f100_dreamin Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Discussion thread here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 Did some more work on this tonight. Managed to remove the rear suspension and diff, then removed the fuel tank and fuel lines now have plenty of room to play still need to build a cradle to drop the engine and gearbox onto for easy removal, but first I need to get the torsion bars out which are proving to be very stubborn, there are plans on a mopar A body website of how to make a tool to remove them so that maybe the next step 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted February 3, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 3, 2019 Made more progress this weekend, car is basically mechanically stripped now Made a cradle out of 6x2 building timber, literally slapped it together on some little caster wheels (woefully underrated with a loadrating of 30kg each) disconnected the last of the wiring, the last of the shift linkage, removed the PS box and it was time to lower the car onto the cradle unbolted the trans x-member, unbolted the K frame and pushed the up button, such an easy way to remove an engine and trans. Video: Carefully wheeled engine and trans to side of the garage, Pulled a rocker cover to see what the inside of the motor looks like, not the greatest, but that’s not a huge surprise Plans have somewhat evolved (read snowballed) will be taking a bit more time and instead of just doing the minimum to get it complied, plans have stretched to minitubs, move springs inboard so I can fit some nice fat wheels in the back engine will get alloy heads, flat top pistons, headers and a bigger carb than the 500cfm edelbrock that I already have. Cheers Ben 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Not much to report, have just been working on removing the underseal, lots easier with a hoist, but still not fun. On the plus side I’m finding lots of nice metal. which has left a nice pile of crap on the floor 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 Work on the scamp has been on the back burner a little bit lately. However a chap in my Hot rod club was in need of some 318 engine parts, so I removed the factory 2 barrel intel manifold and rebuilt carb, I could’ve stopped there but I was at a loose end so I decided to pull a head. Looks like it’s had a pretty poor service history it’s fairly black and gunky inside nothing seems overly worn however Pistons have no markings to indicate being oversized It has a small ring ridge which it to be expected, but a quick vernier of the bore (albeit on the ring ridge) shows 3.89”, stock bore should be 3.91” so looks to be stock bore heads are standard open chamber heads. Factory sized valves 1.78” in 1.5” exh. Obviously until I get it on the engine stand and drop the pants off there maybe a different story but at this point it looks like a good base to start a build with. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 Discuss how I should just big block it here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted April 20, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 20, 2019 So Easter Friday the Middy went out an left me at home with the kids (who are on no screen time for Easter) so while they played outside I played in the garage, found another great use for the hoist separated the trans and motor then used the hoist to lift the engine off the k frame an trolley I built so I could get it on the engine stand. Dropped the sump to have a quick Nosey inside, which further confirmed my lack of service history there’s a reasonable amount of sludge, there was also a random small washer pulled a big end cap off crank and bearings look good all in all pretty happy with the condition. Should make for a good build to finish the day I returned to stripping underseal pretty happy with the lack of rust I’ve found 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 Scored some garage time to work on this cream puff, Decided to take a break from the underseal removal. started on Saturday by pulling the engine further to pieces, timing chain has seen better days Not an issue as I already have a replacement double row chain that I got with my Cam kit. Proceeded to remove the cam to check the cam bearings. Unfortunately they’re goosed. so I’ll speak to my machinist and organise to get the motor down to him to have them replaced. I’ve got the heads ready to drop to him anyway to have them machined to take the double valve springs. I’ll give the ports a tickle up when I get them back from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted May 26, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 26, 2019 Sunday I decided that I was sick of taking things apart so I decided to do a smaller job that I could finish up in the same day. I got my VJ Valiant disc brake conversion parts out of the shed. Broke it all down until I was left with the spindle, backing plate and hub. Made a makeshift petro-bath (using a petrol/diesel mix that we drained from a customers car) that plus a wire brush and all the grime was gone. Degreased everything and got it all etch primed. (Another great use for the hoist) Got it all painted black, fitted the new rotors (which have a black protective paint on them) to the hubs. Installed new wheel bearings and assembled everything to the spindle (ball joints are just sitting there temp for the picture) New piston and seal kits have been ordered for the Callipers, as has a new disc brake master cylinder (from Rockauto) Also ordered these. 