Beginning of the End - my 73, 340 Duster rest-o-rod???

[Joe Mc]

Decided to beat the pending doom of the next heat wave and not wait till this weekend to get engine out, did it tonight. Got it on a stand and ready to inspect. Step by step, slowly but surely getting closer.

Man that is one fugly engine bay. My buddy's wife did him a favor when he was deployed and painted it black . . .

From what I can see of the engine things look decent, we'll see what's what when I start popping things off . . .

 

[fstfish66]

joe the engine bay isnt so bad ive seen worse,,,sand paper and paint you be good to go,,

 

[Joe Mc]

Ah yes, the power of positive thought. Thanks Don. Found one outfit for media blasting $1700 + ? extra to prime - yeah I'm jumping right out to get the car there = not

 

[Joe Mc]

So after tearing the engine down for an inspection the following are my findings perceptions: Block 0.030, Crank 0.010 Rods and Mains.

I'm going to enter a new segment to this post called "Story Time". This will be where after I give updates / findings I'll have a bit of a chance to "share" some of my thoughts, stories, or just some of the B/S floating in my head (a frightening place) and/or just vent . . .So here goes.

"Story Time": I don't understand why the cuts on the block and crank? When I sold the car to my buddy it had an eng I came about in late 78 that was out of a beautiful 76 Cordoba, Caramel Tan Poly (like a deep root-beer metalflake), dark cream Landau roof, and "of course" that "fine Corinthian Leather" interior "Rickardo Montalbon" always talked about that was the same color as the Landau roof. The Cordoba was fresh to the yard another buddy of mine worked at, he called me on a whim to see if I needed a low mile well taken care of eng. or trans. When I arrived at the yard I walked right by the car, giving it a quick glance, thinking it belonged to customer who was probably scrounging parts off the new arrival = before me! I met my buddy and he walked me out front to the car I just walked by, tossing me the keys he said "here it is". I was shocked! This car being in the yard was an outright shame, it had been "spanked hard" beyond repair in the rear, from the back edge of the doors forward it was perfect. I opened the door to open the hood and it even had that new car smell, The story was some little old lady (hee, hee) was going to get groceries and was rear ended by a truck. I checked the engine visually - clean as a whistle and cold had not been started yet. I turned it over and after 3 turns it fired, came up on high idle, no smoke, purring like a kitten, I let it run for about 2 minutes as we looked at everything else, tapped the go pedal once and it settled into a smooth purr. I looked at my buddy, both of us with big smiles and he asked "did I do good?", all I could say thru my big smile was "how much?", he said $300, I said 250? We both laughed out loud and he said "let's get it loaded on my pickup so I can get it to your garage for the Duster." Upon arrival to my garage (rented from an apartment complex for 25 a month) all I did was remove the intake, put my Holly loaded Weiand on it, swap distributer from the Duster, remove the exh manifolds, swap eng mounts, flywheel, install pilot bearing and plunk it in my Duster. Who knows why he cut the block and crank, probably abused the heck out of it and ran low oil psi then overheated it??? What ever happened if it didn't happen I probably wouldn't have been able to re-acquire the car back in 95.

So back to my findings. Sorry I need a break - be back later today with some pictures of things I found that haven't been boxed up for storage yet. A tid bit to keep you all hanging - I found a place to media blast the body . . . :tongue7:

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Great read on the history of the engine.

 

[Joe Mc]

"OTR" - Thanks, I was hopeful someone would appreciate my "Story Time". Captainkirk" has the "best" stories.

Anyway, I left some folks hanging on the media blast find. A place called "U-Blast" = you do the blasting they supply the facilities and materials!!! $120/hr in the booth, includes media. There are two booths; one for removing paint and for priming, the other for removing rust and shot blasting. They also have cabinets big enough for small body parts; hoods etc @ $60/hr also includes media. I figure I can knock the body and underside in 1.5 days and primer the last 1/2 day (priming cost $60/hr, you bring gun and etch primer) shouldn't take but 2 days +/-. Regardless, its better than $1700 for someone else to do it and that doesn't include priming, it's extra = no way, I'm doin it myself.

So back to my findings with the engine: crank-mains & rods 0.010, pistons 0.030, purple stick (not sure which one - yet) new springs, rockers, lifters etc. As you'll see in the pictures below there is still color on the springs and cross-hatch marks on the cylinder walls. BUT . . . the bearings are all wiped:angryfir: Must have been running to thick of an oil instead of a break-in oilops: And probably, knowing my buddy, just wrung the livin snot out of it for a "break-in" - run hard and put away wet. The oil pump (not sure of the company but think it's a Melling? I'm sure its a high volume as it has HV stamped on the cover plate and in the part number) gears are all scored to hell, bearings (in some areas) worn beyond the babbitt to the bronze under layer and cylinder walls show signs of piston skirt slap, along with a few slightly tight wrist pins. The crank has some pretty decently scored areas, which I hope can be polished out - not sure yet? Oh, and a major fo-pah - the number two cam bearing oil hole wasn't correctly lined up, so the cam and crank's #2 bearing were restricted, which is shown in one of the crank pictures. Lastly, the oil pan had a big dent right where the oil pump pick-up sat:violent1: All of the above were a recipe for failure. No complaints here because I actually was able to buy it back from my buddy. And since it was sold back and forth between he and his twin brother god knows who had their hands on it and did what ? ? ?

