Venting Tanks Inc tank, My Fitech Install

[WhiskeyRebel]

I tried cleaning up this flywheel but didnt get it to where I wanted.  Dropped it off at the machine shop today.

I have most components out of the engine bay and have started prepping that for paint.  I figured I better test fit the new hood before painting in case anything needs to be moved.  Pain to do by yourself but it's a good thing it is light.  Lines up pretty good for a fiberglass hood.  It doesnt exactly match the contour of the fenders, especially up and down, so I just split the difference and found a spot I am happy with. 

I was studying the picture below of the orange car posted in one of the CL finds.  Is that blackout on the inside of the fenders correct?  And also no latch or meathook (got myself one last time in the back of the head last night before removing it from the old hood  ).  Should those not be installed?  Any good pics anyone can refer me to for correct under hood paint with the TA hood?

Opinions on the trim on the front edge of the hood? I'm thinking of removing the old one and painting black with the hood.

[Scooter]

Did the right thing with the flywheel.. my rule on manual tranny's since forever is to make new both clutch, flywheel and throw out bearing any time it's cracked open. Inspect that rear main while you are at it. Keep posting them photos.. doing great!

[WhiskeyRebel]

Not much done on the car today.  I needed a reset, reorganize, and cleanup day. Parts and tools everywhere, so I spent yesterday getting back to being able to work without tripping over anything.  Had to be done.

It was a big day for parts arriving though.  Was like Christmas!  First was a giant box from Classic that I wasnt expecting yet. Was supposed to be signed for because it contained a new windshield but the guy left it at the mailbox (far from my house).  At least it wasnt broken.  Also had a bunch of other small parts too.  I mentioned previously that I wanted to do the dash pad but the prior owner used slotted (flat screwdriver) machine screws to secure the dash to the body in the vents.  They were shellacked over likely with por15 too.  No way could I get them out without removing the windshield.  I used this tool to cut it out.  Works great but I was not impressed with the glass to begin with.  Seemed very thin and easily chipped on the edges.  I had it almost out in one piece before it cracked.  I had cut all the way around and was lifting it off.  Got it about 5 inches away when a bit of butyl that I missed pulled on it and cracked.  This has to be the thinnest windshield I have ever seen.  The new one from AMD weighs about twice as much and is thicker.

The other big arrival today was the headers from TTI.  They are really nice and the mid pipes arrived too with all the fasteners and very detailed instructions on installation.  The only dissapointment was a dent in the passenger side #2 pipe in a pretty visable spot. It looks like it was done prior to coating though.  I'm going to call TTI.  I would hate for the ceramic to fail a little bit down the road.  Should I be concerned with this? 

[Scooter]

^^ Slotted screws are the bane, don't know why they are even made any more.

Would not worry about the ding on the header, looks like the ceramic is still intact. Shame, but not a show stopper IMHO. Odd coincidence, my TTI headers and exhaust are on the truck for delivery today as well. 

*edit* Did you order the windshield with standard tint? I'll be needing a new one as well eventually as the prior owner ran the wipers down to the metal and I have nice drag lines that are not going away.

[WhiskeyRebel]

Yes, I got the windshield from Classic Industries but it is an AMD part.  Classic number MM1637. Has the greenish tint at the top and is fairly heavy glass and much thicker than what I pulled out of the car.  I did a little searching around and I think I read somewhere that the AMD glass was one of the better ones out there.  I was worried about the shippping (which cost almost as much as the glass) but it was packaged really well.  They used a huge box and filled it with those bags they fill with spray foam in place so it forms to the shape of the glass.

[Scooter]

Good info on the windshield, let us know if the thicker glass presents any installation issues.

TTI fairy just stopped by my house...



Have not opened the rest of the exhaust yet.

[WhiskeyRebel]

Wow, those look great!  I've only ever had cheap headers before and these TTIs really are nice quality.

I'll let you know how the windshield goes and document it here.  I hope it is not too long.  I have been talking with Bob from ABCMoparts about a dash pad and they have been shut down due to the pandemic.  I'm hoping they are back up and running soon as the dash may be my rate limiter now.

[Scooter]

Wow, those look great!  I've only ever had cheap headers before and these TTIs really are nice quality.

