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Post by Steam McQueen on Jul 20, 2019 13:25:53 GMT -5
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Post by gtopat on Oct 2, 2019 14:56:14 GMT -5
Fresh plant for the long haul to our South Carolina season ender.....
Photo courtesy Judge Phil's Uber gallery.
My first driver warped the brake rotors so badly, the vibration snapped the alternator mounting bolts. Despite that, we lead the race all day Saturday and half of Sunday, before the 440 let go... "Is that serious? .... Yep." 
So close, yet so far. I've lost track of how many 440s we've chewed through. 4? 5?
 Photo courtesy Judge Phil's uber gallery
A season to forget for that "shitbox Dodge Plymouth"....
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Post by spyphish on Oct 3, 2019 4:30:05 GMT -5
I tried to blow up this cop 440 and could not do it. Come get it!!!! |
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Post by Steam McQueen on Oct 3, 2019 11:00:24 GMT -5
I've lost track of how many 440s we've chewed through. 4? 5? On the plus side ... decal looks GREAT !!   |
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Post by gtopat on Oct 3, 2019 15:35:45 GMT -5
On the plus side ... decal looks GREAT !!
Thanks!
A couple months ago, I stopped by the guy's place where we dug out the '74 NYSP Monaco. I picked up a few odds and ends, one of which was the orange air cleaner lid that was missing from the car... No decal!
My air cleaner is just an old motorhome housing with the shorty snorkel I salvaged welded on. Tack...grind...tack...grind...bondo....sand....bondo....sand... repeat... forever
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Post by gtopat on Nov 7, 2019 14:57:30 GMT -5
Junkyarding part... three?
In town on another cold fall day in the far northeast, I managed to sneak away for a few hours to my favorite junkyard. Apparently word has gotten out about the hidden treasure to be found here. Even the rotted-beyond-saving '68 Charger I once used as a workbench is long gone.
Since my last visit, two(?) three(?) years ago, someone scooped up the header panel, grille, headlight bezels and fender badges from the old '74. The car still has an OK set of taillights and very crusty fenders, but without the header panel and pressed for time, I decided to leave them for the next guy.
This '75 Gran Fury A38 is the gift that keeps on giving. This car donated all the HD suspension I'm currently running under my racer, but the doors were stuck closed on my last visit. I had to resort to being destructive to getting the doors open (the latches were frozen solid) but the couple hours invested netted an armful of great parts. Keep your eyes open for a for-sale thread in the near future.
Not much of her left  but her fuel filler pipe and 1(ish)-piece speedo cable will be put back into service on #21. I've picked so much of this car, it was only fitting I grabbed one more part to add to mount on my wall.
Been sitting there longer than I've been alive. |
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Post by spyphish on Nov 7, 2019 20:32:41 GMT -5
Shoot, I thought my place looked bad. They got trees!!!!!! Attachments:
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Post by gtopat on Jan 14, 2020 14:27:27 GMT -5
Warning: Gruesome images to follow!
As I mentioned in my last post, I'd put together a "new" engine for our 2019 season ender. Based on a minty-clean 45k-mile '77 motorhome 440; no ring-ridge, factory cross-hatch and like-new bearings. I bolted on the aluminum cylinder heads from the tired Imperial 440, threw in a big Hughes bumpstick, and dropped in an MSD pro billet dizzy. The plant hurled the Fury to 1st in class on Saturday and halfway through Sunday before my driver radio'd in "down on power, smoke in the cabin..."
After the car limped back to the paddock, I discovered the contents of the oil pan blown all over the engine bay, the pan gasket blown out from what I assumed was poor ring tension. Added to that the alternator dangling from its sheared mounts ended our weekend. Not until last weekend did I fully comprehend the scale of the situation. Remember, this engine was running and driving....
Catastrophic valve failure on the 440Source Stealth heads. Less than a year old, only a couple hundred miles on them. This shortblock retained it's factory pistons with almost an 1/8" of deck clearance. All the other cylinders are immaculate. The timing chain was new and still intact. The valve springs are all intact, the keepers on the affected valve still retaining the stem. All evidence points to a defect in the valve itself, the #2 exhaust, which snapped in half just above the head.
I took a gamble when I invested in aluminum heads that the $500-1k savings over a set of American made Edelbrocks was worth the risk, that I could live with rougher castings and a slight loss of performance; in the end I still got bit. Therefore, I can not in any way, recommend these heads. Don't be me. F*** China, buy American.
