My new project

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cudaguy36

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Ok so it's been quite a while since I've been on FABO but I'm here with a new project. The 1964 Barracuda that I fixed up and gave to my father has been a huge success thanks to all the wonderful help I've received from all the members here so thanks again all.
I just picked up a 1967 Barracuda Notch back with a 225 slant 6. I had to drive down to so cal from northern call over 300 mile to get it and I tried to drive it back assured by the previous owner that itd make it since the motor was rebuild 7 years ago.
Unfortunately just past Bakersfield at 2am it died, clanking loudly and shooting sparks out the exhaust pipe. I knew something was wrong with the motor as it didnt have the juice to pull past 60mph on any slight grade and would only go 70 on level ground but I just wanted to get it up north and use it while I worked on fixing up all the small stuff on the car.
Anyways now heres my dilemma. I live in an apt and need to get it drivable asap, the motor turn by hand freely so it's probably rebuild able but I cant pull a motor in my complex so I'm thinking of just getting a long block and finding a local shop to replace it. Any suggestions, so far I've only found 1 for $1700 new but that is just the new long block no labor. Maybe I should pull the head and take a look first? Time is against me here as they dont like cars in my complex that dont run Lol.

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Cool car. How do you KNOW sparks came out of the exhaust? Or did you just see them come out from under the car? If it's a manual transmission, a clutch failure could explain everything you describe. Clanking, sparks and loss of power. I cannot see an engine failure spitting sparks ALL the way out of the tailpipe.
 
Cool car. How do you KNOW sparks came out of the exhaust? Or did you just see them come out from under the car? If it's a manual transmission, a clutch failure could explain everything you describe. Clanking, sparks and loss of power. I cannot see an engine failure spitting sparks ALL the way out of the tailpipe.
Sorry I forgot to mention that my fiance was following behind me in her car and she reported seeing LOTS of sparks at a regular interval comming from the exhaust pipe right before I lost all power.
 
Plenty of good running slant 6's get pulled out and never find a buyer. Put a wanted ad on here and other online forums and I bet you find one cheap or even free.
 
I'd do a compression check. I'd also pull the pan and check for loose rods and mains. Diagnose what's up with engine, then go from there.
 
Wow, been a while since I’ve heard of a slanty burning up! Before you throw out the baby with the bath water, pull the head and check it out, Might be something stupid, broken valve spring, valve etc. I doubt you blew it up. These are very durable motors and take a beating.
 
If you can’t keep the non running car at your apartment can you get it towed to a friend’s place or maybe an inside storage location where you can do some work on the vehicle?
I also agree that prior to pulling the engine, diagnose why the motor won’t run.
Something as simple as old gas could explain the poor running performance. And a plugged fuel filter can explain why it won’t run.
Not doubting your fiancée, but I can’t explain sparks out of the exhaust,,,
That is a long way, there is a muffler,,,
Maybe sparks from under the car. A shorted battery cable?
But you should look at the vehicle and give a better description of what is going on.
Great looking car. So post back.
 
broken distributor gear ?? hows the rest of the ignition system ?? does it turn over with the key ?? If it does, does it make noise when its turning over ?? just my .02 cents.
 
As far as sparks out the pipe and no power, if the car sat for awhile, possibly had mice move in to the pipe and setup house in the muffler. Causing too much back pressure. Catching fire shooting out the tailpipe.
I looked at a Dart one time stored in a nice shop. Owner fired it up and all kinds of nesting stuff shot out the pipes.
 
Wow, been a while since I’ve heard of a slanty burning up! Before you throw out the baby with the bath water, pull the head and check it out, Might be something stupid, broken valve spring, valve etc. I doubt you blew it up. These are very durable motors and take a beating.
When I get a day off I will pull the valve cover and take a look and then go from there. Thanks.
 
As far as sparks out the pipe and no power, if the car sat for awhile, possibly had mice move in to the pipe and setup house in the muffler. Causing too much back pressure. Catching fire shooting out the tailpipe.
I looked at a Dart one time stored in a nice shop. Owner fired it up and all kinds of nesting stuff shot out the pipes.

Valve heads disentegrating will cause sparks out the tailpipe , specially if the engine is under a heavy load or hot ---------
 
If you can’t keep the non running car at your apartment can you get it towed to a friend’s place or maybe an inside storage location where you can do some work on the vehicle?
I also agree that prior to pulling the engine, diagnose why the motor won’t run.
Something as simple as old gas could explain the poor running performance. And a plugged fuel filter can explain why it won’t run.
Not doubting your fiancée, but I can’t explain sparks out of the exhaust,,,
That is a long way, there is a muffler,,,
Maybe sparks from under the car. A shorted battery cable?
But you should look at the vehicle and give a better description of what is going on.
Great looking car. So post back.
Thanks, I will try to see what I can figure out when I get a chance and then I'll post an update .
 
broken distributor gear ?? hows the rest of the ignition system ?? does it turn over with the key ?? If it does, does it make noise when its turning over ?? just my .02 cents.
It doesnt turn over with the starter but the solenoid clicks on the starter and the motor turns just by pulling on the fan drive belt.
 
my daughter saw a real nice teal neon on a car lot she fell in love with . It was in the back row. I stopped and asked the price and what is wrong with it. He told me they just towed it back from a test ride. The people are still interested in the car they offered him $450 they were originally asking $2800 they were coming back. He said the timing belt jumped it had no compression. He said it ran good when it left this morning. I turned it over and sure enough it had no compression at all.

