'75 W300 repair/mod project - Ol' Blue

[gomopar440]

I've heard good things about those locking header fasteners before and was thinking about getting some when I get a set of headers. However, I'll have to stick with the stock truck manifolds for a little while longer. I already blew all my expendable income for this month buying the parts I listed above. :silenced:

My labor working on the truck doesn't cost me anything, unless you count the back and knee pain that inevitably comes afterwards that is. At least the weather has started to warm up and dry out finally.

 

[Dr.Jass]

If you've got all studs and nuts without bolts, find copper nuts.

I believe you mean brass nuts? I can't say I've ever seen copper ones. Brass nuts, however, I actually stock at the store

I would think copper would have a hard time reaching/holding torque due to both its malleability and coefficient of expansion... and I could be wrong. Genuinely asking, because I don't know.

 

[gomopar440]

The ductility and conductivity of copper are a couple of it's strong points, but neither are of much help if it's used as an exhaust nut. Bronze nuts would hold up to the heat cycles a bit better than brass, and way better than copper.

I'll most likely have to find some factory style fasteners for now though since I'm going to be using the stock truck manifolds for a while. Once I go to headers, I'll have more options for fasteners.

While the forum was down here, I kept posting updates over at the RamChargerCentral forum. I'll copy and paste those posts over here in a minute.

EDIT: (5/1/17)
Everything on the list above has been bought now, except for the exhaust studs and nuts. I'm waiting to get those until after I have the manifolds off. That way I'll know exactly how many I'll need in case any more of them break off during disassembly. I hate making multiple trips to the store for the same things over and over again.

Pressure washing is done, ...mostly. I couldn't reach everything, and I also missed a few spots I could have reached. Anyway, it's clean enough for me to pinpoint a few leaks.

Carb: leaks fuel
Valve cover: leaks oil along lower edge (both sides)
Valve cover breather: drools oil

Valley pan gasket: leaks oil at front and rear edges
Distributor: leaks oil past O-ring
Oil pump: leaks oil at top of cap gasket
Thermostat housing: leaks radiator fluid at gasket
Dipstick tube: leaks oil from hole worn through the tube where it rubbed on the motor mount bracket

That's just what I was able to spot after giving it a casual once-over right after getting home from the car wash. I'm pretty sure I'll find more leaks once I start tearing into it for the clutch replacement and engine reseal and repaint. I guess it's a good thing I bought the full engine gasket kit.

(5/2/17)
I do know that I'm NOT looking forward to messing with those exhaust manifold nuts and bolts. These look particularly rusty and crusty. I'd be extremely surprised if I'm somehow able to get the rest of them off without any more breaking off. As for the rest of the exhaust system, it looks like it was made in Switzerland if you catch my drift.

One of the POs switched the stock exhaust over to true duals (no crossover), with each side dumping right in front of the rear wheels. I'll keep it set up as a dual exhaust, but plan to add a crossover and run the tailpipes over the axle and out at the rear bed corners when I fix it.

 

[gomopar440]

BTW: I'm looking for a set of stock valve covers and air cleaner for a mid 70's 440. The aftermarket stuff that's on the engine now did away with the PCV system entirely. I believe that is at least a part of the reason for some of my many oil leaks.

 

[68R/T]

That will do it big time. Too much internal engine pressure. :doh: First thing I thought of when you said the breather was drooling. I've always had a preference for cast aluminum. The rigidity makes for a better gasket seal.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I have a pair of stock 440 valve covers, but they're van-style... sorta make the engine look like a Cleveland Ford. $25 plus the ride and they're yours.

 

[TheIronSausage]

A lot of old Alfas I worked on had what I assumed were copper exhaust nuts. I'm not sure I ever thought they were brass. The color was too reddish to be brass, based on recollection. They could've been bronze, but I always thought they were copper without any sort of metallurgical thoughts beyond color. I never needed to hit them with PB or Kroil to get them off, and they always squeaked with every turn. I'm sure 69.5's dealt with them before. I mostly saw them on Alfa spiders.

A quick search of the oracle has informed me that they are steel nuts with a heavy copper plating.

 

[Dr.Jass]

That makes sense. The ones I stock are definitely brass rather than bronze. Dorman makes them and literally calls them "stud nuts". I've used 'em to hold down carbs for years but only once on exhaust, decades ago. They worked fine, but I usually just use bolts (headers) or factory hardware (manifolds).

 

[restoman]

A lot of old Alfas I worked on had what I assumed were copper exhaust nuts. I'm not sure I ever thought they were brass. The color was too reddish to be brass, based on recollection. They could've been bronze, but I always thought they were copper without any sort of metallurgical thoughts beyond color. I never needed to hit them with PB or Kroil to get them off, and they always squeaked with every turn. I'm sure 69.5's dealt with them before. I mostly saw them on Alfa spiders.

A quick search of the oracle has informed me that they are steel nuts with a heavy copper plating.

View attachment 19873

Fairly common on aftermarket air cooled VW exhaust... and brake flex line/steel line connections on 240 Volvos.

 

[TheIronSausage]

Huh, I gots three Volvos, none with copper brake nuts. Although none of my cars were maintained when I got them, let alone owned by an enthusiast.

 

[gomopar440]

Thanks for the offer on the tin pieces Doc, but I think I've found a different solution for now. To solve the crankcase breathing issue, I bought the parts needed to adapt the factory PCV/breather system to the aftermarket tin today. I'll take pics of what I did once I get it set up.

The gaskets, oil filter and trans input shaft seal showed up today. I also got an email today saying the carb kit will be here tomorrow vs Monday. Looks like I'll be getting pretty busy this weekend.

