Dave's 1969 Plymouth

[Dave-R]

Quick update.

Slowly making progress.

I found two of the torque converter bolts were loose. Non of them had thread lock on them. They have now.
Both accessory belts were too small. But I found that the belt on the alternator and fan was actually the correct one for the power steering pump. So just needed a new longer alternator belt. Slightly easier to see the timing marks now which I have also painted to make more visible.

I have started going through the brake system. Thought I would start at the master cylinder and work round from there.

Fluid was missing completely from the rear brake side so I have an issue down that line. But the fluid for the front brakes was black as soot which is strange considering it's got a fairly new disc conversion on it.

So I removed the MC and stripped it apart to check the piston seals were not damaged or something. Everything looks fine. I painted and bench bled it and everything is working as it should there.
So that's back on the car and I am making new lines from it as the existing were routed in my way when I was trying to access the starter motor wiring.

Next up I am stripping the front brakes.

[Dave-R]

……..except I can't strip the front brakes because the callipers are held on with what I assume must be 9mm hex head screws and I have everything but in my tool collection....

Ordered a 1/2" drive one from Amazon. Arrives tomorrow.

[Bozwell]

would have thought it'll be a 3/8 allen size (approx. 9.5)

[Dave-R]

would have thought it'll be a 3/8 allen size (approx. 9.5)

Me too. But too big.
It was 9mm. Common on modern cars. Must be what is on these Chevy brake callipers these days.

[Dave-R]

I have now been right through the whole braking system. Just need my wife to help me bleed the buggers and check for leaks.
Discovered the flared ends of the pipes at the master cylinder are particularly sensitive to being over tightened. My first attempts leaked. I had to use less pressure when flaring and tighten the nut less. Good seal now. The steel shims on the brake pads were glued on and the only reason I can think they are there is because they had a part number on them. So peeled those off and adjusted the pad that was catching with a big hammer. Much better fit. The other side didn't need that.

The fuel pump on the block is what looks like a high output Carter mechanical unit. I am funny about having a consistent and correct fuel pressure at the carbs so have fitted a regulator, In doing so I noticed the outlet pipe moved when I tried to get the hose off it and a wet patch in the K-frame under it so I removed the pump to check it.

EVERY screw was no more than finger tight. All the screws around the top half of it and the one big one on the bottom all took a good half turn + with the screwdriver.

Also got the Meep Meep horn working. They come completely painted. No one had scraped any paint off it's bracket to ground it to the frame. So working fine now.

So. Just waiting to bleed the brakes and I can re-build the carbs, fit the new MSD plug leads and she should be good to fire up.

[Blue]

Not much quality control in these "restoration" shops then...

[morgan]

Also got the Meep Meep horn working. They come completely painted. No one had scraped any paint off it's bracket to ground it to the frame. So working fine now.

Now THATS what I'm talkin' about. Finally a sense of priority !

Meepmeep !

[Dave999]

My rebuildable but 40+ year old carter used to do that

every 3-4000 miles the bloody screws around the rim would come loose (top valve cover was ok, just the 2 halves that clamp diaphragm)
presume they were pressed/peined (carb butterfly screw style) or Tight in their threads when first assembled....once dismantled once, that is lost

gave me an understanding of why every screw in the thing was chewed. presumably tightened with keys pliers and mole grips at inopportune moments over 40 + years

i thredlocked them eventually...then swapped in a sealed pump once the 40 year old rubbery bits went bad....original has been waiting for rebuild for 10 + years ....just means i'm destined to run a slant 6 pump till its done


unless the carter is way over spec it should to a certain extent self regulate in a way that an electric pump just can't the valves only open and close if there is flow, no flow no pressure difference valve stays open and nothing gets pumped. i took the regulator back out...was restricting flow at WOT causing me those "Oh **** ive bust it" feelings at 3/4 track

dave

[Dave-R]

unless the carter is way over spec it should to a certain extent self regulate in a way that an electric pump just can't. i took the regulator back out...was restricting flow at WOT causing me those "Oh **** ive bust it" feelings at 3/4 track

dave

No idea what the pump is putting out and as long as the pump is supplying more than you need, and the pipework is fat enough, I can't see why a regulator would restrict flow unless you were using one that wasn't designed for flowing enough for the application.

Holley carbs like a steady and consistent 6.5 psi. That also means setting the fuel bowl level correct and never having to alter it. Set it and forget about it. You have a pressure reading on the little gauge and you know you have fuel when fault finding.

It's all about peace of mind for me.

[Dave-R]

I have finished going through the brakes and they are bled and pedal feel strong. No sign of leaks although I found it was easy to overtighten the master cylinder connections and cause a leak which might be what has happened in the past.

The strange steel shims that were falling off the outer front brake pads have been removed, they had no purpose, and I am going to use them to seal the heat crossover in the intake.

Intake and carbs have now been removed. You know a carb setup has not been running right when on each pair of intake runners one shows carbon build up and the other doesn't. Also fuel has been pooling on top of and inside the intake. Fuel is under the carb mounting gaskets. There is a sign of a possible fire or at least a backfire under the centre carb. None of the carb or manifold bolts were more than finger tight.

[Dave-R]

Just to get the intake manifold out of my way I cleaned it up, filled the heat crossover with expanding foam, cut a bit of steel shim to slightly too big for the hole and tapped it in with a hammer, then made sure it was not going anywhere with epoxy.

Once that has all set I will put it back on the engine and start on the carbs tomorrow.

[Dave-R]

I thought a little insulation might help my cause so I put a couple of layers in then bolted the intake down to the correct torque on the bolts.
Which was about 10x more tight than they were.

[Dave-R]

Heads on this block are 1967 "915" closed chamber. Cool.

The block I am currently kicking myself about because I should have wondered about this while I had the headers off.
The thing is, from what I can see of the casting number it "looks like" 3830930-440-6 which is no casting number I ever heard of and a google search didn't turn anything up either.

[Dave-R]

I did find plenty of people asking about that casting number online. So I am not the only one. Their engines seem to be dated 1974.

Found a link here http://www.mopar1.us/casting.html that has it listed among the 68-78 blocks.

Not really much information on them though.

[Dave-R]

Carbs stripped, everything checked out OK.

Re-jetted all three carbs slightly richer for what I hope will be a cooler/denser air quality. Turned all six idle mixture screws 1.25 turns out. Replaced the white pump squirter cam for a blue version to give an extra 1cc to the shot.

Fingers crossed all leaks are fixed and it will be not take a lot of fine tuning to be spot on.