I told him I will double the offer if he sold it to me. I bought the car

My son replaced the belt and head gasket while in there and said he didn't think it jumped. After he got the head and belt on he fired it up to make sure it ran. Then he finished putting it back together. NO COMPRESSION. He put air in each cylinder to see if the valves were leaking with the exhaust removed again listening for valve leaks. it was good

I reached in and and turned the key it fired right up. What we found was someone hammered two potatoes up the tail pipes.

Probably done on the test ride.

Like "rat rod al" stated you could have a clogged muffler that rusted apart inside . That would cause low power until it finally totally shut down. You could have burned the valves up from driving it. But I would pull the pipe and see if it starts. Do a compression check with it off. Clogged exhaust will cause your symptoms you described. I have seen many lose power. But that Neon was the only car I saw totally lose compression.
 
my daughter saw a real nice teal neon on a car lot she fell in love with . It was in the back row. I stopped and asked the price and what is wrong with it. He told me they just towed it back from a test ride. The people are still interested in the car they offered him $450 they were originally asking $2800 they were coming back. He said the timing belt jumped it had no compression. He said it ran good when it left this morning. I turned it over and sure enough it had no compression at all.

I told him I will double the offer if he sold it to me. I bought the car

My son replaced the belt and head gasket while in there and said he didn't think it jumped. After he got the head and belt on he fired it up to make sure it ran. Then he finished putting it back together. NO COMPRESSION. He put air in each cylinder to see if the valves were leaking with the exhaust removed again listening for valve leaks. it was good

I reached in and and turned the key it fired right up. What we found was someone hammered two potatoes up the tail pipes.

Probably done on the test ride.

Like "rat rod al" stated you could have a clogged muffler that rusted apart inside . That would cause low power until it finally totally shut down. You could have burned the valves up from driving it. But I would pull the pipe and see if it starts. Do a compression check with it off. Clogged exhaust will cause your symptoms you described. I have seen many lose power. But that Neon was the only car I saw totally lose compression.
LOL...
 
my daughter saw a real nice teal neon on a car lot she fell in love with . It was in the back row. I stopped and asked the price and what is wrong with it. He told me they just towed it back from a test ride. The people are still interested in the car they offered him $450 they were originally asking $2800 they were coming back. He said the timing belt jumped it had no compression. He said it ran good when it left this morning. I turned it over and sure enough it had no compression at all.

I told him I will double the offer if he sold it to me. I bought the car

My son replaced the belt and head gasket while in there and said he didn't think it jumped. After he got the head and belt on he fired it up to make sure it ran. Then he finished putting it back together. NO COMPRESSION. He put air in each cylinder to see if the valves were leaking with the exhaust removed again listening for valve leaks. it was good

I reached in and and turned the key it fired right up. What we found was someone hammered two potatoes up the tail pipes.

Probably done on the test ride.

Like "rat rod al" stated you could have a clogged muffler that rusted apart inside . That would cause low power until it finally totally shut down. You could have burned the valves up from driving it. But I would pull the pipe and see if it starts. Do a compression check with it off. Clogged exhaust will cause your symptoms you described. I have seen many lose power. But that Neon was the only car I saw totally lose compression.
The 'ole potato up the tailpipe trick...
 
my daughter saw a real nice teal neon on a car lot she fell in love with . It was in the back row. I stopped and asked the price and what is wrong with it. He told me they just towed it back from a test ride. The people are still interested in the car they offered him $450 they were originally asking $2800 they were coming back. He said the timing belt jumped it had no compression. He said it ran good when it left this morning. I turned it over and sure enough it had no compression at all.

I told him I will double the offer if he sold it to me. I bought the car

My son replaced the belt and head gasket while in there and said he didn't think it jumped. After he got the head and belt on he fired it up to make sure it ran. Then he finished putting it back together. NO COMPRESSION. He put air in each cylinder to see if the valves were leaking with the exhaust removed again listening for valve leaks. it was good

I reached in and and turned the key it fired right up. What we found was someone hammered two potatoes up the tail pipes.

Probably done on the test ride.

Like "rat rod al" stated you could have a clogged muffler that rusted apart inside . That would cause low power until it finally totally shut down. You could have burned the valves up from driving it. But I would pull the pipe and see if it starts. Do a compression check with it off. Clogged exhaust will cause your symptoms you described. I have seen many lose power. But that Neon was the only car I saw totally lose compression.