The engine and other rustable eng parts are now coated with spray-on white lithium grease and stowed in a 4 mill plastic bag, wrapped by another bag and in my shed. Nothing begins with the engine until the body is fully painted, tubbed out, connected, wired and hose/lined up = ready to drop an engine into.

Oh, before I plant the pictures below, while I was taking the pictures I noticed the build date on the block - it has to be destiny this is "my" block - the date casting reads 1-20-76, "N" for Night shift and time looks to be just after midnight . . . my birthday is 1-21-59 (older than dirt - I know, but young in the mind) and I was born just after midnight = made on my 17th B-day. Quite the coincidence, eh?

Anyway, here's the pictures as promised:

 

[Joe Mc]

Some more pictures

 

[Joe Mc]

A few more than that's it for now.

BTW - Thank you FABO for providing this great venue for me to share/bore the heck out of everyone with, my long awaited project/progress.:salut:

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Think you can get by with cleaning up the crank and new cam bearings?

 

[Joe Mc]

Think you can get by with cleaning up the crank and new cam bearings?

OTR - I'm hoping I can? I know it's hard to see from the pictures but there are some decent high lines on the main & rod journals. At this point I can't hurt it no more than it is so . . . I'm thinking some 1500 wet - oiled well, then step up to a 2000 or more and see where I end up. I'd hate to have to cut it 0.020 R & Ms. And at this point I'm on the fence if the only option is to cut it - then maybe it'll get stroked? I'm pretty sure the cylinders can be honed back. It's a shame cause they used good name brand stuff, Clevite 77s, confirmed the oil pump was Melling.

Definitly new bearings throughout, probably valve springs and maybe rings depends on how bad the rings are - they're usually pretty tough so we'll see.

Like I mentioned previously - at this point I can't even think of the engine & trans until I'm done with media and the body is ready for paint. Maybe if I decide not to paint it myself while its out for paint I'll go after the engine. I've surely got alot of time to think on this.

Thanks for reading.

 

[fstfish66]

hey JOE looks like you got more done then just looking at it,,,,,whens the blasting??

 

[Joe Mc]

hey JOE looks like you got more done then just looking at it,,,,,whens the blasting??

Hey Don, looks like the "big show" at New Hope this weekend is a wash out with all this rain. Hopefully the weather clears for Tuesday night at Shadybrook, it's all MoPar night - you know I'll be there with the extra large drool cup strapped on the ears - complete with overflow pan and chest support:blob:

Hey as far as looking, you know some times you need to stop and take a look at things - then move forward. The night you stopped over I had just cleaned up for the night and was working on my 2nd "refreshing beverage".

So, depending on how the crank is (if it can't be polished out) I may revert back to my pubescent days and go "strokin" . . . :cheers:

But, that's a way's out there. I need to get the body ready, in paint and then I'll move with engine to machine shop and see what's what. So I'm looking at, at least 16 months out. Unless I hit the power ball . . . I'll be looking for the fish at the brook Tues night.

Blasting? Well, I'm looking at 2 - 3 weeks hopefully before I get it ready to go. Still need to get all the "Stuff" off the shell. I'm getting there thou, doors, trunk lid and tail lights came off the other night, I would have kept going on it, but I was interrupted. My buddy called and asked me to go help him shake down a customer's car he just finished at his shop - that thought process took all of 0.025 seconds to complete.
Although it wasn't a MoPar (yet same customer is having him do a 70 Cuda - HEMI, clone of course) but it was an "ultimate" muscle car . . . 70 Boss 429 clone, 770 HP at the flywheel, 5 spd, 3:55s - what a friggin beast that car is. On top of being "frightening" it is beautifully done, in/out/under and everywhere else. Have to email you a few snaps of it, I don't want to disrespect our beloved A-Body-"Only" forum with the likes of our "incorrectly" colored blue cousins.

 

[fstfish66]

JOE hopefully it will stop raining by tuesday,,,,,,70 boss ?? around here ?? very kool.,...cant wait to hear about your do it your self blasting experience , ,,,it can be messy,,,,,and ide wait till the humid weather is gone,,,,,or all you will be doing is running up the clock unclogging wet sand.,,,,,,

 

[Joe Mc]

Yeah, I hear you on the wet sand. There will be enough of that going on when it's paint time - LOL I know what you mean, but I'm still a few weeks out from when I'm going to "have a blast"!

