John you poor Bastard.

[FASTBACK340]

....THAT'S what the Mopar Gods must have said when they saw me walk into my yard this afternoon. They conferred and ultimately agreed to let me have it MY way for once. I jacked the car up, dropped it on stands, and proceeded to have EVERY FRIGGEN PART come off WITHOUT A SINGLE ISSUE! AND I finally got the CORRECT rear brake shoes from, of all places, Strauss Stores!

K-frame? Just fine....no cracks or elongation of the control arm holes on EITHER side. The bushings are shot to hell tho....


Upper ball joints? Spun right out using an air gun and DIDN'T strip out the control arm!

Strut rods? *PLOP* on da floor....

Torsion bars? Slid right out like child # 14

Upper A arm eccentrics? Came apart like a $4 suit

This will be my lunch hour (and when the Boss isn't looking...) project for tomorrow. Everything get's hot-tanked, painted, and new bushings installed.

The only down side is that I have to jack the engine up to pull the idler arm bolt out, but I'm replacing the drivers side mount anyway. Oh, and when I smacked the tie rod apart a piece of the metal chipped off and embedded itself on the inside of my right thigh. Not very far from causing me a SERIOUS and uncomfortable injury, if ya catch my drift....

I gotta go hop in the shower with an xacto knife and dig it out now. But I don't care....:toothy7:

 

[FASTBACK340]

Right side frame & K-frame bolt hole

Left side frame & K-frame bolt hole

 

[FASTBACK340]

Here's the new dog dish hub caps I picked up. I still have to clean & paint the rims, which will be satin black.

I also have to finish pulling off the el cheapo stick-on side moulding and residual glue.....:-&

 

[EvilScamp]

A nice set of 15X7 cop wheels would look really good on your Dart John!

 

[mikedevore]

I know what your talking about, the Mopar Gods. When putting my Dart Sport together, it was fix one thing then two more things broke! It is great when they smile down on ya! I took it on its longest trip to date, about 60 mile round trip, I forgot any of the problems of the last year of assembly. Yea its nice when things go right.

 

[FASTBACK340]

A nice set of 15X7 cop wheels would look really good on your Dart John!

True....but then I have to pop for a set of tires. THAT will be a hard sell to Amy.


She's not dumb ya know.... Me:boxing: Her

 

[rumblefish360]

LOL, purchase the rims for the future tire change out that will , sooner or later happen due to somple use and wear of the tires. I call it planning ahead.

 

[OldVart]

John, I feel your pain!! Don't you just get suspicious when everything goes according to plan?

 

[1qwikScamp]

remember work smart not hard

 

[rumblefish360]

I have to add on. We all know the fustraion. Even the little things. In example;

The otherday I started the 318 up for the first time to break in the cam. The carbs floats were all wrong. OK, adjust. Start car, break in cam, notice it's wacky rich. Hummm, I did set it up to be fat, but this is silly. I open up the carb to jet it down after replacing crazy black plugs. What do I see? I bent a rod for the carb, OK, replace.
Go start the car again. The starter just says clunk. OK, I knew it was coming. Stock starters stink with headers anyway. Now comes down the header. While I'm there, I'll do a bushing or 2 since there crap. Screw it, I'll just take out the centerlink and such. I'll also make the starter easier to change out.
Go up the street to the auto store for a Magnum starter. 91 - 95 , 318 unit. OK, how much. $125, plus $50 core charge. W/tax, $180 something.
I say wait, do you need the same starter back. I'll give you a '74, is that OK.
NO.
Keep it. I say. I'll have to go else where without a core charge.

I also can not find the battery hold down rod. The long one. Look for hours. Screw it. While I'm there, I'll just get a "In general" part and cut to fit it. Slam the hood after I do the work and guess what missing part falls to the floor? All well. $2.50 for nothing.

Nice start to the day huh! :wack:

 

[1966 dart wagon]

yeah its nice when something goes together/comes apart with out any conflicts

 

[middleagecrisis]

This must be common among Mopar owners. Recently, it took my buddy and me almost three hours, a 12-pack of beer, and much aggravation to get the P/S pump out of my Dart. When I put in the new pump (by myself), it was completely installed (with the header) in 45 minutes. And no my buddy or the beer didn't slow down the removal, lol. Just one of those nights when I should have drank the beer and forgot about the car. I really have to savor the times when everything goes off without a hitch, since they don't come around often.

 

[onehellofadart]

I had a talk with them to get off your azz for a while John!!

 

[EvilScamp]

I had a talk with them to get off your azz for a while John!!

You better not have sent them to visit me Tony!

 

[onehellofadart]

You better not have sent them to visit me Tony!

Now would I do that? :-\"

 

[BJS racing]

Sounds like when I was building my 73 duster. I was in the middle of deconstruction when something didn't seem right. What was it? Any how I got everything back together and started the motor. Sounds great. Go to shut off and Boooooooooooooom. Ok timing right. Well sort of. 3 cheap distributors later problem gone. Next morning on my way to work and alt. decided to take a dump on me. Then the grand daddy of them all. Day 3. On my way home from work I start hearing a knock. Got home pulled the drain plug and you guessed it. Silver. Pulled the crank and threw it and watched it break in 2 on the drive way. Then I find out how much I should have trusted the machine shop. The had switched the rod caps while they had them. Well the new crank didn't go back to them. So in goes new crank and bearings and you want to talk about git'er done. Damn she went everywhere fast.

Jason

 

[FASTBACK340]

Sounds like when I was building my 73 duster. ................On my way home from work I start hearing a knock. Got home pulled the drain plug and you guessed it. Silver. ...................... Then I find out how much I should have trusted the machine shop.

Jason my good man, I'm sorry to hear of your frustrations and I can relate. I too got a royal reaming from a buncha douchbags at S&K Speed out here on Long Island. I had them rebuild my X heads because they are the oldest & best know speed shop around here. Highly respected and trusted. When it comes to Chevys....

They screwed up the installed height on my valve springs. First time I tached it up after breaking in the cam is when I had several valves going out of adjustment. The valves were binding....


Fast forward 20 MILES later....cam was ground down and filled my freshly built engine with nice chunks of metal. $3,000 later I have another freshly built engine on the stand. You should go back into the archives about 1 1/2 yrs. ago and see the living hell I went (am going...) through. THAT'S why I'm making a big deal out of something going right on the Dart. :headbang:

My luck is so bad I couldn't get laid in a whorehouse with a fist full of $100 bills....and then fall into a bucket of boobs and come up suckin' my thumb.:eye:

 

[rumblefish360]

a buncha douchbags at S&K Speed out here on Long Island.

LOL, no Sh%^&(in. I went there and was being helped by a real car guy looking for the right part. Like a real person would. When the other dick heads heard Mopar! They turned into about 7-9 years old and ran the mouth. It is very odd that a store that sells speed parts to everyone, so they say, would hire children with a afliction called "Diarrhea of the mouth" work behind the counter.
After the correct part came in, I asked for a total RPM package and started to spec a cam. They continued the talking.
Once all the parts hit the counter, I said I could purchase it else where without the chatter from the peanut gallery and left them standing there with a pile of parts on the counter.

Yep, you guessed correctly, I'll never go back.

 

[EvilScamp]

Now would I do that? :-\"

NO! Not my pal Tony!
You would probably drive them her yourself just to make sure they got here!

 

[onehellofadart]

NO! Not my pal Tony!
You would probably drive them her yourself just to make sure they got here!