I am feeling defeted on my 73 RR

[dodge1972]

We all share in your frustration These older b bodies can take a lot of time and funds to restore. You placed you time and money in someone work and parts and now you have set-backs. I too have too many projects, pay hundreds for storage for 20 years and still not making progress. stay the course or sell it for parts, there is no middle ground.

 

[idrivemopar]

That sucks man, I would say get a good solidly built 727 with a good shift kit installed in it and hopefully you will be good to go.

 

[BlooDSMeaR]

I have built a coupe motors with people who are knowledgeable. I didn't want to risk damaging any of the expensive parts I bought for my engine. I have never done a performance engineand wanted to make sure it was built correctly. I asked a bunch a local races here at the drag strip on who they recommend. I followed their advise and went with them. A local machine shop that had a very good reputation.
The first build was great!! Until the cam went. The first cam was a flat tappit hydro.
I didn't want to risk another flat lobe and I also wanted to run any oil I wanted without worry of a flat lobe.
The original set up was a crane cam retro hyd roller cam. ( smaller then the cam I originally had, not happy about that one....i lost about 50HP and 300 RPM. I was expecting a 50HP gain) And used the Hughes retro roller lifters. All recommended by the machine shop
If you look up my thread "miffed at the machine shop you can see what happened with them and my engine.

The main issue is I'm just getting milked for 100's of bucks that didn't need to be spent.

On this second trans from tci it cost me frieght, and in order to have a 60 day warranty I had to send my converter to Hughes to be "refreshed" and that was another $200 on top of the $500+ I just bought it for.
I also did the whole suspension and brake rebuild.

 

[MFP]

I feel your pain brother so if it's any consolation from a guy you don't know who lives 1000s of miles away here's my 2 bobs worth ( 10 cents to you ) go up and meet Jeremiah ... Have a beer ( although at this point I'd be aiming to take a bottle of single malt with you ) accept his generous offer of help and go back to the start of each problem and do it again ... I have had the same problem with vehicles in the past ... Luckily I had some good people around me and slowly but surely we got there ... It's hard to see things when you are so up close .... Take a step back mate and they can become alot clearer ...youll get there in the end ...

 

[BlooDSMeaR]

An update:
I called and spoke with TCI about the 2-3 shift overlap. They didn't have another 727 in stock to build as a replacement. They offered to pay for shipping my TCI trans and my old one back to them and build my 727 I had originally. I declined as I have spoken with Copes transmissions and he is sending me a restricter plug for the clutch pack.
Once I install that I think I should be good to go. If not then Ill ship both my transmissions to TCI and let them rebuild my old one.

 

[MFP]

Sounds like a good start mate ... I know it's hard because of all the bad feeling you have ... I know because I actually resented my truck at one point .. after chewing up 2 new crank ( rear engine) oil seals in less then 2 miles on EACH occasion I almost hated my Willy's ... The guy at the garage ( shop ) suggested a fix .. I went with it ..3rd crank shaft seal in place and I had everything crossed ( fingers toes you name it ) ... Didn't trust it at all for about 2 months , every time I started it or left it running I waited for the oil to start running out of it ...2 months and a lot of driving later my '42 Willy's was my best friend again ....

 

[Montclaire]

The more you veer away from stock the more problems you will have. There is no shame in a mostly stock build and you'll break a lot less parts.

The cam issue is another thing altogether - never a problem years ago and no excuse why it should happen today with proper break in.

 

[ODZKing]

I get frustrated as well. I will share what my wife and I did with our 73 restoration. We would have dinner and work 1 hour (60 min) each evening and quit. If I ran into a snag, I would quit.
In most cases the next day things would go smoothly, I don't know why. But that was my solution to getting frustrated with the car and it can become easy.

 

[BlooDSMeaR]

I am close to ripping it apart and selling them off. I know I wont get half my money back but it would be a valuable lesson to me.

 

[MFP]

Patience .... It's an easy word to say and a hard word to follow ... get in touch with Jeremiah and get that 12 year old single malt on his table ... Rome wasn't built in a day ..but we ain't Romans !

 

[BlooDSMeaR]

She is still sitting, it has been raining and cold. I still don't know what I want to do with it. My warranty has expired with TCI, so I can drop the pan and install the clutch apply restriction orifice I bought from CRT. I hope that fixes the 2-3 shift overlap.

I still need to get a set of gears for the rear end. The 4.10 on a spool are just way to steep to dive to any where. According to the Tach, I'm running @3200 at 55 MPH. I think a good gear set for hwy driving and strip use would be 3.23. My dyno tested 408 stroker engine max HP is @ 5200 rpm, and the RPMs run out quickly on the QTR mile. By the seat of the pants stop watch back road method I'm @ 6200 RPM by the end of the QTR run.

And on to the electrics. As of right now the alternator is putting out 17 volts!!! I bought a new voltage regulator and will see if that helps. My Dad is convinced that's not the problem.
I had to let the discouragement simmer for a bit before I started to work on it again. I was ready to rip it apart and start selling parts.

 

[bm02tj]

Before you replace reg check to see what voltage it sees
The signal comes from the ignition switch and if low will cause the voltage to be high in system

 

[BlooDSMeaR]

Before you replace reg check to see what voltage it sees
The signal comes from the ignition switch and if low will cause the voltage to be high in system

Didn't think about that. Good point I will follow up with some testing before I change it out. once its changed no returns.