4 1/4 star rating over 27 reviews so figured they were worth the punt. Plus at that price if I have to modify them then it’s not the end of the world. Summit wanted over $300usd to ship to New Zealand, so I had them free shipped to the guy I bought the car from (L.A Wellington Shipping on trademe) who will put them in a container and ship them over for less. Still haven’t been to get the explorer diff from Zebra yet. Hopefully can make it in the next couple of weekends (if it’s even still there haha) 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted June 10, 2019 Author Share Posted June 10, 2019 Small update. Have rebuilt the front Callipers, new pistons and seals. And all painted up! Also pulled the PS pump apart ready to take to work to clean up then I’ll re-assemble and modify the pump to reduce the amount of assistance (common modification over in the states as it’s way too light at higher speeds) Again it feels good to be putting parts back together also spoke to a local sand blaster and they reckon a couple of hours should get the underbody all finished up so I’m going to make a couple of frames so I can lower the car onto a trailer and take it to be blasted soon. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted July 11, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2019 Since my last update I have re-kitted the P/S pump I’ve also shimmed the relief valve to lower the assistance given as the steering was too light at higher road speeds, I’ve replaced all the inner and out tie rod ends and the drag link, I dropped the block, crank and heads off to my machinist, block had been acid tanked, honed and had the cam bearings replaced. The heads have been checked over, machined, machined to take the valve springs, couple of worn valve guides replaced. The valve springs turned into a bit of a headache, the double springs supplied with my cam kit ended up having 140lbs of swat pressure which is was too high for a hydraulic flat tappet cam, We ended up ditching the inner spring and shimming the outer to end up with 100lbs seat pressure. A bit annoying but at least it didn’t turn into a major. Dont have any photos yet as it’s all plastic wrapped as it will be a couple of weeks before I start assembling slowly coming together, made another couple of orders from rock auto got a cam thrust plate with a tensioner (from a Dodge V6) as the factory 318 doesn’t have one, got some rubber lower arm inner bushes as apparently the complete polyurethane bush kit I got for the car doesn’t come with them (and no one lists a poly bush for it) ordered new rad hoses, bypass hose, rear spring shackles (as mine were too rusty) also ordered a starter motor from a 1992 dodge Dakota as with the headers I can’t use my factory starter due to the size. You can buy A/M mini starters but they are around $400, or as most of the guys in the states do you can get a Dakota starter and it’s basically a factory mini starter and at $71usd plus shipping it’s still way cheaper than an A/M unit. For now I need to let the bank account recover so ill be working on tidying up the rear suspension mounts and springs. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted July 22, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2019 Rockauto delivers again. This time I ordered parts Monday. Received them Friday. just for the size comparison here is the later model dodge starter vs the factory one. Fairly sizeable difference still plodding away on cleaning and painting suspension parts and replacing the bushes. No pictures as I’ve not actually finished any this completely yet. And now I’ve run out of etch primer Got the bill from the machinist for the engine work which ended up being a reasonable amount more that planned (there was extra work done to justify it) which has completely drained the bank account. Also my headers are in the country now so just waiting for them to clear customs etc, all in all still chipping away at it. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted November 11, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 11, 2019 Been a while since and update, headers turned up, pretty happy with them considering how cheap they were to buy and ship to NZ, started and finished de-burring the valley (what a crap job to do) next up was to clean it all down to get rid of and filings from the de-burr and to get rid of any solvents/etc from the machine shop, picked up a bottle brush for getting into all the little holes etc and grabbed a tube of engine assembly lube, Found a perfect use for the shower in the garage then started to assemble the bottom end, fitted new Clevite crank bearings fitted the new rear main seal and crank, put new Sealed power big end bearings in the old ones had seen better days, then fitted new Mahle piston rings and dropped the pistons back in, All in all a productive night after training on Wednesday I should get the cam in and timed up. Then I can slap the rest of it together, also I still have under seal to scrape, but I’m being a slacker and have left it for a while 15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 Ended up not going to training tonight so decided to get the cam installed and degree’d found TDC, then set the Dti gauge up on the lifter (Ended up welding two old lifters together to make it easier to get the Dti gauge set up) found max lift and set Dti to zero, wound engine back .100” and then forward to .050” before max lift, noted the number the pointer was at on the degree wheel, the wound engine over until the lifter was at .050” after max lift again noted the number the pointer was on again, added the two numbers together and then divided by two, this gave me 112.5° intake centreline. Cam spec card is for 102° so was a bit out. pulled it all apart and advanced the cam 4° and started again, ended up with an intake centreline of 101°, so that where it will stay. Tomorrow night I’ll get the heads on an confirm there is no clearance issues. