Got a project 70, now the fun/pain begins

[toocheaptosmoke]

Haha, it's for the A/F ratio gauge, don't worry I didn't go fuel injection!

[AKcharger]

How did you fix the grill???

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I'm digging this car!  Reminds me of "Roadkill" on the Motor Trend Youtube channel.  Although, it's probably too nice for the Roadkill guys.

[Baldwinvette77]

How did you fix the grill???

Zip ties, pop rivets and an old refrigerator if i remember right 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Ayup, refrigerator shelves and some trim from the door handle. 



Reading on the forum reminded me about putting in a 3rd brake light, most of the junk I drive doesn't have them and there have been a couple close calls with people not seeing you're stopping.   So, off to ebay we go, click, sort by lowest price + shipping, done....  $8 shipped directly from china bought me an EXCELLENT BRAKE LAMP BEST BRIGHT.   Unfortunately, there weren't any poorly translated instructions included.     I wired it up to a battery and got zilch, popped the cover off and everything looked connected?  Tried another battery and still nothing.  Was about ready to toss it in the trash and send an email to the seller when I thought of something, since it is made in china, maybe they put the wire colors on backwards?  Sure enough, black is positive. 





As you guys probably figured out by now, I'm not bothered a whole lot by cosmetic issues.  However, wish I could find some black double sided tape to stick the light on there.     Also need to get some astro turf or something for the package tray.  Couple of 6x9's help round out the stereo.





Put in the vent duct, but since the original controls are gone I don't have a cable to open/close it.  Was going to try and hook it up to the hood latch cable which isn't attached to anything, but then I found a chip bag clip that works out just fine. 





The wiring on this car started off relatively organized, but it has pretty much started turning into a rats nest, need to take some time one day to tidy things up.  New devices just keep getting thrown it, 3rd brake lights, more speakers, amp wires, A/F gauge, cig. lighter, relays, etc.





Took it out for a quick drive to get some fresh gas today, had to drain the tank a bit while installing the fuel return line.  Sure felt good to romp on it a little bit, steering seems to be improved but it has a very slight pull to the left, need to check the alignment. 

[Baldwinvette77]

Nice Brake light, i might have to get one 

i made diamond plate floor mats for my charger, got a rear veiw mirror from a honda civic that bolts to roof, and also got a safety inspection sheet and got plates for it. 

still hunting for a windshield though 

[toocheaptosmoke]

This has been an ongoing job ever since I got the car running, trying to get it tuned in the best it can be.  Taking the carb on and off 50 times doesn't make for very interesting pictures.    I want a nice smooth pull through all RPMs when wide open, but I also want a leaner cruising ratio for mpg's, is that too much to ask?     Having an A/F ratio gauge makes things even more apparent when you have a lean or fat spot.  It's slowly getting there, and I have also been getting an education in timing curves.  Sometimes the jobs that are most frustrating are the ones you learn the most from.  The summit carb had some areas where it was tuned to be VERY rich, like when the power valve opened up.  I had to epoxy restrictors into the carb body, and even then I'm further choking it down with pieces of wire!


Notes are very important. 




Also decided to try and add some stopping power, the manual discs weren't terrible, but at times they require more pedal pressure than I would like.  After reading many varying reviews, I figured the EBC yellow pads were worth trying.  Then I priced them out, $110!!  $110!!!!!!!  For f$&#ing brake pads!!!!  Argh...   They are breaking in now, we will see if they actually work and grab better than the old cheapos that came with the brake kit.  Also adjusted the upper control arms back out a bit, I had about 1* of camber.  The car had a better feel to the steering after the offset bushings, but it still seemed too sensitive, you could move the car around the road with 1/2" movement of the wheel?  Feels a little better after take some camber out, but still has a slight pull to the left, which wasn't there before I put on the offset bushings. 






Took the car up to a friend's camp to go fishing, looks like I was plowing some dirt with the headers.      I know I'm going to completely crush them one of these days, they hang down so low just begging to get bashed.

[Baldwinvette77]

110 for brake pads?? Jesus 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Update on the brake pads:  After the recommended break-in procedure I do have a noticeable improvement in stopping power, not quite like power brakes but I don't have to really stand on the pedal like I use to.  So, at least I got something for the money. 



Found out a weed trimmer won't quite fit in the trunk...





Did the steering pump pressure reduction mod and took it for a drive tonight, got rid of a lot of the floaty steering.    Of course the fitting in the pump wouldn't come loose and I spent a half hour busting my knuckles trying, should have just went with vise grips right off the bat...




Used an old copper brake washer for the new shim.





Uh oh...

[JB400]

  Hope you break in your tires correctly.

[Baldwinvette77]

Sweet rims man 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Old vs. new.   The BFG's have been great for traction in all weather, and good for mpg's.  I wanted the new tires to be wide but also shorter to effectively reduce my gear ratio.  They are 295/50/15's, the wheels are $54 specials from summit.  I got tired of trying to find used wheels on craigslist where everybody seemed to want 50-100 for old crap.     With the electric speedo I can recalibrate for the different tires in 5 minutes, so I can switch back and forth if I'm going to do a lot of highway driving.











