Signet-ficant Other

[Dr.Jass]

When last we left our W2 340, 'twas doing its impression of George Thorogood: "I'm outdoors, y'know."

It wasn't there for long. Soon enough, SHAT showed up and we carted it off to his place. Upon arrival, we immediately set about installing the blowproof bellhousing, flywheel, and clutch. There wasn't a lot of photography happening, but you get the idea.

The block plate was temporarily installed with bolts to keep it centered during the installation of the billet-steel SFI-rated flywheel and ceramic-metallic clutch disc:




Disc thusly aligned, we the installed the 2,800lb Borg & Beck pressure plate. I was going to use a 3,400lb plate, but the guy at Ram Clutch said, "You're going to have a light switch with that disc and a 3,400lb plate. You might want to consider a 28." I said, "Cool!" and grabbed one of the two I already had.




Out came the temporary bolts, and on went the Lakewood bell. We also installed the Spectre adapter motor mounts to fit the 340 to the Slant Six K-member, which were pretty straightforward:




Ready to rock? Not quite, but ready to find its way home:






Agnes smiled.




Stretch smiled too.




Even my dog was stoked.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The following day we decided to install the transmission... sorta. Bolting the transmission to the engine was simple enough.





Yes, the drag link really passes through the oil pan.




However, bolt the transmission to the chassis was another question entirely. I had two transmission crossmembers: the original from the Slant Six, with its craptastic, failure-prone biscuit mount...




...and a far-superior spool-type one of unknown origin. Note the length of the tabs for the trans mount.




Two guesses as to which one I wanted to use.




After comparing the last two photos, the problem should be evident. The spool crossmember I had was far too long to align with the bolt hole in my transmission mount. Since there's only one spool mount that fits all applications, obviously the problem was that the crossmember was from the wrong car. Wanting progress more than anything, and never being the ones to let something so minor stand in our way, the wholesale butchery of the original crossmember began. Our plan was to make one crossmember from the two. We're smart guys, we can figure this out.




After murdering that crossmember, it became evident that what we were attempting was no mean feat. That spool crossmember wasn't going to work without some serious engineering (that's what we like to call this horsefuckery). Tech inspectors be damned, neither of us liked considering 4-grand-plus launches on sticky tires with a cobblefucked transmission crossmember. So we retired for the day and weekend, and my search started for the right crossmember. Upon returning home, I double-checked and immediately realized we'd almost massacred the crossmember from my Challenger.

I have spares, but still...

 

[Stretch]

I have all the pieces of that chopped up crossmember. I haven't ruled out using parts of it in my Valiant.

 

[Dr.Jass]

After a two-week break trying to land a crossmember, we determined that with the transmission back out of the car the next order of business should be aligning the bellhousing. Lakewoods are notoriously sloppy, and with all the effort in the transmission I didn't want a misalignment tearing up the input shaft or bearing. After playing around with various bits & pieces trying to come up with a way to mount the stand in the back of the crankshaft, I had the idea to use the clutch fingers instead. My reasoning was such: this particular pressure plate uses precision shouldered bolts to perfectly align it to the flywheel. The flywheel itself is fully machined, also aligned to the crank with shouldered fasteners (ARP). We knew the disc was centered; we'd had the transmission in and out a couple of times at this point. Lastly, the indicator doesn't need to be perfectly centered; if the mag base stays put, the distance from the probe to the stand will remain constant during crankshaft rotation, other than bell runout--even if the stand is bent.

After digging through some random hardware Stretch had lying aboot and a bit of welding, we had this:




What is is, is simply a flat surface on which the indicator's mag base can sit. The welded nut half goes inside the pressure-plate fingers, then the bolt holds the outer washer in place. The mag base sticks to the washer. Installed, it looks like this:




However, it promptly failed the durability test--the welds broke when we tightened it the bolt. Stretch gorilla-welded the sumbitch back together, after which it not only worked, it worked very well:




It worked so well that we were able to align the bellhousing bore to the rear of the crankshaft within .003" in the horizontal, and .0015" in the vertical. The results were tested (at least) four times with perfect repeatability. We're not making an idle claim based on a "we got those measurements on one try"... this thing is about as dead-on as one could hope to get.

