70 Challenger going Plum Crazy

[dodj]

One more week of work before I'm retired.  It's been a great ride.  After that, it'll be "Challenger time" (or as my wife says, "get that damn thing done" time).   

Congrats on your upcoming retirement!
Will be watching this thread for regular  progress. Lol

[Dakota]

Finally finally finally go back to work on the Challenger today.  Since I retired at the end of January, a couple of home projects have taken priority.   Fortunately, they're done now.   There's really nothing pic worthy from today, as most of the time was spent "unpacking" the Challenger.   This involved raising up the front end using a floor jack and different length pieces of wood on the lower radiator support (previously reinforced with a US Cartool brace), then raising the front jack stands an inch or two at a time.   This gave me enough clearance to pull the engine and tranny out from under the car where it was stored over the winter, along with the pieces of the engine lift and rear end.   My wife has kindly agreed to surrender her garage parking spot so that I was able to slowly nudge the Challenger away from a wall (the jack stands are on top of wheel dollies) and into the middle of the garage.   I am VERY relieved that the car raising and movement happened without any Hercules moves being required on my part.   

More to come going forward. 

[RUNCHARGER]

Ha, ha: Torn down cars take up a lot of room.

[Dakota]

Worked on the rear brakes a bit today which was greatly helped by the recent post by @Shane Kelley.
Mostly cleaning up old parts (pic below) and trying to remember where I stashed the new ones.  Nothing cutting edge going on, but it's still great to be back out in the garage. 

[blown motor]

I just read this thread. I'll be following it to the end. You'll have to bring it to Moparfest in August. I have a spare room and indoor storage for your car.

[jimynick]

I just read this thread. I'll be following it to the end. You'll have to bring it to Moparfest in August. I have a spare room and indoor storage for your car.

Beware! Murry's on a video kick these days and will want to get your car in one of them! 

[Dakota]

Rear axle rebuild is finished except for the brake lines.   New bearings, races and seals all around.  The ring and pinion were also changed to an open 3.91 (was 3.23) since the 4 speed going back in is an OD version I bought from Jamie Passion.  I have a spare 3rd member that I'll rebuild later (provided the current one decides that I did ok on the rebuild) that will give me some options to play with the final gear ratio.   The spare may have a Sure Grip in it if the $ are available.   The rear axles have "Green" bearings (from Doctor Diff) based on the thinking at the time that that I was going to upgrade to discs on the rear.  This upgrade is way down the priority list now as I'm trying to focus on getting the car on road.

[Morty426]

Good to see this A66 build.  I'll follow along

[Dakota]

The prior owner used a home-built hump for the auto to manual tranny swap.   I decided to buy one fron Roseville to make sure the dimensions were correct.  Based on guidance from @RUNCHARGER , @ToxicWolf , @Chryco Psycho  and @1 wild r/t, I added some additional clearance under the hump. A folded piece of 1-1/2" wide tape made a handy flexible marking gauge for drawing the cut lines inside the hump perimeter.  I may wait until the drivetrain is installed to final fit the hump as there's a bit of play (maybe 1/4-1/2") about where the hump opening can end up. I don't want the shifthead jammed into it. 

I did the cutting with a 4-1/2" cut off wheel.   It was way too easy to cut too much. A body saw would be the tool of choice if there's a "next time". 

[Dakota]

Hey - I think she winked at me!

[RUNCHARGER]

You did well. I always wizz them with a small wheel. The back, drivers end of the hump should pretty much fall into one spot.

[Dakota]

It's been a bit since I've posted on this thread so maybe it's time for an update.   One of the chunks of work that I've been doing lately is replacing  the wiring harnesses where the replacements are commercially available and making some new ones for the small specialized ones that I couldn't find elsewhere.

Let me say up front that if you're at the point in a restoration where you're thinking of re-using the original or a purchased used wiring harnesses, I would encourage you to reconsider and buy new ones. I've come across burn spots, melted wires, broken (or nearly so) wires in the middle of runs and at connectors as well as splices that added undersized wires.   My car also had the telltale melted spot on the firewall bulkhead connector all of the current going through a marginal connection on the main feed.  Aside from the risk of an electrical fire, all of these issues with the old wiring would've led to major reliability headaches. 

I've purchased M&H harnesses through Year One based on reading recommendations from @anlauto and others.  They are well made and completely accurate on wire color and gauge compared to the service manual prints.   The only harness I've not replaced is in the steering column which I went through a couple of years ago - and now I'm thinking of redoing that one.

Based on a recommendation from @BIGSHCLUNK and @JonH in another thread, I bought an Accel 300+ crimper.  There was a bit of learning curve on figuring out how to use the tool and adjusting the clamping pressure, but once figured out right that tool rocks!  It's pricey (about $65), but after wasting several hour making terrible crimps with little pliers and vice grips, it's money well spent. There are two main "tricks" using this "open barrel" crimping tool:

1. There is a only one "right way" to put the new terminal fitting into the tool.   The slightly wider side of the jaw is where the "ears" that clamp onto the insulation have to be placed (it's the side with the wire gauge numbers).   The ears have to be facing in the orientation shown in the picture for the proper crimp to be formed.  Anything else yields a tangled mess - don't ask me how I know.

2. It's best to put the terminal into the tool and partially ratchet the jaws closed until it just starts to compress the ears.   This approach holds the terminal in place while allowing plenty of room to feed in the wire before unleashing your crushing grip strength on the defenseless terminal.   

I've included a couple of pictures below for making a new crimped terminal and also replacing the brass seat ("lamp contact") on a light bulb.  The Accel tool does a nice job on these little contacts too, but I had to bend the ears in just a little to fit into the smallest portion of the jaw.   The replacement lamp contacts came from Ron Francis Wiring (www.ronfrancis.com)   I also ordered replacement male and female "packard" connectors from them. I bought the "8 pack" sizes but quickly figured out the packages of 50 would've been the better choice.  Ron Francis also sells the black tape for wrapping the harnesses.

Every wire feeding an accessory light in the "A01" option needed replacement for one reason or another.    There's additional information on this option (including pictures of some of my lovely wires):  https://forum.e-bodies.org/electrical-and-audio/11/1970-challenger-a01-light-option/725/

[Dakota]

The dash bezel around the rear window defogger switch showed signs of heat damage.  All of the wires on this harness have been replaced (it is not available through M&H).   The 2nd picture shows the heater and a/c harness (engine side).   There are lots of splices, color changes and differing wire gauges - this one is heading for the trash can. The third picture shows an undersized splice wire that was easily broke loose after a little wiggling. It's hard to see in the picture, but the termination point (heater fuse - top row, 2nd from left) for this wire is badly corroded.   Again, all signs that replacement harnesses are the way to go. 

[Dakota]

 Last item for now is a picture of a cheap little plastic "vise" that I picked up out of a "$0.99 Special" bin at a local hardware store (also available on Amazon for $9 under the brand name "Eclipse").   This turned out to be pretty handy for holding wires while solder was being added to the connections.   I'm pretty sure this tool has no other meaningful purpose in life.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Another great looking crimp! Altho that tool is not "cheap" it does get the job done and get it done right. Well done my friend well done