NorCal 73 Challenger

[7212Mopar]

After pouring in a bottle of Prestone radiator cleaner and took the car for a drive. Windows down, heater full blast to give the system a work out. Drove by the speed shop that I used to hang out when I was in high school. The place still looks the same after all these years. I remember that they used to have a 426 HEMI at the window display.

I thought flushing the cooling system and changing the hoses today should be a walk in the park. That was until I started opening it up. The last owner had the car for more than 10 years and only put about 7k miles on it and probably did not give the car the love it deserves. Looks like more parts are needed to replaced the corroded parts. I hope the engine block is in better shape. I did not see any issues at the freeze plugs and the old coolant drained out was not that bad. The major let down today was when I pulled out the wiring harness that was pushed underneath the ignition coil  . I was kind of deflated, surprised and glad at the same time that there was no electrical fire. Anyone knows a good source for a replacement wiring harness? This is the one that tie to the ignition system, alternator and AC.

At this point, I think I should just finish up with the cooling system to make sure that is all good before I move on to the wiring stuff. Appreciate any feedbacks and pointers.

[7212Mopar]

The pipe nipple for the bypass hose is destroyed by my pliers and is still not coming out  . WD40, Evaporust not helping. I used the torch for a bit but back off since it is too close to the carb (what the hell I was thinking). So looks like I need to take the manifold off the car to have a better chance to get it off. The threads at the manifold is pretty corroded and not sure how well it will seat with the new even I get it off eventually. So my fall back plan will be doing an upgrade, thinking of going with Edelbrock RPM Air Gap and mate with a 650 CFM Thunder Series AVS. I have a 750 CFM Performer on the car now and it might be too big. The engine is essentially stock (as far as I know) and my future plan may add headers. Car will be mostly used as a weekend driver and not drag races. Am I going with the right direction or you guys might have a better idea?

[7212Mopar]

Suggestions, Recommendations? Need expert advise. 

Will need to order parts soon so I can get started with the work. Thanks.

[Aracer]

      The nipple can be hack sawed from the inside with a blade holder. Cut 3 or 4 slots into the pipe stopping when the threads from the manifold get close, then use a small chisel to chip the sections towards the center of hole. You should use Liquid Wrench ahead of time to penetrate the threads. Use a pipe clean up tap.
       Another way is to tap a solid rod or chisel into the pipe first, then grab the outside with vice grips. This will prevent the tube from collapsing before you can budge it. Again the Liquid wrench must be given time to work first.
     Lastly, you can drill out the remains of the stub then re-thread.

[7212Mopar]

Thanks Aracer. I got the old manifold out of the car but the nipple was torn flushed to the hole. I will definitely take your suggestion and play with it some more to save the piece.

Anyway, I ordered the stuffs late on Friday afternoon and received the package next day morning, incredile service from Summit. So today I started the mock up and tear down. The followings are the measurements I made. May be this will be useful to someone. Measurements are from centerline of manifold bolt holes to top of air cleaner with a level and tape measure, should be decent measurements.

Original factory manifold, Edelbrock Performer 750 CFM Carb with 3/8" gasket and stock air cleaner: Front, 8.75 inches, Rear, 10.125 inches.
New Edelbrock RPM Air Gap Manifold, Edelbrock AVS 650 CFM Carb with thin gasket (came with carb) and Edelbrock 1221 drop base 14" air cleaner: Front, 10.125 inches, Rear 11.125 inches.
Differences: New setup, front taller by 1.375 inch and rear taller by 1 inch.
Original air cleaner top to underside of Rallye bulge hood is approximately 2.75 inches clear. So new setup clear by 1.375 inch.
Factory manifold weight 45 Lbs. New Edelbrock RPM Air Gap Manifold weight 20 lbs. 25 lbs weight saving, more if air cleaner is included.

New Edelbrock manifold has no exhaust port but oddly the recommended Edelbrock intake manifold gasket has the exhaust port cutout. One size fits old and new?

I got lots of clean up to do before assembly. More parts to order and the engine harness from YO has not been shipped. The old manifold has a lot of carbon buildup, so I am thinking of adding an oil catch can between the PCV and the Carb. I have one installed on my 392 which is one of the more popular mod for the new Challenger.

