minutes, couldn't believe that he did that. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. He said whatever it takes to make it right.

Did the engine builder make it right?

[NHCharger]

Yeah. I sent some pics to the engine builder, he called me with in ten minutes, couldn't believe that he did that. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. He said whatever it takes to make it right.

Am I seeing that right? The crank sprocket is 3 teeth off? That is over 24 degrees retarded.

Unfortunately, yes you are seeing that right. He was pretty embarrassed when I stopped over to talk to him about this. He said bring it back and he would do a complete tear down and fix whatever is needed. I plan on bringing it over after I get back from Carlisle.
The other half of the story- a buddy of mine has a 68 GTX with a non #s 440 (mild build). He decided it didn't make enough HP so he had his spare 440 built for 600+ HP, he sold me his old 440 (only used one season, 1,200 miles) for 5k. Complete engine except for the altenator and pulleys. While waiting for that I had the tranny gone thru and bought a new torque converter from Dynamic Converters in NJ. Got everything back together last month. The Daytona clone now has some serious giddy up. Plans for my old 440... I have a 88 RC 4x4 in beautiful condition with a tired 318.Will be doing an engine swap this winter.