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My '72 Challenger project

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Not a massive update with regards to how much work was done last night, but in-between conference calls for work to the US I did manage to reach the milestone I wanted to get to this week… the car now has two wheels on the ground.. & I’m a happy man..

    So I cleaned up all the connections & reconnected all the brake lines for the rear

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    Then installed the rear shocks back in, I’m using the same ones I pulled out as they are new anyway.. I only fitted them not long after I had the car

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    Then I reconnected the new handbrake cables to their brackets & bolted the driveshaft back on

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    Then I was able to finally bolt the wheels back on.. it’s starting to look like a car again now

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    Then for the first time in months I was able to lower the car back onto a set of her own wheels… the new suspension setup will lower the car somewhat, I won’t know how much exactly until the front is on the ground again.. but it looked very low to me last night… although this may be because I’m used to the boot being at chest height for the last few months.. I did the bounce test when she was on the deck & the rear actually moves up & down now when I push on it.. the old springs where so far gone she rode like a hardtail with no real suspension travel at all

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    Now to move onto the front again… sadly I don’t think I’ll get much time this weekend as we have some plans but I hope to get a bit of time… I’ve also been studying the steering box for a while now.. the one in her is stuffed & has a lot of slop that can’t be adjusted out… I have a new box under the bench in the garage but I’m not 100% sure that I can get the box out with the extractors that I have fitted… but I’ve decided to give it a go whilst everything else is off the car, if the extractor has to come off then so be it..


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Decided last night to tackle the steering box swap… now I was all set for this to be a big awkward job that took four times longer that you’d think, I read a few reports on forums about how hard this job can be & how I’d have to remove the drivers side extractor and/or the battery & it’s tray to be able to get the thing out & how it’s so easy to damage the coupling on the shaft etc… but to my happy surprise this was a very simple job & everything went much smoother than I had any right to expect it would.

    First step was to remove the pin from the coupling on the shaft, I was expecting this to be well stuck & possible rusted in place by now.. but a few taps with the correct size punch & it just slid out nicely

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    Once the pin was out there is some movement on the coupling that allows you to pull it back, it won’t come back enough to slide off the shaft completely so it was into the car & I undone the 2 bolts on the saddle that holds the steering column onto the underside of the dash & then undid the 3 bolts below that hold the column to the firewall

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    Once these 3 bolts are undone you can pull the steering column back into the car that final half inch & then the box is free of the coupling on the shaft… too easy

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    Then I disconnected the high pressure & the return lines from the power steering pump & tied them up out of the way

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    Then I undid the 3 bolts that hold the steering box onto the K-frame & as I was wiggling the box about to get it free the thing nearly fell on me it popped right out… I had hear horror stories from others about having to remove extractors or the batter tray to be able to get it out… but I guess having the lower control arm & the torsion bar out made the job super easy… once it was out I cleaned up the surface that was now exposed

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    Old vs new

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    Installation was super easy too, it slid right into place & bolted up no hassle at all

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    Then I simply lined up the coupling to the shaft correctly on the master spline & pushed the steering column back down to it’s correct position tight against the firewall to get the first half inch on, the just tapped the coupling home with a rubber mallet & reinserted the pin, again all too easy

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    The new box didn’t come with the connectors for the high pressure & return lines for the power steering pump to hook up to, so I removed them from the old box…

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    I’ll clean these bits up on the weekend & I also plan to remove the pump & drain all the crappy old fluid out & give the whole unit a good clean & a paint before connecting the system back up… onwards & upwards now, if I get some free time on the weekend I may even be able to get the whole front end back on & have her on all four wheels again… can’t wait…


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So I had a bit of spare time on Saturday & I managed to get the lower control arm, strut rod, torsion bar setup onto both sides of the car… whilst none of that was difficult really as it’s shiny clean new parts now going onto a clean K-frame you kinda need the assistance of a mechanically minded octopus to get this stuff on… the design of the how the strut rods sit into both the K-frame & the lower control arm means that they have to be installed as one piece & then halfway thru moving that assembly into it’s final resting place you then have to ram home the torsion bars… like most things with working on cars.. the time required the install the 2nd one was a fraction of the time required to install the first..

    I started by measuring the old outgoing strut rods & adjusting the new ones up to that length so that I’d be close to the correct adjustment needed when the wheels finally go one

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    Then I cleaned up the K-frame hole where the strut bolts into

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    Test fitted the strut rob to ensure that once I tightened it up the joint would be aligned the correct way, then once I was happy bolted up the K-frame end leaving the rod hanging

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    So I slid the lower arm pivot shaft into the pre-greased slot in the K-frame & then as it’s about half way home you slide the end of the strut rod into the control arm & then slide the whole assembly forward as far as you can.. it won’t go the whole way home until you start tightening the pivot shaft bolt up… you can also see my newly installed pitman arm on my new steering box in the pic below

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    Then I discovered that you cannot tighten up the nut on the control arm pivot shaft if the torsion bar is not installed.. I could get it 90% but then the pivot shaft would just spin in the K-frame rather than pull the lower arm in tight. So I slid my new torsion bars thru the cross member of the chassis & up to the lower arm, then greased up both ends.. I was expecting this to be a tight fit to be honest then new bar pushed in by had with a little help form a soft hammer so I was very happy that I didn’t have to belt the crap out of the new bars with my torsion bar removal tool & scratch the nice paint finish

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    Installing the torsion bars pushed the pivot shaft of the lower control arm fully home & then I was able to do up the nut call that job done… I forgot to take a pic of the new retaining clips at the rear of the torsion bars & the protective boots.. but I’ll do that as part of my next update later in the week

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    Hmmm looking at the above pic just now… I’m not happy with the exhaust at all, it looks too bad to stay on the car, plus the extractors are damaged & flattened at the bottom from some previous owner doing dukes of Hazzard jumps or something… so I’ll let them hack the system to put some extra mufflers on to get the car past road worthy noise checks & then I’ll get a whole new system installed

    So it’s looking more & more like a car everyday now…


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    I finally managed to get a few hours out in the garage last night… I really need to win the lotto I think.. the fact that I have to work to get the cash to do these projects is seriously getting in the way of me getting the time to do the project, classic catch 22 I guess you’re either cash poor or time poor when doing these things.