[7212Mopar]

      The nipple can be hack sawed from the inside with a blade holder. Cut 3 or 4 slots into the pipe stopping when the threads from the manifold get close, then use a small chisel to chip the sections towards the center of hole. You should use Liquid Wrench ahead of time to penetrate the threads. Use a pipe clean up tap.
       Another way is to tap a solid rod or chisel into the pipe first, then grab the outside with vice grips. This will prevent the tube from collapsing before you can budge it. Again the Liquid wrench must be given time to work first.
     Lastly, you can drill out the remains of the stub then re-thread.

Thanks Aracer. Followed your advice and got the last piece out and save my factory manifold. The threads will need to be cleaned up but definitely can be reused.

Replaced a cheap fuel pressure regulator (brand new and leak) with a much higher quality unit today. Checked engine timing and tuned the carb. Engine was initially running real rich and could not set idle. Turned out engine was running at 40 degree advance (suprised engine starts at first crank). I must had bumped the distributor when working on the new manifold because timing was good before I started. Everything set now with engine idling at 750 RPM, 17 in-hg vacuum steady, 8 degree initial advance and total all in at 38 degree around 2500 RPM. RPM gauge is acting werid showing 2000 RPM when idling at 750 RPM (timing light). The gauge behaves normal when car is at freeway speed.  Car drives good and no ping. Next week I might disconnect vacuum advance and play with initial to get 36 degree total based on CP's recommendation on other threads.

Work completed under this phase includes new Edelbrock RPM Air Gap intake manifold, 650 AVS Performer Carb with dropped base air cleaner, refurbished throttle linkage, fuel pressure regulator, new radiator, overflow tank, new washer bottle and pump, replaced all hoses, caps and rotors, new ignition coil, ignition wires with irridium spark plugs, oil catch can and new engine wiring harness.

I drove the car for about 12 miles of street and freeway. Already I can see the oil catch can (cheap one) is already working and my new carb and intake are protected. Engine definitely feels stronger and smoother. Acceleration is good but will need to adjust the kick down linkage. Transmission does not kick down at full throttle. Also no more problem of engine stall when braking hard

Next phase: underside of the car, install flexplate cover and deep transmission pan (new filter with extension and change oil), clean and grease suspension, U joints and change differntial fluid.

[7212Mopar]

Spent a good part of a day reading the manual and all the threads concerning the auto trans kick down linkage adjustment. Adjusted it and car drives good and transmission holding gears and upshifting. Problem is the stock slider bar is too short for the new carb and the taller intake manifold, requiring a bolt placed at the slider linkage and not enough slot left for throttle return in case of a linkage lock up. My solution was to fabricate a longer piece out of aluminum bar stock. It is not stock looking but if works and save me a few dollars for a cable system. I took the car out this morning to test drive to see how it works. First around the local streets before taking it onto the freeway. Going about 60 mph and I floored the gas pedal, trans downshifted, seconday opened and car pull quickly to 85 mph (well not as quick as my SRT8 of course). Soon after I done that, a brand new M5 that was behind me decided to past me and did it like I was standing still. I suppose he did not like my exhaust fumes. That M5 was quick.

[7212Mopar]

Did a few things the last couple of weeks:

1. Replaced rear leaf springs with Mopar XHD's. No ride height changes so I added the helper springs at the rear section. Seems to work good (stiffer) and no more sagging behind. Front is still an inch higher and will be dealt with later.

2. Installed a new repro rear bumper and reinstalled the 73 bumprettes. No more holes at the rear valence.

3. Replaced the old worn out rubber transmission mount with a poly unit. Seems to work good and no vibration.

4. Replaced all the rubber fuel hoses by the fuel tank including the vapor recovery unit. The 40 years old rubber hoses were never changed and they crumbled in my hand. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

5. Played with the ignition timing and mixture some more. Set initial to around 8 degrees and disconnected the vacuum advance per CP's advise on some older threads. I am amazed as to how the car behaves now with this simple change. More torque and power from down low to the top and the car is a lot more responsive. Engine sounds more healthy too. May be I (and previous owner) did something wrong before? Don't know what my total timing is since the timing tape fell off. Need to carve a line for 36 degree and recheck. When going up steep hill, there seems to be a slight engine knock with trans at D. May be I need to keep it in low gears. Overall, I am please with how it runs now.