During our fortnight of respot, I searched eBay to little effect, other than folks who wanted way too much for a '73-'76 A-body transmission crossmember. I posted a hopeless cry for help on Facebook to any of my friends that might have one they'd be willing to sell. I got one response, which the person deleted mere moments later. Sigh. I resigned myself to overpaying for one, but the next day, that person's Dad--my friend Reid, he of the low-11 '73 Duster--showed up at work and dropped a rusty chunk of metal on the counter.

"Is that what you need? I saw your post and didn't think I had one other than what's in my car... but she (his girlfriend, standing there with a big smile) said she thought there was one in a cardboard box in the garage. I thought she was nuts, but I pulled it out and this was right on top, sure shit."

It was exactly what I needed, and it was in really good condition to boot. Better yet, he absolutely refused any sort of payment for it. "That's my contribution so we can go racing together." I hadn't talked to him in months, but he came through just like that. What a guy.

A quick run through the sandblaster and a wee bit of paint, and Robert is in fact your mother's brother. Pay no mind to the droplets, that's the local weatherman's famous "filtered sunshine"--it wasn't supposed to rain that day.




Some new hardware to install it, and oh, you glorious, beautiful, if evasive, bitch:






Sorted... and there was much rejoicing.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I have all the pieces of that chopped up crossmember. I haven't ruled out using parts of it in my Valiant.

You still have that F-body spool crossmember too. Combining the two might get you where you need to be.

 

[Stretch]

You still have that F-body spool crossmember too. Combining the two might get you where you need to be.

Thats the plan. Along with cannibalizing your spool mount K-frame fot the idler arm mount and possibly the motor mounts.

 

[Jester]

Agnes is looking happy with her motor and tranny in place. You guys are doing some great work on the old girl...

Stretch, those brake lines are beeeeyuteeful. Wow!

 

[Stretch]

Stretch, those brake lines are beeeeyuteeful. Wow!

Thanks. It's really hard for me to halfass anything. I'm a bit of a perfectionist really. Sometimes I think that flaw in my character drives Jass crazy.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Thanks, Jester!

Next on the agenda was exhaust, which was a heart- and wallet-breaker. My adapter plates should allow me to use standard-port headers (the previously-mentioned cheap Thorleys), so we cleared the way to get moving on header installation.






The adapter plates were painted & prepped for installation, using copper silicone instead of gaskets that might easily burn.




We resolved to do the "tough one" first, meaning the driver's side. We'll see why that was a mistake soon enough, but we did finally make it fit with some very-ugly torch and hammer mods. It left precious little room around the manual steering box; no way would it have gone with power steering.






Unfoturnately, again, some of those pics are on a dead PC so I don't have access. Suffice to say, we were sure we had 'er dicked so after Stretch sandblasted off the OE "shipping" paint and old rust, I set about painting them properly. This included using a propane torch to get and keep them hot during the process, so the paint would bake itself onto the metal. It worked well, as always.




The RH header--the "easy one" was dropped into place. After much mucking about, we jockeyed the engine into the best possible position and bolted it to the adapter plates.




It was close--really close--but everything cleared. We already knew where we were on the LH side, so...
Success!




As my old algebra teacher used to say, "Wrong. R-O-N-G WRONG!" After reinstalling all the suspendy bits, it was readily apparent the torsion bar could not be installed, no way, no how. The clearance issue was a distance literally the same as the thickness of my spacers.




We struggled with this for a bit, including contemplation of further heating and bashing, but the layout of the Thorleys with their slip-fit back pipe literally made any such mods impossible. Welding the slip fit would make installation/removal an engine-pull situation at best, impossible at worst. Missed it by that much; I will say that without the spacers (if I'd used standard-port heads) the Thorleys would've been a beautiful, if close, fit requiring only minor dinging.

