76 dart 225

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Phily

3XL, loud pipes, loud music, loud weed
Joined
Nov 18, 2016
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Cortez
Well I noticed I haven't started an actual thread for the car. So here it is.
I've been bugging my friend for the car for about 2 or 3 years. I was gonna build a shed in payment but finances were holding me back buying materials. Finally he needed some mechanic work done that he didn't want to do and didn't have the time. So I replaced the upper and lower ball joints and tie rods on his ranger and also on him vw Passat.
Started out having to get new tires for it and changing rubber brake lines in the front. The metal lines had to be replaced as well cause they would not come off at the rubber to metal connection at the drums but luckily the metal ones came off no issue at the cylinder.yep I fought the passenger side a while getting that damned line to seal lol. Also need a new hose for the fuel line as well because it was eaten up at both ends. We were wondering why it wouldn't start lol. Also had to pick up a new battery.
Finally driving it (and I was told ahead of time) the suspension and steering sucked balls. So new power steering gear box. New shocks in front, new upper and lower ball joints. New inner and out tie rod ends. New pivot arm. I have a new pivot arm also but I need to raise the motor to get get the bolt out so it's in my to do list. New coil over shocks in the rear, non adjustable just stronger as I feel I need to replace the rear leaf spring, just haven't done it yet
New brake pads and hardware kits and new wheel cylinders just haven't put in the new lower hardware gear or cylinder on driver side. The passenger side brake had started clapping when braking at higher speeds(55-70). I'll be doing the lower hardware and cylinder on driver side soon. It's pulling left when braking but since driving today seems to be mellowing out, still gonna get it done tho. I'll be putting discs on eventually.
3" exhaust with a flow master 44 I think. Found out it was the loudest which I didn't really want but I don't mind. 3" starts where I cut the old cat off at. I need to cut and reweld part of it cause it smacks the rear axle when I hit bumps, so I have to treat it like it is lowered smh
Motor it's a 225. I pulled the head and am not super familiar with the procedures. Normally I don't have to go further than the intake manifolds on vehicles. So I ripped the head off. Replaced head gasket. Pulled out the valves did some sanding on them and the piston wear ring at top of block. Piston walls looked smooth and clean. I did not lop the valves. Didn't realize I had to. In fact I still need to do some research on it and more procedures on building these motors.
I installed new valve seals. Pretty much tore the head completely apart and cleaned with chem dip everything else. I noticed the pushrods were cracked so I replaced them.
I didn't retorque the head afterwards so I was having some issues. I have retorque it since tho. Adjusted the valve lash. Noticed the exhaust cracked around the bolts the clamp done the intake to it. Sucks and I have an exhaust leak. For some reason the bolts even tho the same size and standard just were not very happy at the end of tightening even tho they went in 98% of the way like butter.
Rebuilt the carb best I could even the some of the threads were stripped. So I had to get creative and get some nuts an ld bolts the fit thru could actually be tightened. So I broke the dremmel out and had to shave bolt heads and nuts down to work. I did over tighten the spark plugs which also gave me I a bit of a headache as oil kept leaking into the plugs and would not allow me to start it and after cleaning them some cylinders would misfire. Running pretty decent now minus the exhaust leak. Gonna be putting in some new to me plug tubes and hopefully should start and run a tad bit better.
I want to replace the piston rings but my book says I have to remove the thru the top of the block. Damn I should read more lol. So unless I still can do the it will not happen til I swap motors.
Now I do have another slant 225 I'm gonna start rebuilding soon if I can ever get my vans towed. The donor is a 78 b100. Super six setup. I'll be doing a complete tear down and rebuild of this one. And will delete all smog
I did have more tinkering I did like adjusting the bench seat so it would move, new heater core. Adjusted trunk latch
Not alot of rust so far but I haven't stripped it yet for body and paint
Work in progress
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My buddy bought the car from a lil ol lady and everything was original until he swapped motors and didn't keep the original. Mirror isn't oronal either. I just don't like we're the mirror is. It's to close lol. Should I post pics of some of the original 1976 paper work to from chrysler

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If u hadn't read the how to drive tour new car book, it's kinda funny. The stuff said in there would get them in trouble by feminist movements lol
 
Having all that documentation is incredible! I was happy I found a build sheet tucked in the rear seat springs!
Btw. Should check the rear seat back and grab yours before it rots to nothing.
Should be tucked into the springs of the back or bottom. Have to remove them to check.
 