Now, for no good reason, I might have to go on a 450 mile drive tomorrow to western NY.  ROADTRIP.  There's a 50% chance of thunderstorms, so we might find out how the new tires do.  But, gas is still relatively cheap, so why not?   

[Baldwinvette77]

Why the hell not indeed, AND if you paint the new wheels black, they'll be close to the wheels max had on his interceptor 

[toocheaptosmoke]

DUDE!! Could plasti-kote them so I could always go back to white if I wanted.

[Baldwinvette77]

OR you could paint them black, then paint them white if you wanted to go back to white 

[toocheaptosmoke]

True, but that would be a perfect excuse to try the plasti-kote stuff. 




Went up to NY and back today, car ran good and avoided the majority of the rain.  Did get caught in one downpour by Cuba NY, first time we needed hi gear on the wipers!  Lot of standing water on the road in a couple spots and we were definitely hydroplaning, but for the most part the fat tires in the back still gripped pretty well.   Probably also helped that I had like 500 lbs. of engines and crap in the trunk, you'd be surprised how much junk you can fit in a charger!

This shot doesn't do it justice, there's about 3 sled engines in there, shocks, clutches, pipes, starters, etc.  In the back seat I had boxes of more random crap, a set of triple pipes, and a track. 




Back end was sagging pretty good, glad I got the R/T springs.




Hope the negative arch isn't permanent. 





Was a pretty nice drive, I took the scenic (non interstate) route and went through Bradford, where everybody's favorite Brad Penn oil is made.   On way home when I stopped there was a '73 also getting gas.    Kind of disappointed in the mileage I got, averaged 18.2 over the whole trip.  Need to break into the 20's.    I recently changed timing curve which should have helped, but then I put on the smaller tires and raised my cruising rpm from 2200 to 2500 or so.  My off-idle circuit in the carb is also still on the rich side, I need to enlarge the air bleeds a little more.

[Baldwinvette77]

18 is freaking great in my book 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Yeah, it's not bad.  But when somebody makes a snide remark like "I bet that thing gets great mileage..."  I can be like, "Yeah, it gets about 21 mpg!" 



When I was up at the swap meet I parked in the vendors section because I was trying to sell some stuff.   I wish I could have gotten a picture of this, but it would have been too obvious.  I was standing across the path talking to a friend of mine when this guy walks over to my car and starts checking it out.  This dude had a KILLER mullet and ripped up jeans!  He saw the hurst shifter and foot print gas pedal and was losing it.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoqnSa1uRE
(WDVE has other mullet skits but can't find them on youtube)

[Baldwinvette77]

Hey smoke, Odd random question, but needed for research; Are the main bolts on your late model 318 metric or imperial? like heads, intake, crank, etc.

[toocheaptosmoke]

Pretty sure everything but the belt accessories were standard.    All the threaded holes in the block are standard.

[Baldwinvette77]

Awesome I spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out what bolts fit the t-56 throwout bearing until it hit me... METRIC   

im getting a later model flywheel i found thats from 80's van i think but i was wondering if the threads on it would be imperial 

[toocheaptosmoke]

New video, even in HD! 

https://youtu.be/YDZyhdNV5uY

[Baldwinvette77]

Sweet man, But no 3D??? Come on man  

Like the paper gas gauge though.

and important info on the exhaust leaks from the trunk, looks like running mad max style zoomies will be required on mine... for safety ofcourse  

[toocheaptosmoke]

The car IS in 3D, Dirty-Dusty-Dented. 

[toocheaptosmoke]

Made to Carlisle and back again this year, was a nice day for a drive.       Managed to only spend 8 bucks in the entire swap meet, that's about an all time low for me!   Apparently headlight door motors are ultra rare, I didn't even see one for sale, so still rocking the bungee cord...  Also met a few guys from the forum over at the tent.     Ended up spending a lot of time checking out sweet first and second gen. diesel trucks in the parking lot and swap area.





General Lee and a cummins with stacks in the rearview.


(and a badass phone...)











Before this trip I put the tall tires back on and re calibrated the speedometer.  I also modified the air bleeds on the primary side of the carb to lean out the cruising mixture a little bit more.   The first half of my route to carlisle is fairly hilly and about 55-60 mph, the second half is interstate and I ran about 67-70 most of the time.  If I was really trying to conserve fuel dropping the speed may have helped a little bit.  The hour of idling through traffic in Carlisle sure didn't help either...   I filled up at the local station before I left, topped off in carlisle, then filled up at the exact same pump when I got back home.   Total mileage for the day was 435 with a total fuel consumption of 20.9 gallons of 87 octane.  That works out to 20.8 miles per gallon, so it FINALLY broke 20 mpg!!!     The idle and off/idle fuel mix is still a little bit on the rich side at times, but I'm not sure how much more tuning I can do with the Summit carb.  That's where the Q-jet really shines, one day I might try it again.