440 Build Starts Today!

[RDF]

Ok, sorry for the long, overdue post, but as usual, things are quite busy around my house come summer time. 

I went down and finally paid off my motor!    I got it home and it's still wrapped up in the bag as I don't plan to get it in right away....but here's a picture of it in the back of my buddy's pick up truck:



I will take more pics once I get it on my engine stand and the plastic off.  This is great motivation for me now as I am starting to save more $$$ for the mini-tubbing and suspension work to be done in the fall.....can't WAIT!

[Chryco Psycho]

 

[RDF]

Almost there Mike....not yet....I still have to get it back to my house and then get it back together.  I'm forcasting prob. late summer/fall before it's done.

Just keeping a checklist of things I need.  Feel free to suggest/comment on these as I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

Intake
Carb
Water pump
Alternator
Starter
Headers
Radiator
Rebuild Trans. w/manual valvebody
Floor Shifter

So I know I'm not the best about keeping this thread up to date, but reality is, life is just too busy sometimes  .  My appologies, I will try harder to post a little more in the future.

Since getting my motor back I've done a few more things to the car and it's well on its way to being complete...but I've still got some items to get.  I made a list last time and have managed to get a few knocked off but want to list them again so I don't forget and in case anyone thinks of something that I might have forgotten.

Intake
Carb
Water pump
Alternator
Starter
Headers
Radiator
Rebuild Trans. w/manual valvebody
Floor Shifter
Fuel lines
Brake lines
Rear Shocks
Power Steering Pump
Distributor

Any recommendations for this stuff would be greatly appreciated...Chryco made some the last time which I am still considering for the parts I still need:

for a 440 I would use a 850 Proform carb & the Holley Street Dom intake part# 300-14
Use a Dodge Truck Mini starter off a Magnum out of the wrecking yard
Spend some $$ on the headers if you buy junk you will spend the savings on burned ign wires , I would go with TTi or Dougs headers
You can install a Milodon or Eddy high flow water pump into a stock housing or get an Alum water pump housing from a number of sources

We are going out on Sunday to pickup my car....I'll try to take some pix if I can.  I had a local friend put some frame-rail supports in, relocate my battery to the trunk (including a new battery box  ) and put new springs in with a relocation kit as well.  So I've got more room under the backside now and I just need to figure out a good size tire to squeeze in there.  Any recommendations on how to calculate backspacing is appreciated!

[Chryco Psycho]

put on a wheel with a known back space & see how it fits .
Do you know what wheels width do you want to fit in there ?
so if you put on an 8" wheel with a 4" backspace & you have 2" to the spring & 2" to the body you know you need a center offset wheel so if you go to 10 " you need a 5" backspace
I f you put on an 8" wheel with 4 " back space & you have 2" to the spring & 1" to the body so you need to add 1/2" to center the wheel so a 4.5" backspace will center the rim , so if you went to a 10" rim you need a 5.5" back space

[RDF]

put on a wheel with a known back space & see how it fits .
Do you know what wheels width do you want to fit in there ?
so if you put on an 8" wheel with a 4" backspace & you have 2" to the spring & 2" to the body you know you need a center offset wheel so if you go to 10 " you need a 5" backspace
I f you put on an 8" wheel with 4 " back space & you have 2" to the spring & 1" to the body so you need to add 1/2" to center the wheel so a 4.5" backspace will center the rim , so if you went to a 10" rim you need a 5.5" back space

Not exactly sure on the size but I'm 99% it'll be either a 15x8 or 9 rim.  My neighbor's got a great tire on his dart and we're gonna try that on my car and see how it fits.  If all goes well, I'll use that.....thanks for that info...I need to measure some things out under there and see what I'm working with.

Here's some pix as promised from picking up my car.

Sub-frame connectors



Spring relocations (you can see he had to weld a custom made bar to the inside bumper bracket for the hangers to go on)




Battery box


Car on the trailer coming home!


I've also got a motor plate but didn't have the $$$ to have him customize it, so that'll come in the near future. 

