Today I saw another article on this issue... apparently when reflashed, the ECU writes a tamper code to the body control module (which I guess the tuner didn't know about, or care). Anyway the car owner went as high as VP level and was shut down every time, so now he's pulled his posts and...
Drove 42 miles to Mountain Home for a cruise-in/car show despite the showers forecast. Fortunately they were wrong and it was sunny, but 90F and humid makes for a hot day on a black asphalt parking lot. Free grilled hot dogs and a door prize too :) The Murphy/Walmart gas station next door had...
No one has mentioned yet that the bolt holes on stock heads aren't drilled perpendicular to the rails. That's what makes it so hard to get any gasket to seal well regardless of what kind of cover.
From the article, the manufacturer has a different story:
"He says the mid-muffler and entire emissions system are stock. But this is where things start to get confusing. You see, Dodge says this isn’t about the mid-muffler. Dodge says, “The warranty claim was rejected after a Stellantis...
Fixed the speedometer just now. The knurled nut at the dash end had unscrewed itself and the cable fell out. It's a pain on my car to get to, since the steering column has to be dropped a couple of inches in order to have enough room to pull the dash cluster out.
Also I warmed it up and tweaked...
Yesterday, heads back on, valves adjusted. Got up this morning and put the steering column back in. Shakedown run unremarkable except the speedo (cable-driven) doesn't work any more. Don't have time to troubleshoot, now off to a cruise-in/car show in Willow Springs :) Will put the GPS Speedo app...
Finally got the engine reassembled this afternoon, after the virus cleared out of my system. In fact, everything's back together but the steering column and one valve cover bolt I dropped last week :realcrazy: and I plan to put that in tomorrow morning.
Might even be able to make the annual...
Today my new valve retainers and spring shims came... but I've had some kind of GI bug all day. Going at both ends intermittently, but fortunately not at the same time :realcrazy: Seems to be clearing up with the aid of some green tea with plenty of sugar.
Tomorrow the intake valve is supposed...
I found the problem with my heads, and as usual it was my fault :realcrazy:
While using the checking springs, I noticed a suspicious amount of movement in the retainer. With the valve in my hand, no spring, and the retainer pulled tight against the old locks - it wobbles back and forth. Not a...
It looks like I may have been sold the wrong retainers years ago by the machinist who put my iron heads together... not only is the installed height way off (too low), but replacing a lock with a new Comp 613 makes it even lower. I think the dropped valve either spit out a keeper or pulled right...
Took the left head off today. #7 intake seems to have survived without hitting the piston, but here is #3 intake (the one where both halves of the lock had given up). :realcrazy: I am lucky the valve head didn't come off. There is a shiny area on the piston valve relief, but no real damage. I'm...
Today I removed the rocker shafts, and the failed keepers on #4 and #7. The displaced half actually fractured into two pieces in my fingers. Both of those valves feel as though they were seating properly. BUT as I lifted the left shaft off, I could see that #3 intake wasn't even attached to its...
This afternoon I started to recheck my valve clearances. But the universe had other plans...
A couple of days ago, as the engine stopped I heard an interesting metallic "clinking" for a second (sounded like something hitting the valley pan, or possibly the #2 header tube that runs very near the...
I found my intake leak... the tips of the manifold were hanging up on the "Chinese wall" aka end rails! With .055" milled off the heads (and the intake surfaces also milled, naturally) whatever clearance might have been there was now interference... I shoulda thought of that. :realcrazy:
A few...
Got the head swap completed, changed oil, new plugs. Drove it to the first cruise-in of the season at Steak & Shake :)
Unfortunately I've got significant intake leaks (reused the valley pan, brushed on Permatex #2, and the intake sits just a little high in the V). Lower idle vacuum, leaner idle...
Yes, just like I said in post #3 :poke:
KB pistons tend to have generous valve reliefs (for example, my KB280's still have a LOT of clearance even with a [email protected], .652 lift cam :)
What KB part number are you running, OP?
A .564 lift cam would definitely wake up your 383. The 440 source heads are OK out of the box but definitely benefit from some mild porting work. Be sure to check piston-to-valve clearance with that much lift and duration. Especially if you have the original '66 383 pistons...
New aluminum heads are on and torqued, preliminary valve lash adjustment, headers reconnected at both ends. Steering column back in - except the shaft is 1/4" short of full engagement with the splines on the box. Guess when I was pushing/pulling/beating trying to get it loose, the telescoping...
Today I removed the lightly used Comp 953 springs, retainers and 10 deg locks from the iron heads, and transferred them to the ported Speedmasters after installing new valve stem seals. Then I started setting up the ductile-iron rocker valve train with studs and aluminum hold-downs.... the...
I'm finally starting the head swap (hand-ported iron to PRH Stage 1 Speedmasters that flow 293 cfm with new valves). I bought them during a sale and had them drop-shipped to Dwayne at least 2, maybe 3 years ago!
Today I got the old heads off, which was an exercise in frustration trying to work...
Today there was a cruise-in in Willow Springs (about 30 miles door-to-door). So I got the Dart out of the garage for the first time since last fall... amazing how dirty a car can get in a closed garage. Anyway I spent two hours cleaning the interior (and the silt from our dirt roads out of the...
Only Heacock Classic (via American Modern) would cover my Dart since I have a nitrous bottle.
They also require a locked garage when not in use. I pay $250 per year up to 6K miles annually (although my year-of-manufacture plates, like historic plates, only allow 1K miles), and $15K agreed value.
About 10 years ago, my POCO installed a box with a smart meter out on the pole about 75' from the house (buried service entrance). The upper panel (meter) has one of those plastic seals, and the lower (200 amp main disconnect) is accessible by me. Makes everyone happy that way ;)
The rural area...
Car show at the West Plains Civic Center. Great show, sunny weather (sticky humidity though). There was a beautiful "restified" Hemi Roadrunner that was the only other Mopar at the show... I saw more Studebakers than Mopars! And a (recent) Mini with a smallblock, rear-drive transplant.
On the...
My new Autometer fuel gauge arrived today ($60+ and the lowest price was from Rock Auto)... so I removed the intermittently sticky S-W fuel gauge and replaced it with this one. It's worse than it sounds since I had to do a lot from under the dash and through the mounting hole. At least it was...
I built a 383 on my kitchen table almost 40 years ago :D
Put the short block together, slid it onto a thick stack of newspapers and balanced it with one hand while yanking out papers one handful at a time... once it was on the floor, I bolted the heads on. Then I had four friends from work come...