'69 charger r/t-se: Building my dream car

[daytona kid]

Great looking motor art there SF!:VB toast:

 

[HYRDGOON]

Where's our weekend updates!?!?!?!

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Hi all. New to site as well. Dig the stance that charger has.

Hey welcome aboard pwm! And thanks! The rear end still needs to come down a couple inches, but I'm pretty happy with how it sits otherwise

Great looking motor art there SF!:VB toast:

Haha thanks daytona!

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Weekend Damage Report

Sorry I'm late goon lol here's some odds and ends I got done over the weekend, had its up's and down's like usual

Started with getting my valve covers on. I did some reading through a few old threads on here on what worked best for people, and ended up getting help from bigmanjbmopar on what exactly worked for him, which was basically the same as what everyone else was saying on the threads I dug through. So here's what I did and I'll report back how it works later.

First I had to fix the hack-job hole someone cut in the valve cover for the pcv valve. Looked like they used a screwdriver and a BFH, but I cleaned it up with a die grinder and carbide bit I got from work, making the hole bigger to fit the grommet and universal pcv I picked up at Napa.


Next, on to prep. I scraped the old silicone/sealant gunk off my valve covers and gave em a good degreasing with denatured alcohol


Then laid down a bead of Permatex Ultra Black rtv. We use it on the cnc machine enclosures at work because of how well it holds up to oil, so it should do the job.


Then laid the gasket on, pushing it down onto the rtv with light hand pressure. I know quite a few people use cork gaskets without issues, but I went with these Felpro "heavy duty, high heat" gaskets after reading a lot of good reviews by other members on here.


At this point I let it sit and dry for about half an hour til the gasket resists any movement, then flipped it over and let the weight of the valve cover sit on the gasket for another half hour before bolting em on. I have a bad habit of overtightening stuff, so I was careful to only give the bolts a tiny nudge past snug. Hopefully I can report back on the results soon

Then I made sure all my spark plugs were snugged up, sleeved the plug wires, and got everything locked down in place.. but only on the passenger side. I'll get to that in a minute.


Also got my trans dipstick installed, and found a good spot for it on the firewall. Works good and I think it looks prety clean where it's at
:icon_thumleft:




Now back to the roadblock on the driver's side of the engine.. I got my Lokar dipstick last Friday, looked really nice. "Looked." When I went to install it, it was a fairly tight fit, but I oiled the fitting and it went in as far as the first o-ring without much hassle. At this point I'm working it in and the fitting just snaps right off in the block at the thinnest point where that first o-ring is. :banghead: I noticed on the rest of the fitting how thin it was, brought it to work this morning and measured it with a digital caliper to find the wall thickness at the point where it snapped off was only .016"... "Are you sh!tting me?" I emailed the lokar tech guy I was talking to before I bought the dipstick letting him know I'm not too happy, but no response yet.



So I guess I can turn the OD down on the lathe a bit to re-use what's left of the fitting and get it to fit easier, but I'm still left with that piece stuck in the block. I tried a (Never) Easy-Out but with no success. Just spun on the top of what's left of the fitting.



So now my last-ditch attempt will be this hook tool me and my dad made out of an old screwdriver. Gonna try to hook the bottom edge of the fitting and pry it up little by little with an open end wrench under the screwdriver. Not placing a lot of confidence in this plan but I'm going to give it a shot tonight
:frustrated:

 

[conv67bdere]

Next, on to prep. I scraped the old silicone/sealant gunk off my valve covers and gave em a good degreasing with denatured alcohol

Then laid down a bead of Permatex Ultra Black rtv. We use it on the cnc machine enclosures at work because of how well it holds up to oil, so it should do the job.

Then laid the gasket on, pushing it down onto the rtv with light hand pressure. I know quite a few people use cork gaskets without issues, but I went with these Felpro "heavy duty, high heat" gaskets after reading a lot of good reviews by other members on here.

Also got my trans dipstick installed, and found a good spot for it on the firewall. Works good and I think it looks prety clean where it's at
:icon_thumleft:

Now back to the roadblock on the driver's side of the engine.. I got my Lokar dipstick last Friday, looked really nice. "Looked." When I went to install it, it was a fairly tight fit, but I oiled the fitting and it went in as far as the first o-ring without much hassle. At this point I'm working it in and the fitting just snaps right off in the block at the thinnest point where that first o-ring is. :banghead: I noticed on the rest of the fitting how thin it was, brought it to work this morning and measured it with a digital caliper to find the wall thickness at the point where it snapped off was only .016"... "Are you sh!tting me?" I emailed the lokar tech guy I was talking to before I bought the dipstick letting him know I'm not too happy, but no response as of yet.

