MP 528 cam went flat, good time to make a few changes.....

[c00nhunterjoe]

They look really good powder coated a semigloss black.

[Kern Dog]

Powdercoated.....That may have worked if I had a dude at a place that owed me favors. I'm only guessing but I suppose they'd charge me over $400 to clean, blast and coat a K member.
I already had primer, base coat black and Matte clear that I bought for under $300. I think it turned out well.

[Kern Dog]

I have all the parts painted and coated but decided to upgrade the tie rods and sleeves to the larger 11/16" size. I replaced one inner when I swapped in the Borgeson steering box and now I see that one outer feels sloppy. All 4 were installed new in 2003. If two were going out, the other two may not be far behind. The larger ones are a common upgrade. I ordered through PST. Solid sleeves in steel, not aluminum. I appreciate weight savings but aluminum threads there don't give me confidence.

[Kern Dog]

The PST tie rod ends and sleeves arrived a couple weeks back. One sleeve was banged up during shipping. PST sent out a replacement.
The K member was set back on the cart for reassembly. The steering box is back in along with the idler arm and steering linkage. LCAs and strut rods are in. Sway bar too. The PST tie rod assemblies are robust. They add one pound each per side but the weight gain is worth it to have the durability.

[Kern Dog]

As crappy as it sounds, I'm still waiting on machine work!
Yeah....10 weeks and counting. The machinist didn't have to pour the molten metal into a mold and create the dang engine block. The heads didn't even need to be rebuilt. I had the block bored, honed and decked. Pistons pulled from the rods. Heads resurfaced a small amount but he didn't even clean the heads. I had to scrub the chambers to clean off the carbon. One cam bearing came loose and will have to be replaced due to a strange ridge on the journal. The next bearing will have to be installed from the back of the block.
I painted the block catalyzed enamel GoManGo orange and it really shines! The water pump and housing, intake and heads were painted dull aluminum and then clearcoated. The new pistons are heavier that the old ones so I had to have the rotating assembly balanced. I'm waiting on that too.
Some of you might recall the video that made the rounds a couple months ago.....the Red '64 Mercury that had a stuck throttle and brake trouble. THAT video inspired me to upgrade my own brakes. I ordered everything through Dr Diff.....13" front brake kit, 11.7" rear brake kit and a hydroboost unit. THIS car will STOP better than anything I've ever owned!

[70 sublime]

Do you still have your second Charger so you can get your " fun car fix " while waiting on machine shop for your engine ?

[Kern Dog]

Yes I do!
I have a few projects going so there isn't really any down time where I have nothing to do. ITs just that I wanted to get this car back together to drive it more this summer.

[Kern Dog]

I had some delays that really put a kink in the project.
The machinist took a long time to do the work and it wasn't like I was getting much done. I wanted him to bore and hone, install the crank and pistons to establish deck height and deck the block to achieve .005 to .010 piston below deck. I need this to get the compression ratio where I want it.
The heads were fine but I asked him to do a light resurface to aid in head gasket sealing.
To recap:
Bore and hone.
Install crank, rods and pistons to establish deck height, then surface the decks to the desired number.
Clean block.
Install cam bearings.
Resurface heads.
This took 9 weeks and the guy isn't even that busy. His work is excellent and his prices are fair though.
He doesn't have a way to balance cranks though and these new pistons are 100 grams heavier than the old ones.

[Kern Dog]

I brought the block home but had to take the crank, rods, pistons and rings to another shop for balancing. I painted the block with catalyzed enamel in GoManGo orange. This really glows!

[Kern Dog]

The spray can paint jobs I've done always seem to dull out, chip and peel. This ought to stay looking nice for awhile.
I painted the water pump housing and intake too....

[Kern Dog]

While I was waiting for the balance job, I started working on the brakes.
Some of you may recall seeing the YouTube video of that crash involving the red Mercury Comet....the one where the idiot kept driving it despite a sticky throttle and small brakes?
This inspired me to UPsize the brakes in the car. I made an order with Dr Diff. 13" Cobra front disc brake kit and the 11.7" rear disc kit and.....HYDROBOOST!

[Kern Dog]

I have been weighing the parts that I have swapped.
Removal of the power booster and iron master cylinder was 15 lbs but the Hydroboost unit weighs 14. That is essentially a trade.
The front brakes though.....

[Kern Dog]

The 12" Cordoba brakes add up to 42 lbs. Check out the weight of the bigger brakes!

[Kern Dog]

That is a savings of 7 lbs per side while having better braking.

The LCAs, strut rods, spindles, lower ball joints, center link and sway bar were all sandblasted and then coated with Rust Preventative Magic....a coating that preserves bare metal. This will be better than paint and allow these parts to look natural finish.

[Kern Dog]

Here is a peek at the hydroboost setup:

[Kern Dog]

The white caps are blocking off the pressure ports. The one on the left comes directly from the power steering pump. The port on the right goes to the steering box. The HB unit has a return line port too. To make this work, I needed a power steering pump and reservoir with 2 nipples for fluid return. I took my original pump and swapped it and the brackets into a reservoir from a junked mid 90s Chevy truck with Hydroboost.

[Kern Dog]

The Chevy reservoir is larger than my car version. This is better because it will hold more fluid. All the parts switched over and fit fine.

[Kern Dog]

The hydroboost unit is paired with a 2 bolt aluminum master cylinder spec'd for an 85 Dodge D-150. The bore size is 1 1/8".

[Kern Dog]

I made brake lines and installed them, then moved to the rear brakes.
I had ordered the 13" front kit and the 11.7" rear kit, both with matching drilled and slotted rotors. The existing rear brakes are also from Dr Diff, installed in 2006.

[Kern Dog]

For years I was under the assumption that my rear rotors were the smaller 10.7" versions but they are the larger versions. The new ones are identical in size but are drilled and slotted.
I didn't have to change mounting brackets or crack open the calipers. I just exchanged rotors.

[Kern Dog]

When I went to mount a rear wheel & tire, it seemed like I had an inadequate length on the wheel studs so I replaced them with these from Dorman.

[Kern Dog]

I made new rear brake lines and considered the rear brakes completed.
I have been waiting and waiting for the engine stuff since I dropped off the block and heads in JUNE. The machinist did his thing and I got the engine back over a month ago but there have been other delays. He found that the new pistons were 100 grams heavier than the old ones and he didn't have the equipment on site to to balancing. I had to take the rotating assembly elsewhere. THAT took almost a month.
Now I have what I need here to get moving on the engine.
I painted the block with catalyzed urethane enamel in the color of GoManGo.

[Kern Dog]

I cleaned the heads and ran them through the dishwasher along with the intake...

[Kern Dog]

The intake and heads were painted with high temp dull silver, then covered with 3 coats of matte clear for protection.

The balance job was completed on Thursday so I began by putting the rods and pistons together. The pins are held in by Spiro-locks.

[Kern Dog]

I had 4 rods on the wrong way and 4 on correctly. This was my first time putting rods and pistons together. I've built several engines but this is my first time with Spiro-Locks and fully floating pins. My machinist always pressed the pins in the other engines I've done.