Green69rt's suspension, steering column. fuel tank

[green69rt]

I'm starting to accumulate the parts for the suspension and first thing I ran into is that rubber bushings for the leaf springs seem to be hard to come by, especially the front bushing (1 1/2".)  I looked at PST, Just suspensions, FFI, Mancini and others, all polyurathane.   I've read all the threads I could about the pros/cons and decided to stick with rubber.  Now where will I find them?  I even dropped by the local O'Reilly Auto Parts and all they have is poly!


Edit: found front bushings on Megaparts;  $35/each!!  Do they really cost this much?  Doesn't say if poly or rubber, fingers crossed.

[Dino]

As I recall, poly is used on the leaf springs even if you buy a rubber kit because it takes the sideways load better.  If everything else is rubber, you'd still have a cushy ride. 

Someone please correct me if I'm making stuff up again.

[green69rt]

I called megaparts and they said the front bushing that they offer is rubber. 

We'll see when I get it, it's ordered.

[HPP]

O'Reilly offers rubber fronts and rears. JC Whitney has em. Rock Auto should have em. Didja check your local Dodge dealer as well?

[green69rt]

O'Reilly offers rubber fronts and rears. JC Whitney has em. Rock Auto should have em. Didja check your local Dodge dealer as well?

I asked O'Reilly and all the guy turned up were poly.   Didn't think about JC Whitney.  Anyway I found some and they are coming.

[fy469rtse]

 
oh my god , Mitch , back on its own wheels again, soon

[green69rt]

Edit: found front bushings on Megaparts;  $35/each!!  Do they really cost this much?  Doesn't say if poly or rubber, fingers crossed.

Well, the bushings came in and they were rubber and it turns out they are only $35/pair.   That's more reasonable, (I sent the extra pair back.)

[green69rt]

Been doing a little bit of shopping for front end parts.  Found the TB adjuster blocks but $82 for a pair of blocks of steel and two bolts seems excessive but that was Mancini price  (Y1 was $100!! )  Found them at JUSTSUSPENSION for $7.78 each.  When I find that much difference I start to worry about the quality of the low priced part.  Anyone got any experience??

[fy469rtse]

Run a tap through you old ones, a fair amount of thread to hold bolt, I've never seen one with thread pulled out , but will clean up threads easily,
I saw the same Mitch and wondered how bad mine were , little bit of work and my time , that was all
Geoff

[green69rt]

Run a tap through you old ones, a fair amount of thread to hold bolt, I've never seen one with thread pulled out , but will clean up threads easily,
I saw the same Mitch and wondered how bad mine were , little bit of work and my time , that was all
Geoff

Yeah, I have come to the same conclusion, run a tap down the threads, wire brush the bolt and be done with it.  The actual piece looks ok and the threads, that I can see, are really sharp looking so I will reuse them. 

[fy469rtse]

Sorry Mitch , didn't see that you had replied
But get new top arm arm bolts,with offset washes for caster camber adjustment,
there the ones that seem to fatigue ,

[green69rt]

Sorry Mitch , didn't see that you had replied
But get new top arm arm bolts,with offset washes for caster camber adjustment,
there the ones that seem to fatigue ,

Haven't got close to that point yet but never fear, the old cm washers and bolts were in such bad shape that there's no way I would use on the car.  By the way, I've got all the parts to put the rear end under the car ( got them and then remembered I don't have any tires .)  But I am starting to accumulate front end parts.  I've been checking out the various UCAs.  Seems like there are 3 choices, stock stamped steel, welded tubular and the fancy tubular with the funny attachment points ( I think they are called Heim joints  .)  Got any advice, opinion, warnings?

[fy469rtse]

Helm joints I don't like , race item , unless you can put boots on them to protect the actual joint,
I like I think there from hoskist ? Tubular uppers , rubber or nolathane bushes, nice looking gussets to these
No spacers , to upper bolt's
That's another thing I don't like about helm joint's
Wide bushings, the loads over a bigger area then the helm joints
What I like, stronger lighter, able to do wheel alignment with a lot more caster already built in
My next purchase with I think the torsion bars bill on here used
1.03 diameter with I end hex on bars indexed a further 20 degrees,
I have .96's in Mitch ,
Not enough mainly because I have it down lower than factory ride height
These will allow me to have it down low with bars already under load even with the adjusters not even done up yet
Haven't driven one in four years building this car , maybe I just have get used to her,
But I don't think I'm finished yet

[green69rt]

So beginning on the leaf springs, got a rebuilt set (curtesy of CDR, thanks Charlie.) of RT springs with 7 leaves on one set and 6 on the other (pic #1.)