    I have had a bit of a set back with regards to my plans for the brake upgrade for the Chally… I had originally found a great deal on a set of Willwood disks & callipers, they were 4 piston rears & 6 piston fronts.. then when I was having a discussion about these with an engineer I found out that the 6 piston jobbies don’t have a rubber seal around the piston head & as such that makes them non compliant for use on Australian roads… they would work great but the ADR’s require the rubber seal as apparently people here don’t clean the pistons before pushing them back into the calliper when changing the pads… so now the hunt is back on for a decent brake upgrade kit, the guys at Pentastar Parts have been great thru this & they are currently working with their suppliers to get me a set of 4 piston front & rear callipers that do have the rubber boots on the pistons to keep my engineer happy.

    Now because I don’t want to delay this project any longer I’ve bought some new brake bits so that I can put the old stuff back on & have it actually work.. the rear cylinders where leaking on both drums so I got a new set to replace them & the master cylinder was leaking front to back so a new one was ordered too & because I like shiny things I opted to get a fancy cover to go on the top

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    So tonight’s was to finish putting the front end on.. I started by measuring up the old upper control arm so that I could get a base setting for the adjustable arms on the new ones, whilst everything is adjustable & that’s fantastic the design of the upper arms really means that to adjust this after they are installed on the car actually requires the cam bolts that hold the arm to the body to be removed so that you can adjust the joints in or out

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    Because of the design of the new arm & the way that it has a spacer block that moves the front leg of the arm out & down from the stock position means that the original bracket is actually in the way & the bottom corner needs to be ground back

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    A little bit of work with the die grinder & I took off the least amount of metal possible that allowed the arm to sit in place

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    Once I had this ground off to allow for a nice fit I then installed the new cam bolts, I guess I could have reused the old ones but I figured if I’m doing this I may as well fit all new hardware where possible… plus its nicer working with new clean bits rather than old greasy parts

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    Now because the joint end for the rear leg of the control arm is narrower than the stock leg of the stock arm the kit comes with a selection of spacers for you to pack out the difference

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    & that’s it… the upper control arm is now in

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    The next step was nice & simple, just reinstall the front strut back in… this moment made me smile as it suddenly looked like front suspension should, best two bolts I’d put on all night

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    Next up was the tie rods.. same as upper arm, I started by measuring them against the out going old parts so that the car will be close to drivable when it’s back on the ground before doing a wheel alignment.. once I had the tie rod at the right length I then bolted up the inboard end first.. the aftermarket extractor set up on this car is mad, the steering arm goes thru it & the clearance here is measured in mm.. I plan to replace the exhaust some time later this year, I might look into other options to see if I can get one that fits a bit better than this one

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    Then I bolted up the outer end, again as with a lot of parts on this kit which are looking to both use the existing pick up points & correct/improve the geometry at the same time spacers are installed here

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    All done

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    The final step for the night was to bolt the spindle back on, this is not a new part I’ve just painted the old one as the spindles where fine when checked

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    Once that was done I jacked up the whole lower assembly to somewhere near level & then attached the top ball joint to the spindle… job done..

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    Saturday morning I’ll put the passenger side back together & then I’ll fit the new front sway bar & that will be it… I’ll refit the old brake disks for now as I don’t want to leave the car off the road any longer now that I must


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So a bit of time was had in the Skunk Works garage on the weekend, so the passenger front went on… you know how when you’re working on cars often times one side is friendlier that the other.. well for the rear the easy side was the drivers & now at the front the easier was definitely the passenger… the original bracket didn’t need near as much grinding to allow the new control arm to fit in

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    Getting the nut on the cam’d bolt was awkward as there is so much on this side of the engine bay now

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    When fitting the other side as before there is a set of different sized spacers supplied as the kit explains that no two Dodges are build the same… & they are spot on the spacers needed for this side where different to the drivers side, proving that the tolerances are pretty big on this car.. once I measured the gap & worked out what spacers where needed it was then the fun task of actually trying to align the control arm, the cam bolt, two alignment bushes & 4 spacers… remember that mechanically minded octopus I mentioned in a previous post… you need him here again… I found that a dab of grease held the alignment bushes in place on the arm & then if I installed the cam bolt just enough to hold the first two spacers on I was able to get the arm in without anything dropping….

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    Then being very careful not to knock anything I was able to slide the last two spacers in whilst sliding the cam bolt thru

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    After a bit of wiggling of the cam bolt everything was in….

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    Arm installed

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    Shock reinstalled

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    Tie rod & spindle back on..

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    The last piece of this suspension puzzle now is the front sway bar… I greased & fitted the rubber mounts to the bar

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Then back under the car again… the sway bar set up on the Challenger is different to other muscle cars I own/did own in that it actually goes through the middle of the K-frame.. so I installed the bar through the K-frame.. this was not easy as the new bar is 220% stiffer & therefore a lot thicker than the stock bar so it only just fit through the gap..

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    Bolted up the saddle that holds the bar to the K-frame

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    Then bolt up the ends to the lower control arms..

