Re-Rebuilding the 440-493 in a 1970 Charger

[Kern Dog]

I moved it to the fender apron near the firewall.

It is accessible but not in the way of anything.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Good location, didn’t even notice it.

 

[Kern Dog]

I wanted to use DOT 5 fluid in it for the reduced risk of paint damage but the man at Silver Sport stated that DOT 4 is the only fluid approved to use.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

I wanted to use DOT 5 fluid in it for the reduced risk of paint damage but the man at Silver Sport stated that DOT 4 is the only fluid approved to use.

I can see your point, I wouldn’t wanna damage my paint either. I’m thinking of selling my Passion 5 speed and getting a TKX kit from Silver Sport Transmission.

 

[hunt2elk]

Regarding the rear main seal leak. Do you think your issue was that the side seals were not fully seated on the first try?

 

[Kern Dog]

At first, I suspected that I may have accidently installed a seal for a LA series small block since my many gasket sets may have been mixed together. I measured the crank journals on a 318, a 360 and a 440 crank and found that they are different enough that it would have been obvious upon installation if I had the wrong seal in place.
During removal, I saw that I had the correct seal and it was installed correctly. This retainer uses O rings to seal the sides. They fit into the top hole and bend around the sides like a candy cane. There is a machined groove in the top and the sides that the O ring presses into.

The old O rings were stiff and needed to be replaced but the closest size I could find was slightly larger.

They fit but were kind of old.

I noticed when I pulled the retainer out that these has broken.

You can see gaps at the top of the left one and the bottom of the right.

I tried to install another set of O rings but the diameter was larger....Too large. They kept shifting out of position when I installed the retainer. I decided to just leave them out and instead, smeared this stuff in the side grooves:

It seems to be the best gasket sealer that I have used so far.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Nice work KD.
Seems like many of you like that Right Stuff. Can anyone tell me if it would be suitable to replace the typical Permatex 2 black that is commonly used to smear on both sides of a water pump gasket or is the Right Stuff more to take the place of a gasket?

 

[hunt2elk]

Nice work KD.
Seems like many of you like that Right Stuff. Can anyone tell me if it would be suitable to replace the typical Permatex 2 black that is commonly used to smear on both sides of a water pump gasket or is the Right Stuff more to take the place of a gasket?

It sure could, but The Right Stuff really bonds good and is a bugger to get things apart and cleaned up if something has to come back apart compared to regular black rtv.

 

[Kern Dog]

The stuff isn't cheap either. I recall the standard blue Permatex used to be under $10 a tube not long ago. That and the black RTV is over $12 now. The Ultra Gray is 2 $ more and The Right Stuff is $17 for a tube that is enough to do an oil pan with a windage tray.
Yeah, everything is going UP but $17 seems excessive.

 

[Kern Dog]

The power steering pump swap is complete. The pump in the car now is the one I’ve had since 2006 or so. It has worked well since I put it in.
Steering boost works like it should.
Hydroboost is dead. No boost. No assist at all. Stopping the car feels like before, similar to a power brake car with the engine off. Very disappointing. I drove around the back yard at low speeds to see if it would start to build up pressure but I’m getting nothing.
I don’t know what I did wrong. The hydraulic lines are tight and not leaking. They are connected to the right ports. Maybe the HB unit itself is bad?
At least I can drive the car at low speeds. The car lift bay has been occupied for over 5 months while the maintenance on the other cars here have been delayed. I'll be able to move it out so I can do some overdue stuff on the truck and Jigsaw.
I’m going to let it stew for a little bit before I make a decision.
I will admit though that my inclination is to pull this unit and install the manual master cylinder that I was originally going to use. If the pedal effort seems too high, I may pull the brake pedal and drill a new hole above the original one to increase leverage.

 

[davek]

Well that sucks the the hydroboost is not working. Kern you have done a great job on the install. Looks nice and clean.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Could it be just a bad booster?

