It falls in the Balls of Fury category - not to be talked about

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Regards,
Fanie Gerber
It's never junk, it's just a part you're not currently using

http://www.valiant50.co.za
Just say I own a few Mopars

Once upon a time, in a city called Portland, there was a man, who was very distressed. His baby had taken a hard fall, and now he needed help very badly. Fortunately, he had a lot of good friends who were more than willing to help him out.

Let's begin with yesterdays events, starting after the morning coffee.

MiDi, Lowerclassyouth (Or LCY as he shall henceforth be known in this story, because his name is long), and myself, the famous THOR himself, embarked on a mission. Our mission; To reinstall and prep a "refreshed" 225 Leaning Tower of Power, back into a most venerable Dodge Dart.

Between its retro green fender-wells, and above the metal flats of the freshly painted K-member, this legend will sit, ready for any task, at anytime.

Time: Approx 10:30 AM.

MiDi had set the engine atop two tires, supported by my engine crane, and covered with a black tarp, which was bunged to make sure not one drop of water would be spilt onto the fresh new paint. LCY, MiDi and I uncovered the beast within, and lingered for a moment, just gazing into this prime example of mechanical excellence.

Up goes the engine! Into the air it raised, like the flag every morning at daybreak. We shuffled an old but sturdy cart underneath, so we could transport this powerplant and its crane to the front of the Dart, where we could install it.

As we were moving it, MiDi at the "wheel" and myself holding the engine steady, we slowly moved it along toward its destination. Ok, front wheels off the walkway 2" below to the ground, and ever so carefully let's just *oops!* the cart comes off the step unevenly, and the engine starts to roll off the cart! Since I already had my hands on it firmly, I slowed its descent, until MiDi was able to rocket over, and help me push it back onto the cart. From this point, as we were crossing the great plains of MiDi's front yard, we now had two people holding it steady. *whew!*

We positioned the cart in front of the Dart, and then brought over the crane. The crane is now in the right location to pickup the engine, so that we may install it. Connect the chain to the crane, and up it goes! LCY is operating the crane, whilst MiDi and I are removing the cart from the vicinity. Upon removal of the cart, we all traded places. MiDi took reign of the crane, while LCY and myself helped to steady the engine that was now over 5 feet in the air.

Then we run into a problem....

You see, MiDi's driveway is a wonderful thing to behold, it is free from garbage, and spare parts, however, it is most definitely not devoid of our worst enemy at this stage, and for a couple hours to come.

What foe could I possibly speak of??

Gravel.

Yes, that's right. In case you didn't know, MiDi's driveway is gravel. This made moving the crane, with 450 plus lbs of engine, a real bear to move. We managed to get the engine positioned right over the beak, where MiDi had placed a blanket, as to not scratch the paint, in the event that such a thing could occur. Well shoot... what do we do now? The front wheels of the crane are digging into the gravel with no reserve, as we try to push harder to make it move. Hmmm. Welp, let's try digging out in front of the wheels to make them roll!

This didn't work as we had originally anticipated. Ok, so the next thing we try, is pulling the crane back. At this point, I was in charge of the crane and supplying brute force, in conjunction with 235 lbs of ballast to move the crane back. Why did we do this? Well, to put some wood under the front tires of course! We pulled it back, placed what wood MiDi had (basically particle board.... shoulda thought about that a little longer!) in front of the tires, and tried to roll the crane on top of the wood... well as you can well imagine, that most certainly did not work.

MiDi decides that we ought to use leverage to our advantage, and goes to retrieve a 4 foot long wood clamp to use as leverage. With that tool, we managed to get the front wheels atop the wood. At this point, I returned to the helm, and proceeded to push the crane forward, which worked quite well.... for about a foot.

What else should happen, than the wheels putting holes in the wood! Great, this is just great. At this point, I also decided that leverage ought to be our friend, so I took control of the wood clamp, and utilized it in a meaningful way, in order to move the crane forward. Amazingly enough, it worked pretty well. With the help of MiDi rotating the engine, LCY holding the hood up that crucial last inch, we managed to get the engine in far enough to return it to the proper orientation. This left us with the next challenge.... bolting it to the transmission....

I had informed MiDi before we came up that we would need a small floor jack to rotate and lift the transmission, whilst also rotating and lowering the engine to get it bolted up, which he had so we were set.

Time: Approximately 11:30 AM.

Now to tackle the engine mounts. I originally thought that we would need to remove them to get the engine close enough to the trans to mount it, then we could simply lift the pair up, reinstall the mounts, and set it down.

