resq302
Well-Known Member
Thanks. The whole reason behind this thread is for showing essentially an "unrestored" car and what it looks like with how close I can get it back to the way the factory did it.
Bringing it back to factory specs!
- Thread starter resq302
- Start date
resq302
Well-Known Member
So I got some more work done on the GTX today with the trans. Did I mention the car still has the original torque converter in it? Check out the drain plug in the converter on the left hand side of it almost up being covered by the block / trans housing.
Trans after I cleaned all of the grease and grime off. One full bottle of Simple Green and 3 cans of Brake Cleaner spray! I honestly think it was 1/4" thick in some places with grease! Also, factory trans lines were in surprisingly good shape considering the age of the car. A little polishing with some 0000 steel wool and they look as good as new!
Ok, this picture is of the new aftermarket gear shift selector seal which is an improvement over the tapered factory seal. This new seal is a machined piece of aluminum with an o ring to seal up the shaft and another outer o ring to seal up the ring to the trans housing. Very snug fit which is good because our gear shift selector shaft on the valve body had two grooves in it from where the old seal must have hardened up and wore into the shaft.
valve body. notice the two rings on the shaft.
Trans mount installed back into the cross member which was repainted in the same sheen black.
Galvanized inspection cover reinstalled and treated with RPM. All I have left to do now is install the levers and rods and fill it with trans fluid and the job will be complete!
Trans after I cleaned all of the grease and grime off. One full bottle of Simple Green and 3 cans of Brake Cleaner spray! I honestly think it was 1/4" thick in some places with grease! Also, factory trans lines were in surprisingly good shape considering the age of the car. A little polishing with some 0000 steel wool and they look as good as new!
Ok, this picture is of the new aftermarket gear shift selector seal which is an improvement over the tapered factory seal. This new seal is a machined piece of aluminum with an o ring to seal up the shaft and another outer o ring to seal up the ring to the trans housing. Very snug fit which is good because our gear shift selector shaft on the valve body had two grooves in it from where the old seal must have hardened up and wore into the shaft.
valve body. notice the two rings on the shaft.
Trans mount installed back into the cross member which was repainted in the same sheen black.
Galvanized inspection cover reinstalled and treated with RPM. All I have left to do now is install the levers and rods and fill it with trans fluid and the job will be complete!
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resq302
Well-Known Member
Today I got the rest of the linkage and rods onto the trans as well as getting the drive shaft in. I seem to recall the pic of the factory installed u-joint straps being blurry so since my wife was nice enough to get me a new Canon digital camera, here is a new pic of it and the trans rods and linkage that was installed.
I also got the intake manifold torqued down to the proper specs a well as getting the exhaust manifolds back on and painted with the propper pattern for the overspray.
stampings in the ID pad clean and bare just like from the factory. (Special thanks to Dave Walden for that tip on how to do it!)
I also got the intake manifold torqued down to the proper specs a well as getting the exhaust manifolds back on and painted with the propper pattern for the overspray.
stampings in the ID pad clean and bare just like from the factory. (Special thanks to Dave Walden for that tip on how to do it!)
resq302
Well-Known Member
Major progress today! I gained a lot more space on Dad's workbench as I had been using that as a "staging" area to lay out stuff to get ready to install once I got the painting done on the engine. I pretty much got all of the engine back together with the exception of the electrical stuff such as the wiring harness, spark plug wires, spark plugs, and throttle cable hooked back up. I'm really getting excited with getting it back together. Oil and coolant is back in we are one step closer to getting this fired up!
Upper and lower correct rad. hoses installed temporarily till I got the rad in place.
Fan, pulleys, and power steering pump back in. Also installed the green factory oil filter.
Radiator is back in, hoses hooked up and clamped in place with original corbin clamps, carb installed, coil mounted with capacitor, correct ribbed heater hoses with correct part numbers installed....
repro cloth wrapped belts installed.
valve covers back on, distributor in place, air cleaner and breather back on as well.... won't be long now!
I also got some NOS J-11Y spark plugs to install into the car. One more thing to bringing it back to the way it left the assembly line!
Upper and lower correct rad. hoses installed temporarily till I got the rad in place.
