60 Dart Seneca 2dr.

[lloyd3]

We've been busy here.  A fairly thorough re-do of the stock brake system with an upgrade of the single pot master.  The original rear axle wasn't as bad a re-do as we (I) had figured. New seals and bearings, new slaves, and a fluid change was much easier than a complete change-out would have been. Time will tell, of course, but I'm guessing a fully functional system will be a big improvement over the oil soaked mess that he had. Still figuring on a conversion to discs when funding allows for it.  Now, maybe those giant holes in the rockers and rear quarters can be addressed?

[b5blue]

Very nice 

[RallyeMike]

Oh man, time to vault your garage roof!

[lloyd3]

Yeah, the low ceiling is a hindrance but...it's still darn useful. 

[lloyd3]

Big day here....my son drove his Dart to school today. A long time coming. Still lots left to do on it but.....he's finally getting to drive it. You'd think it was Christmas here last night. 

[b5blue]

Yay! No pics? 

[nvrbdn]

That's awesome!! Bet he was so excited he couldn't sleep.

[70 sublime]

But did he drive it to school again today ?

[lloyd3]

His mom took pictures....



The old battery didn't make the grade this morning so.....no.  Typical old car, eh?

[lloyd3]

More life lessons. Old cars and very cold weather (& snow) don't mix very well. 

[lloyd3]

Much rejoicing here! The boy has a new job for the Summer at Home Depot. This will allow for ongoing work to be slightly-less subsidized by the parental units. The most recent activity was largely fine tuning the previous work done after a few highway miles had been put on it. The solid-lifter valve system needed a final adjustment and lots of little leaks needed some attention. Even a few loose and missing bolts (!) needed to be addressed before another pass through the tender mercies of the Air-Care Colorado Program emission station, this time in Boulder, Colorado (near to where the car is being worked upon). Current speculation is that exposure to such a "gross-emitter" will send many of the on-the-ground employees into a state of panic upon viewing the metal crankcase-vapor tube that discharges to the atmosphere below the engine on the passenger side of the car. Most will likely require hot coco and trauma counseling in the Safe Space Area set aside in their facility there.  Pay attention to the national news for ongoing updates...



One of the leaks that required a bit more follow-up was the oil pump. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the original unit had developed some serious challenges since the initial assembly of the engine last Fall (shocking amount of wear in the lobes of the impellor due to some form of very abrasive material (!). An immediate oil change revealed fairly-dark fluids  but no obvious clues for this particular problem.) Long story-short, this necessitated the replacement of the original aluminum-bodied unit with an aftermarket, cast-iron cased version (not a high-volume unit, which was mandated by the later hydraulic lifter versions)  this was, again, not very easy to come up with. Local auto-parts stores no-longer stock such an item (how many million slant 6 motors were made over the years?) The other discovery was that the engine needed to be lifted off of the passenger-side motor mount in order to remove and then replace it. With later cars ('63 and up) that wouldn't be an issue evidently, but the '60 through '62 slants aren't nearly as cooperative.  Ma Mopar at her finest yet again.

[lloyd3]

Minor update. Had the car over to a fellow car-nut's garage (big drag racer locally, and an exceptional metal fabricator) for his input on some body repair. We looked everything over on this 1st-year unibody unit and he showed us what to cut out and where. He then suggested the process we need to use to shape and tack-in replacement metal with gauge and forming tips.  It's all new to me but he made it sound very doable.  The car is running much better after another go-through on the carb. Even simple carburetors don't do well with several amateurs' rebuilding them and this little Carter is no exception. My son also learned a critical lesson about replacing a fuel filter and not bypassing them when you don't have one handy. He pulled the filter between the tank and the fuel pump and caused all sort of mayhem by not replacing it and just plumbing it in without it.  I guess he thinks I put it there for decoration? We also got caught-out in a fairly major spring snowstorm on the way back to Boulder. Cars were running off the road all around us but this little (well, ~4500lb) Seneca just trudged right through it, skinny little summer tires and all.  The wipers weren't overly inspiring  (intermittent stoppages for no obvious reasons) but we made it anyway. Oh yeah, we also passed emissions again, this time with flying colors.

[Kern Dog]

The OP messaged me at FBBO and stated that he was banned from here,
Why?
This guy never hurt anyone.   

[hemigeno]

See my reply in the other thread.  Probably not a "ban" at all, but I can't say why he's having issues or getting that message. 

Sorry...