Bullet firmly clenched in my teeth, I made the call to TTi and took the $750 hit (shipped--for unpainted headers) required to get the exhaust from the ports to the underside of the car.




After painting them cast-iron grey using the same process with heat, they went in with little drama... more importantly, so did the torsion bars.








The only modification required was a 3/16" shim beneath the LH motor mount. This was really no fault of the headers, since I was using the adapter mounts. The header could've been dinged for clearance, but I was still a bit nauseous after the mortar shell to my bank account.




With the shim in place, this is the clearance at the steering box... literally the exact thickness of that shim. The header tube was just touching the gearbox previously.




The oil pan is more of a clearance issue than the headers in terms of steering linkage.




Unusually for a Mopar, the steering linkage doesn't pass between the driver's side header tubes, as seen in this (much) later picture with the starter installed. The torsion bar does, however. If you're playing along at home make note that the mini-starter is a must, and wiring it is a bit of a bastard if you're using an OE battery cable. If that starter is defective, I will likely weep.




I had a feeling those TTi headers were going to come into play, but hoped I'd found an alternate solution. Obviously I hadn't, and it's becoming more apparent with each aspect of this project that sometimes you've just got to take one for the team and drop the coin. I'm hoping I'm past that phase, since at this point I had to order a driveshaft which, along with the headers, put me beyond my original $5,500 back-to-front budget (which includes the purchase of the car itself).

Still, I will be under $7K total, and if/when the time comes to push her off to the next owner, a lot of that money stays here: The engine won't go with it, nor will the transmission, headers or the driveshaft. It'll still be a driver, it'll just have a healthy 360, a lesser 4-speed, a factory driveshaft and the Doug Thorley headers (which I know will fit beautifully ). Even with the less-insane drivetrain, it'll still be a big, stupid grin generator.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Thanks. It's really hard for me to halfass anything. I'm a bit of a perfectionist really. Sometimes I think that flaw in my character drives Jass crazy.

It doesn't, really. It keeps me on the straight and narrow... and you know when enough is enough and there's no reason for too much... at least in terms of this project.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Somewhere along the line we came to miss the front bumper.




Upon reinstallation, I said to Stretch, "Stretch, I don't remember the bumper being this bad. Jesus, this thing is mangled." He replied that it was entirely possible that he'd hit it with the snowplow between 1-42 times in the few winters it was off the car.




However, Stretch was off the hook after I got home and looked at the pictures of the day I got it. Yep, it was that f__kin' bad the whole time.

 

[Dr.Jass]

After dealing with the most-stuck Holley gaskets I've ever experienced, I got the 800cfm mechanical-secondary carburetor rebuilt. Being a '70s-era carb, it didn't have power-valve protection, so I installed a Spectre anti-backfire check valve. It's an easy process, since it comes with a drill bit and stop collar to adjust the depth. Drill the hole...






Drop in the spring, and set the ball atop it...




Then carefully tap in the retainer/ball seat. The same vacuum that operates the power valve pulls the ball down off the retainer, allowing the pressure drop to reach the valve. In the event of a backfire, the number one cause of power-valve failure, the ball hits the seat and stops the pressure spike. Simple and cheap insurance.




I incorporated a lot of little tricks into the carburetor, not limited to but including high-flow power valves, hollow accelerator-pump squirter screws, anti-pullover squirters, and of course jet extensions to make sure the jets stay submerged. These extensions require a special float, which was included in the kit.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The distributor came in for considerable tweaking as well, including a different-value advance canister, much-faster advance curve, and being gutted for the installation of a Pertronix Ignitor III. This particular version of the excellent Pertronix "all in one" solution has a few features, including a built-in rev limiter. This keeps any suspicious-looking boxes or modules off the firewall. The recommended coil does not work with a ballast resistor, so the old ballast had a 12ga wire soldered in from the back to completely bypass it while maintaining 100% OE appearance. In another nod to looking as factory-crappy as possible, I used an NOS tan distributor cap.