Fan, pulleys, and power steering pump back in. Also installed the green factory oil filter.
Radiator is back in, hoses hooked up and clamped in place with original corbin clamps, carb installed, coil mounted with capacitor, correct ribbed heater hoses with correct part numbers installed....
repro cloth wrapped belts installed.
valve covers back on, distributor in place, air cleaner and breather back on as well.... won't be long now!
I also got some NOS J-11Y spark plugs to install into the car. One more thing to bringing it back to the way it left the assembly line!
resq302
Well-Known Member
I actually got the engine running and all timed today. Amazing what happens when you have the proper amount of oil in it. I guess the lifters bled down and with manually turning the engine over, it squeezed what little oil might have been in there out. I think the engine took a total of 6 quarts after running it the first time and stopping it. More than likely any oil that had been in there drained out as the car has sat for quite some time. Good news is that once it was running it still had what sounded like a bad lifter or a weak lifter which eventually quieted down. For a minute, I was worried I might have to pull the intake and valve cover again and have to replace the lifters. Luckily, everything straightened out and it is running nice and strong!
I still have to pull the entire front end and restore that and during that time, the upper control arm hardware will be stripped of the bronze paint and RPM'd as the correct plating is still there and in great shape. ( I had to pull the front hardware as the gold was annoying me since it wasn't correct!) lol
We have the proper master cylinder AND the proper Midland-Ross power brake booster for a drum car.
Anyway, here are some more pics of the engine. The nice orange over spray on the manifolds is no longer there and burned off within about 10 mins of idling when I was setting the timing. Oh well, at least I took pics of it before when it was pretty! lol
As you can see, the exhaust manifolds look gray again :icon_frown:
I also had a chance to install the correct saddle type exhaust clamps on the system today. Details, details, details! lol Also a pic of the dated correct mufflers from ECS!
I still have to pull the entire front end and restore that and during that time, the upper control arm hardware will be stripped of the bronze paint and RPM'd as the correct plating is still there and in great shape. ( I had to pull the front hardware as the gold was annoying me since it wasn't correct!) lol
We have the proper master cylinder AND the proper Midland-Ross power brake booster for a drum car.
Anyway, here are some more pics of the engine. The nice orange over spray on the manifolds is no longer there and burned off within about 10 mins of idling when I was setting the timing. Oh well, at least I took pics of it before when it was pretty! lol
As you can see, the exhaust manifolds look gray again :icon_frown:
I also had a chance to install the correct saddle type exhaust clamps on the system today. Details, details, details! lol Also a pic of the dated correct mufflers from ECS!
resq302
Well-Known Member
short video I took once I got the car running and tuned.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt61uun7otfzcpn/MVI_0067.MOV
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt61uun7otfzcpn/MVI_0067.MOV
5boys
Member
Just used a speedi sleeve on one of my illegitamete boys jeeps , pinion yoke seal, might help on that shifter problem
resq302
Well-Known Member
Shifter problem is all fixed. The only leak I have right now is a very small rear main seal which I'm hoping will stop with a little more engine use.
Budnicks
I will apologize to everyone in advance
Looks & sounds great
1) are you saying you ran it without oil?
2) how do you put 6 quarts of oil in a 5 quart (402 pan is 4 quarts + 1 quart for the filter) system?
:huh:
resq302
Well-Known Member
No, what happened was I put 4 quarts in and the dipstick read full. I am guessing that since I had the oil pan down and rotated the engine assembly, I could have bled out the lifters and any oil that would have been clinging to areas might have drained out. All I know is that I added another quart and it was still low which caused me to put in half of the 6th quart and that brought it up about the middle of the dipstick.
Prior to me working on the engine, when we would first start up the car, the engine would have a tapping noise (probably a lifter that bled down) which would disappear in about a minute or so. Finding what we did with all the nylon material from the OE timing gear in the sump pick up screen, that could have explained why the tapping noise was there due to the low volume of oil flow. Once the engine was making that noise for about 30 seconds, I had my Dad shut down the engine since I knew something wasn't right.
