sheet metal brackets are from safety recall campaign number 254. With out special tool c-4576,which no body had,aligment was very difficult . The brackets did not do much any way, so shops just took them off. Now what is very important is the upper control arm nuts. 150 ft lb. If not tight enough the arm will slide back and forth.

I noticed that today... I roughed them in and cinched them down to install the upper ball joints. LOL... What's a bit scary is this is the first mopar that I've bottomed out the ball joint rim at the torque spec....

Thanks also for the information, I kind of wondered why some had the brackets and other didn't but they weren't structural in nature or were any kind of "lock"... the passenger side must've been messed with in the past that I only had half the brackets.



Today, I installed the Torsion bars, sway bar, front shocks and upper ball joints....

I will say that the L shaped T-bars are a pain to get right the first time through (if the receiver doesn't fall out of the C in the K member or the end bracket at the LCA doesn't want to fit... it isn't as fun for one guy....

Weather is supposed to be good tomorrow so Spindles and knuckles and transmission work.

This is the first time I've ever been frustrated doing a rear drum brake job....

The rear brakes are completely toast, I ordered all new Raybestos drums, cylinders and hardware....

I'm not sure where Raybestos is getting their brake hardware from but the stuff is not as quality as the kits I used when I did the brakes on the hpak duster in 2005, or the brake job I did on the Beater Valiant....

It's all on, but I've never had to rebend the hooks on the springs after seating them on the top stud to make sure they stay "hooked", and the adjusting lever was so loose on the stud, I had trouble keeping upright with the lever spring attached....

Tomorrow.... Spindles, knuckles, arms... maybe bearings and rotors...

Knuckles and spindles are on, pitman arm is on... have to wait for idler arm to come in, then I can do link and tie rods.

I was researching converting to the standard style speedometer gear... when I went though a bin of misc stuff and found I had a 33 tooth plastic F body gear to make the change... so that saves me a step and some parts scrounging.

It's supposed to rain for the next week... so I will finish work on the block and the transmission so they will be ready to installwhen the sun comes out again...

If all goes favorably, I can get it up and running then get an alignment after Memorial Day...and get some time in to test drive before late June....

Dang, you are killing it, Rob! Keep up the good work!

It's raining so all the inside work will get completed this weekend.

So last night, I spread out an old shower curtain on the shop floor (beats having to clean up 40 lbs of kitty litter and ATF...)... and pulled open the A904. Torque Convertor had a Lockup sticker on it, and the front seal looked new.... ATF that cam out of it was a nice shade of red, no burnt smell.
Cleaned off the pan rail and found that the part number was 4028812 which matches the FPC for 225 1 or 2 barrel with lockup A904.

Pulling the pan I found that the pan had a nice dimple in the corner and a magnet installed, no metal debris found....)

Pulled the valve body and had to wrestle with the lockup mechanism S tube to get it apart....

Every thing looked good, so went to town doing the band adjustments... low adjustment by the book was spot on and looks like there still is plenty of life left there.... Kickdown adjustment by the book was not as good and only had a couple of threads left above the lock nut... so I will probably have this guy back out again and overhaul it completely (good time to upgrade the guts at that time).....

Did the no/low buck modification of the separator plate, removed the appropriate check balls, adjusted the pressure setting (not much to do on that one, it was a couple threads from that setting anyway...), reassembled, installed new filter and gasket....

My neighbor stopped by to ask some questions since he is improving he land and wanted to make sure he was following code from my side of the fence... he saw I had a white shower curtain with a lot of red fluid on it and a wet trail from the main shop area to my work shop area.... he felt better after I showed him the transmission I serviced and explained a few things about the what I was doing with the old car... LOL, I could've been a Mopar serial killer....



After he left I cleaned up and got the kitty litter down on the spots the curtain didn't get....

Today, I will be getting the engine block in shape:

Degree Cam
Install Timing Set
Button up timing cover.
Install Oil pump, Distributor, Fuel Pump.
Select and install head, pushrods and rockers.
Finish alternator and power steering brackets....

After doing some cleanup Thursday I have parts to install the offy with dutra duals, so I can get that mocked up and installed.

While rummaging around for the header pipes for the dutra setup, I found I had a mid-70's V-8 pipe tin with the fresh air snorkel like the super six pie tin.... unfortunately it is for the Holley 2245, so it won't fit a 2300... that being said, since I am a tin bender, I found a I had an old POS pietin from what looks to be a Ford that does have a throat for a 2300.... so once I finish all the other fun stuff, I'll look up my buddy and we will transplant throats... which should get the factory look, more filter surface area and filter can plenum space.... Need to get a custom sticker for the lid...hmmmm....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCfC5yVlvj4


BTW - going next Friday to see the guitarist in the yellow shirt. Adrian Belew.

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

Hailed outside, had to switch toi Yngwie Malmsteen to drown out the constant drumming on the tin roof...

Progress ground to a halt... when Mahle took over Victor Reinz they cheaped out one item missing from the master gasket set they produce... oil pump gasket.... (you gotta love that kind of nickel rubbing)...

At least at this point: Cam degreed in at 102 centerline. Timing cover installed, fuel pump installed, damper installed...

Thanks Wayne... LOL... the talking heads were a good band... US Armed Forces Radio would play Life During Wartime on a regular basis in Baghdad... was a very fitting song...

Oil Pump gasket coming... didn't grind to a halt there...

Found my last modded rear dutra, which was prepped for use with a hyperpak intake... plate came off... Offy bolted right up with a new center stud (have to cut to even out with the adapter plate...). will mock up the adapter... I think these are supposed to bolt on for carb oriented front to back of car... would prefer carb with primaries toward the head....

