Road Race / AutoX Project 1964 Dart Grüne Hölle

4/16/21

I got the Cam Locked in at Intake ℄101°... First Time I installed it at 0° on the multiple Keyway Crank Sprocket that came with the Rollmaster Timing Set, It measured out at ℄98°  so I set it to the -2° on the crank sprocket (which must be 4° camshaft Degrees)..  anyway it's all worked out.  Recommended intake ℄ was 100°-102° so it's just about right.

Also got lots of little things completed and the Cam stop Built, using an old Rocker adjustment screw as well as some 3/8"-24 Fine nuts from the hardware bin.

Time to Finish the Tins, Install the Rear Main Seal, Lots of Gasketing, Oil, Water Pump,  Some revisiting on the oil Pan for dipstick and Other small issues , then seal it up move on to setting the Rockers up, Intake, Carb, Fuel Line, Headers etc.  I might throw an extension on the vent tube on the fuel pump to keep the area behind the fuel pump less oily too. It will probably throw oil out everywhere if I do not do that with the corners that I am anticipating.

I will also be putting a mock up head back on that mock up block to hang the headers and build an exhaust before I drop the actual engine in the car. - Fire up the Argon Bottle for Some Stainless Mig and Tig work...

Greg

That is one serious oil pan!

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Well thanks, I am still not done with it yet, but getting close.  You can't go to stefs, Moroso, Canton, etc and buy a road race pan for a slant 6. Sooooo. You gotta make one. It's not pretty but I hope it should work fine.

Greg

4/19/21

I finally Finished up the Oil Pan - Added Some More Baffles at the Front and Back to Separate the Sump from the Area Just under the spinning crank.   I also added a windage Screen.. It's Held in with 4 Button head screws that I loctited in place. Also Added a provision for the Dipstick (thanks MadScientistMatt)

I put the mock up block back in and Hung an old Head on the block along with the bell housing, Z, Bar, Clutch Fork and Headers. Began mocking up the exhaust.  Waiting for my 2nd Argon regulator to arrive so I can weld it correctly with some back purge argon inside the tube.

The Pan is finally done - whatta beast it was to make that part..

It actually looks somewhat normal with the fresh paint on there.

Windage Screen Should help somewhat.

"glued" down the Crank Scraper and the Oil Pan spacer on the other side.

Mock up Block back in to begin the Exhaust Primary Tube mockups... The Front tubes will take a bit of time.

Slice and dice.

Backpurging is recommended for a reason..so is using a TIG machine that has a foot pedal and is not a lift start 

Greg

4/21/21

Waiting on some parts before I can button up the oil pan and Timing Cover..

In the Meantime The Rocker shaft shim packs came in.. 
It's nice that the old MoPar Engineers were too lazy to make the stock rocker shaft any different from the B-RB/ A/LA Hemi Blocks The Shaft Diameters are all the same. (thanks Willem Weertman and Tom Hoover)
So I was futzing with setting the side play on the rockers - Almost done - Some are too tight when the shaft was torqued down.. Need to remove 0.015" spacers on a few pairs.

Still waiting on adjuster screws from Smith Brothers too.

This engine is using some of the recycled top end parts from Ruster - Push Rods - and 1.5 (I think ) Roller Rockers that came from the Mike Jeffery Cache of slant 6 speed parts.

I still have yet to see if all of this fits under a stock Valve cover without hitting stuff.. It's not a High Lift cam so hopefully I don't have the rocker screws hitting baffles and other parts in the rocker cover.

Greg

4/26/21

Happy Hemi Day.. I don't have one of those so I am celebrating by getting some stuff done on Grüne Hölle.

I got the ARP Cam bolt Installed..it's dimpled in the middle for use with the Ball End Rocker screw.
Got the Timing Cover bolted and sealed, Got the Oil Pan installed. Got the head installed,torqued and set the Cold Lash on the Lifters in prep for the first start.

My Backpurging Equipment arrived... Now I can attempt make better / nicer / more structurally sound welds in the Stainless tubing for the exhaust.  I also got to doing some tube fitting as well.

Greg

That rocker swap is very cool - what ratio / specs are these arms?

