sad day for my 64 polara

[64dodge]

when i got the car, i got it to fire up ('68 440) and it actually ran great. have been tinkering with it and then i started having trouble firing it up.:confused5: was not getting fuel. checked the filters (had 2 from fuel pump to carb lol) figured that was my problem. nope. used an elec. fuel pump to bypass the mecanical one. fired up!:grin: but now it had a bad miss. stared pulling wires found suspect #1 not firing. swapped plugs still dead. swapped wires, still dead. did a compression test and only 60lbs in the cyl. check the others all about 125.:icon_neutral: i have '69 440 freah rebuild with a 292 509 purple shaft. i just feel like i didn't get that good of a deal now. was hoping to drive it for a while before doing a swap. oh well $&it happens. i guess it will be easier to put the headers on it. thanks for letting me cry on your shoulders lol:tearyeyed:

 

[5.7 hemi]

Look at it this way, now you can do a stroker....yeah!!

 

[Propwash]

Look at the bright side................You have a '64 Polara.......Walla! Feel better now?

 

[shag766]

as said poop happens

 

[Centerline]

Sounds like you may have a burned valve. If the heads are original and have never had hardened seats installed, unleded gas will wind up burning your valves. With a drop in compression in just one cylinder that's a distinct possibility. Could be a lot of other things too, but I'd pull the heads and check the valves first.

 

[DavidElmore]

Don't sound like much of a problem to me. Just pull the head off and see what's in there. Heads don't cost that much and besides you have a 1964 Dodge Polara, just how many of those do you see at the local curse in?
Its one of a kind car. Keep up the good work and get that thing running.

 

[DavidElmore]

Where are the pictures? need pictures !!!!

 

[64dodge]

ok here is what i came up with. i was messing around with the engine and figured i would start to pull the head. removed the valve cover and found a bent push rod. got a new push rod and put the engine back together, installed a new fuel pump and tried to fire it up. it ran but was horrible. checked a few things pulled the valve cover back off. took the rocker arm assy off and i was looking at the #1 intake valve (the one with the bent push rod) i put a straight edge across the retainers and that valve was lower. figured the valve was bent so back to pulling the head. got intake off and started thinking that the valve didn't look bent so i used my hose from my comp tester and pumped some air in the cyl. had no leak at the valve. new intake gasket and reassemble the engine. well when i was working on it during the push rod r&r a friend was helping me and we must have gotten the plug wires on the cap goofed up. plus the previous owner had the dist. in kinda funky. that might be why the plug wires were off. fixed all that and VVVRRRROOOOOOOMMMMM! now just have to fix some oil leaks and it will be good to go. thanks for the tips. 64

 

[Sonny Black]

awesome!

 

[RustyRatRod]

You caint keep a good MoPar down.

 

[HT413]

Great news!

 

[arizona satellite]

see what a little investigation leads too! glad to hear it was just that and not a burnt valve or piston.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Not so sad now. Good to hear that it was a fairly easy fix. These 'ol Mopars are pretty bulletproof so when something goes wrong it's always best to check out the easy fixes before tearing into it. Good diagnostic skills go a long way.

 

[62 Dart Convertible]

I love a story with a happy ending. Well done 64!