Comin right along, Zach! You did a great job on trimming the vinyl and padding. Looks like factory.
Mission Creep on a D-150
- Thread starter halfafish
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j par
Well-hung Member
We're changing the name of this thread to the $10,000 timing chain debacle....
We're changing the name of this thread to the $10,000 timing chain debacle....
Excuse me, sir, but it's only $6K at the moment. I may gold plate the thing as a Christmas present from me to me though.
j par
Well-hung Member
I stand corrected...Excuse me, sir, but it's only $6K at the moment. I may gold plate the thing as a Christmas present from me to me though.
"From me to me" Sounds good to me! lolExcuse me, sir, but it's only $6K at the moment. I may gold plate the thing as a Christmas present from me to me though.
I got the vinyl sealed to the floor pan using Flex Tape. I secured the edge of the vinyl with the mounting screws and worked my way around the hole with strips of the tape. It's ugly, but it's watertight. This stuff is amazing, I hope the inventor is a gazillionaire - he deserves it.
Now it's a new year, and I have a new mantra, to Stop The Madness! I had a little talk with the man in the mirror, and the goon looking back at me pointed out that Mission Creep is a very efficient strangler of progress. Or at least that's true in my world. The latest example:
I needed to get the shifter top back on the new vinyl floor. Previously it was held in place with some sheet metal screws. I can do better than that, sez me to me. Besides, with the sound deadener, padding, and vinyl the shifter top didn't fit like it used to. Kinda like the Johnny Cash song where they tried to mount the transmission to the engine but all the holes were gone. (In the background, the Mission Creep Monkey yawns, stretches, and gets ready to bugger up another day.) So I get a set of rivnuts to install on the floor pan for the shifter top. And that kicks off way too much wasted time figuring out the best way to do that since the flooring is in the way for the install tool, and I don't want to take out the flooring, and I don't want to cut big holes in the vinyl for access since the edge of the topper is close to the mounting holes. Much mental gymnastics later and I decide this project has to get wrapped up, so I solve the problem with........sheet metal screws. Drilled new holes, sealed up the old holes, and the shifter is in place except for the top boot that needs the right screws to install. Somehow I lost those screws so it's off to Ace for a rescue trip.
I was going to clean up the shifter but I put its nasty little self back in as it was to get this thing on the street. It was shifting fine anyway, so I can work on that another time. The seat and seat belts go in today and I should be driving it tomorrow. Haha, or so I think. Let's hope Mr. Murphy snoozes through this project long enough for me to go for a drive.
Now it's a new year, and I have a new mantra, to Stop The Madness! I had a little talk with the man in the mirror, and the goon looking back at me pointed out that Mission Creep is a very efficient strangler of progress. Or at least that's true in my world. The latest example:
I needed to get the shifter top back on the new vinyl floor. Previously it was held in place with some sheet metal screws. I can do better than that, sez me to me. Besides, with the sound deadener, padding, and vinyl the shifter top didn't fit like it used to. Kinda like the Johnny Cash song where they tried to mount the transmission to the engine but all the holes were gone. (In the background, the Mission Creep Monkey yawns, stretches, and gets ready to bugger up another day.) So I get a set of rivnuts to install on the floor pan for the shifter top. And that kicks off way too much wasted time figuring out the best way to do that since the flooring is in the way for the install tool, and I don't want to take out the flooring, and I don't want to cut big holes in the vinyl for access since the edge of the topper is close to the mounting holes. Much mental gymnastics later and I decide this project has to get wrapped up, so I solve the problem with........sheet metal screws. Drilled new holes, sealed up the old holes, and the shifter is in place except for the top boot that needs the right screws to install. Somehow I lost those screws so it's off to Ace for a rescue trip.
I was going to clean up the shifter but I put its nasty little self back in as it was to get this thing on the street. It was shifting fine anyway, so I can work on that another time. The seat and seat belts go in today and I should be driving it tomorrow. Haha, or so I think. Let's hope Mr. Murphy snoozes through this project long enough for me to go for a drive.
j par
Well-hung Member
Good job... way to make a career out of putting a shifter housing on.... LOL
PS it wouldn't be right if I didn't bust your seeds...
