70 Challenger going Plum Crazy

[Cudakiller70]

Appreciate the update and post dakota I have to do this later on and this will certainly help!

[dakota]

Next up is installing some of the pieces from a Hydramax hydraulic throwout bearing from American Powertrain.   With one exception, the directions are good (more on that later).   With everything set up for the initial measurements, it turns out that the teardrop-shaped aluminum spacer is too thick.  The alternative is to use the 0.054" shims, but it was going to take 10 of them and the kit only came with 5.   I wasn't too crazy about having a stack of 10 oversized washer floating around anyways, so it seemed like cutting a groove in the spacer the 1/8" needed made sense as it would allow the spacer to drop further over the end of the bearing retainer on the transmission (A833) to get the distances right.  Brad of brads70 fame was kind enough to respond to my plea for help, but it turned out shipping the part to him across the Canadian border was going to be very costly because of duty and taxes.   Fortunately Burdar's previous posts about cutting aluminum with a carbide router bit led to setting up my router with a pattern cutting bit and an undersized bearing (1/2" bit, 3/8" bearing) which cut most of the groove needed.  The groove needed to be widened an additional 0.010" to fit onto the bearing retainer so I used a flat bottomed grinding bit in a drill press to do the rest.  I had to warm up the spacer with a heat gun to finally get it on snug, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

My "test fit" turned into a final fit, so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the groove.   Its size is outlined with black marker in the picture below.

Just wanted to give Brad a "shout out" for being willing to help and Burdar for his previous posts that led to figuring out how to get this puppy on.  I really would be lost without this site.

As for the Hydramax directions, there's one part where the math is outlined on how to figure out how many shims are needed.   The formula ends with division using both 0.054 and 0.090.   The 0.054 is for the flat shims that come with the Mopar kit.   The 0.090 is for a different shim used for Fords.   Only one of the factors should be used, not both.   

The first pic of the installed bearing is without the groove on the spacer.   The second pic of the bearing shows the small but necessary placement adjustment once the groove was cut.

I was all excited about hanging the transmission and bellhousing on the engine, but it turns out the threaded holes on the bellhousing are all buggered up.   The lower ones have already been tapped to 7/16" but there's not much left, so now the wait is one for some Helicoils to do the repairs.   It's always something.

[dakota]

The lower control arms have been assembled.   My arbor press is one of the smaller ones from Harbor Freight, so it wasn't big enough to handle pressing in the spindles and bushings.   A bar clamp with soft jaw pads worked as an alternative.  The jaws had to be repositioned a couple of times, but otherwise it was pretty straightforward as I was able to generate enough force with the threaded end of the clamp to push things together.

[dakota]

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon wrestling with the engine, bellhousing and transmission to get everything bolted together.   I had a heck of a time getting the splined end of the transmission to fit through the clutch disk.   So as not to have to mess with the lines from the hydraulic throwout bearing, I tried to put the tranny on the bellhousing and the put the combined pieces on the engine.  That didn't work worth a damn. After mounting the bellhousng first, I was able to move the throwout bearing into place through the inspection opening, and then it was a matter of jiggling and twisting to get it close enough that I could draw everything closed with the mounting bolts.  I have no idea if this was the best route to go or it was more a matter of persistent dumb stupid force that finally lead to the joyous "clunk" when the last 1/4" gap disappeared.  One more thing done, even if it only involved a handful of bolts. 

[usraptr]

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon wrestling with the engine, bellhousing and transmission to get everything bolted together.   I had a heck of a time getting the splined end of the transmission to fit through the clutch disk.   So as not to have to mess with the lines from the hydraulic throwing the out bearing, I tried to put the tranny on the bellhousing and the put the combined pieces on the engine.  That didn't work worth a damn. After mounting the bellhousng first, I was able to move the throwout bearing into place through the inspection opening, and then it was a matter of jiggling and twisting to get it close enough that I could draw everything closed with the mounting bolts.  I have no idea if this was the best route to go or it was more a matter of persistent dumb stupid force that finally lead to the joyous "clunk" when the last 1/4" gap disappeared.  One more thing done, even if it only involved a handful of bolts.

I had the same issue with mine.  I installed lots of transmissions but this one just didn't want to cooperate.  I also used the mounting bolts to finally bring it snug to the engine.   

[dakota]

My how time flies.   It's been 4+ years and 500+ posts on c-c.com since I started this project.  There's still a lot of work ahead, but I can at least feel some progress as some of the parts boxes are disappearing.  I remain grateful for all of the help from folks here along the way.

The differential and the rear axle housing were reunited last night.   The differential has new pinion and axle bearings, along with a new a new pinion and ring gear set (3.91) from Randy's.  I will admit to being a little concerned with the engine RPMs at highway speeds even with the 4 speed OD transmission, but it will be fun finding out. 

I found the YouTube video from Weber Auto shown below to be very useful for background on the differential rebuild and setup.  This isn't specific to Mopars.   I've watched a couple of videos from Weber Auto and found them all to be of high quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqAqODmcj4

[73440]

I viewed some of the Weber Auto video, will finish later.
Thank you , will check out their others also.

[dakota]

Wild R/T made a comment on a different post about how I was doing things the hard way.   This story is only going to reinforce that point.

