1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife

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Convertible top time.... Also took it for its longest drive and one of the carbs was flooding out after the engine was fully warmed up so needed to fix that....

An old upholstery guy said to stabilize the old cork strip rather than replace it. Marine epoxy works good and hold staple well. Also learned that the factory had leather pieces sown to the front of the pads for quick installation on the line. I duplicated that with a piece of metal with epoxy primer sealing it.

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When you fold the top the pad can pucker so make sure the pad flap on the outside is on top of the inner one. I also did a small fold on the edge since the material unraveled badly and this sealed it up. Then a bit of glue to tack them together so they won't pucker.

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Cut the foam short so there is not a bulge under the top. Another trick from the upholstery guy was to use cotton (not foam as it can collapse over time if not quality foam) in this area to fill in low spots when putting down the top in these areas.

After fiddling I think the best place to start the rear window panel is at the bottom. The Robbins top is a perfect fit to the body line and you can get it centered nicely, then move to the upper side and the window cross bow.

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After a long day the top was fighting me so I stopped to regroup today... unfortunately it as too nice a day and I cleaned up and drove it around all day!

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The flooding seemed like the float was to high and was flooding when hot. These Daytonas as SUPER simple to work on. Pulled the side bowls and yup the flooding one was much high than the other. No tools or measurements I just lower them both to an equal place. An old tuner here in Az swears by lowering floats by 1/8" to deal with the heat here. Drove it around and it did not flood out. Need a warmer day and longer trip to be sure. Got the final pieces from Classic Industries to put semi original looking wipers on. Amco makes adapter arms to get you from the originals that have the bolt in them to ones that can take modern wiper blades. These are OER reproduction blades to fit with the era. Only the small round adjustment blob gives it away. The body plugs from DMT are a bit small and fell out. A bit of adhesive will keep them in. Put the top down with the window and these were designed to ensure scratching the plastic. Put a towel between the plastic and frame to help it last a bit longer without a scratch.

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A bit of friggin' around with the fuel pump and I ended up modifying the spring and got the pressure down 2-3 Lbs.... What a difference first time in traffic and it worked perfectly... except for just a couple of burbles. Opened the hood and the pressure was up to 6-9 lbs under those conditions. I ordered a bunch of different springs for the pump and will drop it another 2 lbs (sitting at 5.5-6lbs most of the time right now.

Fixed a few annoyances also before the test drive. Torque converter bolts were a bit loose. Who authorized no inspection plate in this cover? What a PIA to have to take this brace off to get it.... Retorqued and the accel/dec knock is gone.

Found the source of the transmission leak. Aftermarket.. What that stupid cupped washer is for I have no idea. It cut the o-ring as I tightened it and destroyed it. The aftermarket thing is not right from a sealing surface so you can't use the correct Mopar seal. I just found an o-ring, removed the washer and put on some of the Permatex sealer on it.. If it leaks time for a NOS part...

Cheap Standard brand oil pressure switched died already, NOS on the way for only $5 more than the new... should have done that to start with....

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A bit of friggin' around with the fuel pump and I ended up modifying the spring and got the pressure down 2-3 Lbs.... What a difference first time in traffic and it worked perfectly... except for just a couple of burbles. Opened the hood and the pressure was up to 6-9 lbs under those conditions. I ordered a bunch of different springs for the pump and will drop it another 2 lbs (sitting at 5.5-6lbs most of the time right now.

Fixed a few annoyances also before the test drive. Torque converter bolts were a bit loose. Who authorized no inspection plate in this cover? What a PIA to have to take this brace off to get it.... Retorqued and the accel/dec knock is gone.

Found the source of the transmission leak. Aftermarket.. What that stupid cupped washer is for I have no idea. It cut the o-ring as I tightened it and destroyed it. The aftermarket thing is not right from a sealing surface so you can't use the correct Mopar seal. I just found an o-ring, removed the washer and put on some of the Permatex sealer on it.. If it leaks time for a NOS part...

Cheap Standard brand oil pressure switched died already, NOS on the way for only $5 more than the new... should have done that to start with....

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I think I see your problem with the o-ring. Am I seeing it correctly that you have the cup facing the sensor? On mine the cup faces the transmission and actually compresses the o-ring and the cup winds up pressing against the transmission. The other way around I can see how the center of the cup would cut into the o ring. That's how the cup was on the sensor in mine and I don't think it was ever apart as it is a lot mileage car that was parked for years but I could be mistaken. Hope this helps.
 
I think I see your problem with the o-ring. Am I seeing it correctly that you have the cup facing the sensor? On mine the cup faces the transmission and actually compresses the o-ring and the cup winds up pressing against the transmission. The other way around I can see how the center of the cup would cut into the o ring. That's how the cup was on the sensor in mine and I don't think it was ever apart as it is a lot mileage car that was parked for years but I could be mistaken. Hope this helps.

I am going to find a NOS one and see what they look like.
 
Nailed the fuel pressure.....





I polished the sharp edges to make it more professional and thinking that it may help with any high stress fatigue areas on the sharp corners.

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All reassembled ready to test.....

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Nailed it..... 5lbs.... based on yesterday after it get hotter driving it the pressure will come down a pound or two so perfect

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Lets get technical and plot the data....

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Yup as expected this is non linear and to get down much further it will take a much weaker spring. I don't want to do that as then the level can flutter at higher RPM.. based on the curve I am exactly where I should be... 20 lbs to compress the spring fully is perfect...
 
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