For those who might wonder if I fell off the face of the earth, I answer well, sort of. I've been beating my brains out on this truck for precious little improvement. It runs more-or-less OK standing still, but is a complete dog under load. It starts hard, dies, has no power, and so forth. I've had to turn off the lights and walk away many a time, sometimes for weeks.
I thought it had a vacuum leak but it does not. I thought the carb was malfunctioning so I swapped in a known good one for no improvement. I have doodly-squat for compression and vacuum so I'll start a side thread to figure that out rather than clutter up this one.
My teeny bit of good news while trying to get this turd thing running, I managed to get the door panels off, add Kilmat to the outer and inner door skins, paint the panels, and repair the grab strap so you can close the door without pulling the strap off.
Nasty old panel:
![DSCN1673[1].JPG](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/dscn1673-1-jpg.1716060980/ "DSCN1673[1].JPG")
Sharp looking painted panel:
![DSCN1680[1].JPG](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/dscn1680-1-jpg.1716060981/ "DSCN1680[1].JPG")
Oh, and I scored a NOS ram for my hood!
![DSCN1707[1].JPG](https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/dscn1707-1-jpg.1716060983/ "DSCN1707[1].JPG")
More news to come as I tackle the engine one more time. Now it's time to start the compression/vacuum thread. And have a beer to calm my poor frazzled nerves.
I thought it had a vacuum leak but it does not. I thought the carb was malfunctioning so I swapped in a known good one for no improvement. I have doodly-squat for compression and vacuum so I'll start a side thread to figure that out rather than clutter up this one.
My teeny bit of good news while trying to get this turd thing running, I managed to get the door panels off, add Kilmat to the outer and inner door skins, paint the panels, and repair the grab strap so you can close the door without pulling the strap off.
Nasty old panel:
Sharp looking painted panel:
Oh, and I scored a NOS ram for my hood!
More news to come as I tackle the engine one more time. Now it's time to start the compression/vacuum thread. And have a beer to calm my poor frazzled nerves.
Cam timing?
That's my guess.
j par
Well-hung Member
Cam timing...
dirty white boy
50 yr old Juvenal delinquent
is the distributors mechanical advance working right? whats initial timing? tottle timing? and when dose it come in at??? you degree cam? how you go about it? have you checked timing mark with TDC???
my68barracuda
Well-Known Member
Agree it could be cam timing, but check the easy stuff first.
*Spark plug wire order
*Ignition timing
*Has the outer ring on the damper slipped?
*If you changed timing covers, the location of the timing tab on the cover has moved over the years. Setting ignition timing with the wrong cover will advance or retard the ignition timing.
The distributor will in no way whatsoever affect cylinder pressure. No way no how. You can throw it in the ditch and cylinder pressure will be the same.
my68barracuda
Well-Known Member
I was reacting to the statement that the motor was hard to start, no power,,,I saw the low compression comment, but without seeing a number it’s hard to tell how low is what low is.
It could be a bit low because the rings have not seated yet.
I was suggesting check the easy stuff first.
He said 90PSI.
my68barracuda
Well-Known Member
That is not in post # 83
He has two threads going. It must be in the other one. He posted it though.
Brings back great times setting up my slant 6The head for the truck is stuck in machine shop jail. I made the mistake of thinking it would be done soon. Haha. The block is going back together this weekend and I'm going to reassemble it all and put it back in the truck, then add the head when I get it back. That way I can move the truck out sooner and get back on the Dart. Summer is coming!
Out of the blue, one of my competitors stopped working so I've been super swamped lately. It is for sure the feast after the famine. I can't complain too much, it's nice to see some moolah going into the checking account lately. And the heater for the shop took a crap as we hit the middle of winter, so I wasted a bunch of time trying to fix it, then replace it with a defective unit, and so on. I dug out my old stand-by so at least I can work without mukluks and parka. And Bernie Mittens!
Progress report, even though it's on the truck which is just like a Dart but bigger. Oil pump and dizzy are rebuilt. All the engine sheet metal is cleaned, prepped, and painted.
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The intake and exhaust manifolds got a gentle porting and clean-up, they are off for a date with the hot tank tomorrow.
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The block has the cam installed and is getting the rest of its innards today so I can get the measurements and have the head shaved.
