When a 1968 Plymouth Satellite 4-door enters your life...

[cudak888]

IT LIVES!

More later...

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

I've been intending to post a proper update with a video teaser, but got tripped up this weekend by a failed 3TB Seagate hard drive. Haven't lost any of the video, but I've maxed out a spare drive and have no drive pairs (one backup) over 500GB to allocate for the project video footage I've assembled over the last year. Wish I could afford a few drives to assemble a decent RAID array, and even a JBOD that would handle all my video files isn't THAT cheap when you're practically flinging money at the car.

In the meantime, you'll all have to be content with a few engine photos from Sunday. Front of the intake is a MESS from the thermostat outlet leaking (t-stat wasn't centered at first install, cue a big geyser of water during the pressure test), and was compounded by the bypass nipple leaking (ditched the Teflon, gave it a good fat coating of sticky gasket shellac and shoved it back in there - I don't care how much of a pain it'll be if I ever have to get it out again, so long as it doesn't leak).

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

Been following this build Kurt...Nice work ! I'm digging it ! ::thumb::

 

[cudak888]

Been following this build Kurt...Nice work ! I'm digging it ! ::thumb::

Thanks, Q!

Honestly though, I'd really like to wrap the Satellite up and get back to nagging you about the bodywork on the '71s left quarter

-Kurt

 

[Totalled]

Moar!!!

 

[cudak888]

Not until I get those drives and can back this crap up.

Also in the process of trying to sell my Blackmagic Cinema Camera to put towards a Canon C100 for ease of shooting with a better picture quality. I've got my money going every which way but where it should be (savings), and all the crap I have on eBay for $9.99 isn't selling. Ain't that always the way...

Then again, who am I to complain? I bought a mint OEM Shelby GT500 car cover at a yard sale for $15. Then I saw what they bring on eBay. That'll pay for the Sanden air compressor and then some...

Incidentally, if anyone has a spare Edelbrock or Carter kicking around, let me know - including hardly rebuildable junk (I like a challenge). Mopar linkage a plus. As much as I like the Summit carb, it's too much of a hassle on the Chrysler application, and I'm going to put it on Soylent Green instead. Can't find a single factory Mopar lid made after '67 that doesn't interfere with the float needle adjustment on the Summit carb.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Shopping list is getting shorter:

• Sanden CP7H13 U7312
  
• Kickdown from 4-barrel 360 (This is what it looks like)
  
• Fan shroud (Mopar #P2998326)
  
• 18" clutch fan (from junkyard)
  
• Mopar air cleaner
  
• Possible change of spark plug wires - the Accel ends do not fit tightly in the Borg-Warner distributor cap
  

Sacrificial anode radiator cap is on its way, along with a '70-style dual belt squareback alternator.

-Kurt

 

[Totalled]

I had to clearance a drop base open element air cleaner with a ball peen hammer to work with my Summit carb on my F-350. A stock 1970 390 air cleaner worked fine, as did the reproduction "HiPo" air cleaner for a 60's mustang.

 

[cudak888]

I had to clearance a drop base open element air cleaner with a ball peen hammer to work with my Summit carb on my F-350. A stock 1970 390 air cleaner worked fine, as did the reproduction "HiPo" air cleaner for a 60's mustang.

I was able to get a '72 302 (Mustang) air cleaner on top of it without issue either.

Still, it's a much taller carb than any Edelbrock - and I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that any air cleaner I installed towered over the valve covers like a hovering UFO rather than a like part of the engine.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

The downpipes had not been completely welded when I first started the engine. Finished my semi-booger welds tonight:

That said, I have a bit of a quandary going with the ball-end Walker exhaust manifold connectors. These things have thick flanges with no bevel/chamfer at the flange:

(FYI, the pic shows the 2.5" versions - they won't work if you're trying to cross-reference part numbers. You need the 2.25" version, P/N #41725 for the large-flange Magnum manifolds).

Unsurprisingly, I don't have the ball ends centered on the manifolds so that the pipe clears the torsion bar with ease (no matter how centered it looks here, it isn't):

This said, can I rely on the flat flanges to seal the ball end, even if the pipes are not parallel to the manifold? They seemed to be nice and tight during the engine startup, but I can tell you that you'd never hear an exhaust leak running it with those short downpipes.

Should I get a pair of chamfered 2.25" flanges (like the one below) and replace the flat flanges? Honestly, I'm a bit paranoid about getting an answer on this one, for it looks like I've run into yet another one of those unusual little questions that the internet has never answered until now. Seems like everything has beveled flanges except these things from Walker.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Almost finished up my "too cheap to pay an exhaust shop" booger-welded exhaust system.

Not really too concerned that it might not flow as good as it could. I just care that it works and saves me a few hundred dollars.

Both pipes are just hanging from the Walker flared-end collectors in front, one lower than the other. I don't want to cut or measure the collectors for cutting just yet, as I'm waiting to buy a pair of proper beveled collector flanges from Treblig and install them at the same time I button everything up.

-Kurt

 

[Mustang Dynasty]

I've been intending to post a proper update with a video teaser, but got tripped up this weekend by a failed 3TB Seagate hard drive. Haven't lost any of the video, but I've maxed out a spare drive and have no drive pairs (one backup) over 500GB to allocate for the project video footage I've assembled over the last year. Wish I could afford a few drives to assemble a decent RAID array, and even a JBOD that would handle all my video files isn't THAT cheap when you're practically flinging money at the car.

In the meantime, you'll all have to be content with a few engine photos from Sunday. Front of the intake is a MESS from the thermostat outlet leaking (t-stat wasn't centered at first install, cue a big geyser of water during the pressure test), and was compounded by the bypass nipple leaking (ditched the Teflon, gave it a good fat coating of sticky gasket shellac and shoved it back in there - I don't care how much of a pain it'll be if I ever have to get it out again, so long as it doesn't leak).