As far as the funky shaped long exhaust nuts go, if I can't find them I'll just turn a few out on my little lathe.

 

[restoman]

Huh, I gots three Volvos, none with copper brake nuts. Although none of my cars were maintained when I got them, let alone owned by an enthusiast.

All three of my 240s had them. You HAD to use a proper line wrench on them, they rounded over pretty easy.

 

[gomopar440]

I need to try to see if I can fit the one bare rim I have in the sand blast cabinet. I've burned through two brand new wire wheels so far cleaning the old paint and rust off and still have about 1/3 left to go on it. I just primered the bare metal areas for now until I can get that last section of the rim done. The wheels are going to be painted the same gunmetal grey color that I used on the bottom of the air cleaner and the radiator cap.

 

[69.5CUDA]

Huh, I gots three Volvos, none with copper brake nuts. Although none of my cars were maintained when I got them, let alone owned by an enthusiast.

the gtv6s use the same looking nuts but they are the same material all the way thru..had to replace a couple stripped ones on a friends gtv6 he had picked up...had to split atleast 1 to get it off..pretty sure they are brass

 

[69.5CUDA]

I need to try to see if I can fit the one bare rim I have in the sand blast cabinet. I've burned through two brand new wire wheels so far cleaning the old paint and rust off and still have about 1/3 left to go on it. I just primered the bare metal areas for now until I can get that last section of the rim done. The wheels are going to be painted the same gunmetal grey color that I used on the bottom of the air cleaner and the radiator cap.

if you cant fit it..its time to cut that sucker open and make it bigger!!!!..besides if the outsides ugly the insides likely needing attention too

oh and for wire wheelin..twisted knot type are imo the only way to go

 

[gomopar440]

besides if the outsides ugly the insides likely needing attention too

I had the tire dismounted before I started working on it. The inside of this wheel is in surprisingly good shape oddly enough. I went ahead and wire wheeled the inside where the beads seat and where the valve stem passes through anyway.

oh and for wire wheelin..twisted knot type are imo the only way to go

Agreed... Except when I need to get down into the deep part where the hoop and center join together. The twisted knot type wheel won't get anywhere near as deep into that crevice as the regular flying pin cushion type wheels.

The last two packages of parts showed up today, so I started on the tear down. So far I've removed the carb and intake, and the intake is 95% cleaned up. I'll probably stick it in the sand blast cabinet to get that stubborn last 5%. I've also cleaned up and wire wheeled the front and rear throttle brackets. The rear throttle bracket had a section at the back end that was supposed to support an AT kick down linkage. And yes, I did say "HAD".:walkingtall: The throttle brackets are now painted and hanging up to dry.

More to come (with pics) later tonight.

 

[gomopar440]

The big bracket to the right in this pic is the one I trimmed the AT kick down pivot off of.


This Weiand intake (part #8009) is an aluminum, dual plane, square bore setup. Is this the one you were talking about 69.5?


I'm not all there...:shifty:


A few notes about that last pic. The Holley carb has a dual feed hard line on it that was sweeping towards the rear of the engine. From there, a combination of hard and rubber fuel lines did a 180* turn and ran forward along the top of the pass side valve cover. When it reached the front of the engine it went down and behind the fan belt, where the PO thought it looked like a good place to put a fuel filter (at least it wasn't a glass one). Then the hose curved around and then under the non-functional fuel pump :hmmm: and was routed along the pass side frame rail. Mostly. The fuel line looked like a roller coaster with the way it was tied to the heater hoses with that orange hay bale twine. Needless to say, the fuel line won't be getting reinstalled the same way.

 

[69.5CUDA]

yup pretty sure thats the same manifold ive got...which i really need to dig out along with the rest of my goodies..440 hopefully comming home this weekend

do yourself a favor and use your favorite HARD rust proof paint on the beads of the wheels if you had to wheel there......couple of good coats will actualy save un-saveable wheels

 

[gomopar440]

Hey 69.5, I may have a lead on a 440 flywheel locally to me. I'll know hopefully by middle of next week when I can go take a look at the guys parts stash. If he has something, I'll shoot you a PM.

On the wheels I'm using a rust proof primer and some paint formulated for use on wheels. I repainted the aluminum wheels on my Mazda pickup a few years ago with the same wheel paint, but no primer, and it's still holding up great. All I did for prep on those was to knock the powdery white dust off with a 3M scrubby pad and rinse them off with water before painting. The steel dually wheel, or wheels if they're all in the same condition as the first one, are in surprisingly good shape. On this first wheel I found a Mopar pentastar logo and a manufacture date in the mid 80's.

BTW: These are the tires I'm going to be putting on the truck. Might take me a while to get a full set tough since I'll need a total of 7 tires with the spare.:doh: https://www.treadwright.com/collections/filter/products/claw-ii-c2316e

 

[gomopar440]

The alternator and it's brackets, spacers and bolts are now off the engine. I cleaned up everything except for the alternator from that batch so far. The clean parts were painted with some semi-gloss black Ace brand rust-stop paint. I had to stop painting there due to some thunderstorms that blew in suddenly. Meanwhile I moved onto cleaning up the rest of the bolts and nuts for the intake and carb. Those will get painted once the rain stops and the humidity dies down.

I still need to document the carb settings before I tear it down for full clean and rebuild. I'll also be cleaning up the alternator inside and out while I have it off the engine. Since I'll have to drain the radiator and power steering fluids, I'll wait on removing those parts until it's dry outside so I'm not working in any puddles of water. I'm also trying not to cause any puddles of radiator and power steering fluid since we have dogs, cats and chickens running all around the place here.