Dad’s 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340
So last night was a learning experience. Somewhere between "if it aint broke, dont fix it" and "measure twice, cut once."
Not much was to be accomplished last night. I did find during the day that my upper radiator hose is either mismarked or just plain defective. It isnt shaped properly. I got on the horn with Summit Racing, and they are sending me a free replacement (after I price-matched the heck outta that thing from Rock Auto). Here is what they originally sent:
Next up is the transmission. I had no plans to dig into it and rebuild it. It ran fine. When I opened it up it looked good. Synchros and such look new. The only thing I found is that no gaskets were used to assemble it. This meant that the holes for lube in the front and back of the case were partially to mostly blocked as the last guy into this thing had a fetish for RTV. So I went about cleaning it up and replacing with gaskets from Brewers... bearing retainer, side cover, reverse detent housing, backup switch... tailshaft housing (those that know where this is going dont spoil it). Yup. I tried to take the tailshaft housing off... not realizing that 90% of the guts would come with it. Oh and the shift forks were still in! So in the end, I spilled the roller pins out of the input shaft, and yanked apart the 3-4 slider assembly. I did get the slider assemby reassembined and reinstalled. Need grease to do the roller pins. Here is where I left it. Yeah its in a dirty area, but I didnt plan to do this:
Finally, I got to troll my dad and son. Both are Mopar guys, while my inclination is towards Fords. I bought some oil filters for the break-in. I shopped based on application. Turns out the same filters that fit my 351C also fit dad's 340. So I snapped a pic for them!
So last night was a learning experience. Somewhere between "if it aint broke, dont fix it" and "measure twice, cut once."
Not much was to be accomplished last night. I did find during the day that my upper radiator hose is either mismarked or just plain defective. It isnt shaped properly. I got on the horn with Summit Racing, and they are sending me a free replacement (after I price-matched the heck outta that thing from Rock Auto). Here is what they originally sent:
Next up is the transmission. I had no plans to dig into it and rebuild it. It ran fine. When I opened it up it looked good. Synchros and such look new. The only thing I found is that no gaskets were used to assemble it. This meant that the holes for lube in the front and back of the case were partially to mostly blocked as the last guy into this thing had a fetish for RTV. So I went about cleaning it up and replacing with gaskets from Brewers... bearing retainer, side cover, reverse detent housing, backup switch... tailshaft housing (those that know where this is going dont spoil it). Yup. I tried to take the tailshaft housing off... not realizing that 90% of the guts would come with it. Oh and the shift forks were still in! So in the end, I spilled the roller pins out of the input shaft, and yanked apart the 3-4 slider assembly. I did get the slider assemby reassembined and reinstalled. Need grease to do the roller pins. Here is where I left it. Yeah its in a dirty area, but I didnt plan to do this:
Finally, I got to troll my dad and son. Both are Mopar guys, while my inclination is towards Fords. I bought some oil filters for the break-in. I shopped based on application. Turns out the same filters that fit my 351C also fit dad's 340. So I snapped a pic for them!
