Olacmot
Well-Known Member
I posted in the welcome wagon about my 1971 Challenger that I’ve owned since 2000, but wanted to post here to track my progress and maybe get advice and suggestions about different aspects of this project.
In the early 2000s I swapped the 318/904/7&1/4 for what I was told was a 340(more on that below), a 727, and an 8&3/4. Since then I’ve gone to an aluminum radiator with electric fan and Milodon water pump to keep her cool.
More recently I restored the heater box and swapped the heater core which developed a leak. I tested my actuators and they all work, but one of them has a slow leak and doesn’t hold vacuum. Will this be an issue? I had a hard time finding a replacement so I just bolted it in and am hoping for the best. The dash is still out so I could remedy the issue now if needed.
I made a jig for the dash and stripped it down, then refinished it black from the original blue. Eventually I’ll paint the exterior the original blue, but I have all black interior panels from the PO, so I figured I’d stay the course and make it all match. I swapped in Dakota digital gauges and I’m waiting for a dash pad from YearOne. I need to work on the gaps between the control bezel and gauge bezel… but they’re no worse than they’ve ever been. The clips on the gauge bezel were broken when I disassembled it so I assume someone else has been in there and struggled with alignment as well. The ash tray was particularly hard to line up, as the bottom of the door would drag on the inner case that has the bar the door pivots on. I had to trim about an 1/8” off to stop it from rubbing. I cleaned up the connections and posted in the electrical section about the 4 post wiper control motor connector I’m looking for as it’s pretty toasty. I’m working on cleaning all the connections in the harness, and cleaned all the fuse box connections up so there is 0 ohm resistance across the fuses now. Started with .4 or 1 ohm across all of them. Smelled like cigarettes as I dremeled the tarnish off
. I’m curious for opinions on whether it’s worth cleaning up connections or buying new harnesses? All the wires seem pliable so I’m certainly trying to save the expense of the harness behind the dash. I figure if I can get impedance down through each circuit there is no harm in reusing it. I might get new harnesses for under the hood to save time. A few before and after pics of the dash are attached.
Otherwise I had an old Wilwood disk brake kit that I bought in the mid 2000s that I never put on because I parked the car. I rebuilt the calipers, knocked surface rust off the rotors (somehow they got wet during 20 years of garage storage…a mystery that remains) and did the swap, just waiting for some brake lines to arrive to finish it off. I also bought a power brake booster from master power brakes and installed that. Before and after pics attached… you could say it was time for the drums to go! Those grooves in the passenger front drums were there from before me… and unfortunately I knew about them. The car would brake fine until the pads would wear down and match the groove. Then it would shake under heavy braking. I always told myself it was kind of like a poor man’s ABS system… right?
I also replaced all the ebrake cables… figured in case of actual emergency caused by the disk brake swap this would be smart to have in working order.
Question on that - the kit came with an “s” hook that should hook the cable to the transmission mount, but it appears a few inches short. Can I run the system without this? I have pictures if needed but I won’t clutter this post with them for now.
As for the “340” I ordered. I went to checker auto when I was in high school and purchased a 340 long block. I wasn’t big on research in my teens so I just slapped it in unbeknownst to casting numbers on the block. Later I noticed the casting numbers on the side are gone and there is a “remanufactured” tag there, but the front drivers side casting has 318 stampings… but 340 written on it lol. I have the original paperwork and will post it later out of curiosity. I’m assuming I got taken for a ride on that one
In the early 2000s I swapped the 318/904/7&1/4 for what I was told was a 340(more on that below), a 727, and an 8&3/4. Since then I’ve gone to an aluminum radiator with electric fan and Milodon water pump to keep her cool.
More recently I restored the heater box and swapped the heater core which developed a leak. I tested my actuators and they all work, but one of them has a slow leak and doesn’t hold vacuum. Will this be an issue? I had a hard time finding a replacement so I just bolted it in and am hoping for the best. The dash is still out so I could remedy the issue now if needed.
I made a jig for the dash and stripped it down, then refinished it black from the original blue. Eventually I’ll paint the exterior the original blue, but I have all black interior panels from the PO, so I figured I’d stay the course and make it all match. I swapped in Dakota digital gauges and I’m waiting for a dash pad from YearOne. I need to work on the gaps between the control bezel and gauge bezel… but they’re no worse than they’ve ever been. The clips on the gauge bezel were broken when I disassembled it so I assume someone else has been in there and struggled with alignment as well. The ash tray was particularly hard to line up, as the bottom of the door would drag on the inner case that has the bar the door pivots on. I had to trim about an 1/8” off to stop it from rubbing. I cleaned up the connections and posted in the electrical section about the 4 post wiper control motor connector I’m looking for as it’s pretty toasty. I’m working on cleaning all the connections in the harness, and cleaned all the fuse box connections up so there is 0 ohm resistance across the fuses now. Started with .4 or 1 ohm across all of them. Smelled like cigarettes as I dremeled the tarnish off
. I’m curious for opinions on whether it’s worth cleaning up connections or buying new harnesses? All the wires seem pliable so I’m certainly trying to save the expense of the harness behind the dash. I figure if I can get impedance down through each circuit there is no harm in reusing it. I might get new harnesses for under the hood to save time. A few before and after pics of the dash are attached. Otherwise I had an old Wilwood disk brake kit that I bought in the mid 2000s that I never put on because I parked the car. I rebuilt the calipers, knocked surface rust off the rotors (somehow they got wet during 20 years of garage storage…a mystery that remains) and did the swap, just waiting for some brake lines to arrive to finish it off. I also bought a power brake booster from master power brakes and installed that. Before and after pics attached… you could say it was time for the drums to go! Those grooves in the passenger front drums were there from before me… and unfortunately I knew about them. The car would brake fine until the pads would wear down and match the groove. Then it would shake under heavy braking. I always told myself it was kind of like a poor man’s ABS system… right?
I also replaced all the ebrake cables… figured in case of actual emergency caused by the disk brake swap this would be smart to have in working order.
Question on that - the kit came with an “s” hook that should hook the cable to the transmission mount, but it appears a few inches short. Can I run the system without this? I have pictures if needed but I won’t clutter this post with them for now. As for the “340” I ordered. I went to checker auto when I was in high school and purchased a 340 long block. I wasn’t big on research in my teens so I just slapped it in unbeknownst to casting numbers on the block. Later I noticed the casting numbers on the side are gone and there is a “remanufactured” tag there, but the front drivers side casting has 318 stampings… but 340 written on it lol. I have the original paperwork and will post it later out of curiosity. I’m assuming I got taken for a ride on that one