Took them to a local mechanic shop to get the front bushings removed and the the new ones pressed into the eye, they said the old ones were pretty much rusted up but they came out (pic #2.)

The rear bushing were long gone and the eyes were a mess of old bushing material and rust (pic #3.)

Took after the rear bushing with a brake cylinder hone (pic #4.)

[green69rt]

Ok, got the rear suspension installed (except for shocks.)  Not really that hard, just a lot of crawling around on the floor.

Pic #1 is the rear end assembly ready to slide under.  I guess you have the choice of connecting the shackles, etc to the springs first, I chose to mount them to the car.   All new bolts, shackles and bushings.

Pic #2 installed, now just need tires and lug nuts.

Pic #3 I saved the old tires that came with the car, after setting outside for 6 years, they still hold air!!  Had to go to Autozone to get some new lug nuts,  Got home and I had forgotten that this car had left hand threads on the left side lugs
Rooted around in my parts till I found four of the old nuts so it worked out.

Pic #4 I built up a temporary K member so I could mount some wheels on the front.  Now it rolls around again.  Next steps are to put the doors hood and fenders back on and see if the body is still straight and everything still fits.

[fy469rtse]

looking good Mitch,

[green69rt]

I keep nibbling away!

[cdr]

awesome 

[green69rt]

awesome 

Thanks, in part, to you Charlie.

[mopar4don]

It's great to see progress! Even if it is a little at a time.
Cause in the end it all adds up. 

[Mike DC]

  
I'm not necessarily against splicing subframe rails, but that joint could use some plating to reinforce it.  Remember it needs to hold up during a wreck as well as just driving around.  

[green69rt]

 
I'm not necessarily against splicing subframe rails, but that joint could use some plating to reinforce it.  Remember it needs to hold up during a wreck as well as just driving around.  

What you can't see is the sleeve that I put inside the rail.   These rails were bought before AMD or anybody else came out with the full versions so that's all I had.  I think I bought them though Dante's.   I felt the same way as you just mentioned, I wanted to make that connection as strong as the rest of the rail.  The new piece came with a flange so you could insert it in the old piece and weld it in place.  I did that and welded it inside and out.   Then I took a small length of old scrap rail, cut about a 6 inch section out, fit it inside the new stuff.  Drilled a few holes so I could weld through the patch then welded every edge and hole that I could find.  I was trying to make the joint as strong as possible.   Hope I did enough..

[Mike DC]

 
Sounds like you covered it.   


I've driven around for years on a spliced Mopar subframe before.  Its not a big deal if done right.  Not on these old cars. 

But with modern cars it's another story.  Now everything is designed-to-the-hilt for crumpling in just the perfect fashion, they use HS steel, etc.  Modern cars are car liable to be worse off for it even if you make the joint stronger than original.

[green69rt]

 
Sounds like you covered it.   


I've driven around for years on a spliced Mopar subframe before.  Its not a big deal if done right.  Not on these old cars. 

But with modern cars it's another story.  Now everything is designed-to-the-hilt for crumpling in just the perfect fashion, they use HS steel, etc.  Modern cars are car liable to be worse off for it even if you make the joint stronger than original.

I thought about what you said and I can see how things are different.  Today's cars are designed to have every little part take a little of the collision force so if you make one stronger then the balance is upset.  Don't really know but sounds good doesn't it??

[green69rt]

Got the LCA's blasted, reinforcement plates added and new bushings.   Then I painted them with cosmoline.  If I was doing it again, I think they would just get powder coated or painted black.  I used Resto Rick's spray.   If you don't need absolute original detail then I don't recommend cosmoline.   It's sticky, gooey and it never gets hard or dries.  I can imagine that if it is installed that it will pick up every piece of road dirt that hits it.   I followed a thread on here and painted over the cosmoline with clear Rustoleum and that seemed to help, at least it's not sticky anymore.  But the coating is pretty fragile.  I set the LCAs on my workbench and the clear got a little scatched up just from setting.