-Kurt

Can relate on those 3TB storage units. Have one, 3TB WD just out of warrantee w/mfg and contracted through vendors's source w/ Best Buys which the driver went out on me w/2,72TB in pictures and movies via my Leicas. Will not let the Geek Squad 'crak it open via trashing it's casing however Western Digital now w/6TB storage and back up uitsare spose to be very reliable. the 6TB unit @$250.00 in outside storage fixture and for sure a 5TB back up block @same cost. which think should have had a back up block as the internet back ups to reset operating mode only.

 

[cudak888]

Point #1: I hate Daylight Savings Time. Might as well work on the car at midnight.

Point #2: I really like these exhaust flanges. Big thanks to Treblig of the For A Bodies Only forum for hooking me up with these, seeing as Walker doesn't advertise the inside diameter of their OEM replacement flanges. Grrr.

Point #3: If all goes well on the weekend, perhaps those flanges will become part of my exhaust, permanently.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Today, I tried welding and installing my pipes in this evening...in the rain.

Of course, it was neither nighttime nor evening when I first started.

It looked promising enough in the early afternoon. Flanges went on nicely, welds couldn't have been better, and this is what I call one hell of a perfect fit seeing that I figured out all the bends on this redneck exhaust without ever lifting the car up an inch, and pretty much threaded it through the bottom of the car flawlessly:

Then I welded on a small extension to make up the gap at the muffler (you can see it in the first photo), and installed the left pipe.

Turns out I was a bit too well tucked in. The straight section of 2.5" pipe pulled up just a quarter inch from the floorpan. Not enough for my liking.

After cutting and fooling with the fit at the back, I put it back in - and this time, I angled it wrong. So I closed up for the evening. Grrrrrrrrr.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Today, I got smart. I put the final section of 2.5" pipe in each muffler, and mitered it until it matched the pipe in front of it. With a few crosshairs placed on the pipe, I was able to get each section welded up perfectly.

That, and the USPS surprised me by delivering my 2.5 OD to ID exhaust band clamps just as I was finishing up the second pipe. Score!

But I don't have a photo of any of that (boo). I don't even have a photo of the brand-new Edelbrock 1406 I dumped on top of it (double boo). But I had barely enough fuel in the Summit - just before I pulled it - to record just a bit of what the new exhaust sounds like before it shut off. Please excuse the lens flares.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF3DycKpiz0

Not as quiet as I had expected...

Also had to get a power steering cap from the auto parts store. The original cap's seal was a goner - the P/S pump was a geyser of fluid on both of these startups.

-Kurt

 

[Totalled]

What mufflers are you running?

 

[cudak888]

At last, the carburetor that the Mopar gods intended in the first place. Note how much better the throttle linkage and return springs sit.

Spent the majority of the day trying to figure out why it wouldn't stay running - and only then realized that the Edelbrock (first time I've had one) has a 1/4" port in the back for power brakes, and it was gaping open!

Goodness knows I thought I heard a vacuum leak.

That said, I plugged it, and the engine started right up. Two problems:

1. The steering is locked solid. I must have installed the pump cam ring the wrong way. That would also explain why it's spitting fluid.

2. The engine idles good, but there's a valvetrain noise coming from the right side of which I'm quite worried about. Not a healthy sound.

It'll all have to wait though. I consider it a victory that I got it running, and will bask in that victory as I spend a bit of time this week plumbing the Summit carb on my '71 Mustang.

-Kurt

What mufflers are you running?

OEM-replacement spec Walker turbo mufflers with 2.5" glasspacks behind it.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Pulled the Saginaw PS pump this evening and flipped the cam ring around.

Would have been easy, but the van/Ramcharger two-piece P/S bracket has one drawback: You have to loosen the bracket to allow the pump's rear stud to slide out of its rear hole. The result? Water pump starts leaking. Probably seeping between the threads too, even though the threads have been shellacked.

At any rate, I'll be able to jack it, start it, bleed the steering, and then get to work on the valvetrain noise.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Opened up the valve cover today and did a compression test on the entire right bank. 150+ PSI on each cylinder. Nothing wrong there, so no Miss Valve hooking up with Mr. Piston, thankfully. Granted, a leakdown test would be a better indicator, but hell with that - I don't have the tool.

I'll say one thing though - this thing does NOT starve for oil. I can idle my Valiant's 225 with the valve cover open and don't need anything more than a cardboard box, but this thing shoots oil through the pushrods as if it were at war with the valve cover.

That said, I found that the fifth rocker in from the front was just a tad looser than it should have been - probably had a bit of load on it when I tightened it initially. Tightened the crap out of every rocker bolt, closed up the cover, and...

...perfection. This thing runs so smooth you could build a house of cards on the intake manifold (if it wasn't for the fan). I've heard that the HEI conversion improves the idle considerably, and the 3.9's timing chain tensioner helps keep the distributor timing accurate as well - but I've never heard a specific report of how the two work together. Flawless seems to be the word.

Keeping it running is another matter entirely. I don't have the choke hooked up, and it's quite apparent that either the Edelbrock or this engine is very picky about having the perfect A/F mix or it won't stay running.

I don't have the alternator (a squareback I found on Craigslist) hooked up to the pulley system yet (still need that compressor), so I'm not sure if there will be any output off the field terminal if I wire it up as-is. Electricity isn't my strong suit (yet, anyway).

-Kurt

 

[DK73]

Wow thanks for the heads up on your progress whit this engine Kurt[emoji41][emoji106] Well I do Like your build and I will follow it[emoji12][emoji106][emoji41] Regards Lars

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Regards DK73