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Bought a 66 needs 4 speed and vacuum help

PAPA_E

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So the car needs a lot of things, right now

worst is the brakes and trans

So first mopar and was told it’s a 71 440 stock engine. Distributors angled passenger side but the plate on the driver side starts with a G.... so I’m unsure what deck this motor is. For now I plan to redo a number of basic tune up things but foremost is the brakes are like pressing a solid wall. It does stop but let’s be real that isn’t ideal. In gear driving it’s a touch better. Runs very rich and I haven’t put a vacuum gauge up yet. I imagine I’m super low but to me on a stock engine this doesn’t make sense. Any help or things to look for holler at me. I’ve already replaced the soft rubber lines so no leaks there.

Now the “Hemi” 4 speed. I get lots of gear noise ... sometimes, well most of the time. Doesn’t feel like it has any real shift pattern just general areas that go into X gear. Reverse takes two hands to pull out. On the passenger side is stamped 99123 H

On the drivers is stamped 95664(was upside down if I remember right)

I’m pretty keen on selling and swapping in a 4 speed with overdrive as right now I’m lucky to see around 70mph before ringing my ears. I’m not really feeling a rebuild as it could need a lot of work and before I know it I’m halfway to just having bought a overdrive rebuilt 4 speed.

This isn’t a numbers matching car but before I go heads and cam I’d like to make it “safe” and reliable.
 
Couple pics of the car, and the uhaul roadside assistance guy who swapped a new tire on their trailer. Got a full debead about 2 blocks from loading the car up.

B1A155EF-BF2B-4FD1-85DE-C7B940A34851.jpeg AF352900-7E0B-4385-8F38-7526536A443D.jpeg 2D52F710-DE11-4D54-85FF-52A17989BDCD.jpeg 7C5BAC79-2BBE-48B3-B542-751FCCB01CC1.jpeg 5CC0FB00-1FC6-4708-AB5A-162FB9A3ED7E.jpeg
 
First off, a G 440 would be a 71 and if it wasn't a 440 you wouldn't be able to read the G. The brakes, are they power assist? If so a defective booster can be the problem. The transmission, from what your saying, I assume it's already a 4-speed is that correct? I have had a broken shift fork in a transmission before that made it feel like a hunting trip to find a gear, but it could just be a severely worn shifter. Also I would like to know what gear ratio is in the rear end or what rpm the engine is turning at the 70 mph you indicated the ringing your ears. You sort of left us with a lot of unknowns to help you very much.
 
First off, a G 440 would be a 71 and if it wasn't a 440 you wouldn't be able to read the G. The brakes, are they power assist? If so a defective booster can be the problem. The transmission, from what your saying, I assume it's already a 4-speed is that correct? I have had a broken shift fork in a transmission before that made it feel like a hunting trip to find a gear, but it could just be a severely worn shifter. Also I would like to know what gear ratio is in the rear end or what rpm the engine is turning at the 70 mph you indicated the ringing your ears. You sort of left us with a lot of unknowns to help you very much.

Well I’m looking at exhaust and distributors and so having a G is this a tall deck block? “RB” or is it not? That’s what confused me as online if I remember it was saying R/RB denoted standard or tall deck and nothing about G

the trans was supposedly rebuilt, I may pull it and inspect, the motor definitely needs a oil pan gasket, and probably oil pan replaced, very banged up and leaking at plug. Probably a rear main seal as well.

being new to dodge I’m really curious as to what trans is in it, it’s value as is, finding the gear really isn’t terrible, however I’m used t56s and this isn’t a t56 but feels way too sloppy and in my mind too much gear noise to be normal.

it’s got a 355 rear gearing according to last owner. The noise is whatever I can get different exhaust. I guess I would like the freedom do cruise faster more easily and quietly. Also I’m guesstimating as the speedo doesn’t work. Tac doesn’t work, volts Gauge bounces around sometimes but that’s about it.