Pic of LCAs below.

[green69rt]

I've been thinking about what I'll be doing after the car leaves for paint.  I think one area is to get the suspension installed so it will be a true roller.

My car came with a front sway bar (383 engine. )   So was wondering if I need the rear?  FF has a 1 1/8" front bar and a 3/4" rear bar.  I don't know what my original is.    So is the FF setup a good choice?    I seem to remember my old RT really leaning in the corners so I might like the feel of front and rear.  Any thoughts out there?  The rest of the suspension is going to be close to stock, maybe a FF stage 2 stearing gear box.  Almost everything will be new, bushings, UCA, LCA etc, so I'm expecting the stearing to be fairly tight.

[Dino]

First off, excellent work! The car is looking great!   

As far as the sway bars go, it depends on how you'll be driving it and then still there's different schools of thought. All 2nd gens had front sway bars but they were not very thick. I have a 1-1/8" bar up front and I love it! It makes the front super stable even when going hard into turns. With a new, stock suspension you will be very pleased.

I also have a 7/8" rear bar but I have yet to install it and I'm not sure if I want to. I have had zero issues with the rear end, and mine sits kinda high, so installing a rear bar may make the rear want to break out and that's probably not a good thing.   

I don't think there's anything wrong with the FF setup and for that matter I don't see how any sway bar could be bad. They're pretty simple and straight forward, hard to mess up that design!

I say get a front bar and see how you like it, a rear bar is easily added later on.

[cdr]

Dino would be correct, i have 1 3/8 front hollow hotchkis,, rear latter if needed.

[green69rt]

Now that the car is back from paint I'm starting to get serious about putting some parts back on it.  I think I will list the suspension and brake parts that I want to use in this post, so here goes in no particular order.  Any thoughts?

Front end.

FF 1.0 inch TBs
Dr. Diff stage two front disc brake kit (11.75" discs)
New front sway bar, in fact replace the whole front end.
New UCA with the offset bushings.
Rebuilt LCAs with reinforced.
FF stage 2 steering gear box.
I already have a reconditioned and reinforced K frame.
Need to decide on the MC and booster.
Decide on the steering pump.


Rear end.
Existing 8 3/4 Suregrip rear end, 3.91 gears
Existing Dr Difff 10 1/2 rear drum setup
Rear RT springs rebuilt.

Front and back Bilstien shocks (maybe unless someone has a better idea.)

[green69rt]

Started putting the UCAs in today.  Had the stock bushings replaced with some offset bushings, then the trouble started.  So I installed the bushings so as to push the front of the control arm toward the fender and the back toward the engine, right?   Then put the arms in the fender brackets and adjust the cam bolts to push the front out and the back in,  again, should be no problem.   Well , somebody didn't tell the UCA factory to check the clearance between the UCA and the shock tower metal.

The first picture shows the trouble spot.  This "ear" that sticks out, sticks out too far.  This is on the rear bushing.

As much as I tried I could not get the rear bushing adjustment to go all the way in.  I took the UCA back off and looked and I could see where the ear was digging into the metal of the shock tower metal (pic #3).

Solution was to grind off about 1/4" off the ear( pic #2).  I'll try it again next week and see how it fits.  No time this weekend.

I don't think this is a problem of ordinary bushings, just the offset kind.  Also it doesn't affect the front bushings, just the rear.

[HPP]

Its hard to tell because the washers are on shown top of the bushings in your pictures and you don't show the relationship of the whole arm to know which is front and back, but you sure you have them oriented correctly?  If you followed the instruction in the box, then they won't be right for max caster.

You do want the front toward of the arm towards the fender and the rear towards the engine, but that means the holes in the bushings must be oriented the opposite of  that and the cams on the bolts must be oriented the opposite of the bushings.

[green69rt]

Its hard to tell because the washers are on shown top of the bushings in your pictures and you don't show the relationship of the whole arm to know which is front and back, but you sure you have them oriented correctly?  If you followed the instruction in the box, then they won't be right for max caster.

You do want the front toward of the arm towards the fender and the rear towards the engine, but that means the holes in the bushings must be oriented the opposite of  that and the cams on the bolts must be oriented the opposite of the bushings.

There's a thread on here that has a very nice little diagram of the orientation of the arrows on the bushings.  I gave that to the mechanic that installed the new bushings.