So I guess I can turn the OD down on the lathe a bit to re-use what's left of the fitting and get it to fit easier, but I'm still left with that piece stuck in the block. I tried a (Never) Easy-Out but with no success. Just spun on the top of what's left of the fitting.

Wow Speedy - you're making some great progress on your car - Keep it up !

The transmission dipstick looks great - looks like a really good location to mount it too.

I too have used the black ultra high temp RTV for my valve covers and for my Sanderson Headers on my Shoe Box - works like a champ ! I think you'll be very happy with the results.

Bummer of a deal on the dipstick breaking off - I've learned not to say are you sh**ing me around my Uncle - he'd reply, No, you're too big a turd ! Looks like your screwdriver adaptation might just work - I'll be curious to see the results. Good luck with the broken off piece extraction ! !

Where did you find the anodized black dipstick ? ? I only can find them in silver ( I'd much prefer it in black ).

 

[hunt2elk]

Everything is looking great Speedy - except for the dipstick roadblock. And here I thought it was only me that had problems like that. It seems like nothing is ever easy when restoring an old Mopar for some reason. I've got my fingers crossed hoping your Lokar salesman will give you another one.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Just to echo what H2E and Larry said great job on the work you got done and really sucks about the dipstick. Hopefully Lokar's customer service is decent and willing to come good on a substandard product and your screwdriver trick works

 

[Propwash]

Best of luck SF....That would be enough to torque me sideways as well. Hopefully your mod tool does the trick for you. I take it that the dipstick material is aluminum?

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Lol that's a good one 67, and here's the links to the dipsticks. They're not cheap but I wanted the black ones specifically too, trying to stay away from having a lot of polished/chrome stuff in the engine bay. Just keep in mind if you get this engine oil dipstick you will most likely have to roll that bottom fitting on a sander or grinding disc to get a better fit and avoid breaking it off. If you do that you should be fine

Engine:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Lokar/625/XED-5026/10002/-1

Trans:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Lokar/625/XTD-3727FM/10002/-1?parentProductId=749848

Everything is looking great Speedy - except for the dipstick roadblock. And here I thought it was only me that had problems like that. It seems like nothing is ever easy when restoring an old Mopar for some reason. I've got my fingers crossed hoping your Lokar salesman will give you another one.

Thanks elk, and yeah I almost instantly thought of what you said about always having little roadblocks like that haha but what can ya do. Like I said, "the nature of hotrodding" I guess

Best of luck SF....That would be enough to torque me sideways as well. Hopefully your mod tool does the trick for you. I take it that the dipstick material is aluminum?

Yup, fittings with beercan wall thickness and questionable fit to begin with are a great recipe for a headache lol. And I was told by my friend Mike that just about any aftermarket dipstick he's installed for customers has required grinding down that fitting, Milodon included, so I guess it's not just Lokar. And yep, all the fittings are aluminum.


So here's an update on what's going on guys. Tried the Macguyver hook tool again with no success, I think it's just jammed in there too tight, just wanted to carve into the aluminum. So now to Plan "C." Since the b@stard fitting made itself clear that it isn't going anywhere, I think I'm going to turn myself up a punch on the lathe, using the rest of the fitting to figure out what diameter to make it. Then I'll break out the BFH and try to push the broken piece further into the block, just enough so the rest of the fitting on the dipstick can go in. :shruggy:

And I got a reply from Lokar tech, but all they want to do is for me to send it back and have them ship me out a new one, which doesn't really solve anything if the new one has the same quality and I'm still stuck here with a fitting broken off in my block. (Not to mention I assume I would probably get stuck with the return shipping bill). Gonna send a reply telling them that in a minute, I guess I'd just be better off making what I have work.

 

[440+6]

Any way you can cut one side with a chisel (small sharpened screwdriver or something) then use your tool to pull it out?
Don't know if I would want to push it down, I think the hole tapers a bit, might be more headaches.
Could push it up from under if you feel like dropping the pan.
if you can't get your tool to catch the tube, try tapering the bottom of the notch back a bit so it has a bit of a point to grab.
Or if the tube is that thin can you get something between the tube and the block and collapse it in then grab it.

Good luck, everything else is bad *** dude, you are the man.

 

[747mopar]

Aren't you a little concerned about it getting into the motor? You've got lathe skills, how about turning your punch like you said but them offset it in the lathe and machine a lip at the end that will get ahold of a larger area of the bottom of the broken stick then put it on a slide hammer. "Probably not enough room for a slide hammer" I'm sure you'll get it straightened out and if it's really tight your idea will likely be just fine providing the hole is deep enough "good luck".