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    & that’s it… all of the suspension has been replaced now… all that’s left to do is to fit the brakes & get an alignment done… it’s been a long project to do this but it’s been great fun.. I’m actually worried that when the car is back on the road I’ll miss working on it… might be time to start working on that spare XB Coupe shell I have… maybe a track car project would keep me busy

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Now that I hopefully done with spending hours on my back under the car I’m focusing on some of the bits up top that need to be sorted… I decided to swap out the brake master cylinder for the new one that turned up last week… nice simple job this one as the brake lines are all already empty as the disks & callipers are off the car… so I undid the two brake lines & the 4 small nuts that hold the master onto the booster

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    Slide the old one out

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    Compare the old to the new on the bench to be 100% sure I’m not going to have any alignment issues

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    Bolt in the new one & redo up the lines… too easy

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Next job on the to do list was to flush out the old power steering fluid… I noticed when I was swapping the steering box that the fluid was brown & very crappy, so I decided that a flush was needed before connecting up the new steering box… so I had two choices, I could undo the hose from the back & let the old fluid drain out, I could siphon out the old fluid or I could bolt the whole unit off so that I could drain & flush it completely & clean & re-paint it & clean the engine block behind it… I’ll give you two guesses which option I went for…

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    There are two bolts that have to be undone to remove the pump, the top one that is also the belt adjuster goes through the water pump

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    Now as I started to undo that bolt I noticed that there was a little drip of coolant starting to drip out… simply due to the bolt easing the water pump off the block I figured… no big deal I’ll do the bolt back up once I have the pump off…. If you look closely I managed to capture a drip

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    Now when I pulled the bolt out I must say that I was not expecting this at all….. I’ve unbolted the accessories off Fords lots of time & never once has this been the result

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    Luckily I had placed a catch bucket under the car when the dripping had started… I honestly never thought that that bolt hole would be a straight through funnel to the water in the pump… now that I have half the coolant out maybe I’ll replace the hoses… might look at the rad internals too… anyway, once both bolts where off wiggled the unit free

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    Carefully lift it out trying not to wash the garage floor with any more fluids that I have too… this will now be cleaned & painted before going back on

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    With the pump off you can see the mess behind that I now get to clean up during the week…

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So with the pump off the first job was to clean all the years of crap off of it, so I sat it in a basin & sprayed copious amounts of degreaser on it… my plan had been to degrease it first & then see about stripping the paint… but the paint was so bad on it anyway that just the force of spraying the degreaser in it removed most of the paint… giving it a good brush over with a paint brush removed 90%

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    As I already know that next winters project will be to pull the engine & rebuild that with all chrome shiny accessories I didn’t go mad cleaning this up as it will be short lived on the car anyway, so I just repainted it & replaced the low pressure return hose, the high pressure line was fine

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    Got my disks back from a mate who pressed in the new bearings for me.. I must buy a press so I can do this stuff myself

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    Sat them on the spindle nicely so as not to push the bearings back out & it’s looking like a car again now….

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    Did up the centre nut & split pin & job done, too easy

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    Then I reinstalled the callipers & hooked up the brake lines again

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    Then…. I had to pull the drivers side off again… bugger

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    I’d forgotten that when I went to pull the callipers off last time one of the bolts was only in two thirds of the way & had 4 flat washers on it to take up the slack…. upon inspection of the bolt you can see that half of it is covered in loctight & the first have of the threads are destroyed… they have been flatted completely… so I’m guessing that a previous owner cross threaded this & rather than stopping when doing the bolt up got hard they completely destroyed it & tightening it home as hard as they could…. What I love most is that they then must have noticed the error of their ways but rather than fix it they pulled the bolt & used the washers to take up the slack & then rammed it back it… top quality work…

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So I got my tap & die set out & I re-tapped the bolt hole… this took a while to do it slowly to not do any more damage, the amount of crap that came out was unreal, I did the re-tap in 4 goes.. here is the crap from one run

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    So now I have to get new correct bolts, all four where covered in solid loctight & all four has their heads slightly rounded.. so in the bin they go…..

    I decided that this shouldn’t stop me getting the car back on all fours again, so I got my little digital camber gauge out & set the front suspension up to where I think it needs to be… I’ll do it properly once the wheels are back on

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    Then I put the wheels back on…. Look… it looks just like a car again… I was a very happy bunny… it’s been a long time since I saw the old girl on wheels…

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    Then I got the measuring tape out to see where the new torsion bars had the cars height as I’d just guessed the settings when I installed them…. Sorry the pic is in such bad light but after the drama with the brakes it was a little later that I had planned on it being..

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    The result… too low… not out by much but 3.5”s to the lowest point which are the drivers side extractor & also the flange where the extractor bolts to the collector… so I started to play around jacking up the front to see what sort of heights & stances I liked before adjusting the torsion bars to raise the car

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    Now I thought I’d taken a pic of the car at her final height, I raised it just over an inch, so it’s 4 ¾”s to the lowest point now & over 5 to the actual car frame… I take a pic in the daylight & post that up.

    My mate popped round the other night with a late B’day present for me… as I’m a car nut & a car movie nut he got me a chrome duck like the one used in Convoy & Death Proof… so we test fitted it as the Challengers new hood ornament… I wonder what VicRoads would thing it I bolted this to the bonnet

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Well no sooner was the old girl on her wheels again & she was back up on axel stands… the brakes have never really worked on this car, no we all know that old Mopar Muscle cars are not renowned in the car world for having the best brakes anyway.. but mine always needed to be pumped when using & bleed every few weeks.. so I decided to everything.. so you’ve already seen new lines go on & a new master cylinder in the engine bay, so the last bits to install where the rear cylinders in the drums…

    I’ve never really liked working on drum brakes, I’ve always found that at least one spring will try & make a break for freedom during either the dismantle or the reassembly process… but I’ve had them apart so often now in the last few weeks on this car that I now feel that I could do it blindfolded in much the same way as marines are trained to assemble there weapons… shame that this new skill of mine won’t be any use when my new disks finally turn up… anyway, below is the offending part that needed to be removed…

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    Once you have the shoes off the drums the cylinders are held n by two small bolts at the back of the drum & of course by the metal hard line that runs along the diff