 

[74Rallye]

[QUOTE="And on to the electrics. As of right now the alternator is putting out 17 volts!!! I bought a new voltage regulator and will see if that helps. My Dad is convinced that's not the problem.
I had to let the discouragement simmer for a bit before I started to work on it again. I was ready to rip it apart and start selling parts.[/QUOTE]

I had that problem on my 74 Charger after painting it. Running induvial ground wires to each module on the fire wall fixed it.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

feeling defeated ? well, my story!

6 and a half years with my car on body shop and still on jackstands, half primered at this moment

Engine dissasembled, trying to correct the earlier bad deck jobs, allways slanted! 3rd try at diff machine job, once again deck slanted, on the opposite direction. 4th try at diff machine shop and finally decked flat... but now pistons leaves the bore around 0.040" ( they were leaving barelly 0.010 the max due the slant cut... how did you reach 0.040" ? ) so my matching numbers engine is ruined!... working on a diff block now which will need to be bored 0.040". Advantage is has being never decked ( mine was decked the first time because block was sleeved ). Will they be able to CORRECTLY deck it at 9.98"... dunno. 3 years on this deal!!! JUST TO DECK IT!!! the 3rd machine shop also broken a piston skirt!!! niiice!!! and nobody is responsable for this. Doesn't matter anymore because had to get new pistons on new bore anyway... but at my expenses everything.

2 years trying to reproduce te Rallye multicolored stripe ( I have a NOS one as a sample ). Bought the reflective vinyl ( 3M ). Had to go to Spain for personal reasons... came back and nothing was done because they needed me!!! why you needed me? is not my job!!! so finally decided, FORGET about the multicolored strip, cut my vinyl and will make them white reflective again!!! the plotter made wrong cuts, overlapping one over the other. But you know what? it seems was my fault! because blah blah blah... so left the designer shop with the bad cut material and nothing in hands.

being defeated... yes I know what is that!!!

 

[Nacho-RT74]

and now, pray nothing has being lost or damaged on this 6 and a half years at body shop!!! 2 YEARS AGO, FOUND THE ROOFRAIL WEATHERSTRIPES BROKEN AND HAD TO BUY ANOTHER SET... grrrrrrrreat!

after all these years I'm thinking on, master cyilinder and brake system conditions, those small stuff such as retainers, clips, fasteners, screws which took me years to get them back after being missed on first paint jobs TOO laying around who knows where!... I hope the SAIL panels are not broken because they are REALLY delicated and no repros available!!! they were already prone to crack!!

soooo, you are not alone. This is not an excuse or a way to make you feeling better, becuse it won't, but just sharing same feelings and also posting my rant LOL

 

[idrivemopar]

feeling defeated ? well, my story!

6 and a half years with my car on body shop and still on jackstands, half primered at this moment

Engine dissasembled, trying to correct the earlier bad deck jobs, allways slanted! 3rd try at diff machine job, once again deck slanted, on the opposite direction. 4th try at diff machine shop and finally decked flat... but now pistons leaves the bore around 0.040" ( they were leaving barelly 0.010 the max due the slant cut... how did you reach 0.040" ? ) so my matching numbers engine is ruined!... working on a diff block now which will need to be bored 0.040". Advantage is has being never decked ( mine was decked the first time because block was sleeved ). Will they be able to CORRECTLY deck it at 9.98"... dunno. 3 years on this deal!!! JUST TO DECK IT!!! the 3rd machine shop also broken a piston skirt!!! niiice!!! and nobody is responsable for this. Doesn't matter anymore because had to get new pistons on new bore anyway... but at my expenses everything.

2 years trying to reproduce te Rallye multicolored stripe ( I have a NOS one as a sample ). Bought the reflective vinyl ( 3M ). Had to go to Spain for personal reasons... came back and nothing was done because they needed me!!! why you needed me? is not my job!!! so finally decided, FORGET about the multicolored strip, cut my vinyl and will make them white reflective again!!! the plotter made wrong cuts, overlapping one over the other. But you know what? it seems was my fault! because blah blah blah... so left the designer shop with the bad cut material and nothing in hands.

being defeated... yes I know what is that!!!

Nacho, have you talked to the guys at phoenix graphix? They have 73/74 rallye stripe in reflective color, if they don't have what you need, perhaps they can make one? They are sponsor here also and a good bunch of people!

 

[Nacho-RT74]

yes, Phoenix Graphics Rallye multicolored stripes are not accurate. They have the wrong red shade on the darker side. I already pointed them out that and didn't care about my suggestion. Won't pay $300 for something won't meet what I want ( and the initial price when were released was $400 ).

The deal on the darker area is add more black. They didn't get the last halftone black layer on the gradated area to make that darker shade. The one they make just have yellow and red.

 

[Montclaire]

Nacho, I don't know if I would have the strength to go through all of that and keep at it. That being said, sometimes you've just got to use what's available. Hope all is well, if things get too hot down there maybe load up that big B of yours and head for the states.

 

[66HOTROD]

Sorry to hear of all your troubles, here are some things that happened to me: Installed and start rebuilt 440. Water in oil and bent pushrod. Get new pushrod and lifter change oil/filter. Bent pushrod and water in oil. Take heads off motor, lay straightedge across valves, 1/8 difference in valve height. Check pushrods, small cups instead of big cups for roller rockers. And, no thread seal on any head bolts and suspect heads not torqued down, simply tightened with air wrench.

This is from local machine shop known to specialize in Mopar engines. I could have done a better job myself. That engine would not have made 50 miles. Doesn't come close to your troubles but my point is it is common to get ripped off in this arena. Happens more often than not, I'm afraid.