 

[hunt2elk]

I'd be to nervous about having a piece fall into the pan without knowing it. I think I would pull the pan and tap the piece up with a punch.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Any way you can cut one side with a chisel (small sharpened screwdriver or something) then use your tool to pull it out?
Don't know if I would want to push it down, I think the hole tapers a bit, might be more headaches.
Could push it up from under if you feel like dropping the pan.
if you can't get your tool to catch the tube, try tapering the bottom of the notch back a bit so it has a bit of a point to grab.
Or if the tube is that thin can you get something between the tube and the block and collapse it in then grab it.

Good luck, everything else is bad *** dude, you are the man.

Thanks man! And yeah that's possible but I'm trying to avoid dropping any filings of aluminum down into the pan that would probably happen if I chiseled it. Worst case scenario, is it possible to drop the pan with the engine in the car?
The tool was actually able to get a decent bite, but the piece is stuck in there good enough that the tool just wanted to gouge the aluminum instead of moving it.

Aren't you a little concerned about it getting into the motor? You've got lathe skills, how about turning your punch like you said but them offset it in the lathe and machine a lip at the end that will get ahold of a larger area of the bottom of the broken stick then put it on a slide hammer. "Probably not enough room for a slide hammer" I'm sure you'll get it straightened out and if it's really tight your idea will likely be just fine providing the hole is deep enough "good luck".

Yeah that could work, but I just figured this idea would be the easiest way assuming I'll be able to budge the broken piece. I can feel/measure the depth with the hook tool and I'm pretty sure its got enough room for the broken piece and the rest of the fitting. (I would think it was designed for the whole fitting to be within the hole anyway since the piece that broke off had an o-ring on it)

Here's some pics just to give a better explanation of what I'm thinking. The front-stop is just to show how I'll use the existing fitting to figure out how long to make the punch. so that way I'll put the broken part further in, just to the bare minimum depth for the rest of the fitting to go in



And a quick chicken-scratch diagram haha


- - - Updated - - -

I'd be to nervous about having a piece fall into the pan without knowing it. I think I would pull the pan and tap the piece up with a punch.

Yeah I'd hopefully feel with the punch how tight it is, if it's at all loose I'll probably drop the pan. I just don't know how big of a pain it is, or if it's possible to even do, with the engine in the car ? I was told the piece is big enough it'd never make it past the pickup screen or windage tray, but I'd definitely rather not risk that haha

 

[440+6]

Pan will come out fine, drop the center link and out she comes.

thats why I thought afterwords about collapsing it in and not making small pieces.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Let us know how you come out with the dipstick. I've got the same problem. Are those heat guards that you have on your plug wires? never seen 'em before.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Pan will come out fine, drop the center link and out she comes.

thats why I thought afterwords about collapsing it in and not making small pieces.

Cool that's what I was hoping, just got under the car and looks like it wouldn't be a big deal to drop it if I have to. There's my plan "D" I guess haha

Let us know how you come out with the dipstick. I've got the same problem. Are those heat guards that you have on your plug wires? never seen 'em before.

Will-do RRman! And sorry to hear you're in the same boat, just having trouble getting it to fit or did a piece break off in the block already? Yeah they're wire sleeves made by Taylor I bought through Napa. Just figured with how tight some of the clearances are with these headers I'd take as much protection as I could get


Alright guys, ready for attempt number 3. Me and my dad turned up this punch using an old allen bolt. He had the idea to give it the ID sized pilot, to help straighten out the beat-up top edge of the broken piece and hopefully help guide it down.





Made it to the same OD and length as the good fitting, and the socket on top will come in handy if the punch itself gets stuck.



Oh and can't forget the BFH, Stubby Edition. Here goes nothin!

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Good news fellas! We're back in business, that punch worked great. With a little grease the pilot started pretty easy, and took a little while hammering on it but it did the job perfectly.



The broken piece was jammed in pretty good, and definitely isn't going to be coming loose and dropping into the pan on it's own. But before I drove the punch all the way in, I grabbed an old windshield trim clip to shim it just a hair, so I could fit a small screwdriver underneath and pry it back out.



Now the broken piece is down out of the way, but tight in place and with what felt like 1/8"-1/4" of hole depth beyond the lower edge. Golden!



And as if by magic..



..dry fit was perfect! With a small bead of rtv it should work just fine, but it's getting late so I'll get on with that tommorrow. Thanks again for the encouragement and all the ideas guys
ccasion14:

 

[HYRDGOON]

Sweet! Glad to hear that headache is done with!

 

[conv67bdere]

Oh and can't forget the BFH, Stubby Edition. Here goes nothin!
View attachment 165692

Hey Speedy - I see you have one of those "stubby" BFHs too . . . ( LMAO )

 

[tallhair]

Success !! Congrats and well done there speedy