Also it was upgraded to power brakes, has some aftermarket master and booster. I guess the booster could be failing. I’m more worried I’ll pull it and find out it was completely fine. It looks decently new. I kinda just assumed tune up, new timing curve, and a correct and leaner fuel setup would help as it wreaks of gas as is, backfires decently when engine braking.
 
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Buying another man's unfinished project....:eek:
You are going to need to prepare yourself for the fact that Mopar stuff will cost more than Chevy stuff. Ma Mopar made fewer cars so fewer are there to entice the aftermarket to make parts for us. It sucks but we are not 20 deep at every local cars and coffee event either! Being unique has a price.
Making it leak free and safe should be the first things to fix.
Oil pans are fairly easy to change and the parts are common.
The brakes you have could be a matter of a simple mismatch of the components. You may have a master cylinder with too large of a bore. The bigger bore will have a much stiffer pedal feel and shorter travel than a smaller bore unit.
The aftermarket brake stuff may not have the correct pedal ratio so the master cylinder may not be getting the leverage to work properly.
There are gauges you can buy to test the PSI readings at the calipers. I can't recall the target numbers but a search shouldn't be difficult. If your readings are way off the target number, there is a problem with the parts, not your foot!
Good luck. Welcome to the forum. Please post a message in the "Show us your Face..." thread in the General Forum too.
 
If you can read a G followed by 440 on the pad it would be a R/B or a tall deck engine. The G designates the year and is correct for 71.
Your hard brakes could be a mismatch of parts mated to original splitters and proportioning valve, or wrong master cylinder.
Your sloppy shifting sounds like you have a worn inland shifter. Aftermarket shifters are usually less sloppy even with wear. 66 Chargers came stock with the inland shifter.
3.55 gears are going to put you about 3500 rpms at 70 with basically stock tire size. Any Mopar 4-speed is not going to be as quiet as a t56, just a fact of life. The Hemi 4-speed is usually a little louder than the 23 spline less heavy duty transmission.
 
Nice car. I'd keep the 18 spline gear box and repair as needed. Not that big of a deal. Might need a new hurst shifter though. If you really want to cruise at a faster speed you can easily change rear axle ratio but you would be surprised how fast that car will run with 3:23 gears. Good luck.
 
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Welcome to the forum from another Marylander. RB blocks have a pad on the drivers side just in front of the valley pan rail. The low deck blocks have a similar pad, but it is on a 45* angle.

131_0803_27_z-2bdodge_440_engine_rebuild-2bpad_numbers-jpeg.jpg

440. Hard to tell, but the pad is horizontal


img_20180318_190800-jpg.jpg


383. Pad is on left side on pic, just to upper left of #1 cyl.
 
Buying another man's unfinished project....:eek:
You are going to need to prepare yourself for the fact that Mopar stuff will cost more than Chevy stuff. Ma Mopar made fewer cars so fewer are there to entice the aftermarket to make parts for us. It sucks but we are not 20 deep at every local cars and coffee event either! Being unique has a price.
Making it leak free and safe should be the first things to fix.
Oil pans are fairly easy to change and the parts are common.
The brakes you have could be a matter of a simple mismatch of the components. You may have a master cylinder with too large of a bore. The bigger bore will have a much stiffer pedal feel and shorter travel than a smaller bore unit.
The aftermarket brake stuff may not have the correct pedal ratio so the master cylinder may not be getting the leverage to work properly.
There are gauges you can buy to test the PSI readings at the calipers. I can't recall the target numbers but a search shouldn't be difficult. If your readings are way off the target number, there is a problem with the parts, not your foot!
Good luck. Welcome to the forum. Please post a message in the "Show us your Face..." thread in the General Forum too.
I Agree with Kern, just look at any summit racing catalog. 40 pages for Chevy stuff 30 pages for Ford and 2 lonely pages of Mopar stuff.
 
So it says G44 that I can read attached the picture is the pad.

drum all around and attached is a pic of the master and booster

also it’s got a aftermarket shift arm no idea if it’s installed right. Sometimes shifts good, sometimes doesn’t reverse is always the worst.

sometimes gears sound the synchros are going out sometimes they don’t. Third is always very loud.

