Dartgame

Dwest take a look at Randy Rundles page on overdrives - https://fifthaveinternetgarage.blogspot.com/2017/01/borg-warner-r-10-and-r-11-overdrives.html

My guess is your starter needs some attention, the load (amp draw) when cranking may be high due to internal resistance (lack of lube on bearings) or corrosion/dirt on the commutator and brushes. Take it out and disassemble & clean as suggested above by JB Neal. Be sure to make index marks on the main exterior components so they go back together the same way.

Ters - just noted you are in South Africa, so my comments may not be that useful. Good to hear the 7 1/4's in your hot rod slant 6's are holding up.

for 375, I'd replace the entire axle and update the drivehsaft to spicer design u joints. But thats just me. I'd be careful about checking the diameter of the drum. Seems to me they should be 10 inch ?

Ters - 7 1/4 axles are notoriously weak. I've seen a slant 6 kill one if driven hard, plus axle ratio is probably 2.76 to 1. A 318 can certainly blow one up with no issues at all. If you have a dart 8 1/4 or 8 3/4 I'd sell it - these are valuable to the A body folks, and hard to find, plus will more than pay for a more suitable late model axle. Some diplomats/gran fury's of 80's vintage may have an 8 1/4 which is a decent axle, but gearing will likely be numerically low - under 3.0 to 1. Best bet is a cherokee axle, most have 3.55 - 1 ratio. Both are about right width for flat head cars. Others like the 8.8 ford from an explorer, lots of ratios w/ limited slips can be found and disc brakes too if you chose right year.

I found somebody on ebay that was selling a similar unit for flat head mopars (from vintage auto garage) 3-5 years ago. I have not seen that listing on ebay for a few years now. Just an FYI - you can used the modern mini starters as used on 318 and 360 magnums on the older chrysler V8's with no issues, a true bolt on.

Secretary at work told me she wanted to clear out her garage. She and her husband had campaigned a super stock 70 hemi cuda back in the day. I cleaned out her garage and sold a bunch of parts she had for a commission. Crown jewels in the collection were as new take off rocker fish gill moldings, and a slick shifted aluminum bodied 833 4 spd that was NEW never run. They had a clutchflite of sorts as well, which actually used a turbo 400 instead of a 727, weird stuff. I ended up practically giving away the clutch operated turbo 400, which had two scattershields which were only good for the turbo 400. Other stuff sold without a hitch.

I was lucky - found one in a junkyard in New Mexico from a 53 plymouth, had overdrive script on the trunk. Had the yard pull it. $250 out the door. They either didnt care or didnt know the value, or already knew it had problems. Problem was it had lunched 2nd gear. Pulled a standard 3spd from same yard for parts. Fortunately we were able to mix and match and made one good overdrive trans. Its in my car now...

I used a universal wiring kit for 12volts. I decided to get one that would more than serve the needs and got a 22 fuse unit called Highway 22 made by american autowire. I liked their set up because the wires are not attached to the fuse panel, so you have the flexibility of determining your wire length without a huge bunch of wires already attached making it a messy process. The fuse panel has screw down terminals, very nice system, but not cheap, you get what you pay for.

Seems odd your vac adv cannister was an issue, without looking I seem to recall mine pointing towards the front. You might have been able to adjust without changing the plate by moving the firing order around one spot on the dist cap ?

As mentioned above the pilot bushing should be replaced. Its a pain but necessary for a proper job. Also be sure to get a throw out bearing which is described as an angular contact design. There are two or three throw out bearing designs commonly used. Angular contact bearings outlast the other types by a huge factor based on the number of times the clutch pedal is depressed.

Over 40 years ago I installed a TRW timing set for a small block mopar. I installed it according to the timing marks on the pieces. Guess what - the marks were off by one tooth. Engine ran, but I sensed it was running oddly. Tore it apart and voila, discovered the marking issue. Since then I always check cam centerlines. Bottom line - assuming TRW parts were made in the US back then, there is no guarantee of quality regardless of where it was produced. But in general anything electrical made today for the aftermarket especially from overseas is a gamble. I've had new water pumps fail because of the impeller loosening on the shaft after installation as well.

wonder what kind of motor is in it ? Mopar flat six ? Those gauges should be saved. Stewart Warner gauges like that sell for a nice profit on ebay, or use them yourself !

