Guy wants to sell me a 1967 Dart GT with the 225. The car sat for 20 years with the same gas. Two cylinders with zero compression. I pulled the cover and found one pushrod popped out and another bent. I'm guessing stuck valves (both intakes) due to the old gas.

The good news is I got to repair it and took the time to take some photos. I didn't want to buy it at the wrong price with a couple of burnt valves (or worse). Put in a pair of pushrods (Advanced Auto actually had them) and returned the lifter, which had popped out, to it's hole. Gave the two intakes a cold setting of .020. Drained all the gas and put in 10 gallons of fresh with some Sea Breeze fuel cleaner.

Car now runs sweet and purrs like a kitten, but I've never worked on one and I'm wondering what the Dart experts think of the wear on the lifter and the rocker. Do you think it's a legit 20K? Here are some photos:

<img src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/triplemax/67DodgeDart/LifterSide.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

<img src="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/triplemax/67DodgeDart/LifterTop.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

<img src="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/triplemax/67DodgeDart/LifterTop2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

<img src="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/triplemax/67DodgeDart/Rocker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

<img src="http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g239/triplemax/67DodgeDart/LifterSideLaying.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

I'm gonna guess 127,000 insteads of the 27,000.
You know, depending on what year , I've heard mopars had a scribe that would "mark" the odometers as they turned over. I remember reading that somewhere, can anyone tell me if this is true? [if this si the case, you would be able to tell easy] Course, someone may have changed the whole gauge panel. That is why it is hard to tell.

_________________
1979 W150 Shortbox
225, NP435, 9 1/4, Dana 44

The Good Life.

As to the odometers, that's an old wive's tale.

What's your logic for it being 127K?

How about other indicators of mileage... worn brake pedal cover, carpet, etc?

Funny the lifter looks like a lot of wear and the rocker arm looks like very little.
Frank

_________________
Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

All that stuff is like new and from having ridden in these when they were young, looks to be 100% original. The silver paint on either end of the driver's door armrest is faded though.

I thought the rocker looked low miles.

The lifter was laying on its side in the the galley after having been popped out of its bore by the camshaft. Don't know how long it rattled around in there with the engine running.

According to the owner, a few times it landed on the cement floor after bouncing off the frame. He was attempting to drop it back into the engine with a magnet tool. As soon as the magnetized lifter got attracted to the head or rocker, it got knocked off.

This happened before I came back the next day with the new pushrods. I got the lifter back in with a long 3/8 extension and a piece of tape.

It may be scuffed up from a hard dry start. The car could be that low of miles. The photo of the lifter face to cam surface is reflecting something, right? It should show a mirror surface essentially. Did you oil it up good before dropping it back in it's bore?

Take a photo of the brake pedal for us. It's a good indicator. Feel of the rubber. If it's soft and pliable then it's been replaced. If it's hard and won't easily come off, yet still shows little wear, it could very well be a low mile car. Grease everything before driving off with it. Check all the bushings and the grease boots for condition. Sitting for prolonged periods can be pretty hard on things. Check your timing chain. It's likely that it will go south in a hurry once you start running it. They tend to go dry and rust like crazy. I'd just replace it on GP.

2¢
CJ

I'll get some photos. I got the impression that the top of the lifter was speckled, pitted or dimpled. I STP'd the lifter and cam lobe before I dropped it in.

Replace the lifter. Any damage will transfer to the cam rather quickly.

Use assembly/ break-in lube on the surface of the new lifter and do a standard cam break-in procedure.

Before you get too carried away, inspect the cam surface with a flashlight or something to determine the condition. If it exhibits anything other than a normal wear pattern, it's cam time. Irregularities on the cam surface will eat up the new lifter.
If it were me, I'd inspect all the lifters and lobes.

Are you getting a killer deal on this car? If it's really nice, you may still be ahead. You'll just have to weigh whether going through the engine still falls within your budget.

If you find that the cam has damage, think about timing set, cam, springs and lifters. The Erson group buy package makes this a lot more palatable. It would be an excellent time to determine what your expectations are going to be. While you have things torn down, you will be money ahead to accomplish certain machine work and part replacement now.

CJ

OK, good idea for the owner. If I buy it, all replace all of them and the cam if necessary, The lobe was pretty far down in the cave. The lifters can only be done from the top of the head, or is there an easier way?

I've rebuilt & reset several Mopar odometers of '65-75 vintage for the Tidewater Mopar Club giveaway cars; none had an over-100,000 flag of any kind. They just would just quietly flip from 99,999.9 to 00,000.0 (and back) w/o any fuss. We also made it quite clear that the odometers (often from a different donor car) had been reset and had it noted on the title.

It's described at:
http://www.tidewatermoparclub.com/TECH/odo3c.pdf

Interesting article. Fortunately, this car has some records of all three owners and the mileage seems to track the 20K showing now. I think I'm less skeptical of the mileage because the rocker arm comment matches what I was thinking.

#1 do you like the car?

It's a 1967 car-- at this point after sitting for that long -- mileage should be of little concern.

Waking this baby up & placing it back into action will cause pains & mishaps-- that are fairly easy to remedy.
This board will gladly assist if asked.

It's a slant gt-- it will never be worth Barrett Jackson $ so buy it becuase you like the car & it's a deal you can live with.
Lawrence

well, its strange that the lifter looks like that but the rocker looks good. I was going with the lifter condition when I replied. [It was late]. Yeah if you've got regis. info and repair/maint records, then that should do it.
hard to believe that a 67 dart would only have 27,000 on it but possible seeing that it sat for 20 years. [since 1989] Thats about 1200 +/- miles per year. Definitley driven very little and probably short trips. Good find!!

_________________
1979 W150 Shortbox
225, NP435, 9 1/4, Dana 44

The Good Life.