4B94BF3B-99B0-40F0-BEB4-ED6F58B39345.jpeg A5C7AC52-6DED-41A1-9B05-67C07C292815.jpeg 1791C699-08E7-4EFA-81F5-21FA5D02E638.jpeg
 
So it says G44 that can be read attached the picture is the pad.

drum all around and attached is a pic of the master and booster

also it’s got a aftermarket shift arm no idea if it’s installed right. Sometimes shifts good, sometimes doesn’t reverse is always the worst.

sometimes gears sound the synchros are going out sometimes they don’t. Third is always very loud

I see you have a Hurst shifter in the car. That is usually a good thing if installed and adjusted properly. If it's actually worm out or you do indeed have issues with the transmission is something to be figured out.
If you can see the G and 44 without removing anything to look at the full pad you have a 71 440 R/B engine. Removing the sparkplug wire loom and reading the entire pad will give you the build date of the engine and if its a HP engine or not and possibly other information.
You said the brakes are 4 wheel drum, so the first thing I would check would be the master cylinder bore size, compared to what a stock power drum master cylinder is supposed to be in 66. Also I would check that the brake pedal has the correct linkage and throw for the new booster master cylinder application. The biggest help you can get is a 66 service manual. Either download it here or buy a copy. Personally I like to have the book in front of me.
 
So it says G44 that can be read attached the picture is the pad.

drum all around and attached is a pic of the master and booster

also it’s got a aftermarket shift arm no idea if it’s installed right. Sometimes shifts good, sometimes doesn’t reverse is always the worst.

sometimes gears sound the synchros are going out sometimes they don’t. Third is always very loud

I see you have a Hurst shifter in the car. That is usually a good thing if installed and adjusted properly. If it's actually worm out or you do indeed have issues with the transmission is something to be figured out.
If you can see the G and 44 without removing anything to look at the full pad you have a 71 440 R/B engine. Removing the sparkplug wire loom and reading the entire pad will give you the build date of the engine and if its a HP engine or not and possibly other information.
You said the brakes are 4 wheel drum, so the first thing I would check would be the master cylinder bore size, compared to what a stock power drum master cylinder is supposed to be in 66. Also I would check that the brake pedal has the correct linkage and throw for the new booster master cylinder application. The biggest help you can get is a 66 service manual. Either download it here or buy a copy. Personally I like to have the book in front of me.

I’ll dig around on the drum brakes, the shifter has a hard time finding neutral it seems other times it’s just loud when in gear. Might be a combination of issues.

if I was to do a 4 disk conversion to just solve my issues any kit noticeably better and bolt on than another? I figure new lines and everything, I can bend the lines myself.
 
"4" disk conversion?
Why not keep rear drums and put front disk on the car.
Brakes are the most important part of your car, so they say.
Personally, I find vacuum assisted brakes unnecessary.
And just more to fool with and in the way.
He has the "Cordoba" front rotors and a correct master cylinder for a manual application.
The larger rotors and correct master cylinder will do wonders alone.

https://www.doctordiff.com/brakes/


You would also want to install one of these for the newer style aluminum master cylinder and to make changing a master cylinder easier in the future.
I believe your master cylinder now bolts from the rear under the steering column?

mc-adapter.jpg
 
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"4" disk conversion?
Why not keep rear drums and put front disk on the car.
Brakes are the most important part of your car, so they say.
Personally, I find vacuum assisted brakes unnecessary.
And just more to fool with and in the way.
He has the "Cordoba" front rotors and a correct master cylinder for a manual application.
The larger rotors and correct master cylinder will do wonders alone.

https://www.doctordiff.com/brakes/


You would also want to install one of these for the newer style aluminum master cylinder and to make changing a master cylinder easier in the future.
I believe your master cylinder now bolts from the rear under the steering column?