Anyway, I'm down to one *serviceable* 440, the old '74 Imperial short-block that had been in the car for a few seasons. Fingers crossed it can survive 2020...
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Post by flcl64 on Jan 14, 2020 16:16:57 GMT -5
Is that serious?
"Yap."
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Post by 58hemifury on Jan 14, 2020 19:29:23 GMT -5
Wow, that's crazy, I wish you luck this year. It was pretty cool running into you randomly in the middle of nowhere, I was kind of caught off guard.
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Post by spyphish on Jan 27, 2020 10:27:44 GMT -5
Yo' Pat. Your not down to 1 440, your up an extra car (with 2 440s)!!!! I am retiring the Fury after this years Great Race and moving the speaker, condoms, Penguin, beer cans and graffiti over to the correct 74 Monaco. That will be my Bluesmobile complete with Sniper, Vintage Air, cop motor, a 440 inch plant etc. You know the drill. BUT, the Fury will still have a fresh HP 440 with iron heads, rear antiroll etc etc. You will need to adopt me as a team member as I cant get my guys off their butts all this time for Lemons. Run the Southern circuit in my car. I will use the tan interior on a car I am building for someone on here. Phish |
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Post by gtopat on Feb 1, 2020 16:43:16 GMT -5
Wow, that's crazy, I wish you luck this year. It was pretty cool running into you randomly in the middle of nowhere, I was kind of caught off guard. You too buddy! What are the odds right? It took me a minute to figure "where have I seen that guy before..." LOL. Would have loved to hang around and shoot the shit... |
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Post by gtopat on Feb 1, 2020 16:48:05 GMT -5
Yo' Pat. Your not down to 1 440, your up an extra car (with 2 440s)!!!! I am retiring the Fury after this years Great Race and moving the speaker, condoms, Penguin, beer cans and graffiti over to the correct 74 Monaco. That will be my Bluesmobile complete with Sniper, Vintage Air, cop motor, a 440 inch plant etc. You know the drill. BUT, the Fury will still have a fresh HP 440 with iron heads, rear antiroll etc etc. You will need to adopt me as a team member as I cant get my guys off their butts all this time for Lemons. Run the Southern circuit in my car. I will use the tan interior on a car I am building for someone on here. Phish We should figure out a way to get my car down to you. Save a lot of effort. You're always welcome on team Interceptor.
We're already registered for 3 races this year, Pittsburgh in April, NJ in June and SC in September, and maybe a rally. Not all of them with the Fury though. I would love to run a Gulf area race.
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Post by spyphish on Mar 27, 2020 8:05:55 GMT -5
Change of plans. Lets race this rust bucket Monaco. Since shelter in place order we are full bore on Lemons. Shooting for the Houston race in November which works with our NHRA stuff that's on hold for now. Phish |
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Post by gtopat on Nov 22, 2020 16:20:49 GMT -5
Last dance for the 440...
The coronys has really put a damper on our 2020 season. We didn't even get our season started till mid-September and even then, the Lemons paddock atmosphere was severely subdued. Despite that, any racing is better than no racing, so were loading up for Road Atlanta!
The old Imperial 440 short block was dug out of its relatively short slumber and treated to new rings before being dumped back in the car. Being a cheap (and lazy) bastard I didn't even treat it to new bearings, so I shouldn't be surprised it makes ~10lbs of oil pressure at idle. And I think its munching a lifter. Alas...
The major upgrade, besides the Holley 750 HP, was a small piece of stamped metal screwed to the bumper. Someday I'll be able to wrap my head around the ridiculousness of a car purchased in Iowa, registered in Vermont to an address in Pennsylvania.
I took it on its maiden voyage on a 20minute drive across town, the brutal 440 coughing and leaking in traffic, but the smiles & thumbs-up from every pedestrian and other driver made it all worth it Now I know why you guys all like driving Bluesmobiles.
If we don't win-it-all in Atlanta, the big block is coming out for something a little bit lot different for next season. New(er), bigger, yet I think still appropriate for this ridiculous Fury
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but her fuel filler pipe and 1(ish)-piece speedo cable will be put back into service on #21. I've picked so much of this car, it was only fitting I grabbed one more part to add to mount on my wall. 
