if I can get all the parts it will run next weekend
My 69 Dart "AKA" The Blue Mutt
- Thread starter billsdartgt
- Start date
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well I got my parts only to find out I need more, but not a bad thing. turns out my hole was not stripped out, bolt just couldn't catch enough threads - this is a good thing but since Im a little neurotic I ordered the ARP bolts and they wont be here for a couple of days, the MC I ordered from Doc Diff came in which came with the 4 bolt to 2 bolt adapter, perfect, my extra Wilwood master cylinder will work, the pushrod is long enough with the rod couple but I ordered one just a little longer to have more thread engagement, also ordered the adjustable proportioning valve to go with the new MC, so more waiting on parts - all these extra parts should be in and Im on vacation next week so if the car is gonna run it will be running by labor day, also had time to check out why my temp gauge isnt working on my anniversary Mustang, bad switch, will go ahead and get all the other things wrapped up so Friday when I start my vacation I can just get started on installing stuff - wooohooo - seein some daylight hopefully
it looks like maybe the head has a helicoil in it already, threads don't start till almost a 1/4" down so I may of only had 1 or 2 threads, these are ARP manifold bolts with a UHL of 1.750, just not enough with the washer and the accelerator cable bracket, also not fully threaded, that may have worked
The MC is one I bough for my 66 Mustang, it has a 7/8" bore, there was a recall on them a couple of years ago and it got sent back to Wilwood for a rebuild, I was worried it would make it back in time so I ordered one with a 15/15" bore and installed, I actually like the 7/8" better, will see how it does on the Dart, if I don't like it I can change it later.
it looks like maybe the head has a helicoil in it already, threads don't start till almost a 1/4" down so I may of only had 1 or 2 threads, these are ARP manifold bolts with a UHL of 1.750, just not enough with the washer and the accelerator cable bracket, also not fully threaded, that may have worked
The MC is one I bough for my 66 Mustang, it has a 7/8" bore, there was a recall on them a couple of years ago and it got sent back to Wilwood for a rebuild, I was worried it would make it back in time so I ordered one with a 15/15" bore and installed, I actually like the 7/8" better, will see how it does on the Dart, if I don't like it I can change it later.
everything is cleaned up and ready to go when new bolts, misc fittings and proportioning valve shows up. I took this abomination out today, good thing because I found out I need a couple of different fittings - ugggg
another leftover or extra part that will make its way to the for sale section one day.
another leftover or extra part that will make its way to the for sale section one day.
Yup. Right there with ya, sir. One step forward, two steps back is my preferred process.
That seems to be the only process Im able to have success at sometimes
a little closer, down to a lot of little finish items and will see if it runs, started a little vacation today and should have gotten more done but a nice 3 hour afternoon nap killed those plans LOL Gonna read up on the kick down adjustment in hopes I can get it close right from the start
Lovin the way its gonna look, somehow ended up with a bit of a black theme
Lovin the way its gonna look, somehow ended up with a bit of a black theme
well this weekend is to be the one, I was like Santa Friday, I made a list, checked it 5 or 6 times though, it was the final items to check before fire, figured once completed I would be good to go
of course it wouldn't be a regular run of stuff if I couldn't find something, new plug wires I had on the car are missing, Im thinking about offering a reward, lucky for me I have been saving plug wires for several years and had a set that would work today, I put my old radiator and hoses in so I could flush the block some before the new hoses and radiator, also filled with water so not to waste anything, next up was a pressure test of the cooling system - right off the bat a leak - yeah, glad I found it now, just a little more tightening of the lower hose clamp on the radiator - all good - getting more excited - per my guide I tested to 18#s, needed to hold for a couple of minutes - it did fine there, lost about a half psi after almost an hour - seems good, I was worried because I used some valves in the block plug holes to flush with easily.
alright, fluid levels are all good, set up timing light and old dwell/tach meter and ready to fire
next update coming, need to download some more things, also realized I got a brake issue - dammit
of course it wouldn't be a regular run of stuff if I couldn't find something, new plug wires I had on the car are missing, Im thinking about offering a reward, lucky for me I have been saving plug wires for several years and had a set that would work today, I put my old radiator and hoses in so I could flush the block some before the new hoses and radiator, also filled with water so not to waste anything, next up was a pressure test of the cooling system - right off the bat a leak - yeah, glad I found it now, just a little more tightening of the lower hose clamp on the radiator - all good - getting more excited - per my guide I tested to 18#s, needed to hold for a couple of minutes - it did fine there, lost about a half psi after almost an hour - seems good, I was worried because I used some valves in the block plug holes to flush with easily.
alright, fluid levels are all good, set up timing light and old dwell/tach meter and ready to fire
next update coming, need to download some more things, also realized I got a brake issue - dammit
Had to do one more thing before I tried to start, last year right after I got the car, I set it on fire uggg luckily I had an extinguisher in my Mustang and after a sad battle with a gas coated towel I was able to grab it and get the flames out, this time I would be better prepared should something bad happen, bought an extinguisher for the Dart (got a replacement for the Mustang one too) so I had it and grabbed one from the house - after almost 11 months of working on this thing I didn't want to watch it burn today, I have over those same months thought about setting it on fire LOL
OK, Im all good to go - used a diner style condiment bottle and squirted some gas in the carb bowls, wanted it to fire as quickly as possible - hit the key and that new mini starter spins the engine like a duncan yoyo - man that sounds smooooth-too smooth WTF!!!! checked voltage - good - spin it again and look at the timing light - its flashing WTF!!!!! ok, pull one plug, do a quick compression check - ZERO - WTF!!! WTF! OK, Now Im wondering if I would have been better off last year letting it burn, I would have more than doubled my money in just a few weeks and could have gotten done with some more stuff on my Mustang I have postphoned for a year now LOL - Did a quick head scratch, is it possible I got the timing out 180? Well anything is possible I have proven to myself with this car - pull the distributer cap and rotate the engine to see where Im at, while turning the engine over I realize that compression will not be a problem, you can feel the compression with the plugs as it was pretty stout while turning, set the balance at TDC with the rotor at number 6, pull and reset rotor pointing at number 1 - put everything back together, jump in the car - turn the key and instant fire - did a quick check to make sure nothing was spraying, blowing, leaking, etc. and run the rpms up to 2k, went up to as much as 3k and broke in around 2.5k.
officially at 1:44pm - 9/6/2020 - The Blue Mutt came back to life was an interesting journey to get here, still need to do some tuning and need to put the inner valve springs in. Gonna let everything cool and drain the oil first though.
Lets see if this works, last time I took a video with my camera it was much better than this but here we go - this was after I turned the rpms back down and idle around 1100 or so
OK, Im all good to go - used a diner style condiment bottle and squirted some gas in the carb bowls, wanted it to fire as quickly as possible - hit the key and that new mini starter spins the engine like a duncan yoyo - man that sounds smooooth-too smooth WTF!!!! checked voltage - good - spin it again and look at the timing light - its flashing WTF!!!!! ok, pull one plug, do a quick compression check - ZERO - WTF!!! WTF! OK, Now Im wondering if I would have been better off last year letting it burn, I would have more than doubled my money in just a few weeks and could have gotten done with some more stuff on my Mustang I have postphoned for a year now LOL - Did a quick head scratch, is it possible I got the timing out 180? Well anything is possible I have proven to myself with this car - pull the distributer cap and rotate the engine to see where Im at, while turning the engine over I realize that compression will not be a problem, you can feel the compression with the plugs as it was pretty stout while turning, set the balance at TDC with the rotor at number 6, pull and reset rotor pointing at number 1 - put everything back together, jump in the car - turn the key and instant fire - did a quick check to make sure nothing was spraying, blowing, leaking, etc. and run the rpms up to 2k, went up to as much as 3k and broke in around 2.5k.
officially at 1:44pm - 9/6/2020 - The Blue Mutt came back to life was an interesting journey to get here, still need to do some tuning and need to put the inner valve springs in. Gonna let everything cool and drain the oil first though.
Lets see if this works, last time I took a video with my camera it was much better than this but here we go - this was after I turned the rpms back down and idle around 1100 or so
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Hot dog! It lives!
yes it does, also feels a lot stronger than before, gotta get the inner springs in and a few other checks then out on the road - Im starting to get some high hopes it performs the way I want it to.
I forgot to mention, this makes me the winner of the Last Dart To Hit The Street contest! Huzzah! I wonder what my prize is?
yeah but you have a lift haha
I suggest you start looking for your plug wires, that way you have them when your ready to start yours up. If I was doing what ou have going on Im pretty sure it would be another year till I finished - I sorta gave up for now trying to do the interior stuff I had planned
I suggest you start looking for your plug wires, that way you have them when your ready to start yours up. If I was doing what ou have going on Im pretty sure it would be another year till I finished - I sorta gave up for now trying to do the interior stuff I had planned
got back at it today - took things apart to install the inner valve springs - wasn't too hard a task and I only dropped about 5 locks total and none went in the engine 0 stuff open holes with paper towels just in case. I now have 4 valve spring compressors, 3 of which you could use with the heads on the engine, the one in the pict worked the best for me - I think I saw in another post that it may not be available, it is basic as can be but worked great. I got done and did a little more adjustment to carb and timing, also fixed my brakelight issue by bending the switch bracket back in place. Im all ready for a drive but don't have brakes, everything bled ok but just no pedal, I am hoping the rears are just way out of adjustment and if so will be able to get a shakedown run tomorrow. While things were apart I found a little souvenir I left for the gremlins, keep reading down. One positive today was also found my plug wires - good thing they weren't a snake, had washed some rags and put them on top of the plugwires duh!
springs at #2 - sorta easy peasy
Thank goodness Im not a doctor subject to malpractice for leaving something in a patient after surgery LOL, found this soggy jewel when looking inside the block to make sure none of my paper towels went inside, this must of stuck to the bottom of the manifold and I didn't see it, glad I found it now instead of later - lucky me!!!!
springs at #2 - sorta easy peasy
Thank goodness Im not a doctor subject to malpractice for leaving something in a patient after surgery LOL, found this soggy jewel when looking inside the block to make sure none of my paper towels went inside, this must of stuck to the bottom of the manifold and I didn't see it, glad I found it now instead of later - lucky me!!!!
Holy cow! How did I miss all of this??? Your car sounds great and the engine bay looks even better!!!! Come clean mine up next... lol.
How are the brakes doing now? Have you gotten it all sorted out? Ready to drive that blue beast to Vegas yet?
2 down and 1 more to go for "finished" 69 darts!
How are the brakes doing now? Have you gotten it all sorted out? Ready to drive that blue beast to Vegas yet?
2 down and 1 more to go for "finished" 69 darts!
well brakes are "closer" - still need some tweaking though and not good enough to run down the road - working on engine woes now - several bugs to work out - working on it today started blowing fuel out of the vent bowl on the carb, fuel pressure regulator ordered and on the way - been working on getting a distributer recurved but struggling to find my best starting point without the engine dieseling after shut down - the saga continues, engine came out borderline for pump gas - hoping it is going to end up on the right side of the borderline though - time will tell.
The car is still kickin my azz, looks like Im on the high end of my dynamic compression calc, added some octane boost and put in some colder plugs, it helped some with the dieseling - ran out of time today but moved the car back and forth some - brakes need some more attention, hopefully I will get it on the street soon -
Sounds good, Bill! yer gittin there!
And here I am, proudly maintaining last place!
Look great Mr. Bill, and sounds most excellent.
I dont understand the compression #, how yours is unable to run on pump gas no dor i know what dieseling is...
I'm excited for it to be on the street though.
And here I am, proudly maintaining last place!
Look great Mr. Bill, and sounds most excellent.
Its ok, ill be last place in the speed, sounds and looks when we are all finished lol.
Dieseling is when you turn the key off but the engine keeps running.
@DentalDart - I calculated out my static and dynamic compression - dynamic came in about 8.3 ish if my measurements were perfect (doubtful) - borderline for pump gas with iron heads, used my compression checker yesterday - cylinder pressures 230ish, means HIGH OCTANE to run - if I can get a tank of gas in it with enough octane boost to take it for a short drive it will go under the cover till I come up with a plan - I am determined to drive on the street at least once though. I have some work to be done on my Mustang and both of my trucks that I have put off, need to get back to them to see what success feels like
If you have 230 PSI cylinder pressure, rest assured your DCR is over 8.3. I bet it will spark knock on 100 octane unleaded. I would run 112 leaded at the very LEAST and it might spark knock on that. 230 is a BUTT TON of pressure.
If you have 230 PSI cylinder pressure, rest assured your DCR is over 8.3. I bet it will spark knock on 100 octane unleaded. I would run 112 leaded at the very LEAST and it might spark knock on that. 230 is a BUTT TON of pressure.
no kiddin LOL
no kiddin LOL
230 cylinder pressure is a bunch!
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