MadScientistMatt said:

That rocker swap is very cool - what ratio / specs are these arms?

Not too sure.. I believe they are 1.5's but i would have to measure to be sure.

When I see skookum slant parts used for sale I buy 'em ... cause you know its expensive to get the stuff made as a one off....and there's not really a go to performance slant 6 supplier in this hemisphere.

Greg

4/27/21

Getting some of the Exhaust Routing Figured out:

Greg

4/28/21

I was able to get some more exhaust work done.

Got my 2 down Pipes (for lack of a better term) (the pipe from the header flange to the Y collector before the muffler) Completely Mocked up and one fully welded.

My next task will be to fully weld the other down pipe and then work back from the wye collector and build the intermediate pipe and tail pipe.

Fitting Pipes - Blue Masking tape is helpful when working with non magnetic stainless for fit and making proper witness / alignment / clocking marks.

Lots of Funky Bends and angles here.  Kinda Felt Like I was building a header.

Breaking out the Hot Glue Gun..

Not Perfect, but Getting better' Cept for where I burned holes and had to use a bunch of filler to fix it. Backpurging = easier TIG Beads on stainless..  YAY!

One done.. one to finish weld.

Greg

5/2/21

I Got the Tailpipe Built and Finish welded, so Now the exhaust is mostly Done... Still have to locate / Drill / Weld The bung for the O2 Sensor, Add / Weld on One more header collector Tab, and Fit the Burns Muffler when It arrives.. For Now I just have a piece of aluminized Tail pipe in place of the muffler.

Pictures of the Progress:
Tailpipe complete with exhaust tip / turndown:

Hopefully  when everything is installed It won't Bang against Frame or Gas Tank..

Greg

Speaking from experience here: You may want to put some heat shielding on the gas tank and use exhaust wrap on the near section of tail pipe. I ran into problems of pressurizing the tank to the point of pushing gas out the vent last year when on track in the heat. Normal driving and track at cooler temps wasn't pushing gas out...but i'm sure it wasn't helping either.

In reply to asphalt_gundam :

Sounds Good Thanks for the suggestion.

I never had an issue with the old engine and tailpipe in this area, as it did get hot, was super restrictive, and drove it alot.  But I do appericate your insight and will keep an eye on it.

Greg

5/24/21

I got some more Work done.

Got the Bell housing / block Indicted and within 0.005" Runout. After that, I got the Flywheel clutch / PP installed / aligned. Put the starter on and cranked the engine with spark plugs removed to prime / build oil Pressure ~ 40-50 Psi on the cranking the starter.

Got the New trans installed, but found that it's a skosh different dimensionally than the Ford V-6 T5 that I previous had.  Especially since this trans has the mechanical Speedo output and the trans mount area is about 1/2" further forward.  So I need to remove it and Create more space on the cross member area..
This one will hit the underside of the car.  So Back to cutting, grinding, Welding later this week.

Greg

5/25/21

The Burns Stainless Muffler Arrived.  It's 3.5 Pounds and about 17" Long.

Hope to get it installed soon and hear what it sounds like.

Here are some shots of the ford Motorsport (Z Box) T5 hitting the Crossmember  - I made it last year so it would clear the Ford 3.8/V6 T5 and this T5 is just a bit girthier in some areas..

As far up as it will go - about 1/2" from getting the holes to line up.

Here is what my clearance notches looked like for the V6 T5 Trans:

Some material cut away.. Ready for welding:

Welded up:

Hope to do another test fit this week and if all's well, slam the exhaust and intake on and fire it up. :D

Greg

Very cool!

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Thanks Matt, Hope to have the thing sorted soon!

... Then we can have a Slanted Dart Shootout - Boosted Ma Scientist vs Crazy NA Guy

Greg

6/5/21

Well I gotta bunch of stuff done since the last update.

Engine is in and all plumbed, wired.. It runs and drives - clutch is adjusted and feels good; Custom exhaust routing allows for breeze easy clutch adjustments.

