I wanted my own Charger thread

[terrible one]

Eskridge, Kansas, sw of topeka.

do you solemnly swear to live by the power of the sunflower, praise dorothy as if she is hotter than jennifer beale, and to continue from this day forward to call Arkansas = R-Kansas, so help you God?

I swear    Wooo new Kansas Mafia member! 

[moparstuart]

Eskridge, Kansas, sw of topeka.

do you solemnly swear to live by the power of the sunflower, praise dorothy as if she is hotter than jennifer beale, and to continue from this day forward to call Arkansas = R-Kansas, so help you God?

I swear    Wooo new Kansas Mafia member! 

[terrible one]

Fired her up for the first time today! Started right up and died a couple times until fuel made it to the pump, then it was ON! Had a small fuel leak at the carb inlet that a simple tightening took care of. Ran her at about 2k RPM for 20 minutes with a few blips of the throttle mixed in and everything pretty much went perfectly! Sadly, there is an oil leak from the rear main seal I believe . . . no big deal though after this exciting milestone. I'll take a look at it tomorrow when I drain the beak-in oil and see about a fix. After that I just need to get the brakes ready as well as a few minor things and I can DRIVE this thing!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P0ozQACqCQ

[grdprx]

Fired her up for the first time today! Started right up and died a couple times until fuel made it to the pump, then it was ON! Had a small fuel leak at the carb inlet that a simple tightening took care of. Ran her at about 2k RPM for 20 minutes with a few blips of the throttle mixed in and everything pretty much went perfectly! Sadly, there is an oil leak from the rear main seal I believe . . . no big deal though after this exciting milestone. I'll take a look at it tomorrow when I drain the beak-in oil and see about a fix. After that I just need to get the brakes ready as well as a few minor things and I can DRIVE this thing!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P0ozQACqCQ

Sweet man!  Congratulations!!

[69bronzeT5]

Awesome bro!

[BB1]

Ummm I live in KC Missouri, does that count?

Or I'll just start a Missouri Mafia. 

[Charger-Bodie]

Ummm I live in KC Missouri, does that count?

Or I'll just start a Missouri Mafia. 

I though you moved to Arizona?

[PocketThunder]

Ummm I live in KC Missouri, does that count?

Or I'll just start a Missouri Mafia. 

I though you moved to Arizona?

Yes, but he moved back recently.

[moparstuart]

Ummm I live in KC Missouri, does that count?

Or I'll just start a Missouri Mafia. 

I though you moved to Arizona?

we cant get rid of him he keeps coming back   

[Charger-Bodie]

Ah,I see.

[Roger 68 charger]

Great Job --- Good to hear it run!!!!

[terrible one]

Thanks everyone! It has been a long time coming. I agree, it is a great sound! Here's another clip after changing the break-in oil. Couldn't resist starting it one last time before I tear into it to make it stop leaking! I'm not sure why it put the video on sideways though . . . but either way I really like the idle and the engine cracks open pretty good. I'm hoping the Lunati 60302 was a good choice. We'll really see once I get to DRIVE it though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foADxFRevDc

[Roger 68 charger]

Do you know where the leak is coming from? Hopefully a valve cover or oil sending unit not tight!

[terrible one]

Do you know where the leak is coming from? Hopefully a valve cover or oil sending unit not tight!

Sadly looks like the rear main seal. Won't be much fun but at least it can be done without taking too much back apart.

[Skyview69]

Sounds real good!    Would love to see more pics.  Looks like you're real close to driving it!!

[terrible one]

Sounds real good!    Would love to see more pics.  Looks like you're real close to driving it!!

Thanks! I will have to take some pictures next time I have it out of the garage. I have Monday and Tuesday next week off from school so hopefully I can use the four day weekend to address the leak. Then it's the rear drum brakes, rubber hoses, parking brake cables, and whatever valves I need so I can stop and I'll be driving it! 

[terrible one]

Well it's been a long while since I've made a post here. I've just recently gotten back into the Charger after a couple of years of sitting collecting dust.

To catch up from that last post about the engine break-in:

Discovered that the oil leak was coming from the rearmost cam bearing. Whenever I put the engine together, young and dumb, I left the galley plug out  So I had to drop the trans in the garage all just to spend 5 minutes to tap that plug in. If only I had taken a little test drive beforehand- it turns out the transmission wasn't quite right either. After it was buttoned back up the trans would not shift right, started in 2nd if you put it in D, when it shifted from 2nd to 3rd it was like it had dropped into neutral. I put a few hundred miles on it around town this way, never shifting out of 2nd, never going over 45 mph.