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    Once the drivers side was off you can see where the internal seals are shot & the fluid was weeping past

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    The passenger side was even worse

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    Old vs new part shot

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    New cylinder bolted back in & line hooked up

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    Then reinstall the shoes & all the springs & crap that holds everything together

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    The last thing that needed to be done to the rear end then was a final tighten up of all of the newly installed suspension bits… the destructions that came with the kit give the final torque settings as one that must be applied when the cars weight is on the wheels…. I guess they imagine that your car is on a 4 post hoist whilst your doing this… I don’t have one of them yet, so I simply put the wheels back on & then put her on a set of ramps.. same out come I guess.. then I slid back under to tighten everything up for the final time… hopefully this is the last time I’m under the arse of this car for a while now

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    After I had replaced the fuel line with braided hose a few weeks ago I had decided that I would replace all the hoses in the engine bay as some of them where starting to look a bit old & some slight cracks & nicks where in them all.. so I decided to play with braided hoses again… I swear this is the automotive equivalent of working with leaches… I have never lost some much blood from a thousand tiny stab wounds as I did working with this stuff… the hundreds of needle ends on each one are lethal…

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    So this is how it looked before I started..

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    & this is how it ended up when I finished…

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Then I decided to move my attention to some interior jobs that needed to be done, first on my list was to replace the front two piece seat belts with new Australian ADR approved three point belts. The design of the original belts if you’ve seen them is that you have a lap belt that you do up

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    Nothing strange there, then the second part of the belt is the optional shoulder strap that lives up on the roof when not in use

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    Once you have the lap belt on you undo the top belt & it clips onto the lap belt like so…

    IMG_5286_zpse79d40f8.jpg

    I think I’ll actually miss that part of belting up in the car, it was an unusual step but I always loved the metal click sound that it made & you hooked the two part together… anyway, first thing now was to remove the old belts… so I unbolted the stalk…. New vs old stalk shot below…

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    New stalk installed with all new bolts from the kit too.. I do like the chrome look..

    IMG_5289_zpscfd00110.jpg

    Next step was to unbolt the shoulder section of the belt from the roof, being very careful not to twist the roof lining with the bolt

    IMG_5290_zpse4127b1b.jpg

    Then unbolt the floor mounted retractable reel

    IMG_5291_zps42d7c4e1.jpg

    I was intrigued to find two wires running to this… I know that this will be for a dash light that glows red if you don’t have the belts on… but my dash doesn’t have one & it doesn’t have an empty space where one lived either… so I guess it must have been wired into every car but the dash light must have been optional??

    IMG_5292_zps5f4d2572.jpg

    Old kit removed

    IMG_5299_zps043bc21d.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    New reel bolted in

    IMG_5293_zps21c2d22e.jpg

    IMG_5294_zps445b8925.jpg

    Third pointed bolted up into the roof

    IMG_5296_zps2b016f33.jpg

    IMG_5295_zpsd3820ae3.jpg

    This is how it looks from outside now as there is now a permanent hanging drop

    IMG_5297_zps7ab403ab.jpg

    I couldn’t take a selfie shot with me strapped in as I was on my own in the garage.. so here is a pic of belt done up

    IMG_5298_zpsaff933f0.jpg

    IMG_5301_zpsc7d8f7ca.jpg

    I’m happy to say that the end of this project is really in sight now… the list of jobs to do is getting very short now… there are some lights to do, the dash has to come apart to swap some pieces over, there is a tiny weep from a bolt on the oil pan to be fixed & then she has to go & get a set of ADR approved rear seat belts fitted as the lap only rears won’t do I’m told sadly… & as that needs some plates welded in it is again out of my range of crappy skills so she’ll be going somewhere for that & then hopefully engineer sign off & on the road…. I can almost smell the unburnt fuel dribbling from here exhaust now…

    Oh & I of course need to set up the front suspension as it must be miles out of whack now… but I have bought a new toy for just that little job…

    IMG_5318_zps0b3558bd.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Not much of an update but a bit more progress has been made, you may remember that due to some past mechanical muppetry the bolts that hold the brake callipers on where buggered.. one so badly that it needed a quarter inch of washers to even seat up in the hole.. I went to my local bolt place & decided to replace all 4 bolts..

    IMG_5324_zps52f5c0f1.jpg

    I wasn’t happy with just how close the bolts sat next to where the brake lines enter the callipers so I opted for round headed nuts with hex head centres

    IMG_5323_zps9fa440af.jpg

    I think it’s a much neater setup this way

    IMG_5325_zps884e0923.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    The next step was to use my shiny new Camber/Castor tool to set up the new front end… I refused to pay the sort of cash people where asking for a set of swivel plates as a couple of hundred dollars for two plates of steel seemed like madness to me… so I figured I’d make a set, after all how hard could it be..

    So I got a sheet of checker plate & a sheet of Teflon.. cut them into 4 squares & then glued the Teflon to the smooth side of the checker plate

    IMG_5326_zpse0460b52.jpg

    Once this was done, then I simply put some grease on the Teflon side of one plate & sat the other plate on top… & what do you know… it makes a great swivel plate..

    IMG_5327_zps739a9abf.jpg

    Gently role the car onto the plates & they slip apart… so push it off again & then push back on even gentler… & they work a treat

    IMG_5328_zps43193a0c.jpg

    The destructions for setting the Caster say to swing the wheels thru 15 degrees left & then right to give a total sweep of 30 degrees, so as my swivel plates don’t have a built in angle gauge (the only reason you would spend the sill money on a set in my mind) I went for the simple approach of using a straight edge & a protractor to mark out 15 degrees left & 15 degrees right on the garage floor.. this way all I had to do was turn the wheel each time to the markings & that was the 30 degree sweep

    IMG_5329_zps0a0d92e5.jpg

    Now checking the Camber is a simple task, just calibrate the acculevel tool to the garage floor so it understands exactly what level actually is… then attach the gauge to the rim & read the Camber measurement off the gauge… now sadly the Caster & Camber adjustments for the front suspension interfere with each other… so you can’t just set one & then then set the other & then be done… once you set one, you set the other, then you check & in my case reset the first one again… etc..

