70 Challenger Conv. Resto Mod-6.1 Hemi

[anlauto]

It was a piece of cake to remove the bushings with this method, weld a washer on the outer shell and use a press. Took 5 minutes.

I've tried this with the last couple of sets....works well....I actually drop the washer about half way in, then weld her up !

[ShelbyDogg]

Can anyone ID my 340? I assume is a -72, according to the casting numbers I can find, is there any other number I should check?
I read somewhere that you can tell if the crank is cast or forged by looking at the balancer, I dont know what it should look like, my converter did not have any balancing weights on it though.

Here is my 340 Cask crank balancer, clearly marked for a 340.  The pic shows a forged steel crank. A cast crank has a thin line from the casting molds.
picture of a forged steel crank parting line:



340 cast crank balancer:





If your engine was rebuilt and balanced, the builder could have balanced everything with a neutral balanced balancer and you still could have a cast crank.
The same for the balancer or flywheel. the 340 cast crank user very little offset balance in the rear. Since you didn't have weights on the converter, some weight could have been taken from the opposite side or the builder could have added or removed weight to the crank. Since you have it out, have it all rebalanced to be sure.  A vibration with drive you crazy.

[soundcontrol]

Thanks Rob! My crank is forged, thats the good news, the bad news is that it has some scratches on some of the main sufaces, and its already at 030 over on both mains and piston rod taps. The engine is in a machineshop now, I'll get a verdict next week to seee if they can polish the scratches off or not.

[soundcontrol]

K-frame blasted and epoxy primed. Now I am going to reinforce it and weld up the seams. I know I should have done that right away before primer, but time wasn't on my side and I didn't wanna let it sit unprotected for weeks, have to clean out the areas to weld first. I wonder if I should go over the factory welds also...seems like they had a bad day at the Hamtrack plant welding dept. that day my K-frame was made.

[soundcontrol]

Progress has been slow. Summer is approaching fast and my work is taking up all my time, I hope I'll get it done soon. Engine is in pieces and so is the suspension still. Got a few hours this weekend to weld some, my K-frame seems to be put together very sloppy, edges and holes don't align at all, I'm just gonna weld the edges up and cut the the excess material so it looks nicer. Steering and engine  mounts are welded on just on side, should I weld them on both sides toward the K-frame? I need a MIG to get in there, can't reach with my TIG, and even if I get in to certain spots, I can't see what I'm doing. This seems to be my main problem with the TIG, having a good view over the process.

[soundcontrol]

Almost done welding my K-frame now, that was a lot of work. Just gotta grind down some bad factory weld and redo with MIG.

[ShelbyDogg]

You put a lot of heat into that thing. Are you sure that it didn't warp? Fewer welds also meant less distortion.

[soundcontrol]

You put a lot of heat into that thing. Are you sure that it didn't warp? Fewer welds also meant less distortion.

I sure hope it did not warp! I welded an inch at the time, then cooled down that area with a cold wet rag, and then continued welding at the other end of the K-frame. And I did this over a period of 6 days, not all at once. I did all the edges before I reinfoced the steering box mounts and rest.
Btw, all that soot is from the paint catching fire.
But now I got worried....




..a week later, checked the K-frame, its fine! Fits perfect in the car. 

[soundcontrol]

LCA's are almost done! Just gonna mount the Firmfeel swaybar brackets, they bolt in but I think I'm gonna weld it in addition to the bolt.
Now I think I did a mistake by taking out the outer metal sleeves from the old LCA rubber bushings, my new poly bushings with greasable pins are way to small now. Looks like they fit in the old sleeve, but too small for the hole in the LCA's now. Can I use standard rubber bushing with the greasable pins? (no need for grease though...) I think I have a pair of standard bushings somewhere, or should I remove the outer shell from those and use it with the polys?

[1 Wild R/T]

Use the standard rubber bushing.... If the grazeable pins are machined larger for the poly bushing send them back.... Use the OE pins... I've said this many times & it's been said by guys with a lot of road race experience too... Those poly bushing allow the inboard end of the control arm to move forward & back ... With a GM there's so much rubber the control arm floats so polls are needed... On a Mopar there isn't much rubber and because of the design polys don't work well... Put rubber back...

[Cudaragtop]

    

[soundcontrol]

Use the standard rubber bushing.... If the grazeable pins are machined larger for the poly bushing send them back.... Use the OE pins... I've said this many times & it's been said by guys with a lot of road race experience too... Those poly bushing allow the inboard end of the control arm to move forward & back ... With a GM there's so much rubber the control arm floats so polls are needed... On a Mopar there isn't much rubber and because of the design polys don't work well... Put rubber back...

Having Googled this issue the last few days, I believe that you're right. I'll go back to rubber.
Thanks!

[soundcontrol]

Gonna paint the LCA's, I like the cosmoline look on OE restorations even though mine is not. I bought some gold metal paint, but it's too light, gonna try to make it darker, what could I add to the gold to get the look? Brown, red, black maybe... From all pictures I see Cosmoline looks like more like bronze, or a darker gold to me... I know there is paint to buy that simulates Cosmoline, or Krylon battery protector, but not here in Sweden and I don't wanna order from the US.

[soundcontrol]

You can mix brown and yellow to get gold. If you want, you can add a little red at the end.   

Added:  Forget the red.  In your case it would only be a few drops and I'm being excessive.  Start by mixing the brown and yellow about 50x50.  To make it brighter, add yellow.  To make it darker, add brown.  Make sure you measure the paint you mix and keep up with the percentage in case you need to reproduce it.   

Cool, gonna try that, I already bought gold, was a bit light, maybe I can add brown to that..
Thanks Jim!

[soundcontrol]

I learned a lesson, don't mix paint on the kitchen table under a lightbulb! I mixed the first coat way to dark, looked great under the lightbulb, but really dark brown outside, so I added a lot more gold to the second coat and mixed the paint in daylight.


Cosmoline....nah, but hey, it's a restomod, I can paint them pink if I want : ). OE guys won't like it, I do though.
I used gold, red and green, I figured since red and green makes brown, I have a bit more control. It's the best I can do right now, next car I'll get closer... Picture is a bit dark, it's lighter IRL.


Got POR 15 Metal Mask for my spindles, steering arms and steering box. I think I can brush that on.