3rd Time's a Charm?

[Magnes]

No matter how good of condition a car is in, if it's been sitting for 17 years it's going to need some serious attention (that kind of goes without saying - lol).

This week I have been making an effort to give this little 318 a shot at running again. I've hit the major systems and if all goes according to plan, tomorrow I will try and crank it up.

-Engine-
I did an oil and filter change on it.

The oil filter was so stuck I completely busted my oil filter wrench and STILL couldn't get it loose. I had to soak the gasket with PB blaster, then use a long razor knife to cut into the gasket and finally got it to release. Then had to cut that gasket away from the block and clean all that up. Toughest filter EVER! Oil that came out of the engine was used but didn't smell bad or look bad.

-Fuel System-
Dropped the fuel tank, drained it, and cleaned it out.
Cleaned out the fuel lines.
Replaced all the rubber fuel lines and clamps.
Replaced the fuel filter.
Removed and cleaned the carb.

-Cooling System-
Drained the system.
Pulled the radiator and flushed it out really good the reinstalled.
Bypassed the heater core. (The AC valve was rusty and I wanted to avoid a catastrophe there)
Replaced the thermostat and cleaned up that housing.
Replaced the hose clamps (All hoses looked to be OK for now)
Replaced the rad cap.
Filled it up with coolant.

That radiator was so funky. At first I couldn't get any water to push through from one side to the other. I had to stick the hose in one side and cap that side off with my hand then blow compressed air and water through the radiator and it started puking out some kind of gooey white-ish looking build up. It looked like it was pumping out fish filets or something. After hitting it with the air water combo, it flowed out nicely and cleaned up real good.

-Ignition Sysytem-
Replaced the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor.
Checked all connections and cleaned them up.

One funny thing I found was that it had some of those old fork annode tipped "Split Fire" plugs in it. What a gimmick those things were. The damn things were gapped anywhere from .061 to .067 lmao.

-Electrical System-
Checked everything I could think of.
Replaced all connections at the battery.

I'm quite sure there's more I just can't think of it all right now... Tired.

I was going to go ahead and pump some new brake fluid through the whole system (because everything appears to be in good working condition other than the old fluid) but it seems that the master cylinder is seized up on it. The brake pedal is hard as a rock. So I am going to go ahead and order a new one and get some new wheel bearings too.

I went ahead and bought some new tires and had them installed on those factory "road wheels". Looks pretty decent now. 14" whitewall tires aren't the easiest things to find nowadays though, lol.

Anyway, it's coming along pretty good. I will give you guys an update this weekend after we see what happens with it. Cross your fingers and say a prayer... Maybe she will fire up again.

[71Satellite98661]

I've got to say, I am totally riveted to these updates! Looking forward to seeing more progress photos. Sounds like you are doing it all right. Might I suggest pulling the distributor and priming the oil pump with a hex shaft and drill motor (running clockwise)? Manually roll the motor over a few times while doing this. Also manually fill the fuel bowl and triple check firing order. With engine on compression stroke on #1 cylinder, set crankshaft to 10 or 12 degrees before TDC. Install distributor so rotor has just passed the #1 cylinder terminal on cap. If you've got a strong battery and no major compression leaks that baby should fire on first tick of the key. I apologize if you already had this in mind but it works for me every time and there is not many feelings better than a quick startup on a long slumbering or brand new engine!

[Magnes]

Thanks 71 Satellite! I did everything you mentioned except pull the distributor and prime the oil pump.

I reinstalled the gas tank. Put a new battery in it and hit the key. She turned over nice and after a couple tries, I hit it with a shot of starting fluid and it fired right up.

It doesn't want to idle, but will run good if you keep the rpm's up just a bit over the idle rpm. It revs good, has no weird noises (no knocks, clicks, or taps), no leaks, and it runs smooth and all (with the rpm's up a bit) but the thing smokes. Quite a bit. Gray smoke.

I only ran it a few times, for about a minute each time before I had to let it die and let the smoke boil out of the garage. Anymore and it would have started filling up the house which would win me no love from the wife, lol.

I know the carb is out of adjustment. I will work on that some more tomorrow, up the idle speed and adjust the carb. The carb probably needs a rebuild as well but I didn't want to do it until I knew whether or not this engine was any good.

I suspect the valve seals are all dried out and not working very well. I could have some blow by issues with the rings as well. Pretty sure the majority of the smoke is originating from one of these areas.