Well.... something like that.

We removed the mounts in order to do what I had planned, and then I realized that if we married the trans to the engine, and had the ceremony, followed by the reception, we would not be able to lift the engine high enough to reinstall the mount on the passenger side. Being the somewhat smart person I try to be and think ahead, I decided that we should reinstall the mounts, and go from there... we could simply work around them. After I started installing the wrong mount on the driver side, I realized that something was off, and handed the mount to MiDi, to who I instructed to install on the passenger side.

He did so. So, LCY at the crane again, me on the driver side and MiDi on the opposite, we started to lower the engine into the passenger side cradle... but something doesn't seem right.... hmmmm.

MiDi did install the mount, problem was, motor mounts don't position the engine correctly when they are upside down. At this time, we were all starting to get pretty hungry, so I took over the engine mount detail, while MiDi went in to cook the continental breakfast of "Steak and Eggs." I repositioned the mount, and we started to lower the engine into the depths of the bay. Through some ingenious positioning on my part, and the infallible operation of the crane on LCY's part, we married the happy couple on the first try, with no objections to the ceremony on either side.

Got the bolts into the bellhousing, except the trans/dipstick, which required lowering of the engine to access it. I removed the bolt from the bushing on the passenger side, and went in to eat. After our wonderful and a much needed break, we got back on it. I lowered the engine/trans, and started the 1/4 turn at a time bolt. MiDi and LCY rolled off in Romper to get some coolant, and another oil filter. (Remember when the engine tried to roll off the cart?)

When the returned I had the engine mounted back into its holders, except that the driver side wasn't sitting down all the way. A quick Tappy-Tappy with a hammer, and she slid right in. We lowered the engine all the way, and the crane left the vicinity just as swiftly as the cart.

Now onto external accessories and the like. I tackled the torque converter bolts, exhaust, carb, alternator wiring, starter, distributor, and a few other various things. LCY was put in charge of cooler and heater lines, and helped MiDi with things like the alternator bracket. MiDi installed the fan and pulley, then installed the belt. Ok. We are getting close. We have LCY pull the spark plugs, while MiDi dumps 5 quarts of fresh oil into the engine.

LCY removes the positive power to the coil (dizzy cap not yet installed), and I hook up the battery ground strap. Alrighty. Now it is time to crank the engine and get some oil up in there before we crank 'er up (hopefully). I took the keys, sat down, and held the accelerator to the floor while it cranked, and cranked, cranked some more... stop... wait... crank some more, then finally oil pressure. It ran up to around 25psi, and I held it there for a few seconds, then let it off.

Alright! Goldyn, MiDi, LCY and myself are putting the final touches on. MiDi tops the rad, we check over everything. All systems go. MiDi takes the driver seat, LCY hooks up the battery, and we all cross our fingers.....

One shot of fuel, and one second of cranking... result? A running engine!
MiDi let off the throttle a bit, and it rolled down to a stop. So, I advanced the timing a bit, and told MiDi to give her a go. One pump, one second of crank..... result.... an engine that runs better! MiDi let off the throttle, and it idled. Rough, and noisy due to the HUGE valve lash. I mean HUGE!!!!

We ran it at an idle until the paint on the exhaust started to smoke, at which point, we shut it off to let the paint cure. We talked about "Various and Sundry" things for about 20 minutes, then fired it back up. Started with no pump shot on the first try, and was running smoother, but no way smooth.

We ran it for another 10 minutes, and then shut it off. Goldyn was ecstatic ... we all were. Handshakes were exchanged, and thanks were given. The third start, I took up the trusty feeler gauge, and 3/8 end wrench. I set all the valves to .022, and then set the intakes to .012.

It is amazing how quiet the engine was, without the *ahem* CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK!!!! !!!! !! !!!!! ! !!!!!!!!! !!!

We had a small exhaust leak, which ended up being the manifold stove studs needing 5 more ft. lbs. of torque. It sounded great, and was running nice and smooth like it should. We ran it for awhile and then shut it off, so we could reinstall the valve cover, clean the oil off the car, and be on our way. I installed the valve cover while LCY and MiDi were cleaning and topping fluids.

Mission accomplished gentlemen.... Time: 3:47 PM.

LCY and I retrieved our belongings (including my laptop which MiDi completely "remodeled and updated" to something worthy of his respect ), thanked Goldyn for the hospitality and we were no sooner walking out the backyard, MiDi was headed for the road. We wished him luck, and I gave him some guidelines on "breaking in" the engine. We bid our farewells, and MiDi drove off into the "sunset" so to speak, with a light blue cloud following him... hmm rings are gonna need to seat.