So I pulled tranny dust cover. Checked and kinda adjusted the fork. Only problem is there was only a nut on the outer part. Seems there should have been a washer and a bushing on that side of the fork like the inside but no.i didn't realize this until after I test drove it a couple miles. Good thing it isn't shorter and pop out from the fork lol.
Anyways it was slipping before and motor idling high. Had no free play in the clutch pedal at all. I just figured it was tight but I don't think is was fully grabbing. Started having more and more shaking and vibrating in the car. Hard starting. Had to hold gas pedal down 90% of the time when starting and idle would change a little bit when warmed up.
Now I haven't gotten to the washer and bushing on the clutch cause I just got in from dicking with it, but... The idle I noticed has gone down. Sounds way better. I have that 3" exhaust and now it has that slight lopping sound like it should. Speeda at needed time to shift is now at higher speeds. Shaking so far seems to have stopped. Smoother starting. started it up a few times and starts easier. When taking off and shifting it doesn't take as long to get going. Accelerator seems more responsive. Definitely way better. I was kinda surprised that it helped clean so much up.
 

I didn't want to rev it to much cause of neighbors
 
So driving home it felt like a flat tire. Pull over and drum was smoking. Thinking maybe it was to tight. So I let it cool down a bit. Hit 20-25 mph and it starts up again. Pull over at a school go-to remove drum and I feel like the outer bolt is stripped. Looked at the bearing notice it's blown out. Go-to AutoZone pick up some new bearing to replace again. I just replaced em a few months ago.
Sure enough I get the bolt off and it's stripped. To top it off drum won't come off. Outer bearing froze on.
Junk yard said they would wait for me 45 min after they close for me. Hopefully they do.
 
Pulled the spindles caliper and rotor. Hopefully that's all I needed. It didn't have a master bake cylinder let alone the proportioning valve. So I need to find the valve. Will my drum brake cylinder work for this. I don't care about a booster for now. I ordered new bearings and brake hoses. Other that that I think I'm good. Well and now I need to get some washers and lugs for these cragers as I don't have any other rims. Sucks that the swinger I pulled from only had one rim and hub. I should have taken it and found anotheri added a pic of the donor car for the day. On another note. I went and looked at a duster on my way home. A little rough and has really no interior well not much anyways. I think it has a big block in it. I really wanna know more about it but I couldn't find the owner anywhere

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So the brake hoses I got from Autozone fit but the washers that came with it dont. So I got some from oriellys. Started getting everything done in one side and was gonna just use the end brake to take it home. But my landlord called me and said her husband was gonna grab his trailer and get it home for me. Cool ****. Never tried getting a manual car onto a trailer with no brakes. Habit caused me to hit the normal brakes which weren't there. Luckily I hit the ebrake quick lol. Trying to move that car brake and use the clutch is a pain lol. Glad for the help.
I'll be ordering a prop valve from summit and also need to order some unilug washers and nuts.
The one side I got brakes mostly done I put one of those cragers on and it does look nice. I like tht they give it a wider stance. Just needs a taller tire.
And no I didn't drive it more than 20ft to trailer it and take it off on the rims with wrong lugs lol.
Welcome to my world of everything goes wrong lol. I'll be ordering new calipers soon. They are actually cheap. Found they sell a rebuild kit to for wm butfor 10$ more I can get remaned calipers.
 
.Here is how the one side looks lol. I really need to pick up my vans. Then I cAn start figuring out my rear end. Thinking of just taking my sawzall out there when my caravan is empty and just start hacki g away at it and pulling parts I need or want to sell and owly bring them home in pieces. What's a couple hours i. Between work and home to get it done over maybe a couple weeks. Sucks cause my drive is already about an hour one way lol. And if I cut it all up I can get it all in my van by myself. Except the motors and may e the trans depending g on how heavy they are. I know the trans in my gmc sanoma/s10 is pretty lite. Both of those are Borg Warner t5. Not sure the a727 and don't even know what's in the smaller /6 van. I'll probably take my cherry picker out there when I have the bodies chopped off. Might start this next week

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So here is the motor from the 78 b100. Peanut head. The dart has drool tubes. Which should I use. This motor turns over, currently bolted to a 904. Turns slow so the starter is bad I presume. Can I take use the one currently in the dart hooked to a 833 of so I can see if it will actually start the van? If it runs and better than the darts 225 I wanna start pulling the motors so I can do a complete rebuild on the darts motor. I'll be using the super six regardless. What else should be used between these two motors. Are the cams different?

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Why not just rebuild the one in the van. Check the van for bigger rear brakes for the car also.
 
That is the new plan actually. I'm gonna pull and rebuild it. Is there anything in the darts 225 I should grab. It has an older drool tubes head and motor. The van a peanut head.
I just put new push rods in the dart it. Probably the wrong ones cause I think that origianl was peanut and I do know the motor was replaced before. Unless they take the same ones. But they lashed right when I adjust the rocker arms to valve.
I'll probably buy a new exhaust manifold for it as someone has crappily welded the vans and the darts threaded bolt holes to the down pipe split sometime in the night after I reinstalled it. Came out in the morning like wtf lol.
I do plan to use the 8.25 rear end from the van. 58" drum to drum. Should push my tire right to the edge of the quarters. Im hoping all I have to do is move the shock mounts over on the axle.
Can I use the proporting valve from the van for my darts brakes? It would save me a little bit if I can.
 
slants are fun to rebuild. I am in the midst of waiting on parts to rebuild a slant for a 63 valiant wagon.

great to see another slant fan out there and I love your dart sport.