Again, I find myself debating on whether I want to mess with replacing valve seals in this engine and try and keep the car stock or go ahead and build my own car and swap in a stroker 408. Either way, I'm going to try and get it running good enough that I can move it around under it's own power.

I have a load of brake parts incoming. The brake pedal is as hard as a rock. I'm thinking that master cylinder is stuck like chuck. I'm going to go through that whole system next week when the parts arrive.

[Magnes]

I adjusted that carb and it is running a ton better now. Not smoking as bad either. Starts up on the first click most of the time. Idles good. I upp'ed the idle speed a little so it can run a bit. Need to get out the vacuum gauge and adjust the carb better but I went ahead and shot a video so you guys can see the car.

The end was cut off by my phone but you can get the picture... Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDsLvu_c7Uw

[Magnes]

My headlights have not been working so I decided to go through the electrical system some more. Been cleaning connections / grounds under the hood. Made my way to the bulkhead connections and noticed a strange wire with non-stock connectors coming from between 2 of the bulkhead connectors and leading into the engine compartment.

I unhooked the bulkhead connections and found this...





The damn ammeter lead. Apparently had burned out once, been shoddily repaired, and it's half burned and nasty as hell.

The fun wasn't over yet. I saw the brake pedal sensor had a strange red wire that runs from it to the trunk and hooks into the tail light wiring. The brake lights work when it's hooked up but I unplugged it and hooked up the original wire and now, no brake lights...



AND when I disconnected the engine wire harness, I noticed that the plug for it (that goes into the bulkhead) was messed up in that the "clip" on one side has been completely broken off when they were "repairing" the bad ammeter wire.



I have that parts car so I checked it's engine wire harness. The wiring itself on it is bad, un-useable. BUT the connector and wiring coming out of it (for about 1 foot) is good. So what do you guys think? Would replacing the bulkhead connector for the engine harness be worth it or would It cause too much resistance even if I soldered the connections?

And I have to figure out what I am going to do about this ammeter situation.

Looks like I figured out why this car was parked so many years ago... Goofy electrical issues.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

The terminals used at the bulkhead connector for the charging circuit have been the main source of problems with this electrical system design. Nothing about the design of these cars was ever intended to last this long. The individual terminals were not weatherproofed as is the standard now. The charging circuit contains the highest current load of all the bulkhead connector terminals, corrosion formed, resistance builds, heat damage results which in turn equates to more resistance and more heat damage. The simplest way the repair is to by-pass the bulkhead connector charging circuit terminals, run replacement wires, 10ga or larger, directly from the alternator to the ammeter and from the ammeter to the fusible link at the starter relay. Some folks drill out the terminal cavities in the bulkhead connector to run wire straight through. Or you can drill a separate hole in the firewall for a grommet as the factor did on their high amp factory alternators.
It also appears that someone installed a circuit breaker to by-pass the heat damaged “Heater-A/C” fuse holder. The terminals in the bulkhead connectors can be easily removed to replace the broken engine harness bulkhead connector if you have donor parts, not necessary to splice in a complete connecter. While the terminals are removed, clean them up and apply some dielectric grease.

[Magnes]

That is awesome information. I really appreciate you taking the time to point me in the right direction. I will get right on this repair. Again, thanks very much 72RoadrunnerGTX!

[Magnes]

I have the ammeter wiring issue repaired. A big "Thanks!" to 72RoadrunnerGTX for the help there. So this shouldn't be an issue with this car for a very long time.

I replaced that broken bulkhead connector with the one from my parts car that was in great condition. 72RRGTX was right and the terminals were easy to remove and replace with no splicing (thank goodness). I drilled out the ammeter connection and ran the wire straight through so there won't be resistance build-up at the bulkhead again. Cleaned the bulkhead connections and dielectric greased them. I also replaced that 30amp circuit breaker that someone had installed in place of the burnt up Heater/AC fuseholder... I installed a new fuse holder and the appropriate 20amp fuse. Cleaned the fuseholder and put in all new fuses while I was down there.

So now I am back where I was when I found this problem... LOL! Headlights still not working but I think the switch itself is the problem as I have gone through the wiring and connections and can't seem to find an issue. I am going to go ahead and replace the headlight/dimmer switch as well as the high/low beams switch. I ordered new ones and will install soon. Also have new flashers to snap in and a horn relay on the way.