I really cannot believe that there are no Leaks at the front or rear of the oil pan. I found when I went to Bolt the thing down that it was warped quite a bit around the Cast Aluminum Rear Main seal Retainer and at the Front Near the bottom of the timing cover.  I put a lot of sealer in those locations on the outside of the rubber oil pan gaskets and let them set up for 2-3 weeks. I did have a valve cover leak that was easily fixed with a new gasket and a quick straightening of the bolt holes with hammer and piece of wood.

Exhaust is loud... The Burns Stainless 2 Stage Quiet muffler is still pushing the loudness limit for the street.- Might have to add a resonator.

Found that on this Cam which is an Oregon Cams Regrind that there is no Fuel Pump eccentric.. Which Made firing it off for the first time a 6 hour affair as I had planned on just using a stock mechanical fuel pump.. I never thought to check the cam for a functioning eccentric... it should just be there...but it was not.
After figuring out that the 2 Mechanical fuel pumps were good but the eccentric was just a boring on center circle, I had to get and Mount an electric Pusher Pump with all the associated switches, relay wiring, etc.

I got that all done.  After Driving the Thing 100 or so miles it's time to lash the valves and rejet the carb. It is very rich on the primary circuit and a touch lean on the secondaries. 

Also Put Hatted Rotors on the Rear. Does not save much Weight :(  - Maybe 1.5# per rotor.. At least it's unsprung and rotating mass.

Pictorial:
"Lighter Rotors"

Stock Chinese Rotors - Non Hatted @ 11#

Plumbed, Wired, Ready to go..

Another Item of interest is that stock with a 6 cylinder from the factory this generation of car does not have a throttle cable; they have a sort of convoluted twisty linkage system from the gas pedal to the carb.

I wanted to keep the stock pedal, but also use a cable for the future carbs / throttle bodies.. Some folks like to find the 1964-66 273 V8 Factory cable setup (expensive and Hard to find)... I just used a 72-80 D series truck Pedal pivot with a lokar cable... So I can keep the stock pedal and it works great.

Future Plans include a seat upgrade:
Stock Factory Buckets: Cool for restoration and heavy:

This behemoth weighs in at:

56#

Until I can get some Proper Race seats these 3rd Hand Mazda Seats will do:
I will have to make some bracketery for them, and Had done some lightening, removing brackets, air bags , etc.

They come in at probably not a svelte, but lighter...41#

Greg

I just love this! Everything I dreamed about doing with my 67 dart GT. Then my brother totaled it. 

I'm looking forward to hearing this car run as well.  A straight six uncorked can sound so incredible. 

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm looking forward to hearing this car run as well.  A straight six uncorked can sound so incredible. 

Thanks guys!  Maybe I will make a drivin' video soon... still dialin' in the carb.. man do I miss tunerstudio/ laptop tuning..  going full neoluddite on this one for now.

Greg

6/11/21

Got a few more Small things done.

Ordered some more rod / jet combinations for the carb.
- I still want to try to get a better / smoother transition between the lean and power settings on the primary metering. It's a Bit Notchy now.. Some of the old OE Carter Rods had 3 steps on them to help with this issue... but the aftermarket edelbrock ones just have 2 steps. 
- Note to self: Put MPEFI on it and get it tuned better... Maybe next winter / summer.
I put a Jones Exhaust Resonator in the tailpipe... this was a major win for me as the burns 2 stage quiet muffler was really too loud for the street and I would surmise probably over the 98dB sound level for SCCA and other decibel monitored track events.

This 14" x 4"  Resonator placed in the tailpipe attenuated the "bag of angry wasps" sound that was annoyingly prominent around 3K RPM with only the Burns Muffler.

I also swapped from 175#/Inch Springs to 200#/Inch Springs.  To help when the car is loaded with passengers and fuel / Tools etc on road trips.

Today I will do a few more maintenance Items:
- A good once over on the valve train.
- Setting the Hot Lash and Checking to see if the Roller Tip Rockers are doing okay without a spray bar in the Valve cover..
- If they are not, then they will be swapped to Stock Rocker Arms.

Planning a Nice Car show trip on Sunday to Ohio.

Greg

Glad to hear it's almost back on the road!

Definitely looking forward to that driving video!

This post started out good and just gets better by the page. Mad respect for what you have done here.