View attachment 868803

Prices on front and rear 4 disk brake kits being only a couple hundred more than just front seems like a smart move to me. I took pics of the under the dash. Looks like oem pedal setup to booster.

when in gear running the engine well above idle the brakes feel significantly better, like actual pedal movement can be found. However it’s still far from good. So this lends me to think it’s not a failed booster. The brakes to lock up pretty easy if stood on hard. I was going to try and simply bleed them. Maybe that will help. I can’t find a single part number on the brake “upgrade” anywhere. The pedal also sits wayyyyy higher than the gas pedal

Shifter linkage I have a feeling just needs tightened a bad trans usually is always bad for me but the super inconsistent behavior has me thinking something isn’t tightened or adjusted right. The shifter has a hard time finding neutral also

B7D32719-D784-4975-8419-FC356DE625BF.jpeg 1A86F86E-1965-47A6-90FB-548EA95A2BAF.jpeg
 
That is an aftermarket power brake booster set up - doesn't seem to have the factory bell crank set up I usually see - which isn't a deal breaker but the hard pedal is a sign of low vaccum - I would put a gauge on it and see what the engine it making and go from there. Start eliminating things as you go.

Also - it looks like your clutch pedal is not returning all the way - the ear on the pedal should be hitting a small rubber bumper on the pedal bracket - so it doesnt look properly adjusted to me - you can lift the pedal slightly and the overcenter spring will pull it up up to the "normal" location it should be - this adjustment can then be taken up at the clutch fork under the car.

If you can get under there take a photo of the shifter mechanism on the transmission - we should be able to tell you if it's a hurt unit - they offer a rebuild service of you can remove it, clean and regrease it yourself - it's fairly straight forward unless something it damaged. Also - I have seen shifter rods have quite a bit of play in them on the shifter itself - you can put a band-air on them bu enduring there are washers to take up the slop between the cotter pins and the shifter levers.... if you just have a cotter pin the rods can have a lot of side to side movement which allows for a sloppy feel at times.

It sounds like you have a sloppy shifter that may not be adjusted properly and simply not used to the A833 gear whine. Reverse is also kind of difficult compared to newer transmissions so I dont honestly know what to tell you on that - there may not be anything seriously wrong with the transmission - may just need to get used to the "older stuff"
 
That is an aftermarket power brake booster set up - doesn't seem to have the factory bell crank set up I usually see - which isn't a deal breaker but the hard pedal is a sign of low vaccum - I would put a gauge on it and see what the engine it making and go from there. Start eliminating things as you go.

Also - it looks like your clutch pedal is not returning all the way - the ear on the pedal should be hitting a small rubber bumper on the pedal bracket - so it doesnt look properly adjusted to me - you can lift the pedal slightly and the overcenter spring will pull it up up to the "normal" location it should be - this adjustment can then be taken up at the clutch fork under the car.

If you can get under there take a photo of the shifter mechanism on the transmission - we should be able to tell you if it's a hurt unit - they offer a rebuild service of you can remove it, clean and regrease it yourself - it's fairly straight forward unless something it damaged. Also - I have seen shifter rods have quite a bit of play in them on the shifter itself - you can put a band-air on them bu enduring there are washers to take up the slop between the cotter pins and the shifter levers.... if you just have a cotter pin the rods can have a lot of side to side movement which allows for a sloppy feel at times.

It sounds like you have a sloppy shifter that may not be adjusted properly and simply not used to the A833 gear whine. Reverse is also kind of difficult compared to newer transmissions so I dont honestly know what to tell you on that - there may not be anything seriously wrong with the transmission - may just need to get used to the "older stuff"

I’ll look into checking vacuum tomorrow, need to retune the carb as its horrendously rich. There is also a exhaust manifold leak I’m gonna hopefully correct as well.

I’ll see about snapping some pics of the shifter linkage. I have driven a number of m20/m21 cars and this is hard to talk over gear whine, it’s very inconsistent, and reverse is easy enough to go in I suppose, both hands pulling to yank out. I feel like that is more than just old stuff being old.

Also driving today the brakes got very very hot, pulling into my place there was minor smoke so at this point I think it’s probably best to simply swap in disks and ditch whatever was done as it clearly isn’t working
 
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