Wylde1
"No Value Added" Member
So the other day (Friday) I go over to the shop and say, "today's the day I get the Demon going."
I haven't started the car since this time last year when I discovered the rubber grommets in the chrome valve covers were leaking like a sieve. The car has chrome Mopar valve covers and the grommets had a Pentastar and a part # on them. I take the grommets to the local Mopar dealer, slap 'em on the counter and ask for grommets for a '71 340 Demon. Counter guy says, "our book don't go that far back". I hand him the part # and ask him to look them up. He looks up the first grommet for the breather and shouts, "holy *bleep*, the part # is good. Holy *bleep* I've got 3 in stock!!" The second part # for the pcv grommet is good but he doesn't have any in stock. He then locates another dealer that has it. Gee that only took me a year to get off my azz and get the grommets.
Anyways, I put in the new grommets and tried to start the Demon. It took awhile to get it going. I thought the fuel might have been bad but eventually it did run after the smoke cleared and the giant was now awake. The lumpy idle through 3" Flowmaster muffs with turndowns is sweet music to the ears.
Once the car was idling on its own without me teasing the loud pedal I did a walk around admiring the car listening to the hypnotic rumpa rumpa rumpa sound of the Flowmasters. I popped the hood and there she was....... a damn fuel leak from the fuel pressure regulator. DANGIT!!!! It was almost leaking on top of the headers.
When I first got the Demon - wow, almost 12 years ago - the fuel tank sending unit was leaking bad. A p.o. removed the steel fuel line from the sending unit but didn't plug the hole. I found that leak the first time I filled the tank with Sunoco 94.
Then the rear was leaking. Again a p.o. used silicone instead of the proper gasket between the pig and the housing. Fixed that leak with a new gasket.
Next came the 4 speed tranny leak. Again silicone everywhere. I got a proper gasket kit, o-rings, front and rear seals form Jamie Passon.
Then there was the oil pan leak. A ding in the pan way up between the corner of the pan and the tranny bellhousing - of all the dang places! Patched that up.
After that was the carb leak. Rebuilt it with a kit from Holley and several trips back to the local speed shop. It is a vacuum secondary carb that someone added a secondary metering block. Later I found out someone also added a 50cc pump as well. The Holley kit didn't come with the extra gaskets I needed. Should have listened to the counter guy when he wanted to sell me a cheaper AED kit with all the extra gaskets. At the time I had never heard of AED and wanted an original Holley kit.
Then I fixed a few coolant leaks here and there.
Which brings me back to the fuel pressure regulator. I'll get a new cheapo one until I decide which way I'm going with the car - to EFI or not? Once it's fixed I'll get some new rear skins and hopefully get down the local 1320. This has got to be the year! Never been down the track before. Hopefully there will be no more leaks between now and then. :burnout:
Wylde1. ( you really didn't read all that babble, did you? ) :toothy7:
I haven't started the car since this time last year when I discovered the rubber grommets in the chrome valve covers were leaking like a sieve. The car has chrome Mopar valve covers and the grommets had a Pentastar and a part # on them. I take the grommets to the local Mopar dealer, slap 'em on the counter and ask for grommets for a '71 340 Demon. Counter guy says, "our book don't go that far back". I hand him the part # and ask him to look them up. He looks up the first grommet for the breather and shouts, "holy *bleep*, the part # is good. Holy *bleep* I've got 3 in stock!!" The second part # for the pcv grommet is good but he doesn't have any in stock. He then locates another dealer that has it. Gee that only took me a year to get off my azz and get the grommets.
Anyways, I put in the new grommets and tried to start the Demon. It took awhile to get it going. I thought the fuel might have been bad but eventually it did run after the smoke cleared and the giant was now awake. The lumpy idle through 3" Flowmaster muffs with turndowns is sweet music to the ears.
Once the car was idling on its own without me teasing the loud pedal I did a walk around admiring the car listening to the hypnotic rumpa rumpa rumpa sound of the Flowmasters. I popped the hood and there she was....... a damn fuel leak from the fuel pressure regulator. DANGIT!!!! It was almost leaking on top of the headers.
When I first got the Demon - wow, almost 12 years ago - the fuel tank sending unit was leaking bad. A p.o. removed the steel fuel line from the sending unit but didn't plug the hole. I found that leak the first time I filled the tank with Sunoco 94.
Then the rear was leaking. Again a p.o. used silicone instead of the proper gasket between the pig and the housing. Fixed that leak with a new gasket.
Next came the 4 speed tranny leak. Again silicone everywhere. I got a proper gasket kit, o-rings, front and rear seals form Jamie Passon.
Then there was the oil pan leak. A ding in the pan way up between the corner of the pan and the tranny bellhousing - of all the dang places! Patched that up.
After that was the carb leak. Rebuilt it with a kit from Holley and several trips back to the local speed shop. It is a vacuum secondary carb that someone added a secondary metering block. Later I found out someone also added a 50cc pump as well. The Holley kit didn't come with the extra gaskets I needed. Should have listened to the counter guy when he wanted to sell me a cheaper AED kit with all the extra gaskets. At the time I had never heard of AED and wanted an original Holley kit.
Then I fixed a few coolant leaks here and there.
Which brings me back to the fuel pressure regulator. I'll get a new cheapo one until I decide which way I'm going with the car - to EFI or not? Once it's fixed I'll get some new rear skins and hopefully get down the local 1320. This has got to be the year! Never been down the track before. Hopefully there will be no more leaks between now and then. :burnout:
Wylde1. ( you really didn't read all that babble, did you? ) :toothy7:
irate:
