Got some work done today. Evan came by as promised. While he was pullin the gas tank, I started on the brakes. I didn't even look when I pulled the drums, but the thing has NEW SHOES all the way around. The drums were paper thin, though. I replaced three wheel cylinders. Why not four? I'll tell you why. Because leave it to ME to get a wheel cylinder with the bolt holes drilled, but NOT THREADED. LOL Anyway, Got the wheel cylinders on that "I could" lol. Evan got the tank out and there was maybe a gallon in it. Probably less. To our astonishment, not only was there NO RUST, but there was no sediment or dirt. While the outside of the tank looks 54 years old, the inside looks NEW. The sending unit is also very clean and tested GOOD. I ordered brakes hoses too, but they are not here yet. Once they get here and the new hopefully threaded wheel cylinder, I can have brakes. Tomorrow, I am going to put the master cylinder on and do the tune up and change the oil. I know. Text heavy no pics. They're comin. lol
Check the bleeder passages in those wheel cylinders. The name brand (Raybestos or Wagner) ones I got have MUCH smaller passages than OEM. The way Mopar uses bore size for proportioning might be affected if you have different size passages side to side on one end.
Tanks in cars that old had a pretty hi lead content , very easy to repair or alter using solder and flux. Of course u know that the gas fumes are the problem----------
@67Dart273 Del, here is the ignition box we talked about today. Was great to catch up for a few. It did have a ground wire and the connectors you see. As I said, one was on the positive side of the coil and the other on the negative side of the coil. I don't see how it could work well, since the coil doesn't see 12 volts. Thank goodness the original wiring harness was untouched. It is LIGHT for its size. Here it is in all it's glory. lol If nothing else, it is a good wall hanger for gadgets from the past.
I've been a bad boy. I have gotten the brakes all cleaned up. wheel cylinders replaced, old front drums separated from the hubs, new drums installed, brake hoses replaced, trunk latch and lock cylinder replaced, gas tank removed and cleaned out.....well emptied out. It was spotless. The sending unit is even clean and works as does the gas gauge. Got both pieces of fuel hose replaced and it;s running on its own fuel tank. Did a complete tuneup including new distributor and coil. I need to replace the master cylinder next and adjust the valves and replace the fuel pump. So far the carburetor works well. Even the accelerator pump. I apologize for not taking pictures and doing the drum brake how to......but I didn't even remove the shoes since they were new. I will take a lot of progress pictures soon. Kinda excited about havin a Mopar again and I just sorta slammed some work done.
@67Dart273 You think this thing couldda affected timing? It took me FOREVER to get the timing right after I took it off. It seemed like after I removed it, the timing was WAY advanced. It lugged against the starter and when it started it ran ROUGH. I got it all back right now with the new distributor and coil. It was strange though.
Rusty "that thing" is the 70's version of MSD, without the "M" In other words it's a breaker points triggered CD ignition. The reason the weird wiring going to the coil, is that you disconnected the coil power feed, the breaker points, and transferred them to the outer circuit board. This fed the points trigger and the power to the box. The two boards then routed the output of the box to the coil 'Just like MSD' there is no DC power to the coil. The box feeds a pulse..........sort of like an electronic photoflash.........to the coil Sometimes you have to move the timing light pickup "up and down" the wire, or turn the pickup around the other way Knight was a kit name for Allied radio.........similar to Heathkit. That box was either Delta or the other popular brand CD I'll have to do some "recollectin" on that Here ya go............"Delta Mark Ten" vintage delta cd ignition - Google Search
The other popular CD back then was the Tiger SST. At least some of them were enclosed in a distinctive circular enclosure. I had one, ran it on both the 440 Roadrunner and the 64 Dodge, but never got a tach to work. I ended up with a hemi dist. and cable drive Jones/ Motrola tach
If you hooked up the "factory" ignition you will want to check coil voltage and be sure the ballast has not been bypassed
Hey it wasn't so old it used VACUUM TUBES LOL. Actually, some people experimented "way" back when, using what is called a "thyratron tube" to switch ignition. A thyratron, "loosely" is comparable to the modern SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) Here: http://worldphaco.com/uploads/THE_TUNG_SOL_EI-4_CDI_UNIT_FROM_MOTION_Inc..pdf From Wiki: Capacitor discharge ignition - Wikipedia Thyratron They were unsuccessful, but did provide much data on the advantages of such a system, should one be built. Namely; a fast voltage rise time to fire fouled or wet spark plugs, high energy throughout the RPM range resulting in better starting, more power and economy, and lower emissions. A few engineers, scientists, and hobbyists had built CD ignitions throughout the 1950s using thyratrons (tube type). However, thyratrons were unsuitable for use in automobiles for two reasons. They required a warm-up period which was a nuisance, and were vulnerable to vibration which drastically shortened their lifetime. In an automotive application, the thyratron CD ignition would fail in either weeks or months. The unreliability of those early thyratron CD ignitions made them unsuitable for mass production despite providing short term benefits. One company at least, Tung-Sol (a manufacturer of vacuum tubes) marketed a thyratron CD ignition, model Tung-Sol EI-4 in 1962, but it was expensive. Despite the failings of thyratron (tube type) CD ignitions, the improved ignition that they gave made them a worthwhile addition for some drivers. For the Wankel powered NSU Spider of 1964, Bosch resurrected its thyratron method for a CD ignition and used this up until at least 1966. It suffered the same reliability problems as the Tung-Sol EI-4.
If you look really closely at this picture you can see one of those Delta Mark Tens hiding under the A/C hose on the passenger inner fender when I bought my car. They must have been popular back in the day. It was non-op when I got the car, just taking up space.
Man, that's pretty cool! Thanks for that, Del. You always have the answers. I'm going to clean it up and use it for a wall hanger.