    Setting the Caster is a bit more involved that the simple camber adjustment.. if we focus on the drivers side (left hand side) wheel…. firstly to read the actual Caster angle you turn the wheel 15 degrees to the left & then activate the Caster mode on the gauge & zero the reading

    IMG_5330_zpscce17045.jpg

    Then you swing the wheel back to straight & then continue through to 15 degrees to the right to give the full sweep of 30 degrees (note other tools may ask for more or less of a sweep angle, but my tool is calibrated for a total sweep of 30) Then you simply read the caster angle off the gauge… recording if it’s Positive or Negative of course

    IMG_5333_zps2ac00f72.jpg

    To adjust the Caster angle you have to back off the nut that locks the lower strut arm to the lower control arm

    IMG_5331_zpsdc397968.jpg

    Then using something to protect the nice powder coated paint surface you wind the rod either in or out depending on what your reading was… I was chasing a Positive Caster angle of 5 degrees BTW…

    IMG_5332_zpsebf9ed54.jpg

    Now some feedback that I would have for the nice folks at Hotchkis is that they should have designed two flat sides into a small section of that strut rod as that would have made turning it without damaging the surface a much much better experience..


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Time for an update, yet again work has prevented me from spending as much time working out in the garage as I would have liked over the last few weeks.. but some progress is still being made..

    First on the list for me to fix was the broken & crapply painted front indicator lenses.. I had bought a new set ages ago but just never got around to fitting them, I’ll be replacing them with a clear set at some point but for now I was happy to get rid of the crappy old ones that you couldn’t really see thru anymore & where badly hand painted in the past..

    New vs old

    IMG_5339_zps44bac2f9.jpg

    IMG_5340_zps79b3a085.jpg

    Now when you remove the light housing form the car you notice that they are clearly marked as left & right & you also notice that the holes that the holding screws use are offset, again because they are different for left & right fitment… well some previous owner has made another entry into my why Muppets should be allowed to work on cars book that I’ll be writing at the end of this project… they put them in the wrong way around.. now rather than see the big L & R on them & rather than trying them on the other side they proceeded to bend the bloody brackets that hold them in place… so now when I tried to fit them to the correct sides I end up with this sort of seamless fitment

    IMG_5341_zps7ec6db16.jpg

    Now I resisted the urge to put them back in the wrong sides, so I spend a while bending brackets in an attempt to get them to fit somewhat well… they are not 100%, far from it… but they are close enough for now.. the front & rear valance panels are badly damaged on this car anyway, so when the respray & roof removal happen next year I’ll fit new panels then…

    IMG_5342_zps91c2e3c9.jpg

    IMG_5343_zpsa44811a3.jpg

    Next thing to work on was adjusting the new steering box, you will recall that I fitted a new box the other week, well I fired the car up the other day for the first time since & she was in the air on axle stands at the time as I was greasing all the nipples under the car… anyway when she fired up it swung to full left lock all on its own… & if I turned the wheel to full right lock & let go it would swing back full left lock.. so out came the manuals again.. it seems that the location of the valve body on top on the steering box effects what Dodge call self-steer.. the whole valve body must be tapped up the steering box to remove left hand self-steer & down the box to remove right hand self-steer.. now when I say move we’re only talking mm’s here.

    So you crack the two nuts that secure the valve body to the steering box, I’m pointing to one with the screw driver here

    IMG_5381_zps3b373427.jpg

    Then you very gently tap the valve body either up or down.. in my case up.. the manual says to tap on the bolt on the face of the valve body, I’m pointing to it with the screw driver here

    IMG_5382_zps19de9a29.jpg

    It took a tap of I would say 1.5mm max & the steering is spot on now, no more pull to one side or the other…. Job done


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Next on the list of things to fix was the headlight switch in the dash, at some point in the cars past the switch died & would only turn on the side lights, the second circuit that powered the main headlights no longer worked… so a previous owner decided not to repair that but to bypass it by fitting a new toggle switch under the dash behind the aftermarket gauge cluster… now obviously that wasn’t going to get past a roadworthy inspection here so I found a NOS headlight switch on the interweb to do the repair properly..

    IMG_5368_zps165299c1.jpg

    So now I had to do one of the jobs that I hate on old cars… I had to pull the dash apart.. I hate doing this on old cars as after decades the parts & connectors get very brittle & you never know what sort of mess you will find behind there & given the level of past workmanship this car has had I didn’t have high expectations I can tell ya..

    First step was to unbolt the steering column saddle to allow the wheel & column to drop down out of the way to give me the maximum wiggle room required to get the dash apart

    IMG_5345_zpsf43b0d18.jpg

    Then I had to undo the 6 screws that hold the dash light panel onto the crashpad, once that’s levelled down you can flip it over & rest it onto of the dash, the wiring is long enough to allow for that

    IMG_5346_zps17d17c15.jpg

    IMG_5347_zps4bd951b6.jpg

    IMG_5348_zps07b6acbe.jpg

    Once that was out of the way I could then see the top screws that hold the switch panel & the gauge panel in place.. the switch panel has to come out first

    IMG_5349_zps8aec2ecf.jpg

    Once the screws are undone the switch panel can be carefully wiggled out of place & there is just enough play in the wiring to let it hand down enough for you to get your fingers in behind to unhook the connectors

    IMG_5350_zps5044f7ea.jpg

    IMG_5351_zps22d8ef5b.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Now when I went to undo the connector for the windscreen wipers/washers I found that the connector had been cable tied together by someone