So, yeap, got them right.  Must have checked it 10 times.  So installed like you said,,, the front of the control arm gets offset away from the shock tower (hole goes toward the engine side of the control arm) which increases its clearance to the tower so no problem there even if I turn the adjustment cam all the way to move the control arm toward the engine, and I tested that just to make sure I could turn the bolts.  Then left the cams turned so the the front of the control arm was pushed out towards the fender the max distance.

The rear bushing was installed so the rear of the control are is offset towards the engine (hole offset towards the fender.)   And then when I went to turn the cam bolts the ear of the control arm was pushed up against the metal of the shock tower, and I had only turned the cam about half way towards the back.  Same on both sides.

Found it.

[green69rt]

These UCA cam bushings are really turning into a big PITA!

So , like I said before, I found that the offset cam bushings were pushing the rear of the UCA so far toward the engine that the UCA was hitting the shock tower.  I took the UCA back out and ground some metal off, painted it and put it back in.  Adjusted the forward cam to push the front of the UCA all the way out and the rear to push the UCA all the way towards the engine.   Good enough.  Then I worked both UCAs up and down to make sure they moved freely and got the worst grinding noise.  Now what?  Tried grease, no help.  So off they came again.

So now I found another problem.  On the driver side, there were now three gouge marks in the shock tower metal.  Pic #1 shows my finger pointing at the gouge from the UCA metal.  NO more marks and no paint so that's fixed.  But there are now two others.  Pic #2 shows my finger pointing at a gouge made by the flange on the bushing.  Pic #3 shows a gouge made by the ferrel (sp?) that came with the new bushing.   Pic #4 shows the size of the new ferrel vs. one of the original bushing ferrels.  MOOG made the new ones huge!   Anyway, ground everything down, put everything back together and finally everything moves freely, full range with no noise.  What a pain!

Has anyone else run into this problem??  I haven't heard if it has shown up before.

[cdr]

the adjuster bolt should be on the top side of the arc when adjusting.

[green69rt]

I understand what you mean.  Here's the same bolt on mine as it's installed today.  I think it's almost exactly the same position as yours.  Driver side/rear.

[green69rt]

Maybe I should start a separate thread about "Before and After" because I was going thru some old photos and found something.

Before and after of the drivers side.  Just a remarkable change.

[Dino]

I got a few of those pics and it's a lot of fun to look at them.   

[CDN72SE]

Nice before and after. 

[xsr/tse]

your car looks great!
But looking at the last picture, I think you have the caliper bracket bolted on the wrong side of the spindle and the lower ball joint bolts are also maybe backwards??

[green69rt]

your car looks great!
But looking at the last picture, I think you have the caliper bracket bolted on the wrong side of the spindle and the lower ball joint bolts are also maybe backwards??

Dang, you caught it.  I was test fitting and had put it there, then switched it to the other side later.  It's a wonder that I didn't get a lot of comments on that.  New arrangement below with disc installed, couldn't get the disc on with the bracket on the wrong side so it wasn't hard to figure out.

[green69rt]

Front brakes installed and now on to the hard lines.

Here's how I did the front discs install.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,129460.msg1610872.html#msg1610872

[green69rt]

Brakes done, although I'm still chasing one little oozing leak. Filled and bled.

Pic #1 MC and booster with lines and dist block installed.
Pic #2 Cleaned up and installed the brake pedal,

[green69rt]

I really beat my head against the wall trying to fix this problem.  Still working it.  The brake distribution block has a fitting on top where a copper washer seals against the main body of the block (see picture #1.)  The problem seems to be two things.  First the tiny copper washer/seal has no strength and distorts easily.  I tightened, checked for leak and it got better so tightened a little more, got better.  So tightened a little more and it got worse,  seal distorted.  Pic #2 shows the original copper seal with the one I replaced it with, much more meat on the new one.  Second problem is the seating surface of the body.  Pic #3 is a crude drawing of the top of the distribution block body.  The left drawing shows how it should be, the right is how mine is.  Almost no sealing surface on one side because the hole is a tiny bit off center.   I noticed this when I took it apart to change the seal.  So either I get it to seal or it will have to go back for replacement.

