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Post by cbody on Apr 29, 2014 12:10:52 GMT -5
Exactly right, I was hoping the '70 front marker light might throw you a bit. This was the car 20 years ago..... In the years after this was taken it's gone through several permutations, including the latest engine which was a '74 440 that underwent a freshening up around 20 some years ago. Since then it's most likely got less than 10K miles on it. I crossed my fingers and fired it up, amazingly it immediately ran on all 8 with nary a hitch so it'll be pulled for the bluesmobile project.
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Post by cbody on Apr 29, 2014 12:17:26 GMT -5
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Post by cbody on Apr 29, 2014 12:26:14 GMT -5
The door star is still bugging me. I think what I'm going to try next is to cut out an actual vinyl star, then paint over it to see if it'll add a little depth. I'll wait a bit on that though as this may be ok once it gets dirty enough.
All I have to do now is decide whether to pull the engine and trans and drop in the 440 or prep the 440 and stick it in the subframe from the '74 monaco and just swap the whole assembly. I'm also planning on installing an 8 3/4" as well so that's also on the to-do list.......and then the interior....... Only two more years and it'll be done!
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Post by Bismo on Apr 29, 2014 19:37:37 GMT -5
Coming together great, loving the photos!
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Post by 58hemifury on May 10, 2014 20:45:49 GMT -5
Rain delay today, so I'll try and get caught up a bit more. I scrounged up a set of tires to mount on the 7" steel wheels off a '74 imperial I sold a few years back and stuck them on so the stance is slightly better. What size tires are those, they fill the wheel wells nicely?
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 16:24:51 GMT -5
The rears are LT235/75's and the fronts are P225/75's. Not my first choice on the fronts but they were the best I had laying around and I'm not quite ready to mount up new tires until I get it closer to done. No sense in starting the dry-rot process any sooner than needed.
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 16:43:25 GMT -5
I got a little bit done this week so I'll try and get caught up here. Again, I really dropped the ball with regard to taking photos so bear with me. I pulled the 360 out of the monaco last sunday after running it out of gas (on purpose, as the tank was rusty). So, I also pulled the exhaust and gas tank out as well. I managed to catch my youngest coming home around noon and got him to guide the 440 into place and of course I'm sure you all already know the outcome........it was not wanting to drop into the passenger side cradle......and the transmission mount was nearly 2 inches shy of where it needed to be. The worst part of this is I should have known better as I ran into this exact scenario back in the late 80's with a LA to RB swap into a Magnum. Foolishly I assumed that the C's were impervious to these problems. Obviously not. Throwing a tape measure on the subframe mounts told the tale so back to the drawing board. I had initially planned on using the big block sub frame from the '74 since it's a simple way to swap engines......if you have a two post lift. Mine wasn't hooked up yet though since moving it from my other shop and I've been relying on my drive on. Monday was spent mounting it, and dropping the subframe from the '74. This was the reason I didn't initially use the '74 subframe......an ill-repaired upper shock mount. So now I had to make a jury-rigged repair like new.......or just re-jigger it.......which is exactly what I did. I think that had the shock nut not come off the initial repair it would have been an OK fix. We'll see how it holds up this time. And for all the anal-retentive types I apologize, this thread won't get any better from here on out. Just like new!
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 16:52:17 GMT -5
I noticed the steering gearbox was leaking on the '74 so rather than wait for a seal I just swapped it from the '78 as it was dry and relatively tight. Since I swapped the subframe then the pan I was using was REALLY close to the draglink and I didn't really want to accidentally drain the oil while on the road I went ahead and swapped the pan back to the right one. Not pretty by any stretch but at least something on the car is clean(ish). Dropped the engine in the sub frame and bolted it up, along with the exhaust and all the accessories I could. Of course as always I didn't get a picture of it assembled.
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 16:59:43 GMT -5
Time to start the mating process. Roll the subframe underneath and start inching it down...... Getting closer...... Nope never mind, I just realized that these are actually of the un-mating process. Of course I took not one photo of it going back together. I need to hire a photographer apparently. Just use your imagination, it really looked pretty much exactly like this.
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 17:07:21 GMT -5
This really is of a picture of it basically back together. What's missing is the complex series of events in which I installed my used but internally rust free fuel tank...........which turned out to be rusted through from the OUTside Back to the drawing board and doing a good old-fashioned flush and shake of the original tank to remove as much gunk as possible until I source a better tank. Put the original tank back in, filled it up and guess what.... Yes, in my rush to swap the good sending unit/pickup I missaligned the tang that centers the unit......rendering the rubber gasket nearly useless.......time to pull the tank again. I'm getting pretty fast by now though so I got that going for me!
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Post by cbody on May 11, 2014 17:19:33 GMT -5
Took the wife out to supper last night so I got to give it a good 100 mile shakedown run......no problems whatsoever! I did fail to mention that before the shakedown run I did put on a new fuel pump, 3 filters, and of course all new belts and hoses. I'm not quite as half-assed as the photos would indicate (well.....). Today I decided that I had to do something about the blank A pillar so I dragged out a few boxes of junk and went to work. I actually ordered the 216(?) bracket from Unity a while back. A month went by and I still hadn't received it, and they never contacted me. After a bit of hassle I finally got them to let me know what was going on. Apparently it is out of stock and it will be 6 weeks or so until their supplier will have new ones re-cast so I canceled my order and got my money back. Impatience is a virtue....and a money saver at times. I pulled the trim off, eyeballed it and went at it with a drill. I drilled through the A pillar, re-installed the chrome, then drilled from the inside out to pierce the trim. Grabbed the light that looked about the right length that worked smoothest and taa-daa! One spotlight professionally installed! Wired it up and all is good. Only 2 more years to go!!
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Post by AZBlues on May 11, 2014 17:57:18 GMT -5
Two more years or days? You work fast.
-AZB
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Post by cbody on May 12, 2014 22:02:26 GMT -5
I'll stick with years. Keep in mind that most of this job has been rushed so much will end up being corrected at a later date......well hopefully anyway.
I took the car on a longer shakedown run today. I went to Topeka and ran my nephew around town for a few hours since he has the week off. He had a blast and could not believe how many people kept coming up to us to comment on the car, or regale us of their mopars previously owned. I left a copy of the movie with him since I think he will watch it now.
Got nearly 300 miles on it today and it ran perfect all day.......however, I have to get tires pretty soon, above 60 it's a bit vibratey. The temporary 625 AFB on it has got to go, it's missing the full throated secondary honk of a big Thermoquad.......and I averaged 12 mpg. Partly due to the scrub of the front tires needing alignment, and partly due to the AFB having not been dialed in at all.
So next on the to do list is rebuild a Thermoquad, install all new tie-rods and a new idler arm, then get it aligned. Hopefully I can get that accomplished before the weekend.
Edit: Oh, and get the cruise working again, it quit on me the day before I pulled the 360, that's kind of an important one.
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