When LCY and myself were back in salem, exhaustion hit us pretty hard, I am still hurting in various places, but nothing that LCY or I would trade in for not having help a good friend out.

It was good times, and relatively painless. Annoying at some points due to my ineptness with a long wrench in a confined area (trans dippy tube bellhousing bolt for example).

So there it is! It was a lot of fun, and while we were having fun, we were productive, and something good came of it. Also, it didn't start raining until we left! Amazing!

Enjoy!

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

I guess MiDi will blow up engines more often with this kind of treatment! Good job, guys.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Thor,

You mentioned riding off into the sunset in a light cloud of blue smoke.

What type of rings did you install on Midi's motor?

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

This is just a "Get by" interim band-aid until the engine is rebuilt.

He's still got his old rings and rod bearings. That's a few posts back. The rings ought to seat back in shortly. They were in pretty good shape, as were the bores.

I didn't want to put it back together that way, but he was out of dough and time. It'll run OK as is.

We mic'd everything, and he's in no danger of having anything come loose now. It'll need to be torn down sometime soon for a real rebuild.
There appeared to be little taper to the bores. There was a slight ring ridge. It was in pretty good shape.

MiDi is going to start amassing parts, and as soon as he has the cash available, we'll do the machine work needed to get it in top shape.

Regardless, it'll run and drive just fine. He was loosing more oil due to lack of valve seals than anything else. We got a lot of seal material out of the pickup screen. With fresh valve seals, everything ought to be just fine.

He's 154 down the bore, and the head likely hasn't been cut. I'll toss a WAG at 54cc's. We were running out of time, so just got busy putting it back together. MiDi needed his car.
I'd say we have sub 8:1 compression. His timing set was pretty loose, so most of his performance was coming from a severely retarded cam. By the looks of things, the timing set went in a touch advanced. The quiet set he got has a slot cut for the cam dowel, so none of the degree stuff I have would have worked. I didn't have specs for the cam in the car, as we don't really know what it is, so degreeing it in was pointless.

In any event, the engine should hold together, get halfway decent economy, and get MiDi around till we can get serious with the Engine.

2¢

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

ha! if i never have to pull another engine again it will be too soon!

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

I most certainly hope not. This engine oughta work just fine, like Ceej said, until he is ready for a full-on rebuild.

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

after 24 hours of driving the semi rebuilt motor - it has WAY more ballz.
still have not even hit 3k RMP yet, no need to! omfg it breaks loose way easy. even when i baby'n it. so far about 90 miles of city and low speed highway driving. my plan is to be sitting on duct tape seats and driving it around town (slowly) to break her in. i poped the hood @ a gas startion to check oil and atf and omfg i came back to 4 guys staring @ my motor drooling!

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cars said: Why do all the pics show guys will sideburns? Does it take that long for fashion to reach the west coast?????

well cars, us oregon mopar punx love our sideburns! cheers mate thx for ur reply.
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PS: the deacls and motor paint have held and darkened slightly and look great.

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

GO JOSHIE!

u gonna be @ medford josh?

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

Yamobethere

You owe me a race! CJ and I ran against each other during time trials. It was a pretty cool race. My car ran .006 quicker, but I left .029 sooner (red lit).

I want to get there early enough Friday so I can run time trials. I gotta get over this red light business so I can see about winning a round or two.

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Joshua

Yea Josh I know how you feel. We are all hangin around Ceej too much

So whats the clock on how many miles youve gone there MiDi?

Heres the reason for your low end torque:

A tight timing chain, and properly timed cam.

With the amount of advance we put on the cam( alot alot) with the new timing set, I knew it was going to have more low-end.... just dont try and run it as fast, since you obviously dont need to... especially in the rain.

Good to hear it is running well!

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

That's Just Wrong!



CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Is it now? We'll see if your luck will change at Medford!

MiDi I think is still safe.... he hasnt been around you TOO long....

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

get ready for the green fury of my dart @ medford!

go green bee's!

actually mr. ceej has totally infected me with the slant sickness

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"Marilyn" 64 Dart GT & "Stella" 64 Valiant V100 Sedan - 63 Norton Project

Just so long as my Red Light fever isn't too contagious yet...

I dare somebody to cut a worse red than I handed to Stephanie!

Who leaves at -.120? My brakes musta done a creep on me! Yeah that's it! Not chasing a car down at the 330 when the tree started down!

Sigh.

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing