68 Charger R/T Clone refurb

[1 Wild R/T]

Flex line... The caliper moves every time you apply the brakes..

 

[funknut]

Thanks, that's a really good point!

Oh one other thing, I had to get longer axle tube end bolts to accommodate the disc brake mounting brackets and I can't remember where I found this, but Ford 9" carrier studs worked great. 3/8" fine thread. I had to grind one of the sides of the head flat so it would clear the axle tube, but they are plenty long enough and a perfect fit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TTYV72/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[funknut]

Trans is back from the shop. They did me a “favor” and threw a coat of black paint on it. ;). I would have preferred it stay bare metal but I’m not heartbroken either.

The new converter needs 7/16 bolts so I have those on order along with a new flexplate.

I was able to wrangle the rear lines into a good place to fit the flex lines, so the rear axle should be 100% done.

 

[funknut]

Well, it was one of those days. Actually, two days.

Got the trans back from the shop, new TCI flex plate, opened up the mounting holes on the flex plate where it bolts to the torque converter just a hair. Test fit flex plate on the torque converter and no issues. Bolted flex plate to crank and spent the next 3-4 hours over two days wrestling the trans onto the motor, trying to bolt the flexplate to the TC, then removing the trans and flexplate. I used every combination of tools and cuss words I could find! I think it was my 5th or 6th try before I was able to get everything bolted up, and now one of the trans to engine block bolts doesn't want to go in. Driver's side, the one right by the starter. I'll clean up the threads (again) and see if I can't get it to work.

With the transmission on the engine, I can mount the headers and starter so I can make plug wires and fit the battery cable. I got these plug wire brackets to tidy things up, hopefully they work out:

http://www.rmspecialties.com/1104.html

Also, I put a ding/chip in my new engine bay paint when I was test mounting the radiator. Not too bad, just annoying.

Now I just need a couple days with no rain in the forecast and I can get the engine and trans back in the car, maybe!

 

[funknut]

Last few weeks have been busy with the holiday, so before today it was just lots of little odds and ends done:

- Fresh set of spark plugs
- Made spark plug wires, installed the M&H plug wire brackets. Looks pretty slick, I'll get a better pic of the engine bay cleaned up.
- Installed headers - new header bolts to replace the mismatched set I had.
- Finished up the last final touches on the rear brakes, routed the hoses a bit more to my liking.
- Removed the pitman arm from the old p/s box.
- Installed the rear tires and removed the carb from the intake to get ready to install the engine.

Here it is back down on its rear wheels for the first time in a while:

That was yesterday afternoon. I've been watching the weather for weeks to find a couple rain-free days to get the engine installed. Friday and Sat looked good. No rain forecast from 4pm Friday to Midnight Sat/Sunday. I spent Friday digging around the garage finding all the stuff I'd need to get it back on all 4 wheels. Quite an ordeal. I hadn't organized the parts too well in the beginning because this all started out as a 'replace the bulkhead connector' project and I wasn't planning on blowing the whole car apart. Besides a couple small items I can add later (torsion bar spring clips) I was ready for an early start Saturday.

Weather started out great, warm but not too hot. The driveway outside my garage gets morning shade, so I was nice and cool. I figured I would hustle to get the engine located and the body down around it, that seemed like a reasonable halfway point, then see what kind of time I was making and plan out the rest of the day.

I pushed the car out of the garage and into the driveway, chocked the wheels, dug out the hoist and...spent the next 25 mins adding oil. Annoying, but as infrequently as I use it, not worth replacing the cylinder.

Pushed the engine and trans out on my trusty dolly and got it into position.

Hooked up the hoist and started lifting the front. Getting the dolly positioned roughly under the car was a lot of fiddling, but got it done around 11:30. At that point I felt pretty good and ahead of schedule. Bringing the body down was a slow process. I ended up putting an extra bend in the dipstick tube for a bit of clearance. Next time I'll consider removing the passenger side header, I think that would have saved me some time and a few dings in the engine bay. Shouldn't be too noticeable from the top, though.

That's when my trusty dolly decided to take a hard left. Literally.

With the dolly collapsed the rear k-frame mounts were out of position, and the front mounts were angled in such a way that I wasn't going to be able to get the bolts started.

Time for plan B. I put my jack under the back end of the dolly and tried to raise it up enough to get the bolts started. No luck. The dolly wasn't going up evenly.

What ended up working eventually, was a combination of jacking up the dolly and raising the body with the hoist. Not ideal as it was higher off the ground than I wanted, but it worked. At that point everything was high enough that I was able to get jack stands under the rear k-frame mounts and get the trans crossmember installed. With the engine and trans supported I could lower the jack and get the dolly out. Finally I put a length of c-channel steel on my jack and bridged across the k-frame tubes to support the whole k-member so I could remove the jack stands and access the rear bolt holes. Bolts went in and I could breathe a sigh of relief. Jack stands back under the car and I went back in the house for a well-earned refreshment.