[FY1Cuda]

Your car is looking great.  I haven't noticed your posts for awhile, so I enjoyed seeing your photo with Gotelli's Speed Shop.  My buddy and I went there a few times in the mid-sixties; I haven't thought about it years. 
Aracer's idea of putting a bar down that nipple before trying to remove it was a great suggestion.  I think a lot of us have destroyed those things trying to remove them with vise-grips and whatever.
Keep up the good work.

[7212Mopar]

FY1Cuda, Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. Gotelli is a pretty quiet place these days compares to the time I went there in the early eighties. I think places like Summit and Jegs are hurting their sales. I suppose that they still do machine works and building race engines for customers. Once awhile I still see some nice muscle cars parked in their lot, not all Mopars though.

There are still more underside works that I have not got around to like changing the trans oil and pan, grease the joints and change the differential oil. Also have not look at the brakes at all but they work fine other than the front brake pad squeaky noise when cold. I will take a break first and will be taking my 73 to the Normandin Dodge Mopar gathering at San Jose on Sep 14. May be I will see you there? I heard they filled all of the available 120 car slots already.

[flagcraig]

Front and rear seats are in. The fronts are Procar seats and it is more comfortable than the tired original seats. It reclines too. New 17 inch YO Rallye with Hankook tires also installed. Front is 245-45-17 and rear is 275-40-17. Rear tires have about 3/4 inch to the spring clear and about 1/2" clear between tire and inside wheel well lip. Everything looks clear but car has not been driven yet. Front seems to ride high and will need to lower about an inch.

Called Roseville today and was told that UR had problem with their cooler. The dash pad is still about two weeks out and kind of definite that it will not be ready for the show next week. At this point, I am thinking to just button up the instrument panel back, drive to the Mopar Alley show and enter the "under construction" class

Who did you buy your wheels from?  I can't tell are those chrome or standard factory finish?

Thanks.

[7212Mopar]

Who did you buy your wheels from?  I can't tell are those chrome or standard factory finish?

Thanks.

Cast Aluminum 17" Rallye wheels Replica, polished aluminum coated finish, 8" wide front and 9" wide rear. They are sold under YEAR ONE, a supporting vendor on this site with 15% off, see advertisement on the forum page. They also make the 17" Magnum Replica.

[flagcraig]

Cast Aluminum 17" Rallye wheels Replica, polished aluminum coated finish, 8" wide front and 9" wide rear. They are sold under YEAR ONE, a supporting vendor on this site with 15% off, see advertisement on the forum page. They also make the 17" Magnum Replica.
[
Thanks for the info.  Looks like you did the same thing I am considering with the Edlebrock Air Gap.  I worry about the clearance but it looks like yours did just fine.  I am going with the Holley 670 Avenger but I can't see there being much of a difference in carb height.

[7212Mopar]

My car has been sitting for over a year after I removed the heads and now entered into the next phase ready for more. I spent two weekends working on it and the engine and trans are out of the car now. This is my first time removing the engine from the car and all the readings on past postings really helped. The thing is heavier than I thought and it is only a small block without heads and manifolds mounted. I wonder what it might weight if it is a BB or HEMI. The driver side motor mount failed some time ago and the k frame dropped off to one side when I unbolted it. Glad it did not happen when I was driving it. I wonder if that could had been causing the noise that I thought was coming from the lifters or pushrods.

I will be doing lots of cleaning and degreasing first and then rebuild the front suspension while I think about what to do with the engine (SB stroker sounds good). Still have not decided to rebuilt the Mopar stock suspension or go with aftermarket like Magnum Force ($$$).

[7212Mopar]

I decided to stay with the torsion bar suspension a few weeks back and started rebuilding the front suspension after some more readings and watching YouTube videos. The K frame took most of the time and I probably removed at least a pound of grease and pebbles. I don't have a big compressor or sandblaster so mostly done with the grinder and wire wheel. The k frame was not easy to weld because the grease that got left behind started burning. Also went with the Hotchkis front sway bar. It is 1.25" hollow design and does not weight that much. A very well made piece wit ha nice finish.

Next will be to prepped the ball joints, knuckles, pitman and idler arms for more assembly. After that, going to get the new Borgeson box and do the bearing upgrade at the steering column.