[green69rt]

I finally gave up trying to make the old block quit leaking.  Made a call to Dr Diff and he sent me a new block with no hassle, that's the kind of service I like!   Installed it and so far it's dry as a bone.   Need to bleed the system again and it's on to the next job.  FYI, here's a picture of the old/leaky block.  The arrow points to the place that leaked.  You can see that there is almost no seating area for the seal to engage.  The manufacturer just drilled the hole off center.

[green69rt]

Here's the next job.  Sent the steering box off to Frim Feel for a stage 2 rebuild. 

[green69rt]

Well, it's always something.  So, I got the 1 3/8" Hotchkis front sway bay.  Getting ready to put it in.  Summit Racing sent me the installation instructions for a Chevy F body so that slowed me down about 3 minutes.  So get on the Hotchkis web site and find the installation instructions for B body /Charger.   Great, but it says to weld the mounting brackets to the K frame.  I thought I was thru welding.



Is it OK to just bolt the brackets to the K frame, the original was installed that way?

[cdr]

I welded mine 

[HPP]

Yes, you could bolt them in. Addco, Helwig, and as you point out, the stock units, all bolt in.

[lukedukem]

Well, it's always something.  So, I got the 1 3/8" Hotchkis front sway bay.  Getting ready to put it in.  Summit Racing sent me the installation instructions for a Chevy F body so that slowed me down about 3 minutes.  So get on the Hotchkis web site and find the installation instructions for B body /Charger.   Great, but it says to weld the mounting brackets to the K frame.  I thought I was thru welding.



Is it OK to just bolt the brackets to the K frame, the original was installed that way?

I bought the same sway bar for my car and i bolted it in, i didn't have access to welder. i do now but it is working fine. you should be good
Just remember to put it in like a frown and not a smiley face. the Sticker will be upside down, but if you mount it like a smiley face, it has a better chance of dragging the ground if you bottom out.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,123802.75.html     Start at Reply #79

Luke

[green69rt]

Well, it's always something.  So, I got the 1 3/8" Hotchkis front sway bay.  Getting ready to put it in.  Summit Racing sent me the installation instructions for a Chevy F body so that slowed me down about 3 minutes.  So get on the Hotchkis web site and find the installation instructions for B body /Charger.   Great, but it says to weld the mounting brackets to the K frame.  I thought I was thru welding.



Is it OK to just bolt the brackets to the K frame, the original was installed that way?

I bought the same sway bar for my car and i bolted it in, i didn't have access to welder. i do now but it is working fine. you should be good
Just remember to put it in like a frown and not a smiley face. the Sticker will be upside down, but if you mount it like a smiley face, it has a better chance of dragging the ground if you bottom out.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,123802.75.html     Start at Reply #79

Luke

I followed the threads you gave and see what to do.  I'll install it in the "frown" position.  I also found that some were having problems with the grease fittings being broken off.  So I decided to re position them.  As for the label, I just peeled it off and stuck it back on so it would read correctly.

[green69rt]

I know this seems simple but just thought I would throw this up.

Pic #1 -  Here's before and after.
Pic #2 - I used a 1/8" drill to make a pilot hole it the bracket and then thru the bushing so the grease could get to the sway bar surface.  I also ran the drill thru the bushing a few times to make sure the passage was open and clear.  Make sure you drill on the back side of the bracket AND bushing.  The front of the bushing is split, don't drill that side!
Pic #3 - I camfered the bushing hole with a 1/4 drill because the bushing would compress and cause the hole to go out of alignment and I wanted to make sure the grease had a path to the hole.
Pic #4 - Finish drilling the bracket with 7/32 drill.  A better way would be to use the correct tap but I didn't have one.
Pic #5 - Both done.
Pic #6 - You can see that the fitting now hides behind the bracket.

[lukedukem]

I never thought about that. I didn't realize people had issues with them breaking off. 

Luke

[green69rt]

It's in this thread.  You have to read carefully.  Read reply #5 and from there on.  It's only a passing comment but it caught my attention.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,112375.0.html

[green69rt]

So I got my rebuilt steering box back from Firm Feel.  Probably cleaner than it has been in 40 years.  Should go right in, just three bolts.  But where are the bolts?  Search and search, finally CDR came to the rescue with a set that are correct.  Then mount it up and bolt it in.  Not so fast, can't get the box to set flush on the mounting pads and if I get the bolts in then can't get them to screw in all the way.  Now what.

