Got a project 70, now the fun/pain begins

[toocheaptosmoke]

Sounds good.  Where's the vid of it in action?

He has a vid somewhere on vhs from years back, it currently sits with a blown rear axle.  Also needs some new valve springs because the cam is so aggressive that you have to back off the rockers if it would sit for a while, so no redline until that gets taken care of.  Also has the rest of the jets for a 300 hp shot of nitrous.   I guess in some classes he used to run paddle tires and skim across the pit if the water was deep enough. 

[Homerr]

looks good, i dare say a stick shifted 318 is cooler than an automatic hemi 

This is true.

Here's some manual trans/smallblock Mopar action for ya:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG0oczi6tlc

[toocheaptosmoke]

Nice.    Wonder how many 318/manual combos are out there?  5 on the tree would be something! 

[Baldwinvette77]

so whats next are your To-do list? mine is is to finish up welding the rear body among other things, then subframe connectors   

[toocheaptosmoke]

The current "short list" is:


-figure out WTF I need for a driveshaft slip yoke, so I can get a driveshaft ordered
-modify the trans mount to fit new tranny
-prime the oil pump
-fit the distributor and get the timing close
-put some new parts on the steering column electrical
-rebuild my quadrajet carb

Kind of have the urge to get things settled enough to see if the motor will fire. 

[Baldwinvette77]

One way or another there will be a "fired engine"  Goodluck 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Found a good way to kill most of a saturday, worked on the trans mount.  At first it looked like I could make a stock mount work with a bit of trimming, but it ended up needing a lot more hacking than first anticipated.  If I was to do it again it might have been easier to just start from scratch.


Initial cuts,




Kept the inner strap, just bent in down to re-form it.








Cut more, made drop down brackets, and a perch for the mount.  I didn't know what mount to even start with, so I found one for a GM th400 for $2.99 on summit and decided to just make that work. 







Final iteration, still needs a couple tweeks, but pretty much done.  I really hated taking that much out of the center section, so we'll see how it holds up.

[JB400]

I think I'd add a couple gussets where it's thinnest, but other than that, looks great

[Baldwinvette77]

note to self: attempt to make one from scratch  , nice work though, cutting things to pieces is awesome 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Yeah, I think a couple gussets running down the "corners" to where the mount sits should tie things together nicely. 

The original mount was surprisingly flimsy, like 12 or 14 gauge steel.  I guess it doesn't have to do much except but support some weight, but still...

[Baldwinvette77]

Yeah, I think a couple gussets running down the "corners" to where the mount sits should tie things together nicely. 

The original mount was surprisingly flimsy, like 12 or 14 gauge steel.  I guess it doesn't have to do much except but support some weight, but still...

remember even though its flimsy as it sits flat, its strong when its stood upwards or twisted side to side... probably 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Well, just dropped the biggest chuck of change since I bought the car!   500 bucks for a driveshaft!  I think I finally have everything sorted out as far as the slip yoke splines go.  I was able to compare an a833 output shaft along with a slip yoke to my tranny.  I used pins to measure the diameters of the output shafts from the sides of the splines.  Both output shafts are within .002" of each other, and the old slip yoke fits the same on either one.  So, we're going to go with the 727/a833 slip yoke and keep fingers crossed.  I have it on order from Denny's, they have been nice to deal with.  Of course the mopar parts are more expensive...




Had to take apart the steering column again, found a shorted wire in the ignition switch and the turn signal worked like crap.











Have the engine tilted back about as far as it could ever go, so hopefully it should have a bit more clearance when the trans mount is installed.  Had to put a notch in the firewall and trim the bottom of the wiper motor.  Look at that nice original gold paint under the red. 




Hammer time wasn't enough to put a dent in the firewall, had to start chopping!









Set the pinion angle on the axle,




Then yanked it out and buzzed the perches on






Cut off the rusty dust covers and some other brackets.






Chucked it back in for hopefully the last time

[Baldwinvette77]

Sounds like you needed a bigger hammer, but cutting stuff up is close 2nd  and damn 500$ for a driveshaft, did you consider cutting down a longer one? a local driveline shop would cut one, reweld and balance it for 90$ 

[toocheaptosmoke]

One way or another there will be a "fired engine"  Goodluck 

You just had to say this...    When I was putting a couple of tacks on the firewall and I had a welding blanket over the engine and stuff.  Was thinking that the old gold paint must really have some serious shit in it, cause it's smoking like hell just from a few tacks!!  Then minor panic when I pulled the welding blanket up to find some flames.  Some spatter must have ricocheted under the blanket and caught the paper towels I had plugging the holes on the engine!  No damage, and no one was watching, so it's all good.  

[Baldwinvette77]

One way or another there will be a "fired engine"  Goodluck 

You just had to say this...    When I was putting a couple of tacks on the firewall and I had a welding blanket over the engine and stuff.  Was thinking that the old gold paint must really have some serious shit in it, cause it's smoking like hell just from a few tacks!!  Then minor panic when I pulled the welding blanket up to find some flames.  Some spatter must have ricocheted under the blanket and caught the paper towels I had plugging the holes on the engine!  No damage, and no one was watching, so it's all good.  

