Oh the horror, what happened to my 340...
Well, after a week I finally had some time to work on the Dart and have some results. Let me start by saying thank you to everyone for offering feedback and sharing your thoughts. As discussed, I started with the easy first.
- I disconnected the ignition coil and turned the car over which made it easier to hear the noise without the rumble of the engine. Yes, clanging was present.
- Then I removed the air cleaner to inspect the carb and see if it was dumping fuel, but it was not so, I covered it up for now.
- Next, I installed a remote starter then removed the valve covers. Nothing glaring stood out in fact everything looked pretty good. I cranked the engine and heard the noise again but with the covers off I could see the valves were operating as expected but it became apparent that the noise was coming from the bottom and not the top.
- At this point I was certain the noise was coming from the transmission and was hoping it was just the converter bolts so I disconnected the battery, removed the engine supports and starter to get the inspection cover off. With the cover of it was instantly clear the bolts had come loose so I removed them all and pushed the converter in to make room to inspect the crank bolts and flex plate. Both were fine meaning not loose or cracked so I snugged up the converter bolts, installed the starter and cranked it again. No Noise! The clanging was gone. YES!! I am going to get a new set of converter bolts to replace these dinged up ones.
- At this point I was feeling good and decided to play a little more mostly because I had borrowed a friends Eddie 650 Carb. I removed my Holley Street Demon 670 and installed the Edelbrock 650, reconnected the ignition coil and battery then fired it up and I have to say that it seemed to run better and smoother with the Eddie?!.
I plan on leaving the Edelbrock carb on for now so I can collect some data because I think I’m going to need to change the jet sizing on the Holley. To help I have picked up an AFR meter and a bung to weld into the exhausts.
Feeling like I "Dodged" a bullet :thankyou:
AlV
