When did you last: Pull an engine-replace a clutch-rebuild a Holley?

[Kern Dog]

Rotate the tires? Reupholster a seat? Rewire a car? Replace a fender? Paint a car?
Change torsion bars? Install new shocks? Flush the coolant? Tune up your car? Drive 100 miles in the classic?

[b5blue]

Did you ever figure out why your 440 self destructed? 

[Kern Dog]

THAT is your response to the question here?
It must be fair to say that you don't have the interest, the skills, the tools or the place to work on your car even if you have one?
At the core, this IS a car forum specifically dedicated to the Dodge Charger. That would mean that the members should be for people that have an interest in the cars and hopefully own one of them. Taking it further, it would really be great if the owners actually had their own hands on their own cars..
To answer the question though...
My second 440 threw a rod at around 850 miles after the rebuild. The #4 rod broke between the big and little end. The piston flew up and slammed into the head bending both valves, then it split the cylinder wall. The big end stayed on the crank journal. The block could be sleeved and saved. I still have it. There was nothing wrong with the build, it was a metal issue on a rod that failed. I've made mistakes and had setbacks but rarely have screwed up an engine build.
Every engine in my old cars have been rebuilt by me. None are wild or exotic. My red car just has a 4.15 stroke and a solid lifter cam but nothing wild like a roller cam, belt drive, electric water pump, turbo/blower/nitrous or anything like that.
Come on, guys....When have you changed a clutch, tuned a Holley with air bleeds, power valves and jets?

[timmycharger]

Fun! ill play..

Rotate the tires? Reupholster a seat? Rewire a car? Replace a fender? Paint a car?
Change torsion bars? Install new shocks? Flush the coolant? Tune up your car? Drive 100 miles in the classic?

Can't rotate the tires on my Charger as the rears are way too big for the front.

I rebuilt all 3 of my holley six pack carbs myself in 2001

I re upholstered the fronts/rears of my Charger back in 2017ish..

Re wired the car in 2016 or 2017 including the headlight relay upgrade and the bulkhead bypass (Nacho)

We painted the jambs/trunk area and engine bay in 2016 in my garage.

Changed out my torsion bars around 2020 (finally took out the 318 bars, currently making a knife out of one of them)

Shocks - while fixing my rear axle leaks, I saw I lost 1 lower shock nut and washer and the other side was finger tight! Repaired now (with loc tite)

Coolant - never flushed coolant in my life (including my son's 2000 300m my Dad had since new, 245k miles)

Tune up - played around with timing and jets 3 years ago when I went to the drag strip, have not touched since.

100 mile trip - when I went to the track 3 years ago lol

[Kern Dog]

Hell yeah....
It is refreshing to see that there are still some guys that can and DO work on their cars here.

[b5blue]

  Dog you don't know me. I even know how A/C works. (The exact system that has you mystified.) Matter of fact I can size pics to one meg and understand why the data is limited here.
  My Charger has been paying the bills not some pretty boy toy. I kept it running with little help and resent you talking out your butt.  So yea I was interested in what you ended up doing with the roached 440, not insulting.

[Old Moparz]

Last major repair I did was a couple of years ago. I had heard a strange noise from my truck that wasn't the usual creaks, squeaks and rattles from a 20 year old vehicle. This was a clanging sound that had a deeper tone. 

Turns out that one of the leaves in the rear leaf spring was broken. New springs installed are $1200 to $1500. 

Had to do it myself with a junkyard spring for $75. Bought both sides but I only changed the broken one for now. It's always fun working on rusty parts from the northeast.  I need to get as many years out of this thing as I can.

Right Igor?

Igor?

[Kern Dog]

Dog you don't know me. I even know how A/C works. (The exact system that has you mystified.) Matter of fact I can size pics to one meg and understand why the data is limited here.
  My Charger has been paying the bills not some pretty boy toy. I kept it running with little help and resent you talking out your butt.  So yea I was interested in what you ended up doing with the roached 440, not insulting.

What was meant by "paying the bills" ?
You used past tense "kept it running" so I guess you don't have a Charger anymore?
Regarding pictures...Yeah, I can resize if I wanted. I've done it for years. It just sucks to do for one site of 7 that I visit when the others don't require it.
Air conditioning was never my thing. I always removed it in the classic cars that I've owned. It was something that I never cared to learn about until recently.
If a new member saw you talking shit to someone for not being an expert on something, two things may happen. First, they'd think you're an asshole for berating someone that is trying to learn. Secondly, they may decide to check out another forum like FBBO and not come back here.

[69hemibeep]

Hmm lets see. Replaced the 4 speed in my AMX yesterday. Back to installing the side glass on the Charger project followed by getting the motor home Road runner and trailer ready for the upcoming Route 66 show in Williams AZ then back to the Charger project. I'm sure I am forgetting something. Oh put the transfer case back into the Jeep.

[taxspeaker]

OK I'll play too. I've (not we, not others, not paid for, but me) done the following in last year. I keep meticulous notes of what I do or have others do and only listed what I did personally.