Going to the brook Tuesday? I'm planning on taking the family, weather permitting of course.

 

[fstfish66]

JOE, another cruise nite at shady brook canceled,,,both mopar nites have been rained out,,,

 

[Joe Mc]

Don,

I hear ya on that. Bummed. They better give a rain date on that one. At least I called from work before I left to see if it was rained.

 

[Joe Mc]

Just read thru from beginning to end. Man it's hard to believe the last time I entered anything on this thread was 5 months ago! I guess that's better than a year ago? Life has a troubling way of "getting in the way" sometimes . . . Hope to get back at it soon. Coming up on my 53rd year on the planet this Saturday so it seems appropriate to give myself a break and maybe "do something" on Dusty. I doubt, if I'm 'able' to do anything, if it would be picture worthy . . . never know, I could surprise even myself.

 

[fstfish66]

joe happy 53rd,,, i turned it last month,,lol have you had it blasted yet ??? found a 65 formula S car not far from us,,almos twalking distance,,has not moved in over 20 years sitting on the drive way cuda has sunk in to the asphalt,,,

 

[Joe Mc]

joe happy 53rd,,, i turned it last month,,lol have you had it blasted yet ??? found a 65 formula S car not far from us,,almos twalking distance,,has not moved in over 20 years sitting on the drive way cuda has sunk in to the asphalt,,,

Thanks Don, another year older and deeper in debt . . .

No blasting yet. Still need to do some things diff, K member, back and side glass, dash, column all need to come out, then scrape off the undercoating and factory seam sealer etc. Then, borrow the rotisserie and I'm off to blasting. Probably not till it warms up as for getting to blasting.

Barracuda Formula S sounds interesting, a 273 car w/stick or what? What's the asking $$$. Back in the day a friend of mine had a burgundy one, he wasn't much of a car guy then, didn't even know it was special (what the S was for) till I told him it was - something.

 

[fstfish66]

joe i dont know if the S car is a stick or auto,,its dark blue, the owners sister left a note on my car at robs towing show,,,i talked with her she lives in your neighborhood ,,say shes a car gal,,knows it all has a vett and i think MG, or ??? she has 3 classics any way,,,,typical told me the barracuda was in good shape,, i guess rot on the botton and around the wheel wells is good condition to her,,,,put gas in it and drive away,,lol been sitting over 20 years still has cragars on it,,,if it didnt have the rot,,,ide make an offer on it,, my favoite year b cuda,,,

says her brother is in need of cash,, i told her she would be lucky to get 1500, maybe 2500 is soem one had to have the car,,,that was before i seen it,,, i still think with out a closer look it may bring 1500 she said he would probably perfer to burn the car for that kind of money,,,,i told her the problem is not much in repop for that car,,makes it hard to restore,,,its in colbalt ridge

 

[daredevil]

I'm to poor to restore!!!! hell with numbers matchin crap ( no offence ) but I can't afford to do stuff that way!!! Heres my rendition of 340 73 duster ( not a clone) it's a six cylinder car with my 340 stuff stuck in it...hope you like :cheers:

Close up of the blonde?

 

[Joe Mc]

Hey all,

Wow! Last time I posted anything was 1/20/12! Time flies when you’re having fun and “life gets in the way”....

Daughter is now finished college, married, moved to Seattle area, house paid for last April, left my job last Sept. and have been enjoying life (as long as money in checkbook lasts...) “and” started working on the stalled (8 years now) project. I’ve done some things between 2012 and when I recently started pecking away, 12/29/17, again, such as: removed everything from the car except rear windshield, built front and rear supports with wheels, stowed everything in the sheds. Since I restarted I’ve removed some paint from the left quarter to reveal what I suspected = front quarter was sectioned in. A real botch job that most likely took place before my buddy Reo (I bought it from his wife summer 1978 or so, after he was tragically killed) got it, he had it for a year or so. The quarter section and door skin were “brazed” on and badly, so much in fact whoever did the work had to use a ton of filler at the vertical cut/braze area due to the warping from all the heat to braze, which since they must have thought they could butt weld and found they couldn’t they had to use a 2” backer pice of metal to join. Additionally, they overlapped the horizontal seam by about 4”, of course both areas received about 1/2 - 3/4” of filler. Anyway, I have removed the section cut horizontal and verticals, flanged the original quarter, I’ll have to use about a 1 1/2” piece of filler metal for the vertical due to the existing section and original metal being warped beyond use. I cut out the lower rear section of rot on the quarter and removed the trunk extension, will need to do same on right side without need to work on the front section of the quarter = thank god. I received the trunk extensions and have somewhat fitted the left one, will final fit once lower quarter patches arrive = scheduled arrival today.