When I am back there on Monday, I will double check the level of the oil before I run it again. Either way, the car ran REALLY strong when I took it out for a spin yesterday after I got the timing set. I found to very minor leaks. The first is the rear seal which seems to leak on every single vehicle I have ever owned even after I've had my engine in my charger rebuilt. The second is a tiny weap area where the oil pump gasket is. That had not been leaking before so it could be something simple like the gasket drying out and needing to swell back up once the engine runs some more.
Prior to me working on the engine, when we would first start up the car, the engine would have a tapping noise (probably a lifter that bled down) which would disappear in about a minute or so. Finding what we did with all the nylon material from the OE timing gear in the sump pick up screen, that could have explained why the tapping noise was there due to the low volume of oil flow. Once the engine was making that noise for about 30 seconds, I had my Dad shut down the engine since I knew something wasn't right.
When I am back there on Monday, I will double check the level of the oil before I run it again. Either way, the car ran REALLY strong when I took it out for a spin yesterday after I got the timing set. I found to very minor leaks. The first is the rear seal which seems to leak on every single vehicle I have ever owned even after I've had my engine in my charger rebuilt. The second is a tiny weap area where the oil pump gasket is. That had not been leaking before so it could be something simple like the gasket drying out and needing to swell back up once the engine runs some more.
resq302
Well-Known Member
:drive: It drives even better than it sounds and looks!
droptop
Well-Known Member
So you think this is an "unrestored" car? Unrestored to me means the way it did come from the factory, not "back to the way the factory did it".:cents:
resq302
Well-Known Member
Restored means to bring it back to original condition. When these cars were made, the minute they were started in the assembly, essentially, they started to deteriorate. Perfect example is a raw, untreated metal part such as cast iron or even sheet metal. Left untreated, and sometimes even treated, the parts will start to corrode such as oxidizing. Essentially, the factory finish if left untreated would be an ever changing process. Another example would be the paint on a car. How many vehicles have you seen with oxidized paint? By what you are saying, should anyone wax their car or even polish the paint, they are deviating from the way it came from the factory.
Again, there is a fine line when trying to do something like this. My goal is to bring the car back to the way the factory would have done it with keeping all of the characteristics and documenting the way how the factories assembled and built these cars.
Again, there is a fine line when trying to do something like this. My goal is to bring the car back to the way the factory would have done it with keeping all of the characteristics and documenting the way how the factories assembled and built these cars.
droptop
Well-Known Member
That would be restored to original, not unrestored.
resq302
Well-Known Member
What I was referring to in that quote that you did of mine was that we were taking a "unrestored" car and will be bringing it back to the factory specs of how it would have rolled off the assembly line. I do not believe I have ever said that we were going to leave this car as an unrestored car as someone had changed out the seat covers and carpeting as well as doing an external repaint yet leaving the jambs and underside of the trunk the original factory applied paint.
resq302
Well-Known Member
So I got a lot of progress done on Monday! I was able to remove the original dated 68 drums from the car so we can preserve them for an OE event. I put repro's on there in the mean time and painted them with the red face like the factory would have done.
I did find that there was a green inspection mark on each of the snouts for the front hubs. This green mark appears to have been painted over with red when they painted the faces of the drums even though they contradicted the "2 inch" wide paint instructions and to not get it on the lug nut studs which there was evidence of red paint as well.
factory swedging which I had to grind away to remove the hub. Notice the red paint on the tip of the stud.
another view of the hub on the pass. side.
even the bearing caps got red paint. Again, contradicting the factory assembly schematic.
cleaning up some of the gray paint that someone had put onto the drums revealed the factory applied red paint on the faces of the drums.
driver side hub with factory left hand studs. Hard to tell in this picture but the left hand studs have what seems to be a copper plating to them.
behind the front drums.
cant wait to get this all cleaned up when I do the front end! 44 years of grease and grime building up!
The finished product with the red line bias ply tires back on. Dad's happy with the look (so am I!)
original lug nuts with the dimple and the L stamped onto the flat surface near the wheel.
I was also able to remove the incorrect power brake booster and master cylinder and install the correct Midland-Ross brake booster with the correct plating.
ended up going to Dad's today to take the booster off cause of a leak when you stepped on the brake pedal. I ended up taking some pics of the car how it looks right now with the top down.