If you're considering replacing your dash pad, this is the punchline: TEST FIT YOUR NEW DASH PAD ON THE FRAME RIGHT AWAY!   

The dashpad was my first major part purchase, made about 4 years ago.   A couple of months ago, I finally test fit the dash pad on the lower metal frame, which led to a couple of serious Oh Crap moments.   There was a crescent shaped gap between the pad and the frame on the passenger side edge, likely caused by some corrosion disappearing part of the pad support before it was recovered.  It looked terrible.  The other joy was that the stock side speaker covers I had purchased for this 3 speaker dash didn't fit the profile of the new dash at all - there was a gap ranging from 1/4" to 1/2" along one side.

There was too much time elapsed since the purchase of the pad to do anything with the vendor.   I ended up talking with Jon at Roseville who suggested someone he knew that repaired dashes.   In order to make sure the repairs were done right, I needed to send the lower frame along with the dash pad.  I ended up building a wooden shipping crate to protect everything, which of course made for a heavier shipment.   A local UPS office handled the shipment to the repair dude who lived near Detroit.  Since they could inspect the packaging, they were willing to insure the package.   

The repairs went great.   The speaker grills were heated and reshaped to fit the dash.   The "only" issue was the return shipment.  UPS was glad to pick up the crate, but wouldn't insure it because they didn't inspect the packaging in one of their offices.  After finding no other alternatives, I ended up spending this past Sunday driving from Buffalo to Detroit and back through Canada (about 5 hours each way).  I could add the "blinding snowstorm" on the way there but it's pretty normal for Buffalo so no big deal.  Having the crate in the bed of my Ram certainly made for an interesting border crossing given that it looked like a small coffin.  When I told the customs agent the box had a dashboard for a 70 Dodge Challenger, there was a "what?" reply from him, a repeat of the answer from me, then from him a smile and wave on back to the U.S.    I think it was one of those "nope - couldn't make that one up if he tried" situations.

Although it was a long day, I was glad to know exactly how the dash pad was handled on the return trip.   I add some photos in a later post - I don't want to mess with the reopening the packaging until I'm ready to put it all back together.

I don't want to post the repair guy's phone on the internet.   If you're looking for dash  repair help in the Detroit area, call Jon @ Roseville and ask him for Larry's contact info.

So you're right Wild R/T, I'm (still) doing it the hard way.   

[dakota]

We had a beautiful day here in Buffalo (55 degrees F out) for February, so I took some time off from work to do a little sand blasting.    The little Harbor Freight sandblaster (40 pound capacity) that I last used about 7 years ago still had some play sand in it.   After I dumped it out and replaced it with some Black Diamond from a local Tractor Supply store, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it worked on cleaning up the lower section of my front seats.  A little more progress made.

[dakota]

I haven't been able to do too much with the Challenger until just recently.  There was lots of "life" stuff lately that seems to have finally moved (mostly) to a calmer place, so I can finally get back to working on the car.

What follows are some pictures of that installation of a  "weld-in fuel pump recess" that I added to my stock fuel tank.  At the time I bought a replacement tank, I was going to be running a stock fuel pump and a carb.   After deciding to add one of the FITech throttle body units fed by a Tank Inc pump, the primary choices available were to modify the tank or buy one of the Tank Inc tanks with the mounting flange and recess already in place.   I decided to try the modification path.   I got the recess installed eventually, but my main advice would be for those that are like me with limited MIG skills, go buy the damn tank already set up or go with an external fuel pump.   The installation might have been a piece of cake with a TIG unit, but with my MIG (a Hobart 135) and "skill" level I had lots of issues blowing holes in the tank metal when I tried to weld in the recess unit.  I eventually got better at drawing a weld puddle from the recess wall to the tank wall, but it wasn't pretty getting there.   A couple of times I thought I was "done", but shining a flashlight from inside the tank on the welded area highlighted a number of pinholes that needed attention which rarely got smaller when I first tried to fill them in.  Persistence (or is that stubbornness?) eventually paid off.

Between using a cut off wheel and some welding leftovers, there was a bit of clean up needed inside the tank.   After shaking the big uglies into a corner, a shop vac was able to pull it out. I've wiped the inside down a couple of time with damp cloth which picked up more of the little stuff.   The final step will be sloshing around some WD-40 with a magnet in the tank to get the fine metallic debris.

The good news about the recess is that it can be easily adapted to lots of different tanks.   There is room to include a mounting point for a fuel level gauge.   In my case, I just trimmed off the extra as I only needed the pump mounting point.

I think the progression of pictures is pretty self-explanatory, but please let me know if anyone has any questions.

[Cudakiller70]

Looks real good! 

[340challconvert]

The lower control arms have been assembled.   My arbor press is one of the smaller ones from Harbor Freight, so it wasn't big enough to handle pressing in the spindles and bushings.   A bar clamp with soft jaw pads worked as an alternative.  The jaws had to be repositioned a couple of times, but otherwise it was pretty straightforward as I was able to generate enough force with the threaded end of the clamp to push things together.

Oh man, great idea.
I used a small press from HF and made it work, but it was difficult to get the spindle to align up straight.  Took longer then it should have.
Your solution looks like it works well!