Ben's Satellite

[yellowdartdave]

As far as the wife complaining about the project defiling the garage, just tell her it could be a whole lot worse...........

 

[killi6]

lol... sez my wife: "No, it wouldn't be... you'd have your own table in the garage with a playpen next to it" (for one or both of the twins).

 

[roadrunnerman]

you're a brave man,my wife won't even let me put anything in the bathtub to wash it off.

 

[killi6]

update - March 2012

Got the motor pulled, took off one body panel, etc.

Now I REALLY want to get the transmission out, except I can't see how to easily disconnect the shift linkage... any tips? I don't see any screws or bolts anywhere. :-(

Started ripping into the engine... distributor and intake manifold are off, no bent pushrods showing...

 

[mrbelv2]

Great project. For the frame rails; you need to remove the rusted portions. They're spot welded to the trunk pans. Try AMD, Goodmark or Sherman's. I don't know if they're avail for your car. Other option is good used rails. If you just want to get by with it for now, Autorust.com may make a piece for your car to go over the frame rail. Either option requires a welder.

 

[Ron 73]

There is a lock screw on the swivel, a small , looks like a small bolt head maybe, if you loosin it, you should be able to pull the rod out... There's also a preload spring inside, your rod gos thru.

 

[Propwash]

Rock n' Roll!!!

 

[killi6]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Yeah, I picked up a welder this week from Northern Tool and Autorust makes the frame rail 'sleeve' dealios that go over the existing rails to repair or reinforce. I know for sure i need the front frame rail on the driver's side... I should do the same on the passenger side while I've got everything apart, anyway.

 

[killi6]

Made some progress in the weeks behind...

1. Got transmission out. What a joy that was. No transmission jack, blocks of wood and my hydraulic jack. Transmission cross-member rusted through... structurally not sound. :-(
2. Rolled her out of the garage, cleaned up the garage stall, hosed down the interior, scrubbed a lot of crud out of the engine compartment.
3. Cleaned up the transmission. I'm about ready to put it somewhere in 'storage' until it's ready to go back in, I think. I don't think I need to paint it.
4. Engine broken down to the short block mostly, I can't get the crank bolt off.

I love breaking down the engine, I think I have everything pretty organized still. It looks like some of the rods (I haven't looked at all of them) are stamped with numbers, but they're wrong... like the number one cylinder's rod is stamped with 5.

Picked up some Chrysler Blue engine enamel and want to try it out on the intake manifold, but I need a better attachment to clean out the nooks and crannies before I paint it. I've been using a wire brush attachment on my drill on most of these pieces... engine mounts, the exhaust manifolds and now the transmission housing... to get the caked on crap off. Works great except I get tiny pieces of oily dirt all over my body... and I suppose the rest of the garage, now that I think about it.

I need to practice my welding so I can repair the frame... but in the meantime I think I should get the emergency brake working at least... but I also need/want to keep breaking down the motor which means getting that crank bolt off. Even with my breaker bar, I can't budget it.

I've been thinking about paint... I'm thinking cobalt blue with a pearl/white roadrunner stripe... black for the engine compartment...

Some pics below...

Filthy transmission...

Vacant engine compartment...

Transmission crossmember....

 

[71ChallengerSE]

Don't do black for the engine bay. That is a chevy/ford thing. You will thank me later.

 

[killi6]

Don't do black for the engine bay. That is a chevy/ford thing. You will thank me later.

hmmm... well, it'll likely be years before I pay for nice paint anyway...

 

[71ChallengerSE]

If you have an air compressor get a gun and some paint and practice. You'll save money in the long run and learn a new skill.

 

[Ron 73]

X 2 You can paint it yourself and with some practice you can put a good paint job on it and save a bundle!

 

[killi6]

I do not have a compressor. :-( But I suppose yeah... for a couple grand I could get a really nice compressor and setup...

So regarding the bolt holding the harmonic balancer on the crank... do I just need a bigger breaker bar to take that off or am I missing something.

And I bought my first 'new' part for the car... a 'remanufactured' transmission crossmember from eBay. Very excited. :blush:

 

[71ChallengerSE]

Use an impact gun to get the bolt off the crank. See now you have an excuse to get an air compressor! LOL

 

[killi6]

Use an impact gun to get the bolt off the crank. See now you have an excuse to get an air compressor! LOL

Yeah, my brain has already gone there... ;-)

My dad said to use a torch to heat around the bolt... but that's the crankshaft so I'm kind of... leery. Plus you can't really torch the crank, it's buried under the damper and the timing chain cover. And there's oil residue in there...

Hmmm... compressor and impact gun... hmmm... then I might as well get a blasting cabinet, too...

 

[65SATisfaction]

Consider this "trick" for cleaning nasty grimy parts like the engine and tranny:

Go to your auto parts store and buy a tub of handcleaner/degreaser - like GoJo. Scrub it on the parts with a bristle brush and hose off the goop. Repeat until clean. It worked really well when I dismantled my engine/tranny/K-frame assembly. I also did the firewall with it.

Enjoy your restoration!
-Art

 

[roadrunnerman]

you can also get a product called "simply green". it is some good stuff,cleaned up the grease inside my engine bay but did not hurt the original paint.

 

[71ChallengerSE]

Purple Power is fantastic too, I use it for everything. I just used it to clean up some original wire harnesses, weatherstripping, door panels, engine bay, etc.

 

[Ron 73]

All i have now is a 5 hp 21-25 gallon tank, I used Acrylic enamel painting my 73, worked ok, The one thing it will not do is get along very long with a da sander.. Im almost done with project cars unless i find the right one and i don't think i would buy another compressor to do it.. This, if i remember right was under 400 bucks, had it just in case i needed one (which you always do for something) and this car came along, so i used it.. Only a suggestion but i think unless your going to get into more project cars, something like this would do you up fine for this one..

Acrylic enamel isint as expensive as base/coat and it does give it a decent shine at an affordable price.