Turns out that one of the K frame reinforcement plates I added sticks up far enough to interfere with the steering box.  Take the box back off, grind down the plate and weld bead. and now try again.  Why can't anything be easy

Pic #1 shows the plate that caused the problem.
Pic #2 is the inside view showing the ridge that caused all the problems.
Pic #3 ground off.  That steering box is a close fit to the K frame!!!

[CDN72SE]

Very nice thanks for posting. 

[green69rt]

I'm getting to the point that I need to think about wheels/tires.  I feel that I want the car on its feet so I can check stuff like pinion angle, rough front alignment, thrust angle, etc.  Disc brakes on the front, rear drums.

So, thinking about just some 15x8 road wheels with 4.5" BS and about 245/60 tires.  

So the question is where to get the wheels.  I found Classic Industries has them with 4.5 BS but I don't know the manuf of quality. Other option is Wheel Vintiques with the same.  Prices are comparable.   Any experience out there?  I've heard about pealing paint or bad chrome but it's all old news.

[green69rt]

Got the new box from FF installed and attached the tie rods, center link, idler are and pitman arm.  175 ftlb torque on the steering box output shaft bolt was a job!  Engine bay is a little more normal looking now.

[green69rt]

Got down under the car and started checking the alignment.  Started with establishing the center line of the car.  I used the center of the rear end case and the center of the K member as reference.  In the attached picture you can see it.  I checked that center line with the center of the trunk key slot and the hood point and everything was as within 1/8".  Considering my crude measurements I calling it dead on.

Then I dropped a plume line from the center of the front K-member bolts and snapped a chalk line on the floor (line A-A).  Measured out 30.5 inches from the center (a guess of 61 inches for the track width.)  Did a triangle measurement to a random point on the center line and got 44 1/2 on both sides.  Call that square.

Did the same on the back and found the diagonals were 1/2 difference.  Checked the front to back diff and got 132 1/2 inches on driver side and 133 inches on the pass side so it looks like the rear is cocked about 1/2 inch.

Question:  if I shim the driver side spring hanger by about 1/4 and get the measurements within 1/4 inch is that close enough?  All the specs in the manual say + or - 1/4".  Given the length of the bolts on the spring hanger, I don't think I can go much more than 1/4 inch on the shims.

[cdr]

yes it can be shimmed , but I would 1st put a long straight edge on the rear tires & confirm the direction they are pointing

[green69rt]

yes it can be shimmed , but I would 1st put a long straight edge on the rear tires & confirm the direction they are pointing

Yeah, that's what I did to get the line across the back.  Must have gone over it 10 times to make sure I got it right.  Hardest part was to measure those diagonals under the car.  A lot of crawling around under the car with the tape measure.  Got the wife to help.  Still came out about 1/2" off.  So, I shimmed the driver side back about 3/8" and now everything is as close to even as I can measure.  I'll have to take it to an alignment shop if I want it any better.

[cdr]

sounds like you got it good !!!! 

[green69rt]

Gettin stuff ready to put the gas tank in and started looking at the old hanger bolts.  These look really strange.  So much stuff was screwed up, I'm wondering of these are stock??   The place where my fingers are have two big globs of weld metal.  I'm wondering if someone took a couple of bolts, welded them together, cut off the heads and then bent the end for the hook?

[cdr]

those are homade junk

[green69rt]

those are homade junk

That's what I think, just ordered a set from 521 Restorations.

[green69rt]

Been plenty hot in Houston so working in the garage was greatly reduced.  But, I did manage to complete the fuel system except for the lines and sender wire.  I had read a  lot, on here, about how the fuel guage sender gaskets give problems so when I put mine on I stood it on end and poured some gas into the tank and left it for a few hours (pic #1.)   Dry as a bone.

The rest was really just assembly.

Pic #2 - I got the SS tank, straps and sender.
Pic #3 &4 - years ago I picked up a chrome filler tube.   Hardest part was getting the tube thru the tank grommet.  I ended up having to file the end a little because the tube was cutting into the grommet rather than pushing thru.  File and a little WD40 and it eventually went in!  I used a rubber grommet from Lowes to get the vent thru the floor.
Pic #5 - and finally got the filler cap installed.  Since the cap was new, trim ring original, AMD quarter and repro filler tube, naturally they were a little off.  I had to hog out the hole in the quarter just a little (5/16" drill) to get enough wiggle room for the screws to line up.  Used the tamper resistant screws that someone did a group buy on a few years back.


