Keep going, looks good. Tenacity wins the day!
72 duster resto
- Thread starter 72smallairparticler
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72smallairparticler
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Got the hoist ready and reading up on the factory manual on what to disconnect before I hoist it out.
72smallairparticler
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Welp im knee deep in it now. Long day. Got a bunch of stuff for the swap, drove about 5 hours to get it all. Yanked the 6 & 904
Picked up the 360 LA, came with electronic distributor which is great cuz I have a blue ecu control box and harness.
Picked up the 727 and torque converter
Also asked if he had some a-body headers and he said yes - sold them to me for 200 extra - they retail for 900+ headman I think.
Also he threw in a free k member and manual steering box so now I can either return the shumachers slant 6 k frame adapters and use this or sell that k frame
More to come!
Picked up the 360 LA, came with electronic distributor which is great cuz I have a blue ecu control box and harness.
Picked up the 727 and torque converter
Also asked if he had some a-body headers and he said yes - sold them to me for 200 extra - they retail for 900+ headman I think.
Also he threw in a free k member and manual steering box so now I can either return the shumachers slant 6 k frame adapters and use this or sell that k frame
More to come!
72smallairparticler
Well-Known Member
Well im sort of spinning my head on a couple issues.
1) do I just slap an intake and carb on the motor and see if itll run. Or do I break it down and inspect everything and put it back together…
2) do I keep the schumacher mounts I bought, or swap the v8 K frame in and use the existing mounts.
3) do I swap torsion bars now or later. Feel like this is related to point #2 outcome. Hmmm
Also anyone have tips on engine cleaning? Gonna paint this thing hemi orange. Also starting to strip the engine bay of gunk so I can weld the drilled holes that aren't used and clean things up. The money pit got hungry this last week so im trying to be frugal. Wish me luck hahaha
1) do I just slap an intake and carb on the motor and see if itll run. Or do I break it down and inspect everything and put it back together…
2) do I keep the schumacher mounts I bought, or swap the v8 K frame in and use the existing mounts.
3) do I swap torsion bars now or later. Feel like this is related to point #2 outcome. Hmmm
Also anyone have tips on engine cleaning? Gonna paint this thing hemi orange. Also starting to strip the engine bay of gunk so I can weld the drilled holes that aren't used and clean things up. The money pit got hungry this last week so im trying to be frugal. Wish me luck hahaha
junkyardhero
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the motor is far enough along and a question mark, i'd go ahead and do the ol' rattle bomb rebuild (gaskets/seals, chain, oil pump, freeze plugs) and you'll be able to inspect the bores, confirm the pistons, figure out what cam you've got and degree it.
the k is purely a judgement call. obviously it's much easier to do now rather than later but the question that you'd have to ask yourself is: will i get to it later?
personally, i much prefer the spool mounts. i'd do the t-bars regardless, the motor's out of it so it's a quick and easy one to knock out.
i guess it really comes down to budget and what is a priority.
the k is purely a judgement call. obviously it's much easier to do now rather than later but the question that you'd have to ask yourself is: will i get to it later?
personally, i much prefer the spool mounts. i'd do the t-bars regardless, the motor's out of it so it's a quick and easy one to knock out.
i guess it really comes down to budget and what is a priority.
I'm crushed.
I'd definitely do suspension. I did a similar swap with a 72 Swinger I had back in the late 90's... It was a great driving car until I swapped out the 225 for a freshly rebuilt 360... The 360 ran fine, but the car never drove right after that as far as handling/stopping... I was only about 20 years old with super limited funds and kept adding more parts to try to get it to handle/stop better, but never got it there and eventually ended up selling..... Now 20+ years later I'm doing a Scamp and started the process with better suspension, brakes, etc and this one now handles/stop world's better than my old one ever did.... But this time I decided to skip the motor swap and do the supercharger on the 225...
Long story short - Based on my experience, I'd do the torsion bars and anything else you can do easily to improve the front suspension lest you end up with a crummy driving experience like I did with my first one.
Long story short - Based on my experience, I'd do the torsion bars and anything else you can do easily to improve the front suspension lest you end up with a crummy driving experience like I did with my first one.
Also regarding engine and engine bay cleaning, I recently did same. For the engine, I used the Gunk Brand GEL Engine degreaser.... Did it once and it took off a lot, then spent some time with a scraper and wire brush to scrape off some heavier areas, and then did the gel again... worked well and I'm happy with the paintjob on the motor.
For the engine bay, mine was pretty ugly with a lot of old ziebart undercoating everywhere... I ended up going the mobile blaster guy route... I was able to find a local service who came out for about 1.5 hours and blasted the engine bay, bottom of hood, and a handful of brackets for about $400 - Honestly, this was some of the best money I've spent on the project since I started it. Few before/after pics in my build thread if interested, but I'd definitely recommend this route.
