...and One Step Forward

Motor mount brackets are welded in place and painted again.

The first time I installed the brackets, I was pleased with the way they fit. I was even sort of proud of my work, as my welds looked much like the OEM welds. However, after butchering the brackets during their removal, and welding in patches and reinforcing plates, they now look pretty crude.

The concrete contractor stared building forms for my shed slab this afternoon, so nothing got done on the car. Like so many geezers, I enjoy watching any stage of construction. Nothing more fun than standing around with my hands in my pocket and not having to work. It brought back memories of my three years on a construction crew in North Dakota.

The owner runs his own crew, and is a medically retired combat vet from the US Army Special Forces. Anyone who earned the green beret impresses the hell out of me!

Busy Weekend

Beautiful weekend weather had to be used for yard work. Trimming decorative grass clumps, raking and cleaning wind-blown trash, removing dead shrubs, turning raised beds, and preparing a space for a multi-use shed in the back yard, ate up a lot of time I had hoped to work on the car. The concrete guy is supposed to pour the slab late next week, and I still need to tear down a couple fence panels and pull the posts.

I did get the motor mount spool brackets removed and relocated. As suspected, they were a real pain to remove, mostly due to limited access for cutting tools. To make the job easier, I made a trip to Lowes and bought a small, one hand reciprocating saw and some extra-short blades. I was able to move them 1/2 inch toward the passenger side, and lower them 1/4 inch, so I should now have more than enough clearance for the starter.

The brackets are just tacked in place for now, so will need final welding, some grinding, and paint before I can install the engine again.

After reading many negative buyer reviews of the Lokar transmission dipsticks, I think I’ll do more searching for a OEM tube with the correct bends.

Two Steps Back

Very windy today, but the temperature was in the seventies, so I pulled the engine without any problems, and without freezing my butt while crawling under the car.

Before removing the motor mount brackets, I remeasured everything to see if I had made a dimensional error somewhere. It was better than expected! Every pertinent dimension for the mount and bracket location was within .12 of those specified in the Mopar Performance chassis manual, so the underlying cause remains a mystery.

While I was pleased that I hadn’t mis-measured, it was disappointing to find no mention of possible interference between starters and steering gear boxes in the MP manuals. The generic cautions about limited clearance for headers don’t really apply since my installation is almost stock and there is  no problem with exhaust pipe locations. The transmission dipstick tube is closer to the manifold dump than I'd like, but if I can find a better shaped tube to cure the previously noted complaint, maybe it too will be a better fit.

Granted, FL cars are not the favorites for hot-rodders, so lesson learned…when you deviate from stock in any way on finned Mopars, you are on your own. So what else is new?

Cutting off the mount brackets will be fun as I really welded those in!  Tomorrow, the weather is turning again, so I’m not sure when I'll get to tackle the motor mount surgery.

I did make a tooling jig for relocating the parts, so I’ll be ready to go when it warms up again.

Electrical Genesis

While I wait for the return of moderate temperatures, I've been working on the wiring. At first, I attempted to lay out and route wire bundles using '73 D100 schematics, since the truck steering column contains the ignition switch, and then making circuit modifications as I went along, but that idea proved to be confusing and too dependent on my memory. I needed a master document to control the electrical configuration.

I know that someday, someone else...probably my son...will be faced with an undocumented mess if I continue down that road, so I decided to at least make block diagrams so they will have a place to start troubleshooting if they have an electrical problem.

Microsoft Publisher works quite well for this type of work, and now I have the first one complete to the extent I had thus-far documented my work with notes and red-lined schematics. Once I have all the basic circuits identified and organized, and physical locations for component parts identified, I'll have a single source to use for any additions and changes.

The first one is the basic power distribution circuit, and will give me a place to begin. Not the neatest job, but better than the hand-written notes I could barely read.

Time to Bite the Bullet!

I've finally given up trying to find a simple way to resolve my starter interference issue, so today I removed and disconnected everything  needed to pull the engine . I also decided which way and how far I must move the mounts to make sure there is enough room for movement.

Unfortunately, all the problems won't disappear when I get the mounts relocated, as it will require a different transmission dipstick tube. The stock '66 B-body tube will hit the firewall, and I have no idea what model car I need to cannibalize. The stock one would work if I hadn't installed the rear dump exhaust manifold. That manifold part number is listed for a '66 C-body, so that might be the first place to look.

The one on my '73 truck is approximately the right shape, but it's impossible to get an accurate measurement, so it might be wishful thinking that it would be that simple. I'll have to re-install the motor to get a closer measurement, and then I can start the search.

Looks like we're going to have a few days in the mid-60s in about a week, so I think I'll wait until then to pull the engine. In the meantime, I'll work on wiring the back half.