Fuel lines next and it's done!

[green69rt]

And fuel lines in and connected.  And I didn't forget the little ground strap on the tank.  Not much to see.

[green69rt]

So, got my steering column out and took it apart.  Several threads on here about this so I'll try not to repeat.  Couple of thing worths mentioning.   I am leaving my car as a three speed column shift.  At one time I was considering converting to a floor shift with a console.  Now I want to leave the buddy seat in and have the wife scoot over next to me when we drive together.

Anyway, stripped the column and painted it to match the dash.  Then stripped the internal shifter tube and gave it a couple of coats of Eastwoods Internal Frame Coating (pic #1.)

Got a bunch of stuff from Y1 to rebuild everything.  As I noted in another thread, the turn signal switch seemed to be an exact replica of my original (pic #2.)

Tried and tried to get the pin out of the coupling end but was afraid I'd damage something so left it in place.  Tried to push the coupling seal down from the wheel end and ended up splitting the seal so ordered a new one and will try from the coupling end.  Anyway it sets waiting on the new seal that I should get today. (Pic #3.)

Finally, here is something I bought years ago when I knew even less than I do now.   It's a retainer for the coupling seal (pic #4.)  For the life of me, I can't remember why I bought it.   Seems like I don't need it now.

[green69rt]

Final note on the brakes.  Been a while since I did anything on the brakes.  Got everything installed and since the engine was not in I knew it would take a lot of pressure to stop the car.  Now I've got the engine in and running it is time to finish the brakes.  Hooked up the vacuum line and start the car.  I got really hard petal.  I've seen others with the same problem so tried to adjust the output shaft on the booster.  Not enough adjustment available to make the brakes work right.  I had to make a spacer to go between the booster and the MC.  Just took a piece of 1/4 plate steel and cut it to fit.  

Pic #1 spacer I made.
Pic #2 no spacer installed.
Pic #3 installed (look closely)

Then test it again, now I got good feeling brakes and travel but no brake pedal return,  Arrrgghh.  Start taking thing apart again and as soon as I loosened up the bolt that goes thru the brake pedal to the input shaft to the booster, the pedal returns to its rest position.  I guess I just tightened everything up too much.  Now all is well.

[mopar4don]

So this is a common problem? And to fix it you add a spacer plate?

[green69rt]

So this is a common problem? And to fix it you add a spacer plate?

I don't know how common it is but I've seen threads, on here, where folks had the problem.  I bought my brake  system from DR Diff.  I suspect he assembles these systems from individual vendors and then sells them.  If the booster and MC are from different vendors, or mismatched in some way, you get the problem I had. I tried several times to make the adjustment but couldn't make it work.  Finally found the tool shown below, it even had a short video of how to use it.  It showed me the problem in a snap and how much I was off.  I knew I needed about an extra 1/4" of adjustment range.

[mopar4don]

Good to know, and I will save this away for future reference. Thanks for sharing.
So how close are you to driving? It sure looks good!

[b5blue]

Hey paint the fuel cap screws mine started rusting. If the fuel cap is repop keep it waxed, the chrome on mine looks crappy after 5 years and the cotter pins for hinge and release coated in something as they rust quickly.

[green69rt]

Good to know, and I will save this away for future reference. Thanks for sharing.
So how close are you to driving? It sure looks good!

Working the interior now.  Biggest thing is to get seats in it.  In a pinch I could just put the old green seats in to drive.  Need to do some front end alignment work and install the headlights.  I can do without the grill if I need to.  I could get a license at that point.  So really close.   Hard working in the heat in Houston.  No AC in my garage.

[green69rt]

Hey paint the fuel cap screws mine started rusting. If the fuel cap is repop keep it waxed, the chrome on mine looks crappy after 5 years and the cotter pins for hinge and release coated in something as they rust quickly.

My cap is a repop but the surrounding ring is original.  Makes me wonder if RPM would help with these problems. 

[b5blue]

RPM?  The heat is oppressive here also. I've a high velocity floor fan for my carport that helps some.  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Vie-Air-20-Industrial-Tilting-High-Velocity-3-Speed-Metal-Floor-Fan/198838306