CALLED IT!!!, The important thing is that noone saw 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Sounds like you needed a bigger hammer, but cutting stuff up is close 2nd  and damn 500$ for a driveshaft, did you consider cutting down a longer one? a local driveline shop would cut one, reweld and balance it for 90$ 

The problem I was finding is that a lot of the driveshafts in the length I needed were either 2 piece shafts or huge stuff from like 3/4 tons, or aluminum.  And before I found out an a833 slip yoke would work I was limited to looking for a dodge shaft that used my nv3500 2wd tranny, which are not common.  Local shop would have cost a lot more than $90 to re-tube something to lengthen it, add in the new flange and joints, and it wasn't worth the effort, IF I could get a reasonably priced new one.   I originally thought it was going to cost around 300 or so, which wasn't bad at all, even up to 400 maybe.  But add 50 here and there, plus oversize shipping, and 500 bucks.    I almost held off, but this has been such a PITA I just said heck with it.  I'm sure I'll trip over the exact thing I need this weekend at the local swapmeet, for like $10.00... 

[Baldwinvette77]

Sounds like you needed a bigger hammer, but cutting stuff up is close 2nd  and damn 500$ for a driveshaft, did you consider cutting down a longer one? a local driveline shop would cut one, reweld and balance it for 90$ 

The problem I was finding is that a lot of the driveshafts in the length I needed were either 2 piece shafts or huge stuff from like 3/4 tons, or aluminum.  And before I found out an a833 slip yoke would work I was limited to looking for a dodge shaft that used my nv3500 2wd tranny, which are not common.  Local shop would have cost a lot more than $90 to re-tube something to lengthen it, add in the new flange and joints, and it wasn't worth the effort, IF I could get a reasonably priced new one.   I originally thought it was going to cost around 300 or so, which wasn't bad at all, even up to 400 maybe.  But add 50 here and there, plus oversize shipping, and 500 bucks.    I almost held off, but this has been such a PITA I just said heck with it.  I'm sure I'll trip over the exact thing I need this weekend at the local swapmeet, for like $10.00... 

no kidding, and yup, isnt it great how that works? i paid 100$ for front bumper brackets, 1 month later i bought a front bumper WITH brackets for 50$ 

[projectanimal]

Nice work!!! 

I just ordered the same turn signal wiring and hope to see that end of the week, and then it's off with the steering wheel for the 8th time!   

Keep up the progress and the pictures!!!! 

[PocketThunder]

One way or another there will be a "fired engine"  Goodluck 

You just had to say this...    When I was putting a couple of tacks on the firewall and I had a welding blanket over the engine and stuff.  Was thinking that the old gold paint must really have some serious shit in it, cause it's smoking like hell just from a few tacks!!  Then minor panic when I pulled the welding blanket up to find some flames.  Some spatter must have ricocheted under the blanket and caught the paper towels I had plugging the holes on the engine!  No damage, and no one was watching, so it's all good.  

CALLED IT!!!, The important thing is that noone saw 

Or heard about it.,....   

[toocheaptosmoke]

Had the two braces from like a '66 motor, which came with the motor mounts I had got.  They didn't really fit, but after some tweaking and welding they'll work. 






If you've ever wondered how much of your wiper motor you can chop, see below,











Went to the local parts-a-rama swap meet and came home with a bunch of crap.  Of said crap, $9.00 was spent on charger related parts, got the pair of mirrors and by amazing luck they exactly fit the non-stock holes drilled in my passenger door! 

[Baldwinvette77]

did you leave the wiper motor open?, if so, expect water, dirt and a family of wasps to call it home   seriously though, cap it off   also nice mirrors, cant go wrong for that price, and while on the topic of useless crap, my missmatched doors didnt come with keys, i found a corvette lock cylinder and key, already modified it to fit the drivers door, now if i can just figure out where i left the other one...   guess i could just shave off the passenger lock, dont really need one i guess..

[toocheaptosmoke]

I'll cover it up somehow, sounds like a job for the black duct tape.    It was nice to get in there and put some fresh grease on all the plastic gears, so hopefully that should help extend its life. 





Went to work on the carb, it was originally off like a '78 Buick with a 350 I think.  I had ordered rebuild kit from Cliff Ruggles when I was going to replace the electronic Q-jet on my '84 oldsmobile, but ended up just leaving the original carb on it.  So, we'll see how close it is jetted, I know it will require some tuning.  Cliff's book has a lot of good information in it.







Toe it down,






Back together,

[Baldwinvette77]

Im not sure if a charger forum will give a crap about rebuilding q-jets  , but cool, although it still looks the same 

[toocheaptosmoke]

During the 80's there were mopars that came with Q-jets from the factory!      So, if you average the age of the charger and the age of the engine, it falls right into that time period...   

[Baldwinvette77]

My corvette came with a carter  could be cool to rebuild and reuse... if i can remember where i threw it