Got a project 70, now the fun/pain begins

[toocheaptosmoke]

About time we pulled this thing back out of the barn and got to work.    Yard has been a bit swampy from the spring thaw, but may try to get it down to the house this weekend.  Have been grabbing a few pieces here and there.


Didn't like the old air filter setup, it hit the hood and seemed pretty weak on the filtration aspect.  Found a low profile aluminum intake plenum that should hopefully work a lot better.  Also got a K&N to keep the dirt out.  It's a bit too shiny for my liking, but since it's under the hood we can let it slide. 





Holy crap, can't believe what a rare car this is!!

[Baldwinvette77]

Holy Shit Man,a 440 Hemi toploader car? Forgive me for going all purist on you, But you REALLY need to restore that car back to stock!

[bakerhillpins]

Holy crap, can't believe what a rare car this is!!

Now that's funny.   

    

[timmycharger]

   Love it

[70 sublime]

Be carefull with that fender tag now that there is pictures of it on the web
You can not change it or restore it or add any more options to upgrade your car or you will be labelled a scamer 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Last week we got the vintage air heater system buttoned up working finally.  Works pretty good, throws a lot of air for such a small system!





Also battled a thermostat housing leak, took 4 tries to finally stop the seepage... 





Put a fresh coat of sealer primer onto the back half of the car.  The color of the cap on the cans looked to be darker than it actually was.  Turned out to be the same color as was already on it.  It's very un-satisfying painting something the same drab color.   

Was able to do some window shopping while painting.




Got around to installing the air/fuel ratio gauge, so far it really kicks ass in helping see what adjustments the carb needs. 




(note the old t-stat housing in the background  )






Test fit the rear seat






Put in some seat belt extensions to keep the belt from trying to strangle you.






Put the tail light trim back on








Last year I put the car on my regular insurance policy, which at the time was the easiest and least restrictive.  Now that I'm actually going to start driving it some more I'm a bit worried I could get really screwed if something happens.    I've got comprehensive and collision on the car, but the ins. company says they can't give me an idea of what the car is actually covered for, only "replacement value."  They don't have a problem coming up with a price for my rate though.   

So anyways, I called them up to ask about an agreed value policy again.  Looks like there will be an appraiser coming out to look at the car.  When asked what I would sell the car for, I threw out a number, 15k?    That's a tough question because I'm sure the car is worth a lot more to me than it is on the market.  I'm a bit concerned the appraiser is going to come out and slap a $2000 value on it.     Any guesses on how badly this may go???  I know that footprint gas pedal is really hurting me. 

[Baldwinvette77]

Nice Work, As for appraisal, 2000$ seems about right, most less than perfect vintage cars that aren't R/T, SS, GT or whatever are about the 2000$ mark or atleast thats how it is in southern ontario 

[Ghoste]

I haven't seen a 2nd gen Charger for 2k in southern Ontario for many years and I think even then it was just a rolling shell.

[hawkeye]

Worth $10K all day long.

[toocheaptosmoke]

Should be working on the interior, radio, etc.  Instead, I've been screwing with the carb for the past 2 weeks...    Ya I know, I deserved some of this from using a Q-jet...    It has an off idle/cruise hesitation when getting on it that I can't get rid of.  A/F ratio gauge has been a HUGE help though in seeing whats going and how my jetting and adjustments have been affecting things.  Think I have to take the carb down and try necking down some lower air bleed passages, that's about all I have left to try.  On the plus side, I am amassing a nice collection of Q-jet jets and springs, and can change them in like 15 minutes. 

As a side note, the old cupped mud tires I have in the back are louder than the exhaust at highway speeds.  Definitely need to get another couple wheels and some real tires this summer.

[ionracer24]

Started tearing crap out of the front end with extreme prejudice







Upon closer inspection I found that my K frame had a close encounter with a ditch or something, and was turned into a Special-K frame. 





Hammer time!






Making room for the sway bar





Welded up the seams and some potential weak spots.  Everything else looked good.

lmao!!! special k

[ionracer24]

If ur intake manifold is a single plane, u might as well throw that q-jet in the garbage, because u will never get it right.  They were never meant for that application and i guarantee that's where ur hesitation is coming from..

[Baldwinvette77]

If ur intake manifold is a single plane, u might as well throw that q-jet in the garbage, because u will never get it right.  They were never meant for that application and i guarantee that's where ur hesitation is coming from..

Thats a good point, I did a 2 day course in college about that... If the teacher wasn't so boring i'd probably have remembered.... SERIOUSLY, HOW DO YOU MAKE PERFORMANCE PARTS SOUND BORING? 

[toocheaptosmoke]

It's a 2 plane manifold, Edelbrock Performer RPM.  I've had a thread going over on Cliff Ruggles Q-jet forum, he suggested checking the lower air bleeds as they may be too large on this particular carb, causing the lean spot.   I'm going to take it apart and see if we can make some changes, then go from there.  It feels a little bit like when your accelerator pump is bad, most noticeable when cruising in 4th at 1500 rpm and you give it throttle.   Other than that it works pretty well, easy starts and nice idle.  I've been getting the main primary jets dialed in and it has perked up a bit, but still no 2nd/3rd gear burnouts.    Have yet to bring the big secondaries online while trying to dial in the primary side first.

[PrisonHack]

 I love this project! 

[ionracer24]

It's a 2 plane manifold, Edelbrock Performer RPM.  I've had a thread going over on Cliff Ruggles Q-jet forum, he suggested checking the lower air bleeds as they may be too large on this particular carb, causing the lean spot.   I'm going to take it apart and see if we can make some changes, then go from there.  It feels a little bit like when your accelerator pump is bad, most noticeable when cruising in 4th at 1500 rpm and you give it throttle.   Other than that it works pretty well, easy starts and nice idle.  I've been getting the main primary jets dialed in and it has perked up a bit, but still no 2nd/3rd gear burnouts.    Have yet to bring the big secondaries online while trying to dial in the primary side first.