I did find that there was a green inspection mark on each of the snouts for the front hubs. This green mark appears to have been painted over with red when they painted the faces of the drums even though they contradicted the "2 inch" wide paint instructions and to not get it on the lug nut studs which there was evidence of red paint as well.
factory swedging which I had to grind away to remove the hub. Notice the red paint on the tip of the stud.
another view of the hub on the pass. side.
even the bearing caps got red paint. Again, contradicting the factory assembly schematic.
cleaning up some of the gray paint that someone had put onto the drums revealed the factory applied red paint on the faces of the drums.
driver side hub with factory left hand studs. Hard to tell in this picture but the left hand studs have what seems to be a copper plating to them.
behind the front drums.
cant wait to get this all cleaned up when I do the front end! 44 years of grease and grime building up!
The finished product with the red line bias ply tires back on. Dad's happy with the look (so am I!)
original lug nuts with the dimple and the L stamped onto the flat surface near the wheel.
I was also able to remove the incorrect power brake booster and master cylinder and install the correct Midland-Ross brake booster with the correct plating.
ended up going to Dad's today to take the booster off cause of a leak when you stepped on the brake pedal. I ended up taking some pics of the car how it looks right now with the top down.
Budnicks
I will apologize to everyone in advance
looken' great
resq302
Well-Known Member
So its been a while since I've done an update as to the progress. Some of you might have seen the issue we had with the new Mr. Gasket "fail safe" thermostat which ended up failing in the close position. So much for being "fail safe"! Anyway, on Monday, I started tearing into the front suspension on the car in hopes to have it finished up and buttoned back up in time to take the vehicle to the Slate Belt Mighty Mopar show on Father's Day. This is how the front end looked when I started the work.
some knuckle head painted the body color area with black paint.
I think I must have broken a record or something as I had the entire front suspension out in about 3 hours!
Here is something that is weird..... both fenders have what appears to be a access plate or splash shield missing. The screw holes are there but have no threads cut into them. Factory mistake maybe? Or did the GTX never have a splash shield up here where as my 69 Charger has a metal splash shield with a rubber gasket going around it. Also, note the red oxide primer!
Body color reapplied after cleaning and removing the incorrect black paint.
Undercoating reapplied with cardboard template held in place to mimick the factory process.
Cleaning up the lower control arms, I revealed even more of the orange inspection mark I had seen when it was still installed on the car.
what they looked like before!
Upper control arms. Left side is before..... right side is after an overnight soak in evapo-rust! Amazing stuff!
Blue paint from an inspection mark found on spindle.
This appears to have been a black inspection mark on the center link. This was after it was soaked in evapo-rust.
with another black stripe more towards the center.
Lower control arm after new bushing and pivot shaft installed. A nice coating of cosmoline (man that stuff stinks!)
All of the hardware and other miscellaneous parts waiting to be treated with RPM. Strut bars and center link have also been treated with evapo-rust at this point. Torsion bars still need to be restored.
some knuckle head painted the body color area with black paint.
I think I must have broken a record or something as I had the entire front suspension out in about 3 hours!
Here is something that is weird..... both fenders have what appears to be a access plate or splash shield missing. The screw holes are there but have no threads cut into them. Factory mistake maybe? Or did the GTX never have a splash shield up here where as my 69 Charger has a metal splash shield with a rubber gasket going around it. Also, note the red oxide primer!
Body color reapplied after cleaning and removing the incorrect black paint.
Undercoating reapplied with cardboard template held in place to mimick the factory process.
Cleaning up the lower control arms, I revealed even more of the orange inspection mark I had seen when it was still installed on the car.
what they looked like before!
Upper control arms. Left side is before..... right side is after an overnight soak in evapo-rust! Amazing stuff!
Blue paint from an inspection mark found on spindle.
This appears to have been a black inspection mark on the center link. This was after it was soaked in evapo-rust.
with another black stripe more towards the center.
Lower control arm after new bushing and pivot shaft installed. A nice coating of cosmoline (man that stuff stinks!)
All of the hardware and other miscellaneous parts waiting to be treated with RPM. Strut bars and center link have also been treated with evapo-rust at this point. Torsion bars still need to be restored.
quikbird
Well-Known Member
looks like a real job . nice work. that evaporust looks like does a real nice job. where did you find that?