Found my front Dutra on the shelf...

Will have to figure out how to plumb the power brakes to the Offy... don't want it in Runner #6...

Went back over to the block... installed the head from the 10:1 Erson motor (had that or a 447 head that was modded for a fat pak intake... figured the smaller runners with moderate porting would work better on this street motor anyway...).

Installed pushrods that were built for the 10:1 motor... set the cold lash at .003 wider than the cam card wanted hot lashed.

Washed up the power steering pump bracket, alternator bracket, TF front cover, tranny cross bracket,....


Tomorrow I think I'll get the brackets mounted, and get the manifolds mounted.... and pick out a valve cover...


If I get a break in the weather I'll flip back to idler arm, centerlink, tie rods, and front disc brake install (bearings,seals, rotors, hoses and calipers....and bleed the brake system)....

I put about 12 hours in today, with a couple of breaks... time for dinner and bed....

Sounds like great progress, DI! Hope you're havin' fun and your son is getting into some wrenchin' too...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Good weather is here...

This afternoon:

Installed Damper, painted engine.

Prepped a few other parts.

Tomorrow, will get the brackets, motor mounts, and manifolds installed.
If time allows I will figure out the brake hoses...

If all goes well, during the 3 day weekend I should be able to install the engine and tranny and get the driveline sized up....

D.I. you might check out A-1 coupling, they have a store in Albany. I have had them make a power steering hose using my old fittings.

Richard

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Tomorrow I will make a determination on these hoses, they are the hoses Greg linked but the metal bracket that isolates the upper hose and brake line connection from the caliper end is in the wrong place...

I figure that 1 of a few scenarios will occur... I order another set and see if they actually are correct....I make this set work but don't bolt the bracket on and let them work like an A-body set... or fasten a spring from the K to the bracket to keep the hose out of harms way for the most part... get these over to a hose shop and have them make the hose longer....

This is tomorrow afternoon's head scratching exercise, along with a few final fasteners to torque...

This afternoon I....

Installed: power steering mount, dipstick and tube, motor mounts to block, alternator bracket, manifold stack and front dutra.... (spent 30 minutes sifting through a bucket of bolts since I didn't tear down the Aspen engine and hadn't assembled a late motor in a long while....)

If everything gels by Friday I should have the engine and transmission assembly together and can slide it into the car over the weekend (and that will clear some space out so Halfafish and I can have room for distributor recurve madness... part 1).

Then begins the fun of putting everything back on the motor, installing the new speedo gear, filling the transmission...and rebuilding a holley... and setting up the kickdown cable.... and sizing up the driveshaft....

While junking through some of my misc bins I found a late 90's standard motor products EI module in good shape (the car's EI potting is degenerating... to that has to go...)... and found the accel coil from the Beater Valiant so ignition is set except for a set of UR5's I have to pick up and install...

So per the brakes topic I figured out that the pics and diagrams are not quite right in the 1978 FSM in relation to the position of the caliper on the HNFG platform... The caliper is supposed to be to the back like the late C body pin calipers... This is also the reason the 1979+ FMJ platforms went to a shorter hose similar to the late C-body brake hose as they moved the front brake hard lines from the front of the wheel well to the back of the wheel well like the late A-bodies have....(but the caliper stays in the rear of the wheel well position as well...)..

So some fun in the sun I swapped calipers and got it all put back together... was going to bleed the brakes but found I have every other kind of fluid for a car but no spare brake fluid... so back to the parts store tomorrow, and I think I'll get a new PCV valve to be safe since the one on the car was oil soaked and the one I had on the BV motor is pretty old....

If all goes well tomorrow the goal will be:

Clean the shop for distributor madness on Saturday with halfafish...
Bleed the brakes.
Finish odds and ends on the motor...
If time allows, mate the A904 to the motor and stage for a Sunday power train insertion....
Install wheels on front end so I can lower it and make the motor install easier...

Once this is in and I have the assembly bolted up and speedo cable and new gear installed... I should be able to size up the driveline... If I get really lucky and the duster driveline fits I have a new set of U joint I can install and get the rest of it buttoned up along with the exhaust....

If Monday turns out to not be a major scorcher and the driveline is good to go, I can then get the transmission filled up and the engine fired off....

If all that plays out, the last items will be cosmetic and electrical:

Replace the brake switch (most likely the plunger is worn out, I noticed the brake lights stay on when the battery is connected (have 2 spares on the bench). Make sure all the lights are functional and nothing else is toast. Clean out the cowl and put the cowl plastic grate back into place.
Pull the AM/FM/8 track, and install the Pioneer CD/MP3 player with 1.5DIN adapter plate...

If my weekend pans out, I can then have it taken to my local old school mom and pop shop to get the alignment done... then shake it down by driving it to work for a couple weeks and be able to participate at the first Woodburn race....


I should also give some credit to a couple oher boards that I did not join but had some fairly good posts, pics, and topics on the F body and M body.... Thank You.

dippy.org was a good resource when I installed the poly bushings and wasn't sure if I had completely destroyed the bushing shells doing it...
(I'm glad that it always is this kind of pain in the 8 1/4"....and it wasn't just me...)

aspenandvolare.com was also a good resource especially when figuring out that mopar had installed a plastic speedo gear housing and odd style of gear just for this platform, that luckily I had a spare for... but they did have a work around in case I wanted to use the standard 904/727 metal housing and long nose gears the A-body used and still hook up to the F-body speedometer....(that will be a future mod, when/ if the plastic housing and wacky gear and hairpin wear out....)