What is the round mark adjacent to the oil passage on the journal ? Otherwise bearing shell and journal look okay to me, normal condition.

Lucky you - I'm jealous.... and 265 to boot...what a beauty...

So cool you got it turn a full revolution ! Congratulations ! I'd do as Keith suggested, pull the bearing caps one at a time, examine and measure as well. I'd do all the rods and mains with the exception of the rear main while apart oil each one. If all the other mains look good leave the rear main alone. Its got the rear main seal inside it - I'd assume. No need to disturb that save all others look good. How do the cam lobes look ? Rusty or ? You could pop the pistons out for a thorough cleaning and maybe a light cylinder hone, if the cam looks ok and the oil pump etc is in working order. If the cylinders dont clean up with a hone then maybe its time to rethink the approach, and do a tear down and rebuild. It would be a shame to run it and tear something up. I'd be careful about the rust on the crank etc. if its loose it will fly around inside the engine and might cause damage.

The style stat in your link is exactly what I use. These I believe are made by robertshaw. They fit perfectly in my 52 and all the muscle era v8 mopars. They cost more, but you get what you pay...Note the size of the open area as well - lots bigger than the box store equivalent.

Vacuum advance is easy to check. Backyard mechanic method. Remove the vac adv line from the carb find a piece of small rubber hose that fits tightly on the loose end of the vac line. Then using your mouth pull some vacuum (suck) on the rubber hose and let your tongue seal it. hold it and see if it maintains the vacuum you applied for 10-20 seconds. If it does then you are good to go. More sophisticated way of checking - get a hand operated vacuum pump (mighty vac) and substitute it for the mouth portion of the procedure above, these have a vacuum gauge which will hold the reading if the adv unit is good. To find other leaks get some carb cleaner spray. While running the engine, squirt a little of the spray around the suspect items. Be careful of fire hazard, dont use too much spray. if the engine changes speed you have found a leak.

I'd buy a dial bore gauge and measure the mains and rods when torqued to spec. and verify your caliper is accurate when measuring the crank journals. .003 is a little on the loose side, you might end up getting some .001 bearings....as it seems that your .002 bearings are too tight.

Fender spears were hard to find in decent shape to restore and polish, and the rocker stainless trim was difficult. The trunk latch was another pain since these really can't be rechromed with the lock mechanism trapped inside, you are relegated to finding a good used or NOS piece. Other frustrating things were the trim clips for the belt line moldings particularly the rears. I ended up using and adapting a variety of different clips, small freeze plugs and rubber bumpers drilled through etc to make that work.

For your fuel tank - see if the sending unit is accessed through the trunk floor, most of the 40's and at least early 50's Plymouths have this feature. Pull up the rubber matt and look for a circular metal or rubber plug about 3-4 inches diameter. If it is remove it and you will see the sending unit which is held in with screws - remove it and you can look directly into the tank without removing the tank.

If you have not used a pressure washer before you might be surprised at how much crud gets cut off without any additives in the water.

Look at a 1975 vintage straight six - like a chevy or Ford 230 or a mopar slant 225 powered car. Go to rock auto or other and look up the size and type catalytic converter those used, that should get you there. I know for certain chrysler products did not use an air pump in the US outside of California. They had a few vacuum gizmos on the distributor to change the vacuum advance and an EGR valve but none of those would affect the Cat and its effectiveness. I suspect as others have said; a razor sharp tune should clean up the exhaust, set the dist at about 5 BTDC, and adjust the valves. Additionally use a stronger spark ignition, like an electronic distributor retrofit and use a Ford EEC IV coil. Lots of spark energy ! GM did this too, to help clean up their exhaust emissions in the mid 70's.

Dont know specifically about fluid drive transmissions. I know for sure on the manual boxes there is a spot for a switch. Reverse lights were optional and so often there is no reverse light switch on the trans. In that case they are blocked off using a hex headed plug. The hex size is about 7/8 inch or something like that, shallow flat hex head. On manual transmissions located on the drivers side midway down the trans...

You can handle it. Check the pan rails once its off and straighten the areas around the bolt holes, these sometimes get bent upwards due to over tightening.