[Bronzedodge]

That Seneca is really growing on me.  Good thread for sure.  Hope he squares away the techno glitch.  Or maybe a mod here can figure it out.

[Kern Dog]

See my reply in the other thread.  Probably not a "ban" at all, but I can't say why he's having issues or getting that message. 

Sorry...

Lloyd says that each time he tries to log in, it shows that he is banned forever.   

[nvrbdn]

That sucks!!  :brickwall:I enjoyed following this thread.

[hemigeno]

I've sent Troy a PM and email.  He's not always able to check in due to job & other issues, but I'm sure he'll address it when he can.

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. Lloyd has been sending me PMs at FBBO. 

[lloyd3]

Thanks to Kern Dog, Hemigeno and Troy (and my IT savvy wife) it would appear that I have returned. Evidently, in my recent travels I'd used a bad wifi connection somewhere (airport?) and it corrupted my IP address (according to this system). Had to clear out a few cookies before it would "unban" me.

[lloyd3]

Spent the last few days working on the Dart. Even though I'd advised against using it regularly (not ready for prime time just yet!) my son couldn't keep his hands off of it and had been driving it with some frequency. It wasn't starting well for him over at his girlfriends place and her father (another car guy) diagnosed a bad starter solenoid  (in 1960, the solenoid is on the firewall near the battery, not on the starter like more-modern versions). They replaced that and even the voltage regulator (bad idea!). The starter solenoid was a direct bolt-on replacement for the original but the "new" voltage regulator didn't exactly fit the original location.  The car did start (and much better than before) and run, but somehow the generator had gone out of service without anybody noticing. It ran on the battery for a few days and then....it didn't. The exhaust system has also continued to deteriorate to the point where it had become a significant liability (carbon monoxide and noise).  Rescued him in a rainstorm last Friday night and then put my foot down. Back to my buddy's shop in Boulder for bodywork and all the other problems. My son is now working steadily for the summer at new Ace Hardware near to our home, so now he can put a little more skin in the game(!).  A new Diehard battery on Saturday morning and we were back in Boulder that day. A second generator (bought from eBay as a backup last summer) and a review and replacement with the reworked original voltage regulator had resolved most of the charging issues (ever hear of polarizing a generator? I sure hadn't.)  I also replaced the rather smallish fuel filter he'd used between the gas tank and the fuel pump with a much larger clear plastic unit. This gas tank is still sending lots of very fine red rust into the system and regular reviews (and then changes) of that filter are critical for dependable function.  After disturbing the peace in my buddy's neighborhood by driving it around to test the charging system, I dropped it at a muffler shop up there yesterday for a complete exhaust system replacement. As luck would have it, the proprietor of said muffler shop is a Mopar guy himself (framed Ma Mopar musclecar pictures all over the walls). He's promised to exactly duplicate the exhaust system by using the remains of original as a template and bending up a new one. Should be able to pick it up in a few days and get on with the next phase of this ongoing project.



The world's busiest driveway.....

[lloyd3]

Who would have ever thought that a "plain-Jane" single pipe, bone-stock muffler system could look so-good to me?



And...it sounds even better than it looks, btw. Check out the divot in that oil pan we had to pound out...

The last step in quieting down this little 225 was a final lashing of the valves on this solid-lifter motor. After something of a junk-yard fire-drill to replace one badly worn tappet-adjustment screw (good luck finding one of those on short notice!) this ancient Dart is running pretty darn good now. Oh yea...also check out the vent tube spewing crankcase "vapor" to the left of the transmission pan.  Bad, evil, awful, & not-PC.

[Kern Dog]

Yeah....that exhaust looks great. The oil pan? Whoa! 

[lloyd3]

KD: Yeah, that oil pan is probably why this motor has two number 4 connecting rods.  I always remembered slant 6s sounding like a sewing machine engine and thankfully, this one does now too. Instead of the constant "blat" of a leaky exhaust you can now hear lots of the other operating noises this car makes. The push-button shift mechanism and the whine of that early 904 shifting gears is pretty unique. We even (finally!) got a decent spare tire for it and mounted in the truck using the original hardware. The last spare had come out of a distant junkyard (rim and tire off of a '60 Pioneer) and didn't hold air for very long. Nothing has been easy with this car (and is probably why decent, unabused versions cost so-much now).  The price I'm paying for having a baby seat strapped into in the back seat of my Charger for so-many of his early years.

[lloyd3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncLYIUsHXWE

This can't be real...