So now that I have it back, I am looking to clean up my firewall.  Tack up all the holes and make the firewall and fender walls looks as smooth as I can.  Any suggestions on how to strip the old paint that's in there?  I used a degreaser agent a couple of weeks ago and my pressure washer....it seemed to have stripped the grease and some of the paint but there's still a lot left.  I have a grinder, is there an attachment I can get for it to put a wire wheel on it and use that or is that not a good idea, lol?  Just looking for something to strip it pretty quick....oh, and I don't have a compressor unfortunately   

[Chryco Psycho]

aircraft paint stripper will make short work of the paint removal

[RDF]

Same ol' same ol' here....been working 2 jobs lately so the 'Cuda has taken a back seat for a long time unfortunately. My sister and her kids did visit during x-mas so my 16 year old nephew was showing me how to use my welder.  We welded up most of the holes in my firewall and grind them down too.  Some of the welds I did are shakey at best but the only way I'll get better is to keep at it.  I've got an old hood that I practice on as well, but the metal is so thin on the firewall, it's hard to hit it without it melting.

Here's some pix from that evening:









I also got the opportunity to try on my neighbor's rear tires from his Dart.  Looks like there's plenty of space in the back now that the springs have been moved in.  I'll post all the details a bit later but I've got a ton of questions regarding rim selection and backspacing.

[dutch]

hey RDF,
good to see you`re back at the cuda     
mind if I give you some welding advice...?
you mention the sheetmetal being so thin.  It looks like a pretty rustfree area from the pics, which means the metal is not that thin. You really need to take your time welding sheet.  Turn down the amps and weld short intervals. Give the metal a second  to cool before hitting it again. Make sure the surface is clean. The color of the flame is very yellow in the picture. That`s looks like you`re burning up a bunch of paint and other crap there. Also, it`s important you keep the liner in line with your welding torch. The way it kinks will prevent the wire from coming through at a steady pass.
Can`t wait to see that 440 in there 

[RDF]

hey RDF,
good to see you`re back at the cuda     
mind if I give you some welding advice...?
you mention the sheetmetal being so thin.  It looks like a pretty rustfree area from the pics, which means the metal is not that thin. You really need to take your time welding sheet.  Turn down the amps and weld short intervals. Give the metal a second  to cool before hitting it again. Make sure the surface is clean. The color of the flame is very yellow in the picture. That`s looks like you`re burning up a bunch of paint and other crap there. Also, it`s important you keep the liner in line with your welding torch. The way it kinks will prevent the wire from coming through at a steady pass.
Can`t wait to see that 440 in there 

 

Thank you for this advice....I've been stumbling with welding lately but then again, I haven't had much practice so I'm still extremely new to this.

I was able to do some work the past few nights on the 'Cuda....welding is still a mess.  I am having issues with the torch seems to be "spitting" and "sputtering" when I am trying to weld.  Although after reading the above post, it could have been due to my liner not being as straight as it could have been (actually I think it was pretty kinked).  Anyhow, this is my most recent trouble with welding.....my welds look like spaghetti!



Not too sure why....can anyone help?

Here's the rest of the fender/firewall that I had time to do:

This is the 2nd picture from above, after I hit it with the grinder.  Those holes are too much to fill with weld so I'm just gonna use some type of filler there.


Driver's side fender (note, I stripped the fender AFTER I welded...duh...now I know better):

[dutch]

looks like too much wire and bad ground from here... 
before you start welding on the car, weld up a couple pieces of new clean sheetmetal.  That way you know if you have a ground problem when working on the car. 
Are you using a filled wire or gas welder?  ditch the filled wire if you`re using that 

[RDF]

looks like too much wire and bad ground from here... 
before you start welding on the car, weld up a couple pieces of new clean sheetmetal.  That way you know if you have a ground problem when working on the car. 
Are you using a filled wire or gas welder?  ditch the filled wire if you`re using that 

I'm using filled (I believe), it's .35 flux wire.....my welder doesn't have any gas attached to it, although it does have a nozzle for it.

I did just what you mentioned this morning....I have a spare 1/2 hood that I practiced on and I think the speed was too quick...but then again, I had a different ground so that could have been the issue as well.  Either way, thanks for the tips and help.  I'll post some more pics once I get a little better.....practice makes perfect!   