    IMG_5376_zps2005eabe.jpg

    Why had the connector been cable tied I hear you ask… well because the connector clearly has a short that is causing the plastic to melt!!!!!! Now did they fix the problem as clearly that much heat in the wiring behind the dash is not a good thing… no they cable tied it together as clearly the now melted connecter was not holding on well enough.. I swear some of the work done on this car is a crime.. & all I can say is this, for whom ever is responsible for this… may a hive of flesh eating termites infest your rectum

    IMG_5377_zpsc6e8fa20.jpg

    Switch panel out

    IMG_5352_zps14f19f10.jpg

    New headlight switch vs old

    IMG_5369_zpsbbbba75c.jpg

    New headlight switch installed

    IMG_5370_zpsb7bcdcf2.jpg

    Then I had to remove the toggle switch that had been installed & trace it’s wiring back to find where they cut the original so I could repair that to allow the new switch to work

    IMG_5371_zps6d3cb18b.jpg

    I love the way the wiring has been altered on this car, I really love how they clearly didn’t have any new wires to use so they just connected together odd lengths of wire to make up what they needed… & no I’m not making this up… the wires change colour & gauge on this car… so if someone is in the car tracing the 5mm red wire.. that can become the 3mm black wire & then the orange wire before it reaches it end point in the engine bay!!!

    IMG_5372_zps6595e8ca.jpg

    Once I traced the wires it was at the high beam switch in the foot well that they spliced in to get the feed to their toggle switch.. oh & do we use terminals or solder or connector blocks… no just twist the wires together & run a bit of tape over them…. That’s the way…

    IMG_5373_zps0b8c42f0.jpg

    Once I’d removed all that crap, I resoldered the original wires together & tested the new switch… works a treat… job done.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Now whilst I had the dash half apart I removed the gauge panel as well

    IMG_5353_zps9da559fa.jpg

    With that out of the way I was able to see the badly scratched & glazed gauge lenses

    IMG_5354_zpsa373960a.jpg

    As I knew I’d be replacing the light switch & as such the dash would be apart I had bought a new one… now the manual says you have to remove the whole gauge cluster to remove the lenses but that’s not true the little clips that hold it in place can be carefully pried out using a small flat head screw driver

    New vs old

    IMG_5355_zps868471d3.jpg

    I took the opportunity to clean the gauge faces whilst I was at it.. but I resisted the urge to roll back the clock

    IMG_5357_zps09201cf1.jpg

    When you remove the lens the cup that separates the quad set of gauges for Fuel, Temp, Oil & Alt & is stuck to the lens & must be carefully removed by breaking the melted plastic tabs that hold it on

    IMG_5358_zps0a9b63bc.jpg

    IMG_5359_zps6ac8dd42.jpg

    Then I sat that cup onto the new lens & heated up the end of a flat head screw driver so I could melt the plastic holding pins flat to hold it in place

    IMG_5360_zps69bf79b5.jpg

    IMG_5361_zpsdbfcb4fb.jpg

    New lens ready to go back in

    IMG_5362_zps0c59d970.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    It makes a huge difference to the look of the dash, I can’t believe how hard it was to read the gauges until I now look at them in clarity…

    IMG_5364_zpse98449c3.jpg

    IMG_5367_zpsf64dcdc6.jpg

    IMG_5374_zps470eeb8f.jpg

    Now whilst testing the new headlight switch I noticed that the passenger side rear light was out again… this has always been a troubled light on this car, normally wiggling it’s connections does the trick.. but I figured it was finally time to work out where it’s problems lay… turned out to be an earthing issue.. so I pulled the rear light clusters out & found that the body had been painted where the cluster bolts on & is supposed to pick up its earth.. so I’ll sand that back to bare metal this week & clean it all up properly before putting it back together

    IMG_5387_zpsab2e014c.jpg

    IMG_5388_zpsbb5e3f35.jpg

    IMG_5386_zps5d7c0c78.jpg

    As I was lucky enough to be witness to some fantastic wiring repairs behind the dash I started to trace out all the aftermarket wiring to see just how bad it really was…. God I wish I hadn’t… there is just some stuff that you never want to see…. As I said the wiring uses different gauge wires & different colours on the same run… if this wasn’t my car it would be funny… when I was tracing the wiring to the coil & the CD unit on the firewall it got really fun… parts of the ignition wiring look like this..

    Wires wrapped together & covered in a single layer of tape

    IMG_5378_zpsf1f4a680.jpg

    & my favourite… this wire is connected to the ballast resistor.. it’s an ill-fitting blade connector with two other wires just wrapped around the connector & then taped over… quality work I’m sure you’ll agree… no wonder this car has so many electrical gremlins the wiring is a complete cluster****…

    IMG_5380_zpsbf0f45d4.jpg

    So that was it on the weekend… I know that this mess is beyond my skills as I’m no auto electrician… but a mate of a mate is… so he’s coming over this weekend to no doubt laugh at this mess.. hopefully he can help sort it out too & tidy the car up to the point where it runs & it’s a deathtrap waiting to burst into flames at any moment


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So I got nowhere near as much done on the weekend as I’d wanted as the Auto electrician that I had lined up to come & help pulled out at the very last minute on Sat with a very lame excuse… basically it was going to be too much like hard work for him to be arsed… & gave me no time to get someone else… so I figured I’d tinker with the little issues & see if I couldn’t get something fixed.