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 discuss here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Not a huge update, but progress is getting made. front suspension is all Re-bushed and repainted, and has new ball joints. Had a mission with the upper arms. the arms that came out of the car I managed to get the ball joints out of, but the bushes were seized into the arms. So I dug through all my parts and found the Aussie upper arms that came with all my front brake parts. Confirmed they are the same at the factory stuff. Bushes all came out easy. But the ball joints would not budge (shitty home made roll didn’t help) so I ended up welding an old axle nut to the top of the ball joint and using that to get them out. Got there in the end. I’ve also started cleaning up everything that bolts onto the engine, inlet manifold is all done Still need to finish cleaning the sump then I’ll have everything sorted to paint the engine, still undecided with what to do with the rocker covers though in that photo you can see it’s got a cool set of finned rocker covers I’m tempted to paint them the same colour as the inlet manifold and paint the fins black however I’m yet to decide, when I first got the car I had thought about doing them wrinkle black and then knocking the fins back to alloy so am a bit undecided there Discuss here: 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Well it’s been a while since I updated this. Life etc etc, anyway, the inside of the boot has concerned me as the car has previously been involved in a rear end collision. I pulled the bumper and it looked alright, you can see where the RR has taken a hit and been repaired. However inside the boot has had copious amounts of seal sealer used inside it. I stripped it off on the RR only to find that instead of welding the rear panel brace back to the floor it had just had seal sealer smeared all over it. Coupled with this the RR rear spring mount was out of shape and the LR was rusty, I made a cardboard template, and dropped it to a local shop that laser cuts and folds sheet metal. The car is booked in on the 20th June to go to a buddy’s metal/restoration shop (R3 Fabrication in papakura) to have the rear end, spring mounts and a couple of small rust spots repaired, I have also got my fuel tank all cleaned up, but I’m slowly running out out things to sort. tank has come out a bit patchy (which looks worse because of the underbody Shultz) and I’m not sold on the black. may hit it with some silver and do the straps black I still need to paint my engine, I have all new frost plugs now. So once it’s painted then I can start assembling ancillaries, and come up with a plan to run the Gilmour drive belt and P/S 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f100_dreamin Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Decided I was unhappy with the black fuel tank so I threw a coat of silver on, it’s a bit better but I’m still not sold (and now it may not even end up being used, more on that below) got my replacement spring mounts back from being made built a frame to put the car on so it can be moved around loaded the car up onto my mates car trailer and took it to Greg at R3 Fabrications (check them out on Facebook) Was a pretty nerve racking drive that’s for sure. Not that it moved at all but the height of the car on the trailer just felt wrong haha Upon Greg looking at it he identified that the rear chassis rails have a slight downward kink, and the front is twisted to the right, so it’s going onto the chassis machine this week to be straightened and have the new spring mounts fitted, have the boot floor cut out (it’s basically uneconomical to repair due to the amount of creases in it, so we will replace it with a flat boot floor (which means the spare wheel well that the fuel tank mounts to is gone, hence the comment about not using the tank) I may end up running a drop tank or fuel cell. TBC at this point. Then I will pick it up and start saving to have the next stage of work done, (rust in the outer 1/4s Which Greg believes will be best to stitch a couple of whole 1/4s on) One step closer..... discuss here: 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted July 5, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 5, 2020 Well I picked the car up from R3 Fabrications, well I picked up what’s left of it haha, that’s all the parts that were on the car when I dropped it off, car is all straight and back home so that I can continue to strip under seal off, and start saving, plan will be to buy new rear 1/4s from the states, have it blasted and dropped back to R3 to be put back together so is a sizeably large financial requirement so may be a while away, And now there is an internal fight with myself as to whether I should Or shouldn’t mini tub it while it’s in this state 12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post f100_dreamin Posted July 31, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2020 Finally managed to get to zebra to get a rear diff from an explorer, I missed out on the one @cletus told me about because I was slack. anyway Zebra finally had one come into stock at the end of June so I went out this morning and plucked it out of this gladly all bolts came out with out a fight and it ended up with this It’s 8.8 inches of Ford goodness, 31 spline axles, factory disc brakes with onboard handbrake, it’s a 3L73 so 3.73 ratio LSD, need to source another short side axle, shorten the long side down 3” and it will be just narrower than the factory mopar and is the same stud pattern as the VJ valiant front brakes I’m using, it’s a well documented thing to do in the USA so there’s an abundance of information about it online. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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