[RDF]

Still pluggin' away at the 'Cuda....getting better at welding too    I put an ad on Craigslist to sell my 90g saltwater fish tank.  After 10+ years in the hobby, I can't do it anymore....not with the 'Cuda needing attention, as well as my powerlifting hobby....plus my family....too much to do and not enough "me" to spread around, lol.  So I didn't get any takers on the tank so I decided to put it in the "trade/barter" section in hopes that I could get a good welder or air compressor for it.  I get an email that blew me away, here's the short version "Hi, I'm interested in your tank.  I do auto body work/paint and was wondering if you would like to trade my services for your tank?"  WHAT?  I really couldn't believe my eyes when I read it.  I'm always the first one to think everything is a scam, so I took my time, contacted this guy via phone, email, text, and he's legit.  He really wants a saltwater tank that's all setup and such (like mine).  So he made up a small "contract" with what we agreed on, both signed and dated it, exchanged copies of our driver's license, and now the deal is under way!  He's going to sand down my car, repair any rust spots, knicks, etc. prime it, then paint it Satin Black in exchange for my saltwater tank plus me giving an extra $200.  Now don't get me wrong, I know I'm coming out on the good end of this deal (and he even admitted it too) but my tank is worth close to 2k with everything that I'm giving him....still, it's a great deal for me. 

So part of the agreement was for me to help him do "less" work than he needed, so I took off the doors, hood, trunk, and rear valance and he came by last weekend to get them so he could prep them up.  Here's some photos that he sent me:








Now the driver's door had some issues on the bottom and instead of hiding it or trying to cover it up, he called me and sent me the pix to explain it and asked me what I wanted to do.  He wasn't asking for any money or anything like that, just being honest and wanting to know what I wanted to do.  He recommended I try to find another door but I really can't afford one (even used, after shipping, etc.), so he's going to work his magic and do his best to make it as clean as possible.





He's hoping to get them sprayed this weekend and I'll have some more pix if so. 

I'm really excited to get this started....this was a BIG piece of the puzzle that I was worried about being able to afford to make my car look the way I envisioned it.  Here's what Aaron and I came up with a while back...


I won't be able to do the rims or "lowered" suspension work just yet, but you get the idea. 

Oh yeah, I also scored a Holly carb, intake, and chrome air filter housing and K&M filter for a really good price from a good friend of mine.  He upgraded his 440 to a 6-pack and sold me what he had....so just another couple of things to knock off the list!

Intake
Carb
Water pump
Alternator
Starter
Headers
Radiator
Rebuild Trans. w/manual valvebody
Floor Shifter
Fuel lines
Brake lines
Rear Shocks
Power Steering Pump
Distributor

Can someone recommend where I can get ALL my brake lines from?  I see them online everywhere but they look like "kits" and some look like they're missing lines....I am needed ALL new brake lines so I'd like to get it from one place if possible.  Also, recommendations on fuel line size?  I know it depends on the sending unit, but the tank is out and I can change that if needed.

Thanks again and even though I don't post often, I'm in here quit a bit checking things out and reading logs....thanks to everyone for your help, advice, and support...much appreciated! 

[GranCuda1970]

You can get the brake lines you need from Dave  at Roseville moparts a member here.
                                                                Year one has everything you need
                                                                 Finelines has them also
                                                                 Classic industries

Many places and if you need the booster you can get one from theRAMMAN.com
                                                                                        Jimsautoparts.com
                                                                                        Herbs parts
                                                                                        Dante's parts

tons of sites

[dutch]

still sounds like a good deal to me.   
I started work on my car 5-6 years ago, with no funds whatsoever... $0.00.....  It has been a struggle from day one to get where I`m now, but I`m almost done building what I had in mind      bank account still showing $0.00 though     just keep looking at Aaron`s chop and keep going. You`ll find ways to get er done 

[RDF]

Thanks Dutch & GrandCuda for the links and such...much appreciated! 

Got a few pix from the guy this weekend:





I was also super-busy with the 'Cuda this weekend...taking off the grill, front valance, tail lights, marker lights, windshield wiper motor, brake booster (Thanks to Chryco for an old post that helped me figure this out!), and front interior kick panels.  My grill is messed up more than I though...so looking for ideas on how to fix it.  It's cracked in several places but completely broken off in 2 others.  The 2 separate pieces are small, so I'm hoping there's a fiberglass type of glue that I can use to hold it back together....any ideas? 

Once I saw the car with the marker lights off, I really wanted to start the process of shaving them, but it was late.  I've never done it before but is it better to put a plate behind the fender and weld that OR should I cut out the metal piece to fit in the hole and then weld it, like this:


Here's mine...front and rear: