My new stock stroke 400 build

[qkcuda]

I snapped a picture this morning. Temperature sender port is there. I was pretty sure I checked all of that out before I bought it at Carlisle, but you had me worried

 

[qkcuda]

I got tired of looking at the grungy 73 valve covers on the freshly painted engine so I put the old chrome ones back on, added the distributor and just placed the Street Demon on top, and took a picture of it in front of it's new home.

 

[qkcuda]

I also decided to change the pump cam on the Holley for one with a little faster initial ramp. The old pink one is beside the new red one. Seems to be working fine, but I haven't road tested it yet.

 

[qkcuda]

I took the Charger out today for a long test drive to check out the carburetor adjustments. It worked way better. The off idle stumble is gone. I will need to swap out the 6.5 power valve because there is still a part throttle flat spot. It was only about 7 degrees celsius, 40 something Fahrenheit. This might have been the last drive for the year. I stopped by the lake for a photo opportunity.

 

[BSB67]

Is the new pump cam red or brown? Looks kinda brown in the pic. Do you have the 50cc pump, or the standard 30cc pump?

 

[qkcuda]

The original was pink, the replacement is red. It is just a 30cc pump.

 

[qkcuda]

Dumb small job today. My 2 1/4 inch OD head pipes installed by the previous owner were just welded onto the stubs of the stock 361 Y pipe, which I think we're about 1 7/8 inch OD. They were a sloppy fit and they always leaked. I took the 400 Y pipe and cut the flanges off and opened them up to accept a 2 inch ID pipe. That is the same size as the 2 inch outlets on the stock manifolds. I just need to get a short section of pipe so they will sleeve inside the head pipes more tightly so I can weld them up and hopefully no more leaks. I am changing out the stock mufflers for Dynomax super turbos at the same time, so I might see a minor gain overall.

 

[qkcuda]

I bought a 2 inch ID coupler and cut it in half to make the stubs for the flanges. I just have to weld them up now. I better practice on some scrap pieces first, My welding skills are pretty rusty.

 

[qkcuda]

I finally got some garage time and attacked the exhaust system. It has been on there for about 20 years and the mufflers were tack welded to the exhaust pipes. After a lot of cutting and chiseling I got them off. You can see where I tried to use muffler cement to try and quiet the leaks at the welds. You can also see the stubs of the old Y pipe that the exhaust pipes were welded to.

 

[eldubb440]

a man with a plan

 

[BSB67]

FWIW, mufflers can fail internally, and suck up meaningful power. Happened to me twice with Dynomax super turbo mufflers.

 

[qkcuda]

The old heavy mufflers are coming off and I am replacing them with Dynomax super turbos I have used them before without any issues. Wish me luck.

 

[RemCharger]

I have them on my Charger. Perfect sound.
( and yes, one is flapping a bit internally, but I ran over it on the side of a mountain in the black hills.. that's another story )

 

[BSB67]

The old heavy mufflers are coming off and I am replacing them with Dynomax super turbos I have used them before without any issues. Wish me luck.

Not saying don’t use them. Just replace them from time to time. Check them if performance falls off.

 

[qkcuda]

I did a little more unexciting work today. I got the old flanges cut off and the pipes cleaned up. You can see the existing stubs were only 1 3/4 ID. The new stubs are going to be a tight fit, and my old pipe expander fell apart on me. I need to fix it and maybe use a little heat.

 

[qkcuda]

I managed to enlarge the exhaust pipes just enough to fit the stubs using my expander cobbled up with a hose clamp, so I could insert it only about 3/4 of an inch. I broke two hose clamps in the process, but it worked. I dry fit the exhaust and marked everything with paint. I will scribe it later as well. It's a little bit tight to tack weld in place, especially the driver's side. I will pull it down, tack it and recheck the fit before welding.

 

[qkcuda]

I got everything tack welded today and test fit and everything is good. My welder was fighting me so I loaded the pipes in the car and will take them to the shop to have them finish welded. The primary reason for the change was due to leaks, so I don't want to end up with more.

 

[qkcuda]

I picked up my pipes from being welded yesterday, so I decided to test fit the entire system today. I am glad I did. The driver's side fits great, but the passenger side must have moved because it is a couple of inches too low at the muffler. I think it will be easy to adjust by heating one of the existing bends and jacking it up. I think I am also going to replace the cheap muffler hangers as well.

 

[qkcuda]

I got the passenger side exhaust jacked up into position and started heating the bend where it comes down from the manifold flange. It took forever with my little propane torch. I purposely jacked it a little higher figuring it will relax some. I'll come back to it on the weekend and see if it worked.

 

[BSB67]

FWIW, exhaust manifolds can be cracked.