69 Daytona-clutch, PP and reinstalled tranny with help holding it up (I am 71 years old)

70 Black Ice Bird-complete brake job, replaced emergency brake kick mechanism, replaced steering gear & pitman arm, replaced steering wheel, replaced pinion seal and rear axle seals, replaced instrument panel that I had rebuilt by Steve Cutler, installed correct relays for fans, fogs & fuel pump,

70 Orange Bird: replaced engine wiring harness, numerous minor things-points, plugs, wires, bulbs, etc.

70 Red Bird: traced bad backup light harness & replaced, replaced leaking gas tank after sealing did not work, replaced incorrect front caliper with correct one after rebuilding myself, removed Pertronix and went back top points

[Kern Dog]

That is great!
I like to hear of guys of all ages digging in and getting things done.
When I bought my first one, I planned to do most of the work myself. I was disappointed in the responses I got from other Mopar owners that I spoke with at car shows. Too many guys farmed out the work on their car and they didn't know much about the details.
Bob the builder rebuilt the engine...Tony the Transmission guy built the 727, Disc Brake Jake installed the brakes, Dan PanelBammer did the bodywork, Jude the suspension dude rebuilt the front end, etc.
I wanted to talk with guys that did the work themselves. I had a Camaro that was set up for cornering and I wanted the same for the Charger.



Very few guys did all the work on their cars. I'd rather see an imperfect car with the owners handprints on it than a perfect restoration owned by a guy with clean, soft hands. 

[will]

Put the gas tank back in so I could back the car into the garage. I look at some of your work shops and I am jealous. If I have to do anything other than front of engine stuff, she comes out of the garage. I have a chimney on one side of the garage, so anything behind the passenger door doesn't happen. House was built in '54, I guess cars were smaller.
I need a lift, but that's not happening in this house.

[70 sublime]

I think this should count 
Car was just a shell when I bought it     

[Kern Dog]

Hell yeah, man...way to go!   

Today I installed the repaired speedometer in my Jigsaw car and drove it around the back yard.

[Charger_Dart]

Over the winter I replaced the axles and sure-grip unit in my Road Runner. I learned just how heavy a Dana 60 carrier assembly is when your on your back on the floor trying to get it installed!

I also pulled the engine and transmission to freshen them up. Did some paint work and tidy up the engine compartment in a 60 D100 I picked up recently.
Before

After

 

[Kern Dog]

How about this?



I had the speedometer out since it was stuck at 145. I had a shop fix it. I did ask what was wrong because I'd like to know how to fix another in the future. The man said "It was broke".....
Either he didn't feel like explaining or he figured I was the guy that may not need him if he told me how to fix the dang thing. It did not please me. I want to learn and do things myself.
I polished the clear gauge face cover....







   

[Kern Dog]

The glove box door hinge arrived this week. I sandblasted, primed and painted it. Rustoleum sure takes awhile to dry.





It hangs a little low on the left side. There is enough adjustment in the hinge to get that looking better.
I sure like the 1970 design better than the 68-69 where the door is hinged from above. 

[LaOtto70Charger]

Nice set of tools.

[Kern Dog]

Back on point.
For me, working on these cars is a huge part of why I own them. I would go bonkers if I owned a pristine car that was "finished". I wouldn't be satisfied just washing and driving it.....I have to change things up to stay interested.
The Jigsaw Charger helps with that. I didn't break any new ground there...It is a fairly stock 383, front disc/rear drum and a 3.91 gear.



It is an ongoing project.

[armor64]

recently: Pulled Stock 68 heads off the 440, to swap to Edelbrock Aluminum heads, at the same time, added dougs headers, dropped the 727 for a rebuild (slipping clutches), and learned that a transmission hides a gallon of fluid in reserve for when you least expect a deluge across the workbench.... LOL. 

Last year, i picked up a 1995 Yukon for my sisters family, they needed a reliable, and cheap vehicle to get around town with the kids. I spent most of 2023 (can only really work on sat/sun) building it up instead of working on my stuff, had to replace both rockers, replace 1 fender, 1 quarter fender lip, and repaint to match, then rebuild entire rusted out exhaust. but at 450,000km, it still has 40psi oil pressure and starts every time.

Before that, in fall 2022, it was fixing rust on my 78 GMC, replacing the windshield and gasket after painting the roof white.
Before, Before that, it was fixing and repainting the rear fender on my dads 51 chevy truck, someone crunched it in a parking lot...

[Kern Dog]

Nice set of tools.

Ha ha...
The stuff I do can be replicated by anyone with some mechanical interest. I'm always learning. Many guys do stuff far beyond my skill level.
Sadly, many guys either lack the skill or the desire to work on their cars as much as they used to.

[John_Kunkel]

As one ages, sooner or later skill and desire will be trumped by ability.

[Kern Dog]

The day will come where we will have the knowledge but not the physical ability.
I hope for everyone else's sake that those days are way in the future.
For me, I'm still able. What I am lacking is the same level of drive that I had before. I retired in late 2022 with intentions of working on these cars a LOT more. I find that if I'm not on a deadline, it is easy to procrastinate. I spend way too much daylight time online when I could be spinning wrenches.
I wish there were more car guys near me.
One buddy of mine did retire today. He has a 69 Coronet too!



His car is the one on the lift in the background. Last year, we swapped in a Tremec 5 speed at my place. He also has a 68 Dart.



Having another enthusiastic Mopar guy around will be great.

 

[moparguy01]

Not sure I could, but pretty Much nothing automotively you could say I havent done in the past 2 years. It doesn't hurt that I teach auto shop.

I'm just resealing a 7.3 powerstroke, boy what a pain.

Boy, my phone really hosed that up. Fixed it. Good thing I don't teach English! Lol

[Kern Dog]

I guess you must get burned out. I can understand that.