I got ahold of a 3.55 suregrip gearset to go in place of my 2.76 peg leg, but during those short few hundred miles it became apparent it was junk: tons of backlash/ ka-thunk when shifting from park to drive, lots of metal collecting on the magnetic drain plug, etc.

In the midst of graduating college, my mom got really sick and ended up passing away. Instead of pursuing job opportunities Colorado I moved back to Arkansas to take care of the estate, probate, and all that mess, wow what a nightmare! The fact that I had other things to deal with as well as how my mom's passing affected me meant the Charger was on the back burner, and it sat from the end of 2011 to now. At least I started it occasionally and drove it around the yard every once in a while.

[terrible one]

So, a couple of weeks ago I got motivated. I was about to get into another project when I was reminded about the Charger and eventually got drawn back in.

The one thing I have no experience with is automatic transmissions. I bought the first 727 as "rebuilt" and was obviously let down. By now I was sick of fooling with it so instead of buying yet another project I called up John Cope and ordered a 727 from him. A month later it had been delivered to the bodyshop I work at. That was on Thursday, December 5th. I wasted no time, gathered up some co-workers, and put it in that Saturday, December 7th.

Holy crap what a difference! That day I really drove the car for the first time. I could finally just put it in "D" and go. Rock hard, crisp shifts right when I wanted them, downshifted correctly when I hit the on-ramp, couldn't resist hitting 90 mph and winding up the ol 383.

Sadly, I found that this only exacerbated the problem with the 3.55 suregrip gearset. With every shift I could fill a huge "clunk" and the last thing I wanted to do was mess up my brand new transmission when the differential failed.

So, I drove it home and parked it in the garage. But, I'm happy knowing the new trans is in. Pics below; excuse my ugly mug, but the light made for a real cool shot.

[Baldwinvette77]

Lame about the diff problem 

[terrible one]

Having just spent $1500 on the transmission, there was no way I could afford to buy a newly built gearset or even pay for someone to make mine right. The best I could do was to go out to the storage shed and round up the 2.76 peg leg gearset I had taken out that came with the car originally.

I cleaned it up and tested the pattern: beautiful. Backlash at .008. All good. When I took out the 3.55 gearset, aside from the metal on the drainplug there was metallic goop at the bottom of the housing as well as some bigger sized metal shavings. I took great care and a lot of time to clean out the axle housing to make sure I got it squeaky clean and installed the 2.76 gearset.

At that point I noticed the new transmission was leaking from the speedometer cable, so I ordered some new seals and put those in as well.

Once the rain finally stopped I took it on a drive. It is definitely disappointing to have the 2.76's in there. My converter, etc. is set up for the 3.55's. The car is not a slouch and will still spin the one tire quite easily, but it's definitely lacking in the take-off department now and I miss being able to burn them even after shifting into 2nd gear. But for now, this is damn well better than a shot 3.55 suregrip and it is fun getting on it and shifting into 3rd at 70mph. It's definitely fun to play with on the highway now. Once I get some more money together I will have the best of both worlds and then can swap for whatever I want, trips/ crusing vs/ stoplight to stoplight  

[terrible one]

So my next step is the windshield, mine is pretty bad. Not only is it cracked in several places but the hard water stains/ de-laminating really make it harder than necessary to see out of. Before I moved up the ladder at the shop I work for installing windshields was my bag so I will be able to put it in myself. I called my glass distributor yesterday afternoon and got the windshield on the way, my cost $66 but since it was for my personal vehicle they gave it to me for $49, funny thing was then the new Precision moulding was more than the glass at $62, but at a grand total of about $115 I won't complain. Urethane will likely be "on the house"   Hopefully I can do that one weekend after the holidays.

[tan top]

Hey T one  wondered where you been at 

[terrible one]

Lame about the diff problem 

Yeah that really sucks, but that's what I get for taking a gamble on a used one!   

Hey T one  wondered where you been at 

Hey buddy, glad to see you're still around here 

[cdr]

WELCOME back T-one

charlie

[grdprx]

Hey man!  Was wondering how you and the car were doing.
Sorry to hear about your mom, my condolences.
Glad you got one problem solved on the car. I bet it was fun tearing it up with the new tranny!