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Sorry i haven't been on for a while. I haven't done much really. Life's been a drag lately. Been really broke.
propsome things have happened.
So I finally finished my disc break swap. Got lucky and found that a prop valve was already on the car. Already I'm hoping it was the right one I was needing. Car stops great regardless. No need for a brake booster IMO. So I got the spindle and rotors from a junk yard. Drivers ide went on great and bled just fine. Passenger side went on and would seal, so when i bled it, it just leaked.so I ordered a remanned pair from orielys. Now began a slight problem which ended up not being so bad in the end.
I opened the boxes and to my surprise I had two passenger side calipers. The computer said they were driver and passenger. Wrong lol. So after looking a little more one was a steel piston the other was phenolic or plastic. I put on the steel piston caliper and went to check to see if they had the driver side and they did not. So since the driverside from the junkyard sealed I just went with it and luckily it worked. Hell how often does that work. Never for me.
After the swap I had to get lug nuts and washers for these craters. Went to the tire shop and they were able to order them cheaper than I could online. At first I went with the shorter lug nuts and I should have gotten the longer ones. The longer are in I just haven't had the money to pick em up. But the shorter ones are working. They gave me some round washers at first I don't like em. I do have the ovals now I just need to put em on.
So the car had cragers up front and stock14 inch with hubs in the back lol.
I still have this van tho I need to pull the rear out of, but it will still be a bit before I can do anything cause i can't afford to get the drive shaft modded as I'm sure will need to be done.
I did pull the motor out of the van yesterday so I can rebuild it. Cylinder don't look bad. I'd like to send it to the machine shop to atleast get it cleaned up and checked out but I don't have any extra cash. Wouldn't mind just rehoning the cylinders as long as they are good. I guess I'll have a better idea when i start tearing the block apart more. When removing the engine I just found it easier to pull the intake and exhaust manifolds and the the head.
It was not easy moving the block from my driveway to the awning around the back of my house as there were a few steps to go down. Got really really really super lucky I didn't drop the block going down them.
Also pulled the tranny. Would have been easier to take em out together but noooo I just had to take em out separate lol. Im gonna see about borrowing my bro in laws power washer so I can clean it up and post it on here later for sale.
So the exhaust manifold has been cracked and someone tried brazing it I think. Well itooks like crap and probably my leaks. So im gonna grind it down and see if I can just weld it so it doesn't leak if that's possible. I do weld but I don't know all the rules like if I can even use my wire fed welder to do the job or if it takes something I don't have.
Clutch is going out like something fierce. Slips like a ****
After everything yesterday my lady backed up our daily driver van and broke the mirror off my corolla which is my toy basically and busted the tail light on the van. I knew I shouldnt ha e parked there but I wasn't don't yet for the day and I was using it to pull around the 78 b100 lol.
 
Here we are again working on the car. Took me all day to pull the tranny so I could replace the clutch. It was hell and putting it back in was no easier. Jack was useless so I had to fight it out by myself. I think the tranny weighs more than me or so it seems.
Still constantly losing oil and coolant and smoking. It might not actually have blow by but a leaking head.
I have the majority of the Vans slant pulled apart. I need to get some pullers so I can remove the crank and ****. Can't push the Pistons up and out. Appears that the wear ring at top of bore is thicker than the rest of the chamber. Almost like it ground it's way up and down all the way. About a 1/16 or bigger lip. I may just check all parts and rebuild what's in the car with the better stuff.
Seems the block is a remanned. I'm hoping there is a non stock camshaft in it. Considering checking the bore. Anything is possible right now.
Car is just being a headache tho lately and the speed cable just broke on me about 10min ago
 
Just step back and take a deep breath. old cars are like that, you will get it.
 
Since the overheating issue I've taken the had to the machine shop got that fixed. Looking at 1600$ to do the rest for the block. But that is a full package. Boring the cylinders and to off the block out to around .080 each. I want play just in case anything gets wiped out slightly damaged. Cam, lifters, getting the crank, etc.
I will be needing a new exhaust manifold or headers. I already have the super six manifold but need the coke for it and linkage. I will also need to get a new throttle cable. Speedo cable as mine broke. Fuel sending unit I need as well. Also nagged a fuel sending unit.
I still need to put the 8 1/4 from my 78 b100 under the dart. My dad argues with me to put a8 3/4 or a Ford 9", but in not building a racer. I'm building a daily driver just not bone stock but not something that can hold up with the racers. I might have 140 horse power when I'm done. If more than cool.
But in gonna behave to save up for it. Still gotta try and get my corrola a title and legal to drive on the road. Plus order fuel lines fit my sanoma and get new registration stickers on it. Then I can retire my 05 grand caravan cause it is a pile of ****. Well time to shower, then do done drywall repair for my landlord, then order my fuel lines for the truck.
Have a good day fellow car enthusiasts
 
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