Hawk-Rod: The "Tune-Up"
- Thread starter HawkRod
- Start date
You bet. Having the lift makes dropping the K member actually quite easy, and very controlled. It's really the only way I'll do it any more!Having that lift must surely make the decision to pull the motor a lot easier. No need to go crawling around on your back anyway.
A bit of progress on the 70 engine swap.
I got my old 383 a little cleaned up. Mind you, I did VERY LITTLE to it since it will only be back in the car temporarily (while I go through the 500 stroker engine to check it out). Heck most of the old grease and grime are still on the old 383 - I had just a little bit of paint left in a can so I spritzed the top a little bit until the paint ran out! But it is serviceable (thanks to @Don Frelier for a replacement rocker arm). It is still together as built from the factory with about 80,000 miles. It is getting a little bit tired, some of the valves are starting to leak, but it runs well and reliably. So back in it will go for awhile!
I wiped down my K member a little. Again, nothing serious here since I will do a mini restoration of it later when the stroker goes back in.
My Passon A-855 5 speed is now just needing it's fluid replaced after the 500 mile break-in. So best to do that now while it is easy to get to!
Hawk
I got my old 383 a little cleaned up. Mind you, I did VERY LITTLE to it since it will only be back in the car temporarily (while I go through the 500 stroker engine to check it out). Heck most of the old grease and grime are still on the old 383 - I had just a little bit of paint left in a can so I spritzed the top a little bit until the paint ran out! But it is serviceable (thanks to @Don Frelier for a replacement rocker arm). It is still together as built from the factory with about 80,000 miles. It is getting a little bit tired, some of the valves are starting to leak, but it runs well and reliably. So back in it will go for awhile!
I wiped down my K member a little. Again, nothing serious here since I will do a mini restoration of it later when the stroker goes back in.
My Passon A-855 5 speed is now just needing it's fluid replaced after the 500 mile break-in. So best to do that now while it is easy to get to!
Hawk
So getting my transmission mounted was a bit of a pain. The bellhousing was off quite a bit, up to .014" in one dimension. So it was time to get some offset dowels.
First I had to remove the stock dowel pins in my car. I didn't have a dowel pin puller, so I decided it was time to buy one. This is the kit I bought:
It works nicely. You put the right sized collet on the pin, then slide a barrel over the collet and screw a double threaded bolt into it. Below is an view of how they go together:
Then you tighten the double threaded bolt which draws it tight on the dowel. Finally, slip the big black barrel piece on it and tighten the final nut. This draws the whole assembly out in a nice, slow, controlled manner.
Now time for the new pins. Note that Mopar dowel pins are NOT .500". They are actually .497". Yes, that little bit makes a difference, so be sure you get the right dowels. These new RobbMC dowels work really nicely. Use a 7/16" wrench to turn the flats (and thus the offset) to a desired angle. When you have a good angle, tighten the allen screws down and this locks them into place.
I ended up needing the .007" offset dowels. When done, my worst error in any dimension was .002", so this now means the bellhousing sits well into spec for the transmission.
Finally, it was time to mount the transmission. With my 23 spline transmissions, I have always pretty easily "thrown" them in pretty easily, but this 18 spline A-855 has always been more stubborn. It seems I work at for a while before it finally slips into place. At any rate, finally it did, so now I can start mounting starter, headers, and other final parts before I reunite this with the car.
First I had to remove the stock dowel pins in my car. I didn't have a dowel pin puller, so I decided it was time to buy one. This is the kit I bought:
It works nicely. You put the right sized collet on the pin, then slide a barrel over the collet and screw a double threaded bolt into it. Below is an view of how they go together:
Then you tighten the double threaded bolt which draws it tight on the dowel. Finally, slip the big black barrel piece on it and tighten the final nut. This draws the whole assembly out in a nice, slow, controlled manner.
Now time for the new pins. Note that Mopar dowel pins are NOT .500". They are actually .497". Yes, that little bit makes a difference, so be sure you get the right dowels. These new RobbMC dowels work really nicely. Use a 7/16" wrench to turn the flats (and thus the offset) to a desired angle. When you have a good angle, tighten the allen screws down and this locks them into place.
I ended up needing the .007" offset dowels. When done, my worst error in any dimension was .002", so this now means the bellhousing sits well into spec for the transmission.
Finally, it was time to mount the transmission. With my 23 spline transmissions, I have always pretty easily "thrown" them in pretty easily, but this 18 spline A-855 has always been more stubborn. It seems I work at for a while before it finally slips into place. At any rate, finally it did, so now I can start mounting starter, headers, and other final parts before I reunite this with the car.
This morning a couple of friends and I installed the engine/ transmission and K-member.
Pretty basic stuff at this point, as I have done this several times. As has been discussed on FBBO many times, everyone has their favorite way of installing engines, but mine is certainly from the bottom: nice, slow and controlled. Plus you can assemble starter, headers and many accessories on the engine before you do - much easier!
Here is the car as it was getting close to the engine assembly.
It went in smoothly and without any issues; we attached the K-member and transmission crossmember bolts.
Once K-member bolts and transmission crossmember bolts were attached, then we connected suspension and brakes.
One of the things I hate to work on is connecting the starter. There is simply no room to do this, and you have to work without thumbs because of the limited access. It is simply a pain in the butt to get two simple wires attached and bolted to the starter!!!
After a few cuss words, I finally got it attached. I still need to connect up steering, wires, fan etc., but there is not too much left before the car is (hopefully) mobile again!
Pretty basic stuff at this point, as I have done this several times. As has been discussed on FBBO many times, everyone has their favorite way of installing engines, but mine is certainly from the bottom: nice, slow and controlled. Plus you can assemble starter, headers and many accessories on the engine before you do - much easier!
Here is the car as it was getting close to the engine assembly.
It went in smoothly and without any issues; we attached the K-member and transmission crossmember bolts.
Once K-member bolts and transmission crossmember bolts were attached, then we connected suspension and brakes.
One of the things I hate to work on is connecting the starter. There is simply no room to do this, and you have to work without thumbs because of the limited access. It is simply a pain in the butt to get two simple wires attached and bolted to the starter!!!
After a few cuss words, I finally got it attached. I still need to connect up steering, wires, fan etc., but there is not too much left before the car is (hopefully) mobile again!
Such a badass car and thread!!!! Had same master issue and replaced but have the old unit yet and gonna try the sand paper thing this spring. Fluid during swap was silicone this time. Anything better than the Dot3 paint eater. That area gets touched up this spring too
I realize this thread got kind of dropped since taking the car across country didn't work out. Instead, I took my 73 Road Runner across country. That thread, if anyone cares, is here:
Hawkrod 'RoadKill' Cross Country Trip 2022
I decided to do a total rebuild of the 70 Road Runner engine just to check tolerances. I did that and then drove the 70 on the Hot Rod Power Tour. That thread is here:
HawkRod is doing the 2023 Hot Rod Power Tour!
Hawkrod 'RoadKill' Cross Country Trip 2022
I decided to do a total rebuild of the 70 Road Runner engine just to check tolerances. I did that and then drove the 70 on the Hot Rod Power Tour. That thread is here:
HawkRod is doing the 2023 Hot Rod Power Tour!
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I've been searching through your threads including the re-re-rebuild in 2023.
Pardon if I missed something but it looked like when you got the 400/500 engine, it had this cam in it:
In 2021 you swapped in a smaller cam but I didn't see the part number or specs on it. Did you go back to this cam later?
You are correct that I swapped in a smaller cam. It has about .510 lift, but I forget the other specs.
When I decided to tear down the 400/500, I decided to put the bigger cam back in it. My slightly smaller roller cam is now in my buddies 440 engine for his 67 GTX.