We had this happen on a 79 Fiesta with a 1.9 Kent. It would start and run then loose power and die. I noticed the manifold getting red hot, walked around to the tail pipe and not even a puff. Clogged cat.
 
my daughter saw a real nice teal neon on a car lot she fell in love with . It was in the back row. I stopped and asked the price and what is wrong with it. He told me they just towed it back from a test ride. The people are still interested in the car they offered him $450 they were originally asking $2800 they were coming back. He said the timing belt jumped it had no compression. He said it ran good when it left this morning. I turned it over and sure enough it had no compression at all.

I told him I will double the offer if he sold it to me. I bought the car

My son replaced the belt and head gasket while in there and said he didn't think it jumped. After he got the head and belt on he fired it up to make sure it ran. Then he finished putting it back together. NO COMPRESSION. He put air in each cylinder to see if the valves were leaking with the exhaust removed again listening for valve leaks. it was good

I reached in and and turned the key it fired right up. What we found was someone hammered two potatoes up the tail pipes.

Probably done on the test ride.

Like "rat rod al" stated you could have a clogged muffler that rusted apart inside . That would cause low power until it finally totally shut down. You could have burned the valves up from driving it. But I would pull the pipe and see if it starts. Do a compression check with it off. Clogged exhaust will cause your symptoms you described. I have seen many lose power. But that Neon was the only car I saw totally lose compression.
Ok I will add this to my list of things to check, you all have convinced me to try to find the problem before just tossing the motor. I'll start with ignition related things first ie, coil, distributor (pulling it to check the teeth also) because it should crank over at least right? . Then I'll pull the valve cover and take a look and report back what I find. Might take me a week or so to find the time. Thanks .
 
Ok heres my plan of attack.(easy to hardest)
1. Check fuel filter n carb.
2. See why it wont crank over, check power to coil, starter, ground, whole ignition system.
3.pull valve cover look at valve springs rockers, valve stems whatever I can see.
4.disconnect exhaust inspect then leave disconnected before trying to crank.
5.pull distributor and check gear.
6. Pull oil pan check bottomed end.
7. Last pull head and inspect.
These are all things I think I can check in my space with just the tools I have available. I will report back as soon as I've got some answers or results.
 
Most important is compression check first. Driving with a clogged exhaust from the muffler coming apart inside will make the sparks your wife saw . If you pushed it hard to keep going on the highway you could have burned the exhaust valves.

The sparks would be the rust and pieces of the muffler getting red hot and coming out the pipe. I had a 440 that had one bad muffler. It looked like a sparkler out the one pipe. The muffler look good on the outside . When we took it off it was like a rattle can.

For this reason I always use a welded steel muffler such as Flow Masters. These mufflers do not have duel perforated pipes inside .

The sparks tell me you have a lean condition or a bad muffler. I am hoping it didn't totally clogged before you did damage to the valves if that is what happened

Did you ever notice a car at idle puts moisture out the exhaust. This plays hell on cars that never get the pipes hot or if the car sits for a while.
 
Most important is compression check first. Driving with a clogged exhaust from the muffler coming apart inside will make the sparks your wife saw . If you pushed it hard to keep going on the highway you could have burned the exhaust valves.

The sparks would be the rust and pieces of the muffler getting red hot and coming out the pipe. I had a 440 that had one bad muffler. It looked like a sparkler out the one pipe. The muffler look good on the outside . When we took it off it was like a rattle can.

For this reason I always use a welded steel muffler such as Flow Masters. These mufflers do not have duel perforated pipes inside .

The sparks tell me you have a lean condition or a bad muffler. I am hoping it didn't totally clogged before you did damage to the valves if that is what happened

Did you ever notice a car at idle puts moisture out the exhaust. This plays hell on cars that never get the pipes hot or if the car sits for a while.
I will definitely be doing a compression check but will have to resolve why the motor wont crank over at all first just a click from the starter and then nothing.
 
I will definitely be doing a compression check but will have to resolve why the motor wont crank over at all first just a click from the starter and then nothing.
I didn't realize it didn't turn. Turn the crank see if it turns by hand. Maybe the battery went dead from not charging or something shorted.
 
Ok heres my plan of attack.(easy to hardest)
1. Check fuel filter n carb.
2. See why it wont crank over, check power to coil, starter, ground, whole ignition system.
3.pull valve cover look at valve springs rockers, valve stems whatever I can see.
4.disconnect exhaust inspect then leave disconnected before trying to crank.
5.pull distributor and check gear.
6. Pull oil pan check bottomed end.
7. Last pull head and inspect.
These are all things I think I can check in my space with just the tools I have available. I will report back as soon as I've got some answers or results.

Number 1 should be: Check for a banana in the tailpipe
 
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