 

[64fury74charger]

The power steering pump swap is complete. The pump in the car now is the one I’ve had since 2006 or so. It has worked well since I put it in.
Steering boost works like it should.
Hydroboost is dead. No boost. No assist at all. Stopping the car feels like before, similar to a power brake car with the engine off. Very disappointing. I drove around the back yard at low speeds to see if it would start to build up pressure but I’m getting nothing.
I don’t know what I did wrong. The hydraulic lines are tight and not leaking. They are connected to the right ports. Maybe the HB unit itself is bad?
At least,I can drive the car at low speeds. The car lift bay has been occupied for over 5 months while the maintenance on the other cars here have been delayed.
I’m going to let it stew for a little bit before I make a decision.
I will admit though that my inclination is to pull this unit and install the manual master cylinder that I was originally going to use. If the pedal effort seems too high, I may pull the brake pedal and drill a new hole above the original one to increase leverage.


View attachment 1368864View attachment 1368865

Dumb question but did you check the ports on the booster to make sure there were no plastic plugs inside ? Those plugs are easy to miss, don’t ask how I know. I am not being a wise a** here and please don’t take me the wrong way.

 

[Kern Dog]

These were in the HB unit when I removed it from the box:

They had to come out to install the brass adapter fittings:

This is with the brass adapter fittings and 90 degree AN fittings.

This was with the banjo fittings for a neater, tucked in appearance.

This is the simple 15/16" manual master cylinder setup that I put in right after painting part of the engine bay in June.

I've read that cars as heavy as mine are hard to stop with a manual master cylinder. That may be true. The car weighed 3940 before tearing it down in June. The Borgeson steering box and stock Idler and Pitman arms shaved 14 lbs. The new front brakes shaved another 14 despite the larger rotors. The switch from the A body vacuum booster and iron MC was another 15 lbs. I swapped rear tires for ones with shorter sidewalls. With all of this, I could be under 3900 with these changes.

 

[Kern Dog]

Could it be just a bad booster?

That is what I suspect.

Dumb question but did you check the ports on the booster to make sure there were no plastic plugs inside ? Those plugs are easy to miss, don’t ask how I know. I am not being a wise a** here and please don’t take me the wrong way.

When I am frustrated, ALL options are considered.
Here is why I am leaning toward a bad booster: Somehow, the fluid goes into the HB and back out to the steering box and the steering feels normal.
I'm confused as to how this can be. I sent an email to Dr Diff. I figured I'd ask him for guidance since he requested that I install and report on the performance of the unit. He is at the SEMA show so I may not get a response right away.
It is annoying to have one delay after another with this project.
I waited for the machinist, I waited for the shop to do the balancing. I waited for the rod bearings, the timing set and probably a few other things.
If I would have stayed with the manual master cylinder idea, I would have been driving this car 3 weeks ago.

 

[4406bbl]

Here is a little info

 

[4406bbl]

Troubleshooting chart

 

[moparedtn]

I've read that cars as heavy as mine are hard to stop with a manual master cylinder. That may be true.

Wait, you mean you've never had the pleasure of owning one of these beasts with manual drum brakes before?
Hell, I've never owned one that had power brakes.

 

[Kern Dog]

Yeah...Replace booster or replace pump.

Doing this has zero effect on the pedal. It stays the same.

 

[Kern Dog]

Wait, you mean you've never had the pleasure of owning one of these beasts with manual drum brakes before?
Hell, I've never owned one that had power brakes.

This car had 4 wheel 10" non power drums when I bought it. It actually stopped okay. Not great but okay.
In 2012, I was curious about trying a 4 wheel disc and manual master cylinder arrangement. After trying 4 different master cylinders of differing sizes, I put the power stuff back on because I couldn't get the brakes to feel right. All 4 setups gave a hard pedal and terrible braking. Months afterwards, I saw that I had a disc/drum proportioning valve in place. Maybe I would have had better results with NO proportioning valve. Also, I had those big 2.75" iron front calipers with 1.5" rear calipers. I suspect that the front to rear bias was way off. The Mopar setup of a large caliper up front was matched to self energizing rear drums and a fixed proportioning valve. Even those cars sometimes had rear wheel lockup.
Now I have 13" front rotors with dual 1.59" calipers and the same 11.7" rear rotor size with 1.5" single piston calipers. This is an OEM setup for a 1994-2001 Mustang GT.