Have u checked for vacuum leaks?  Does the distributor have vacuum going to it?

[toocheaptosmoke]

Have u checked for vacuum leaks?  Does the distributor have vacuum going to it?

Nope, doesn't seem to have any vacuum leaks.  Funny thing is my idle has always been great and fully adjustable, it's just during "tip-in" that it stumbles.  Increasing the accelerator pump shot helps, but it doesn't eliminate the problem completely.  I have run the vacuum advance connected and blocked, never really made a difference. 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Appraiser guy stopped by couple weeks ago, did a real quick inspection while I was at work.  Dad was home, but he never even wanted to hear it run.    Apparently he said something about he could see it was originally a 440 from the vin tag.    They sent me a price increase bill before the appraiser came out, and I haven't heard anything since, so I guess I'm good. 




Still haven't got the carb issue sorted out. 

Plan B was to ditch the Q-jet and put a (gasp) holley on there.  But, then I saw the price of holleys...

On to Plan C, which was to throw some money at the problem and buy a few more metering rod sets and try some new things with the carb.  That hasn't worked either, half the rods were the wrong size...

Plan D, find that disassembled grungy old Q-jet in a box out in the barn that I forgot about, toss it together and see what happens.  Turns out somebody warped the crap out of that carb...




Plan E, start to look for another cheap Q-jet on fleebay, then decide to hell with it and just try to un-warp the carb I've got.  Not like it's mint to begin with.









Put the rear door panels in and started putting in the new window felts.  Found out I'm missing those j clip things for the one trim piece, need to figure out something for those.  Door panels are from a '68 and didn't have the holes for the seat belts.  I tell ya, this black/white/green/grey interior scheme is gonna be schweeeet. 

[Baldwinvette77]

DAMN, Thats things Restored now 

[jaak]

Put the rear door panels in and started putting in the new window felts.  Found out I'm missing those j clip things for the one trim piece, need to figure out something for those.  Door panels are from a '68 and didn't have the holes for the seat belts.  I tell ya, this black/white/green/grey interior scheme is gonna be schweeeet.  

On the j-clips, I had a couple broke, missing. You can simply use a longer screw with a speed nut, but the only problem is the quarter glass will have to be removed because the speednut will have to be held with a wrench while you tighten the screw. I know it requires removing parts you already installed, but hey, its just labor, next to nothing costs involved.

Rear door panels look great! I would love to have them simply because they were manufactured 9 years to the day I was born (Dec 27), got some green ones I would trade ya, but you wouldn't want to anyways, because my green ones look worse.
Keep up the good work  ,
Jason

[toocheaptosmoke]

Careful using the "R" word 


Sounds like the one rear window may be coming out then, those are the only pieces on the car I didn't take apart.    Jaak, if you're interested in the panels we could probably work something out.     However, the panels definitely look better in the picture than in real, they have the edges pealing up and are a bit warped.  Then I drilled holes in them for the seatbelt bolts.    Got the whole set last year at carlisle, was the only cheap set of door panels I could find there.  Seller was telling me about how they had the correct dates and stuff for a '68, and I was like yeah they're going in a '70. 




Another problem I'm having is that my flasher blinker has started randomly clicking, even though the lights aren't flashing or turned on. 


Here's a quick vid from trying to get rid of the stumble,
http://youtu.be/vbURvnKEVlM

[Baldwinvette77]

Have anymore exterior shots now that the snows gone? 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Have anymore exterior shots now that the snows gone? 

Road side kit pieced together from random parts.








Used about 5 cans of fluid film so far, anti-corrosion coating.







Picked this up at the local swap meet for $13. 







Then the camera batteries died, so it was back to the cell phone.    Also got plan F(?) at the swap meet, we're going to find a Q-jet that works one way or another.  For now though, I got the current one working enough to be drivable. Really need to drive the car, only put 200 miles on it so far, almost all within a few miles of home.







Put a couple 3.5" Pyle speakers in the stock speaker holder.  I know they probably suck, but I got a heck of a deal on them a while back.  What a pain trying to get this thing fit back into the stock location, my new heater controls were in the way.








Then some friends decided I needed to have an intervention... Apparently it was about some show that I've never watched a single episode of. 

[Baldwinvette77]

NICE 

And Dukes of hazzard? Never heard of it, whats the car they're leaning on, a 67 camaro??? 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Finally got around to sealing up the front an rear windows.  I was warned about how messy the bedding/glazing compound was, they weren't kidding!     Front came out half decent, the rear, well...  Hopefully it's all water tight.








Found the right size convex mirror and stuck it on the passenger side mirror, now I can at least somewhat see cars on that side.





Things are really getting serious now, the radio went in!   






Still need some longer RCA cables, but also got the sub in the trunk.  Going to have 3.5's up front and a 10" sub out back, who needs mid range??   Stole the sub and amp from my 1984 oldsmobile 98 that my mom is currently driving, she's not too happy about the loss of bump.    Also, I just realized that there is actually supposed to be a cover over the tail light housing in the the trunk.  Seamed to be a really bad idea just having all those wires exposed in the trunk. 






After I got the wiring in I finally put the seat and seat belts back in.







Now for the part that I'm sure made the Mopar gods cry a little, the trailer hitch.     The swap meet one was not going to work without a ton of work, so I just started from scratch.  Found some heavy angle and square tubing from the scrap pile and was able to create a bolt on receiver that uses the stock transport bracket holes. Installs and comes off in less than 5 minutes.  Don't plan on towing anything over 1500 lbs. or so.