If this stuff was documented, the photos are on the lost PC. However, this is the completed distributor, still lookin' old and grungy. More effort expended to make it look like no effort was made whatsoever.




Carb and distributor thus completed, both were plopped into position and secured. The air cleaner, small as it is, does a decent job of hiding the fact that the carb is a huge double pumper. With a little dirt-road drive time and the paint burnt up a bit, the engine should look rather humdrum other than the massive intake manifold.

 

[restoman]

I gotta say, the sleeper look you're going for here is warming my cockles.
What a cockle is, I have no idea, but the sleeper look is killer.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I gotta say, the sleeper look you're going for here is warming my cockles.
What a cockle is, I have no idea, but the sleeper look is killer.

Well, start with a beater and there's no good reason to make it a showcar. Besides, the looks on the faces of guys with all the latest billet this and magazine-feature that is, in my experience, priceless. Put the good parts where they matter, which usually doesn't require them to be seen. Hell, I briefly considered running an 850 ThermoQuad, but jetting parts are expensive and/or hard to find. I also entertained--for about 30 seconds--the idea of using my dual-plane W2 intake. Ported or not, I think that would've been a mistake with the huge heads and roller cam.

That old Trans Am of mine taught me a thing or two. It looked like death six months into my care, but by then the brakes, drivetrain (mostly), and suspension had been fully sorted. Being a Trans Am notwithstanding--mind you, the only external "TA" bit still on the car was the shaker hood--nobody expected that thing to run 15s, much less 3 seconds quicker... and if they wanted a peek under the hood, well, it looked like crap under there, too. No chrome, no (visible) MSD, no high-falutin' plug wires... just chipped-up Pontiac blue, an OE iron intake with a Q-jet, and some crappy headers. I wish I had pictures of the thing; it was a rolling visual tragedy.

 

[Dr.Jass]

In keeping with the sleeper motif, when it came time to cool the beast I decided on an aftermarket 3-row aluminum radiator. Now, it's no secret that I hate the look of aluminum radiators. With a little bit of searching, I was able to find one with factory-looking molded tanks. That's half the battle right there.

The other half was getting rid of the shiny nastiness. I started with some high-heat stuff I had lying around that doesn't impede heat transfer as much, so I used that on the core.




On to the engine black, for the brackets and tanks...




It doesn't really hide the TIG welds all that well; the subterfuge here is that you'd never think to look for them.

 

[Jester]

Gotta appreciate all the time, effort and technology put into this sleeper. You're gonna drive some poor trailer queens crazy

 

[Dr.Jass]

Well, by necessity ol' Agnes will be a trailer queen herself, at least to the track. I've no intention of attempting a 250-mile round trip with that camshaft, 4.10 gears, and 25.1" rear tires...

...and we have another illustration between being 17 and 49. In the late '80s, I absolutely would've attempted it. Hell, I might've daily driven the thing.

 

[Jester]

Well, by necessity ol' Agnes will be a trailer queen herself, at least to the track. I've no intention of attempting a 250-mile round trip with that camshaft, 4.10 gears, and 25.1" rear tires...

...and we have another illustration between being 17 and 49. In the late '80s, I absolutely would've attempted it. Hell, I might've daily driven the thing.

125 miles from the track. You could do it in 45 minutes with 2.73 gears

 

[Dr.Jass]

125 miles from the track. You could do it in 45 minutes with 2.73 gears

It would still drink fuel badly enough that I don't expect I'd make it between gas stations... and we're talking about expensive fuel here, not cheap (really cheap at the moment*) 87 octane regular. It might live on premium 92, but it's kind of an expensive experiment.

I may have failed to mention it, but I fully expect this engine to blow up (or at least toss the valvetrain), within 10 minutes of startup. I'm thankful I don't have to break in the camshaft.

*Leaving work Friday--the last time I saw a fuel price--it was $1.18/gal ($1.179). It might have gone down.