It's around 2:30 now, and the sun wasn't messing around. I haven't been this exhausted and sweaty in a long time, but feeling good that the k-frame was fully in. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had to remove the front suspension (LCA, shock, knuckle, strut rods, brake assembly) to get the jack stands under the k-frame.

So, to get it back on 4 wheels I needed to reinstall the suspension, grease and install the torsion bars, tighten up the t-bar adjusters 'some,' install the pitman arm, drag link and tie rods.

I figured it's only 3pm, I had a manageable amount of work ahead of me, and 8 hours of dry weather, so I cooled off in the house until around 4:30.

Back at it, but at a reasonable pace, figuring I had plenty of time to get everything done. Around 6pm I've made some good progress, but now things are getting a bit cloudy and I hear thunder in the distance. I pick up the pace and by 7pm I have the suspension and torsion bars done on both sides, just need to install the pitman arm and drag link so I can get it rolling. Then the rain kicks in. Not quite a downpour, but more than a drizzle, I'm freaking out a little because I have all new wiring in the dash and cluster and no windshield. My wife and kids come out and help collect tools and throw a tarp over the front as I'm scrambling to get the drag link and tie rods hooked up. No time to get the pitman arm in, so getting it in the garage could be interesting!

We took our time (relatively speaking) massaging the front tires and finally got the car pushed in just before 8. Whew!

I think I'm going to give myself a day or 2 before I do any more work on the car. ;)

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Awesome Progress!!! Murphy had to poke you in the eye just a little, It's okay, you pushed through.... Great that the wife & kids kicked in to help.... Your further along than you ever planned so Congratulations!! You deserve a beer!!!

 

[The Rebel]

Looks awesome! Bet you'll be on the road by fall.

 

[funknut]

Thanks guys! I appreciate you following along with my adventure.

I am excited and hopefully I can get the car back together sometime in August. I’ve changed so many things I expect I’m going to have a period of troubleshooting to keep me busy for a while, but if I can get it to fire by August, I’ll be happy.

Yesterday was honey-dos. I’m almost done with the porch refurb, just need to patch a couple areas on some columns and finish the trim.

Spent a couple hours with the car today and got the torque converter bolts torqued down and got the pitman arm installed - somehow I’m missing a boot for it, however. Also got the exhaust bolted to the headers, finished up the fuel hard line and replaced the fuel hose sections with some ethanol-safe Gates-brand stuff.

Next on the list is to mount the fuel pressure regulator, measure and make hoses and then fuel will be done. After that I’m going to measure and modify the steering column for the Borgeson universal adapter and work on the transmission shift cable.

Lots to do, but I’m feeling motivated.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

After that I’m going to measure and modify the steering column for the Borgeson universal adapter and work on the transmission shift cable.

Lots to do, but I’m feeling motivated.

Not gonna use the Bergman Coupler? I know he's proud of it, but it is a simple solution that doesn't require cutting the stock column....

 

[funknut]

Not gonna use the Bergman Coupler? I know he's proud of it, but it is a simple solution that doesn't require cutting the stock column....

I did consider it, it does look like a nice piece and would definitely look more factory and would mean I don't have to cut the column. Unfortunately, my car was in a front-end accident many years ago and the steering box took a major hit and transferred enough force into the column that it bent the through-pin on the end of the column. Not quite bent, more like it mushroomed one end of the pin. I had some slop in the steering that I couldn't understand, and when I took the stock coupler apart the pin and the things it indexes into were damaged. I could probably press out and replace the pin, but seems a lot of work. I like the simplicity of the u-joint and my steering column is nothing special, so I don't mind trimming a bit of the end.

 

[funknut]

Minor progress tonight, got a bracket fabbed up to mount the fuel pressure regulator. I trimmed up a bracket from the Mustang front seats that I removed.

Also discovered that I don't have enough clearance to get the spark plug boots on for cylinders 2 and 4. Not enough space between the shock tower and spark plug to wiggle the boots on. They are the rigid ceramic style, so not very forgiving. I'll use a couple wires from my old set while I figure out what to do there.

 

[funknut]

Slow progress getting some odds and ends finished up. Fuel regulator is hung in place, power steering pump back in, all the power steering lines are run, just a few small tweaks needed for the Borgeson unit.

Brakes are all done, just need to bench bleed the MC and get it installed, then bleed the calipers.

I've been dragging my feet on the engine bay wiring, but finally got it 85% done. I ran everything under the intake to keep it out of sight as much as possible. I need to run the NSS wire to the trans, terminate a few wires to the distributor, and connect the last few wires to the starter solenoid.

I need to repin one of the Delphi connectors to the distributor, so I bought a kit off Amazon. Only problem is they're maybe Delphi-like, but definitely not the originals. Might not be a problem for some, but I need to match what's already on the distributor end. New kit is on order, hoping for better results.

Once that's done I'll move on to the front light harness.