For the engine bay, mine was pretty ugly with a lot of old ziebart undercoating everywhere... I ended up going the mobile blaster guy route... I was able to find a local service who came out for about 1.5 hours and blasted the engine bay, bottom of hood, and a handful of brackets for about $400 - Honestly, this was some of the best money I've spent on the project since I started it. Few before/after pics in my build thread if interested, but I'd definitely recommend this route.
72smallairparticler
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I know I know...I knew you would be - probably RedStripe as well since we'll have to scratch the Slant 6 off our twin '72 Amber Sherwood Green Duster twins list.
72smallairparticler
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The front suspension was the first thing I rebuilt along with disc brakes up front, but still has the small t-bars. Handles better than when I first bought it. Still figure everything is an option depending on how fast I want to move. Swapping K's means more time. Is it worth it? I'm not sure. I did do all the alignment stuff myself so I can do it again If I pull the K out, just a pain of course. But will I regret NOT doing it once everything is in? lol endless wonderings.
Good tips on the engine and bay cleaning. Thanks for that!
72smallairparticler
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I've not done an engine rebuild before so no tooling or resources for that outside of this site. I have wanted to do it though just to conquer the fear of messing something up, you know... just taking my time to do it right. But I am a little worried about overspending based on what I might find. Might be the ostrich move to just slap things together and hope it runs which could bite me in the end if the engine has problems.
Agree that the spool mounts are superior - definitely have time on the schumacher return policy to make the call and spend that cash elsewhere..
The steering box is another question because I have the opportunity to swap in power steering but I haven't really had a problem with the manual steering. I know if I end up selling it to someone who hates manual steering one day that's their problem... but they'd probably hate the manual brakes it has too.
Overall:
Budget > Prioritized Job List > Personal Ideals
That's my decision tree.
72smallairparticler
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I take it back. I didn't even look at the K-frame when I tossed it in the truck, but im pretty sure there's something missing... lol
I'd stay with manual steering myself. The swap I mentioned earlier had power steering on the 225 so I left it in for the 360... don't remember what the exhaust manifolds were off of, but I had a lot of issues with those hitting the PS Gearbox. Ended up using a turnbuckle to make a torque strap to hold the motor still and doing some grinding to get rid of the thunking noise. This swap had used the S6-360 Schumacher mounts... might not turn out to be an issue for yours depending on exhaust, but if you're happy with manual I'd leave it alone.
I'm actually swapping mine to manual from power now while putting on the S/C.
I'm actually swapping mine to manual from power now while putting on the S/C.
junkyardhero
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well, there's one thing you don't have to worry about.
it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't. but for the cost of seals and gaskets, i'd pull it apart and see what's cooking. if you want to go full tilt and get into bearings and rings, it's not all that much more money, but honestly it's tough to know when and where to stop.
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DionR
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Wow. Looks like they even took the idler mount off. Seems like it would be a ton of work to just replicate the idler mount brackets. Motor mounts could be an elephant ear deal or completely custom, but without the idler the steering would be a real pain to figure out. Pretty much junk if you ask me.
You caved to conformity man. I'm disappointed. lol
junkyardhero
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you mean primed for a rack conversion, right? right?
hey! wait! where are you going?!? c'mon man... come back!
junkyardhero
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oh, i'd forgotten to clarify. i'm not talking about a full engine rebuild.
i'd pull the heads and see what's up. my decision on checking the mains and rods would likely be influenced by what i saw in the bores and combustion chambers as well as what may or may not be in the sludge of the pan. if everything looked bueno, i'd just throw gaskets at it and ship it.
but checking bearings isn't all that difficult, and you're there already, and it gives a tremendous insight as to the condition and health of the motor.
100% i'd be checking the cam. likely it's printed right on the snout and you don't even have to pull it. that way you *know* what you've got and that will critically aid you when making immediate decisions (tuning) and future decisions (converter, gears).
none of this requires any additional tools or resources beyond what you should currently have in your tool box and the added expense of a degree wheel, which you could likely borrow from a friend.
DionR
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72smallairparticler
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It's a part of Mopar that I like to say I've "done it" as in... had a slant 6 car. Cool leaning tower.
But the v8 rumble I fondly remember from my 440 Charger has too much pull to ignore. Now i'll be able to say i've had a Mopar in each category - SB, BB, S6
I get it man. Believe me. I've had more than my share.
You forgot the 2.2/2.5 4-cylinders. I've had 2.2 carb, 2.2 T1-2-3, built NA 225, turbo 225, several SBs and 2 BBs.
72smallairparticler
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Slowly getting progress here and there.
Engine is on a motor stand now, so need to start pulling the heads off and pan to see what's up there.
- Wiring out
- A/C Components out
- Degreasing started
Engine is on a motor stand now, so need to start pulling the heads off and pan to see what's up there.
72smallairparticler
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Pulled the driver side head off tonight because i wanted to see the condition of things. Since its my first rebuild maybe you guys can tell if theres anything off or alarming. Just seems dirty and needing some love.
72smallairparticler
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Heads off and all the oil/water came out when I flipped it and pulled the pan off.
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