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Next up, go through the tranny and do all the seals and whatnot.
Time for an update on the space-hogging truck. It's been a long slow slog, but the finish line is in sight. The head was in machine shop jail for over two months but it's finally back, shaved .060, mild bowl blend, and oversize valves. All the accessories are cleaned, painted, and going back on the block. All that's left is to button up the distributor, rebuild the carb, and reseal the trans. Putting things back together is WAY more fun then taking apart greasy nasty crusted over parts to scrape, clean, blast, clean again, and paint. It's all very time consuming but will be worth it in the end.
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For today's update... I've been buried at work lately so there's been little wrenching time the last two weeks. Plus, I hit a couple of set-backs. I went to install the rocker arms and found they were pitted more than I was comfortable with so I had to source a replacement set. That took a little doing but they are set up now. Then I went to install the intake/exhaust manifolds with all the three-handed monkey business that entails, but before I got there the Car Part Fairy showed up with a set of Clifford long tube headers so all the time and effort getting the Super Six ready has gone by the wayside. The still-rusty half is getting a vinegar bath then they will both get fresh paint.
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Instead of going with the Super Six, I dug out my Clifford 4-barrel intake and an Edelbrock AVS 500, and we are in the process of getting them cleaned and painted for install. Yes, the carb is on there sideways but it's just sitting there for mock-up. The intake is getting painted later today.
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The head is back on and I got the new(er) rocker arms on last night. Since I'm using the 4-barrel now, I don't need to rebuild the BBD so the next project is to reseal the tranny and I'll be well on the way to final assembly and sticking this back in the truck.
View attachment 1715787793
I always liked how you had that air cleaner setup on it.
Still have it, going to hope I can put it back on brother! It sure helped
Yes, the dist mechanical advance is working. Initial timing was set at 14*, but with insufficient vacuum the VAC doesn't do anything. The mech advance starts coming on at about 1100-1200 RPM. I did degree the cam but perhaps I goofed that up. The timing mark on the damper is dead on for TDC.
Spark plug wires are in the right spots. Timing is addressed above. The damper has not slipped, and the timing cover is the original one for the engine.
I have another thread going on this, here's the link to try to keep all the info in one place. Where is my compression and vacuum??
If you're 100% sure about that, then that's a lot accomplished already. Nonetheless, I'd still double check it just to be sure. You'll find it. Whatever it is.
It was true when I put it together, however I'll check it again when it comes out.
It's time to put on my Big Boy pants, stop crying in my beer, and yank this engine. Disassembly starts this morning. Here's the check-it-out list from all the helpful hints:
Pull the drivers valve cover & put a dial indicator on the #1 intake valve... Rotate the engine slowly watching the exhaust valve open then close.... As it's closing watch the dial indicator... When it shows maybe .015 movement stop & see if the timing marks on the crank & timing cover line up.. The engine should be at or very close to TDC... If not your cam timing is off.
Check the distributor for 180 out?
Is the distributor’s mechanical advance working right? Have you checked timing marks with TDC??
I'd start by verifying the balancer mark with a piston stop.
Spark plug wire order
Has the outer ring on the damper slipped
Check the cam degree job.
Once all that's done, I'll put in the new rear main seal, fix the leaky oil pan plug, add the limiter plate to my distributor, make sure the cam is degreed properly, and button it back up. More news and updates coming when I get done being greasy for the day.
Pull the drivers valve cover & put a dial indicator on the #1 intake valve... Rotate the engine slowly watching the exhaust valve open then close.... As it's closing watch the dial indicator... When it shows maybe .015 movement stop & see if the timing marks on the crank & timing cover line up.. The engine should be at or very close to TDC... If not your cam timing is off.
Check the distributor for 180 out?
Is the distributor’s mechanical advance working right? Have you checked timing marks with TDC??
I'd start by verifying the balancer mark with a piston stop.
Spark plug wire order
Has the outer ring on the damper slipped
Check the cam degree job.
Once all that's done, I'll put in the new rear main seal, fix the leaky oil pan plug, add the limiter plate to my distributor, make sure the cam is degreed properly, and button it back up. More news and updates coming when I get done being greasy for the day.
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