I'll let you know how the windshield goes and document it here.  I hope it is not too long.  I have been talking with Bob from ABCMoparts about a dash pad and they have been shut down due to the pandemic.  I'm hoping they are back up and running soon as the dash may be my rate limiter now.

The last set of headers I installed were in my BB 67 Fairlane, they were ceramic coated longtube tri-y from FPA. There was so little space between the shock towers and heads I scratched them up pretty good getting them in. Probably took.. no BS.. 40 hours to get them in. Have a look at the drivers dide just behind the oil dip stick.



Don't be too harsh on the black engine compartment, was that way when I bought it. I'm guessing it will take longer to get the Hooker longtubes currently installed in the Challenger out then to get the new TTI's in. And I'm not going to scrape the heck outta these either. 

Do please report back on the windshield install. It's a bit further down my list of priorities but I'm going to get tired of looking past the scratches the more I drive it.

My dash has a few cracks in it as well, not bad enough I'm ready to cap it yet. But post up those photos as well when Bob's shop is back open and you can lay hands on one.

[WhiskeyRebel]

Little bit of an update, nothing too exciting. It has been mostly prep work for the past week.  My oil pan was pretty beat up so I was going to replace it with this one I picked up from 440Source.  The only problem is it is slightly different where the drain plug is and my pickup hits so it will not fit right.  You can see the pickup through the hole and it was still not on the block and off the holes by about 1/2 inch.  So I spent a few days hammering the old one back into shape, cleaning, installed and painted.

[WhiskeyRebel]

I got the dash out.  Every screw is wrong and mismatched, or missing and more flat screws   so I picked up a correct screw kit and will go through that.  Needs a coat of paint, you can see a big run by the glove box corner and chips by the ash tray and general bad finish all over.  The wiring doesnt look too bad, cant find any hot spots, although I will probably do the ammeter bypass after I get it back in and route the headlights through relays.  I dont have AC or a radio so no big power drains.  There is one black wire cut on the group that runs down to the high beam floor switch, etc. (by the tip of the phillips scewdriver in the pic)  In looking at the diagrams it looks like this might be for an E-brake switch?  Agree?

You cans see why my heater controls dont work.

The great news is Bob from ABCMoparts called and, although they are not back up running yet, he had a cancellation on the one dash pad he has in my config.  Should be here next week.  Now the pressure is on because I thought that was the rate limiter and was going to be a while.

Got almost everything out of the bay for paint, booster, wiper motor, etc.  Clean, scuff, clean, etch, prime, paint is on the agenda. Since I am going with the TA hood I am going to add the blackouts on the sides and cowl too.  I also picked up the flywheel from the shop, all nice and new (machined surface).

[WhiskeyRebel]

Sorry for the long pause.  Been busy on the car and other things.  Here are some updates.  It took about a full week to scrape all the por15 off the engine bay.  Then prep, priming, sealer, topcoat, and also the blackouts on the sides for the T/A hood. 

[WhiskeyRebel]

I spent some time cleaning up all the fasteners etc.  I cleaned up the alignment cams and black phosphate treated them.  The holes for the bolts along the top of the dash had pulled through so I made small pieces to spot weld on. 

[WhiskeyRebel]

I went through the dash and replaced any bulbs, tested the voltage limiter and all the gauges.  I painted all the dash parts and went through the whole column too, replaced the cancel cam and all the wear parts.  New dash pad from ABC Moparts looks great.

[WhiskeyRebel]

I had posted in another thread that my horn did not work, and it looked like my crush can was not seated all the way (see before pic below).  Turns out the splines on the can were about 1" long/deep.  The splines on the shaft are just over 0.5".  The splines on the can were actually bottoming out on the shoulder of the shaft below the splines.  Pretty sure the previous owner mixed a few different cars, so there must be some differences.  I drilled out the splines on the can so that it would seat down all the way and the small wheel now makes contact and my horn works.
IN the third pic I have the depth end of a caliper measuring the splines, then again on the shaft. I took a little more off after these photos.  It still is not down all the way ( I think visible in a photo above) but it is close and I did not want to take too much off.  The splines on the can are still deeper than the shaft though so there is full contact and the nut is seated down all the way against the splines on the shaft.

[WhiskeyRebel]

I bought lighter springs for the T/A hood so it doesn't bulge over time.  They came painted red though so the plan is to paint them and the hinges.  I made up this jig to stretch them out a little to paint.