Plans going forward, how things change over the years, scrubbed the blasting idea and reverted to saving money by razor scraping and sanding off the paint = razor blades and sandpaper are cheaper than blasting, even if you’re doing it yourself. Finish left quarter work, grind down the braze mess on the door skin, preserve the skin to door frame metal as best as possible. Do the right lower quarter and trunk extension work. Then I’ll tackle the full floor pan, install the frame connectors and maybe add some home made torque boxes front and rear. From there remove dents from the roof and right quarter, get the metal in etch primer and then build the triangulated 4 link for the rear, stiffin up the lower arms and possibly upper A-arms, get the K-member back under it so it can roll on its own wheels and forge on. I plan on making everything I can and buying nothing unless I can’t make it. A challenge for sure.

Some pics below: OK So the pics attached above?

 

[Joe Mc]

OMG!!! Just under 2 years since I've added to this - not much to add at this point anyway except; Life gets in the way, I've gotten all the L/R sheetmetal welded in (I call my L/R quarter-panel "Franken-Quarter" = you'll see when/if I get around to posting some pictures, --> I think there are a total of 5 pieces of metal counting the remnant of the original quarter...), and the car has once again returned to its former state of "non-glory" being a storage container. That said, I have been playing with cars in the mean time when I can, but only with those of the non-MoPar brand so I'll only mention them briefly as they are pretty cool cars from back in the day and belong to good friends of mine:
1- 66 "Rustang" conv., 6-cyl, auto. I've spent most of my "working on cars" time on this one. Its not really a bad little car, 30 year old redo that my friend and his college buddies (West Pointers) did back in the day. We've done a bunch on this "driving car" mainly to get it running as close to correct as we can with the cobbled together engine that came with it when he first bought it = has a 63 exhaust, a mid-70 head and I think a mid-80 block, the trans is original as is the rear. Its now running pretty decently = doesn't stall every time you come to a stop or try to take off from a stop, his "new" ($500-ish) 1-brl carb was an offshore re-pop that we had to have rebuilt, corrected many vacuum leaks, new timing gears & chain, figured out what the engine liked as far as the idle and initial timing to keep it running "as good as it can", at least it doesn't stall anymore and the "tip-in hesitation" is now almost un-noticeable and I finally convinced him to add power steering (not the stock POS type but a Borgesen "box" and pump conversion kit - very nice! BTW). We recently added new rear springs and rear sway-bar, which really helped the car drive like never before. "But" when we added the rear sway-bar I noticed the frame rails are weak, thin and a bit to the point where I told him it might not be really safe to let his daughter drive by herself. So now we're looking at front/rear/left&right rail replacements. Who knows when we'll do that.
2- 73 "Corvette" aka "Dork-mobile", at least its a 4-speed, T-roof car. Friend/neighbor purchased it about 5 years ago - installed stock type crate engine, new exhaust, all new suspension parts = every friggin bushing and bearing! Most recently had his seats re-covered and I installed new carpeting. I got to tell you these C3 cars are the most miserable to work on cars I've ever worked on-enough on this car.
3- 67 Falcon Sport Coupe, V-8 auto. My Bestest and longest friend's car. He purchased it about 3 years ago, it has (soon to be "had") a mildly cam'ed C-code 289 (this C-code means a 2-brl) that runs nicely and with the recently installed 3:70-ish posi actually gets out of its own way. The car upon his purchase was going to be set up for a big block = big block springs, welded-in frame connectors etc. but the owner decided to go in a different direction. What we're doing is installing a new Blue-Print 347 stroker he purchased, really nice engine from pan to carb ready to go making 417hp/430tq at the flywheel. Progress is slow as we're cleaning and repainting the engine compartment.

Well enough on those cars, just wanted to show that although I've been neglecting my own project I haven't been just idle... More to come soon???

 

[Joe Mc]

Previous Post made me think I should show the last work accomplished, enjoy pictures.
Be forewarned the welds that you can see are for sure not pretty, they are holding and will require more full welding, of course after preserving primer is removed. You see I knew it might be "a while" before I was able to get back to this...LOL!

a few more to come

 

[Joe Mc]

Logical Question: "Why didn't you just get a new full qtr?"
My answer: "I'm cheap and this ain't going to be a trailer queen." I'm building it with the intents of:
1- "wringing the living snot out of it" NOTE: Not to be put away wet.
2- "making it look nice"
3- "making it 'my-way' for my plans and in my limited budget"
4- "keeping it simple and cheap (IE: "inexpensive" not stupid cheap) where cheap makes sense"
5- "finishing it so I (the way I want to) can enjoy it"

Nuff said.