    First up was the rear lights, the passenger side was an earth issue as described, so once I clean up the contact points & reinstalled the lights that worked fine, noticed that the driver’s side was much brighter than the passenger side so a quick look showed that the bulb contacts where in the wrong way round & the lights where activating the brake element not the dimmer light element.. flipped that out & put it back right & hey presto all the rear lights work now

    IMG_5395_zpse2cd2eeb.jpg

    Next up was to see where all my earth woes stem from, the lights always flicker when on now & the volt gauge & the aftermarket tacho bounces all over the place, so I had a look at the main battery to earth cable.. whoever painted the car did a very good job… they painted the captive nut that the earth runs too & the bolt that goes into it…. So I ran a tap through the nut & wire brushed back the bolt & the contact point & now the car has a real earth.. the lights no longer flicker at all & the volt gauge is working again showing steady readings… the tacho is no longer bouncing around but it’s still not working it just sits on idle no matter what revs the engine is at.. I’ll look into that later

    IMG_5392_zps53966dc9.jpg

    IMG_5393_zpsb2a42fc2.jpg

    I decided to play around with the wipers a bit more, the motor is on it’s way out I think it starts off great real fast but then slows to a dull sweep no matter which of the 3 speeds I select… also the park function is stuffed & it only parks the wipers 1 time in 10 now at best… the connection where it joins the firewall was corroded to hell

    IMG_5390_zps35e74975.jpg

    IMG_5391_zps063bd170.jpg

    I gave it a good clean but it made no difference so I’ve ordered a new one now to replace it… on a positive note I found where they cut off the power wire for the washers & I’ve wired in my new washer setup & that works a treat, a small win… but a win

    I’d made up some little extensions to go between the wiper switch & the connecter so that I could do some testing with the dash still apart… the power connector on the switch side gets red hot & the last time I had the wipers on there where sparks inside the switch also….

    IMG_5394_zps867c2695.jpg

    So I’ve ordered a NOS wiper switch for her now & a new wiper motor wiring harness.. so hopefully that plus the new motor will see the end of these issues..

    Next task will be to look at the fuse panel on the dash side of the firewall to see what sort of genius electrical work has been done here…. As you can see from below lots of aftermarket wires around here, most are just raw & wrapped around the end of a fuse…

    IMG_5398_zps89c70106.jpg

    IMG_5399_zps970afd9f.jpg

    Others like this white wire are just open to the world & not hooked up (I hope) to power…

    IMG_5400_zps230c5177.jpg

    I’ll have to trace that & some of its mates out too to see where they go… hopefully I can get to the end of this crap soon & just drive the bloody car again..


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    So I’m in that holding pattern now of waiting for some parts that I need to finish off some of the jobs on the car, whilst waiting I’ve been looking for jobs to do that where lower down on the to-do list. One of the things that I wanted to do was to look at the Six Pack… mine was running way too rich & it didn’t seem to make a difference what I did with the mixture screws it was just always rich.. so I got myself a Carb rebuild kit & I also found a reconditioned 350 Holley Carb that I could scavenge for some bits if needed..

    IMG_5401_zps28c38dcb.jpg

    There is a lot of fuel weeping stains on this centre carb around the metering block so if nothing else these gaskets need replacing

    IMG_5402_zps7736d267.jpg

    Also the accelerator pump is leaking too

    IMG_5403_zpsd25c2e51.jpg

    Also the steel fuel lines & connecting blocks are all weeping also, luckily I got a set of them when I bought the car so I’ll swap them whilst I’m at it… no of course it wouldn’t be a day working on this car if I was cursing the botched job of some previous owner… in this case it’s the ½” connections that do up the hard fuel lines.. they were all statin to be nicely rounded off.. my fave was the one to the rear most Carb… the only way I could get it off was with a vice grips.. & I secretly suspect that may be the tool of choice that was used to put it on last…

    IMG_5406_zps0b50eb6e.jpg

    Centre Carb pulled

    IMG_5405_zps859edefd.jpg

    IMG_5404_zps886a4309.jpg

    Once I had it off, I set to work pulling it apart being careful to not damage any gaskets as I did so as I wanted to get a good idea as to what state the originals where in. I pulled the base plate off to check for damage, there is a tiny bit of play on the shaft but not too much & the butterfly’s hadn’t been bent, so I was happy with that

    IMG_5407_zpsad16c4ad.jpg

    I had suspected that the powervalve may have been shagged due to the fact that she was running so rich & no matter that I did it would never lean out properly… I couldn’t get over the amount of corrosion on the metering block & the powervalve itself… luckily I’d already replaced all the fuel lines… I’m unsure if this is due to crap fuel in Ireland or if the tank had/has water in it… I guess I’ll have to add flush the tank to the list of things to do now

    IMG_5408_zpsac4d685e.jpg

    IMG_5409_zps2f03d806.jpg

    The body of the Carb itself wasn’t too bad all things considered…

    IMG_5410_zps90064b99.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    I decided to replace the whole metering block rather than just clean it up & replace the powervalve & the jets, the one on the rebuilt 350 I had was an exact match, so I spent quite a while & a lot of happy smelling Carb cleaner going over all the bits that I was going to reuse & she seemed to clean up a treat

    IMG_5411_zps36d7e23f.jpg

    Of course there was no inline filters in either of the 3 Carbs on the car, so I decided to fit some new ones along with new retainers, I don’t know if they really do a lot, but I had them so why not fit them I figured

    IMG_5412_zpsf21f2bab.jpg

    IMG_5413_zps19283904.jpg

    I then hooked up my shiny new hard fuel lines & connector blocks.. & they leak…. Bugger… but from what I can gather on the interweb, they all leak.. new or old doesn’t seem to matter, so I’m in two minds now, do I try & seal these up or just chuck them & make up a set of sealed braided lines to do the same job but with some flexibility built in…

    IMG_5414_zps52cc2ad4.jpg

    With the newly rebuilt Carb back on the car I decided to leave the two outer Carbs disconnected & only work on tuning the centre one.. before too long I got her to a nice mix where she was running nicely & you could actually stand at the back of the car without the exhaust fumes making your eyes water.. once that was done I then spent some time getting the linkage lengths for the two outer Cards adjusted up so that they were fully closed when running on the centre carb alone & fully in sync when they kicked in, looking at the marks on the threads for where they were to where they are now shows that they were always open a wee bit in the past..