 

[daytona kid]

I ran my wires under the intake also. Don't forget a tachometer wire if needed, I forgot mine. I like the clean engine bay look.. I also ran the headlight wiring out/under/in the top of the drivers side fender to hide it. Keep up the good work! Did someone here already talk about the ammeter bypass mod? You should do it if you haven't.. While you're wiring stuff..

 

[funknut]

Thanks for following along! I was thinking about running the front end wiring under the fender too. The sheetmetal on the inner fender by the booster is a somewhat crappy repair, and I've already put one hole in it for the hydroboost plumbing, so it wouldn't be super tragic to put another one there for the wiring. How did you fasten the wiring in the inner fender? I'm a little paranoid about it shaking loose and falling into the suspension.

I did replace the ammeter with a voltmeter, so all good there!

Someone needs to invent a heat-shrink tape. Something you can wrap around the wiring and then hit with heat to get it to work as heat shrink. I keep forgetting to put it on before I crimp connectors.

 

[daytona kid]

I used a couple of pieces of 1" plastic plumbing supply tubing, used in new home construction. It seemed to be the perfect thing to protect the wires. I have body stiffener bars that go from the top of the shock tower to the firewall and the wire tube goes over the bar and I also put a couple of clamps held with sheet metal screws that don't go thru anywhere in the bay. There is a connector plug in the harness that will end up near the shock tower and that is why I had to use 2 tubes to run the wires thru. 1 before the connection and 1 after. I wrapped the connection plug with gorilla tape to keep it protected. It's not very pretty but the engine bay is. I also ran the headlight wires that go on over to the passenger side under the grill frame rather than across the radiator support. You have just enough length in the stock wires to do these reroute tricks but try to run their routes as short/straight as you can because as I said "just enough wire"...

 

[daytona kid]

There is also a headlight switch bypass relay mod that is really good to do. I haven't done it yet but I am thinking about it. It's suppose to brighten the lights which is something I could use. My eyes are getting bad at night. http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/brighter-headlights.shtml

 

[funknut]

Thanks for the reminder, and the pics! I need to check how things are wired in the American Autowire harness I'm using to see how the headlight circuits are run. They change a few things from stock (voltmeter vs. ammeter), I wouldn't be surprised if there are some differences in the headlight circuit as well. I also tinkered with the idea of getting LED headlights, and that would take some load off the system too. Still undecided on that, but I should check on the wiring at least.

Another question, how did you run your ground strap from the engine block? The one I have is on the back of the passenger's cylinder head to the firewall, and it's pretty ugly. I was thinking of running a heavy gauge wire down to the passenger's frame rail. That should give me a decent connection, plus it would be less conspicuous.

 

[daytona kid]

I didn't know anyone was making a harness for the voltmeter mod, wish I had known.. I didn't really try to hide my ground strap/wire. It goes from the front of the drivers side head to the frame rail, where I drilled a hole for it to bolt on there.. All tho it is hidden a little by the plug wires. You can see it here helping hold them. Don't know if the plug wires are going to stay there tho since I'm having some kinda miss/stall problem at upper rpms. I thought I may reroute them to make sure that isn't the problem. I didn't take a lot of time figuring out a better way for the plug wires to run either. My thought was that since they have extra insulation they'd be ok bundled up like I did them. I don't really like most of the wire loom brackets that are made for plug wires.. I go with the "keep it simple" idea a lot, maybe too much.

 

[funknut]

I am using the full American Autowire kit, which rearchitects parts of the wiring, uses a 1-wire alternator and does away with the charge circuit going through the main bulkhead. The ballast resistor and external voltage regulator are gone. It uses the starter solenoid as the main positive stud, so the alternator feeds directly to the starter solenoid, as does the battery, so charge current does not go through the firewall.

It was not a cheap kit (~$1000) but it is very complete, provides plenty of length, the wires are individually labeled and the instructions are very good. It also uses a more modern fuse block that mounts nicely in the glove box. This is my first wiring project like this and it has been relatively easy for me to follow along.

The voltmeter conversion should not be too hard, you can grab positive from elsewhere in the cluster and make some jumper wires to the voltmeter.

As for plug wires, I've read where having them cross over each other can cause some problems with induced current. I've never experienced this personally, but maybe that's part of your issue?

 

[funknut]

Yesterday I mounted the radiator and fans. I’m torn about painting it black. I’ll probably leave it in bare aluminum for now and see how I feel. The radiator fits great after doing some minor cleanup on the mounting tabs. The fans are really low profile and leave plenty of room between the pulleys.

With the rad in place I can mount the trans cooler and make the lines.

I also installed the drivers seat so I can position the shifter. First time with the seat and steering wheel in. Turns out my measuring and guesswork on the seat brackets was pretty good. The seat is about an inch off center of the wheel. Enough to notice but not enough to be annoying. If it bothers me I’ll rework the brackets.

Now I can mount the shifter and run the shift cable, finalize the front wiring, reinstall the fenders and get started on the grille.