I started on the brakes today. Replaced the master cylinder. Cracked open the bleeder on the caliper closest to the master and tried to bleed it as the day ended (just to see what I had in store for myself) but there was a problem there as well... I couldn't get fluid to pass out of it using my vacuum pump or even by pumping the brake pedal. The bleeder was nasty, pretty rusty so I replaced the bleeder with a new one but still had no luck. I may have to replace more of the brake system than I had anticipated but I'm not worried about that... I just hate waiting on parts. Was hoping I could get the brake system sorted this weekend so I could see if the car would actually move under its own power. I need to reposition it in the garage. Will have to wait on that to happen apparently. It's only been 3 weeks since I bought it so I am not really beating myself up about not being able to drive it yet.

But on the bright side, the car runs good. The smoking has all but stopped. The thing hardly smokes at all anymore - no more than the average Mopar does. Cranks up easily. Power steering works great. It's not leaking fluids. So I am pretty darn happy with it.

[Magnes]

Been a while since I posted anything... After I got the car running, replaced the brakes, and fixed the majority of my wiring issues, I stopped on this car for several months. I built a 77 RamCharger for my wife and right after I finished that one we moved back to Texas so that whole process was a pain in the ass and took some time. Hell, I had to get a whole semi-truck to transport our cars then had to set up the garage again.

Anyway, I started back on this car and cut out all the rust and replaced all that with patch panels from my parts car. I stripped the whole interior out and started on the body work. I just finished the body work about a week ago and I just painted the car yesterday.



I shot the paint and clear on the 72 in my garage. I went with 2013 Dodge "Header Orange". I'll wet-sand and buff next week, then I'll start putting it back together. Going to re-do the whole interior back to the stock white/black bucket interior. It'll have the white reflective strobe stripe and some 17" chrome Cragar S/S's. Look for it to be finished early next year.

It may not be everyone's cup 'o tea because I didn't keep it stock but this is going to be a driver.

[steved]

STUNNING color!!!!! LOVE IT!!!

I'd love to do a 318 car as a daily...

sjd

[Magnes]

Thanks!

I'm snatching out the 318 and 904 because it is getting a built 440 and a 727 swap in a month or so. Engine is at the machine shop.

[mopardog]

WOW!!!!! I love the color and what you have planned for her!!!! please keep the progress and pics coming!!!

[Magnes]

Here it is last week after I finished color-sanding and buffing it all out.

Since then I've installed all new door and window weatherstripping on both sides, installed the trunk lid and new weatherstripping and new lock, new chrome mirrors, door handles and locks, fender turn sig indicator assemblies, side marker lights, header panel medallion, white reflective strobe stripe, and I think that's about it.

Still have to install the front and rear bumper assemblies, grill, lights and lenses, etc.

I bought a rechromed front bumper off ebay from a guy but that thing was so tweaked out, mis-shapen, twisted, and just down right WRONG. They had repaired the front side of it and rechromed it. So it looked good in the pics but the left side of the grill (left headlight bezel) wouldn't even fit into the bumper opening and there was 1/2" difference (between the left and right side) in the bumper opening where the headlight bezels fit. I sent that junk back.

Still waiting on my wheels and tires to show up. Probably won't have them til next week.

I'm not going to worry about putting a windshield in it til I am working on that interior.

So anyway, it is progressing. I will go see how my engine guy is coming along with my 440 tomorrow and I will shoot some more up to date pics in the next few days. She's starting to come together.

[Magnes]

Close to finished with the exterior. The new wheels and tires came in today so I had to see what they look like. I like them. Staggered 17" Torque Thrust 2's and BFG tires.

The engine is close to finished. Tranny is at the tranny shop. I think the weight of that 440 will bring the front end down a bit and then I can tweak it from there to get the stance just right.

I've been chasing this last electrical problem with my brake lights and with the help of others, I think it's got to be that darn turn signal switch. New one on the way. Once I get that issue fixed I can detail out the dash. Once the dash is done I can do the headliner. And once the headliner is in I can install a new windshield and the rear glass. Until that turn signal switch gets here I am going to be finishing the exterior detailing... Wheelwells and crap like that. I've got the engine compartment detailed out except the firewall, which I will shoot when the engine is out of my way.

When my guy is installing the engine I will be restoring all the interior components. As soon as I get the car back, the interior will go in.

So anyway, that's the plan...

[sdweatherman]

That car is coming together very nicely. The repop front bumper does look pretty good. Great progress!
Scott.