    IMG_5426_zps01242bfc.jpg

    IMG_5427_zps900650f8.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Next job was to replace my wiper motor with the rebuilt one I got, should be a simple 5 minute job I figured…

    IMG_5415_zpsd522b923.jpg

    It’s only 3 nuts on the front, one wire connector block & one nut on the rear where it connects to the arm… how hard could it be..

    IMG_5418_zpsf28d54a3.jpg

    IMG_5417_zps43c1500b.jpg

    I noticed something was off when I was undoing the 3 front nuts... they were not all the same size… actually all three where different… so great more past mechanical muppetry to deal with.. once I had the old one off I was able to see clearly the issue..

    IMG_5419_zps694fb98b.jpg

    Two of the three studs that are welded into the body are very badly damaged… the thread has been stripped off by someone using the wrong nuts & just forcing them down the studs….

    IMG_5421_zps47e0ac75.jpg

    The one above is the worst… I’m going to try & see if I can save these by rethreading them with a tap & die set… but I fear that they may be gone too far.. if they are then I will have to cut them off & drill them out of the car & use bolts to replace them I guess… not happy!!

    I checked the old & new wiper motors & they seem to be identical so that’s a plus at least I guess…

    IMG_5420_zps631131ab.jpg

    So this will probably be it for a while now as I have a bit of travel coming up both for work & for a bit of a holiday so it will be a few weeks before I can get back to this… hopefully the last of the parts I’m waiting on will arrive whilst I’m away so I can get on with this & get to driving the car again….


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Ok, so it’s been a while since I updated this thread.. I was travelling for a while & then work was crazy busy & then I was waiting for some parts to arrive & long story short I only really got around to doing anything with the car in the last week….

    The first job was to finish what should have been a simple swap out of the wiper motor… so as you may remember from above the 3 bolts where stuffed & the threads badly damaged… so it was out with my trusty tap & die set again…

    IMG_5437_zpse94bb16e.jpg

    Now as you can see this is a T bar die set… & the area I needed to get this into was not really what you’d want for such a tool… if it wasn’t for the fact that this was late at night & I just wanted to get this done I’d have waited & bought a die nut to do this in a fraction of the time

    IMG_5439_zps6adac8a1.jpg

    But I was not going to let it go another day without doing something to the car… so there was a lot of removing one handle & getting a bit of turn then swapping handles going on…

    IMG_5444_zps4c45cee0.jpg

    IMG_5440_zpsa02f2fee.jpg

    IMG_5441_zpsb295bb03.jpg

    But in the end I did manage to get all three bolts tidied up nicely..

    IMG_5448_zps62990463.jpg

    IMG_5447_zpse5f49281.jpg

    Finally an end to what should have been a 5 minute job..

    IMG_5449_zps2aef51eb.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Next up was to replace the wiper switch in the dash that is shorting out & getting red hot with the NOS switch that I got off the interweb..

    IMG_5432_zps2026bd20.jpg

    The dash has been apart for a while now as I never put it back together after replacing the headlight switch with the NOS one of those I had, so it was easy to get to the wiper switch as it was on the bench.. now the wiper switch is activated by a control knob which would need to be removed..

    IMG_5461_zps9e561e6a.jpg

    Now I would have assumed that everyone knew that these are normally always held on with a tiny grub screw, as you can see here

    IMG_5456_zps99b15891.jpg

    However mine is showing the clear signs of where someone in the cars past has just used a pliers to pull the knob off & has damaged it… I must look into getting a replacement one as the feel of this one now annoys me, for now I’ll just swap it with the dimmer switch one that I never use

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    The wiper switch is held into the switch cluster with a nut on the threaded barrel of the switch

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    Once that is off there is slot cut in the panel & a key on the switch that you must rotate to line up to allow you to slide the old switch out..

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    Once I fitted the new switch I tested it all 3 or 4 times to be sure to be sure that I don’t need to remove the dash again in a hurry

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    Whilst I had the dash apart I decided to replace the 3 coloured lenses that show the left & right turn signals & the brake warning light as the originals where badly scuffed & faded & since I had replaced the gauge lenses I figured it would only be a halfarsed job if I didn’t do these as well..

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    & now the dash is happily back together again.. job done

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    Once it was all back together the park was not set right for my car, so when the wipers where switched off they would stop about 2 to 3 inches up from where they should be on the stops, luckily this is an easy fix as Dodge made several park positions for each wiper motor & you set them depending on which car yours is… so mine was set for a B body car, you can see where the park setting indicator is highlighted here by my screwdriver

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    Once I adjusted it to be set for an E body car then things where all shiny again & the wipers now work fine, park & the switch in the dash doesn’t short out spark & set the car of fire.. win win win if you ask me

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    Here is a crappy short clip of the wipers parking



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,211 ✭✭✭Daved_XB


    This is just a quick update.. ever since I’ve had the car she’s had some small fuel weep issues from the hard lines that connect the 3 carbs of the 6 Pack together, now when I bought the car I got a new set of hard lines & blocks with her.. so I was a little disappointed when after I replaced all the lines I found that she still had a weep… seems from the research I’ve done this is quite normal for 6 Pack hard lines..

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    So I figured what I’d do is to make myself up a set of custom flexible braided fuel lines to fix this once & for all… so this is my hard line set up compared to my braided line set up

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    It fits up real nice to the 6 Pack… very happy with how this looks…

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    It gets pretty tight for space once I hook up all the vacuum lines, but everything fits & nothing fouls…. & most importantly nothing leaks….

    IMG_5473_zps3412af89.jpg

    I also got myself a new centre fuse block from painless wiring

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    The plan for this is to replace this crappy old fuse block under the dash with it… however this is going to be a new project for next winter, I don’t plan on extending this project any longer now..

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