Dartgame

I found a local outfit that rebuilds clutches for semi trucks and will rebuild car units as well. Naylor Automotive Engineering 4645 south Knox Ave Chicago 773-582-6900. They did my Borg and Beck, resurfaced the flywheel, in an afternoon. They can reline the disc for you as well.

Ive seen folks use back up lites from old vw beetles which are rectangular, kind of look like the first picture at the top of the page. VW restoration outfits sell repops for about 20 a piece. I plan on using some bullet shaped mini tear drop lamps originally used for motorcycle turn signals. I am thinking the rounded shape is more in keeping with the age/style of the cars, and of mounting off the bottom of the bumper as shown at the first pic on this thread. GM cars of the era used tear drop lights kind of like what I am planning, their trade name was “guide” or something like that.

Hey Jack - Good idea, I forgot that the muscle car era mopars used a bimetallic limiter that drops 12 to 5 volts...there is an outfit making a solid state limiter as well. I think its called real time engineering. I bought a couple for my darts but had not installed them, the old ones are still functioning.

I used a runtz resistor for the fuel gauge to step down the 12 volt to 6. Seems to work fine. A lot of restoration and fat fender speed shops sell these resistors.

Silver might be a good choice if your reflector is darkened with age.

I’d use compressed air followed with a copious amount of spray brake cleaner followed compressed air again, and make sure the compressed air blows all the solvent out...

No it wont hurt it, you don’t need it though. ZDDP is as you may know for the extreme pressure and shear that occurs between the cam and lifters. But in this case the spring pressures are low, unlike a flat tappet cam in a late model V8, and when hot rodded what makes it worse is a high lift cam and stronger springs in a V8...

Normally folks say why they are done or leaving.

Parts stores sell flex hoses with different size ends and lengths too, assuming your inlet on the radiator is bigger than the stat housing. That’s what i needed for mine.

80/20 would be loop similar to carpet used in 60’s and 70’s cars...cut pile would be used in mid 70’s to present. Earlier cut pile was similar to carpet used in a home. Late model cars is short cut pile. Not sure what 600 series is....ask them for a sample to see it.

I will be installing the Cherokee sway bar too. I initially installed a 1970 or so B-Body (road runner) sway bar. It worked, but when I lowered the front end it started rubbing the tires,so off it went. There is a write up on the site about this. Search for Cherokee sway bar or front sway bar.

I had the same problem only it was not the wire inside the distributor- it was the condensor. A lot of parts are made overseas these days and just don’t last they way they should. I swapped mine (which was hours new when it failed) with another new one, problem solved. I later searched at swap meets and found some older NOS pieces to keep as back up. Problem with these is in a 52 distributor (and maybe other years as well), you have to disturb/readjust the point gap when removing and installing the condensor. Pain in the behind. Ultimately what I am going with is a chrysler electronic ignition distributor and GM HEI ignition and ford coil. Lot of zap for the money. If you are interested the conversion is well documented on this site. You need a slant six distributor and a flat head donor distributor to make the change over, you then have the choice of mopar ignition box or or brand x types. I chose brand x for higher energy spark.

We used to call Lucas - luckless.

Your build looks great !. I noticed early on you had modded the oil system to a full flow filter . What was the procedure you followed ? Looks like you tap and or drill as needed to plug the block and then drill and tap the inlet outlet connections. Can you comment on the sizes fittings etc ?

Have you dropped the pan and cleaned out the old sludge in the bottom of the pan ?

Learned something new today !

Holy crap is that scary. I never planned on using the oem wheels on my car, but not for this reason....

Did you install the oil pan and valve cover gaskets or did the rebuilder ? The pan cork end gaskets are supposed to be left about an 1/8 inch long on each corner. I did mine that way and zero leaks.

Not sure about the wheel tire combo. I am using dodge 1980’s cop rims 15x7 with 215 70’s they fit great and no interferences.

I agree w Jeffsunzeri - figure out why it dies first. It maybe fuel or ignition. Fuel tank is actually pretty easy to check. Pull the 3” rubber plug out of the trunk floor and remove the sender. You can then examine inside the tank w/o removing it. And by the way the car is beautiful - I hope mine ends up as nice, at least that’s the plan !

Dr Doctor is right, armor all can make vinyl surfaces slick. Use some in a non critical place and see how it behaves. You might want to look at other similar products on the market. Griot’s garage makes leather conditioners which might work too.

I assume these are fabric and not vinyl ? I would try a cleaning machine like the little green machine, made by one of the big vacuum cleaner companies. It combines water based cleaner and a vacuum, kind of like a rug cleaner. That would help the cleaning side. Maybe some moisture will help flexibility a little, but probably will have to reupholster at some point....fortunately you probably don’t have foam inside the seats, which will break down over time. If Vinyl, you can try armor all to help soften after cleaning with a vinyl cleaner.

Something to think about too is the type of T.O.bearing used. They are not all the same. An angular contact bearing is what you want. In studies between different types of bearings angular contact bearings outlast other designs by a ton in applying and releasing the clutch plate.

Scary stuff with the wiring. Good call - by the way if you switch to 12 v your new wiring is good to go. You may want to install a battery cut off connection these are cheap insurance 5$. I have one on all my old cars and make the disconnect when sitting for long periods of time. Reduces electrical problems, and the battery stays pretty fresh too. If the linkages don’t work out, you may want to disconnect them from the trans and move the 2-3 lever to see if its internal. If so, its probably the synchro.

Hey thanks for all the replies ! I just started the reassembly of the car after having it painted. Lots of chrome, stainless, glass, weather strip to install. So along with this comes buffing stainless, detailing various parts, cleaning hardware, replacing wear items, etc. I chose to pick some low hanging fruit and installed the tail lights to begin the process. Progress will be slow since I am still working and travel a lot - work on the car is mainly weekends.