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Rant: I hate chrysler

And by the way, I HATE DODGE! :lol: Wasn't looking for a new car and then I rented a 2019 Challenger R/T...FELLLLLL In LOVE.
 
Change the oil pump on your Chevy without pulling the oil pan. How about adjusting your distributor. It’s easy access on a 440. How about valve lash on a stock 440. I’ve always seen chevys kinda like a bic lighter. Blow it up. Throw it away. Get another. Probably best to not complain about Mopars on a mopar sight. Just sayin. Pentastar pride!!
 
Just out of serious interest.
What is so much harder to do on the gm a bodys (chevelle or my 72 cutlass supreme) than on the b body mopars?

Try changing Chevy front springs vs. B Mopar torsion bars. Try changing a BB Mopar oil pump vs. a BB Chevy oil pump. But you've probably not done any of these, so you really won't understand it.

Some things are easier on some cars, and some are not. Any of them can be a pain in the *** if you are not patient and and think about your approach and use the right tools, but no job is really difficult on this ancient technology.
 
Did anyone bother to ask his setup? What car? For me? I stuck this monster inside the stock engine well of a '70 Cuda. 5" wider than a hemi. Need to lift motor to do anything below the heads. But I knew this would be the case. Most BB cars I typically lifted a bit to change mounts?

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What you needed to learn is there are different 396's some (L25) are best suited for the family truck but still installed in SS396 Chevelles.. This is the 325 HP engine & probably what you had...

Some run decent (L34) and might give a 383 Roadrunner a decent race.. This is the 350 HP engine..

And some (L78) are a completely different animal. Rectangle port heads, solid lifters, forged pistons, Holley 780 on a decent aluminum high rise intake... The 375 HP engine that earned the 396's reputation
Thanks, but I knew all that stuff even back in high school....I've always been a "stats junkie", even in my formative years
(and hey, if a fella's gonna learn how to mess with old cars, the GM stuff was cheap and readily available back then.
Graduate on to Mopars once he's got a bit of an educational foundation.... :) )

Bottom line was, the particular RR in question was really a stocker (Rick Dobbertin - yes, that Rick Dobbertin, attested to such at
the time) but had some 3.91's in its' SG, whereas my "shovel" only had 3.08's in it for some odd reason (bought it that way).
RR would pull a fender on me out the chute, every time...

Rick was actually the first guy to give me the lesson on how much lighter the RR was - and why.
He became famous for his Chevy builds (lots of magazine covers and national event titles), but he had a healthy respect for
Mopars...
My best bud bought his Challenger T/A shortly after that and I found my first Super Bee directly, too.
There was no turning back at that point. :thumbsup:
 
Did anyone bother to ask his setup? What car?
Michael would have to give us all the particulars, but I believe this is it. A very nice unrestored 69 Charger R/T. If I remember correctly it was pretty much original and also the reason it is needing some attention mechanically. I remember when it came up for sale on here and thinking that it would be a great car to own.

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One theme runs through these posts that resonates with me - all vehicles have their issues with tight spots, and a skilled mechanic finds ways to manage that. In 1979, I jumped from doing none of my own mechanical work, to wrenching full time on a 1971 International Transtar 4070a cabover when I became an owner-operator for the first time. It always came up that the nastiest work was at the end of a long day, and dispatch had just given me the best load of the month for the next day's run. The company co-owner who ran the shop, and senior drivers, all taught me shortcuts and tool tricks to speed up the process. Big trucks share the space problems of cars, plus the parts weigh far more. I still wrench in the field when I have no other choice, but if possible, I pay others to do this in the twilight of my career, and respect those who can do this work well more than any other professional.
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My ex brother-in-law was a hardcore GM guy until he got a job wrenching at the local Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. He never looked back, got a '70 Hemicuda as his company car when he was service manager.
 
Head gasket on a Subaru? Yea, the motor needs to come out!
Alternator on a Ford Escape? Yea, you gotta do that through the wheel well, hold the alternator with the only hand that fits in there, and pass the bolts UP through the hole and start them with the same hand.

And you’re complaining about working on a hobby car?
 
Did a timing chain on a 4.0 Ford Sport Trac.. Wow that is some of the most retarded engineering I have ever seen. You have to pull the engine because on the passenger side head the timing chain is in the rear. How damn dumb is that?
 
Sorry i said something not so nice about your favorite brand but does this look like a great working environment to you?

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That's exactly where i do it.
Welcome to the new FBBO Facebook. If you say something negative, your post will get shelved, omitted or put back into the nether regions of nowhere. Say Buh-Bye to this one as soon as Toolman Mike or his buddies find it or EVEN WORSE, if somebody complains. ++++ OHHH NOOOO!!!! :hifu:

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Welcome to the new FBBO Facebook. If you say something negative, your post will get shelved, omitted or put back into the nether regions of nowhere. Say Buh-Bye to this one as soon as Toolman Mike or his buddies find it or EVEN WORSE, if somebody complains. ++++ OHHH NOOOO!!!! :hifu:

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Did someone Piss in your Cornflakes? Your post is all like…

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Let me tell you something: It was NOT a great idea to put a big block (440 in my case) in that (to) SMALL engine bay!

You can't reach ****.
There is almost no working room, kinda like a modern car.

Even something "simple" like changing spark plugs makes you want to scrap the car.

Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful looking and driving car, comfy and nice with in my case a/c and even cruise control.
But the people that decided that this MAINTENANCE NIGHTMARE is worth 90k in #3 condition must be OUT OF THEIR ******* MIND.

Why am i so mad?

Well i just spent 5 hours together with my dad trying to change the motor mounts.
We managed to change 1 (passenger side) and i'm not sure if it's possible to swap the driver side mount without pulling the engine. (even less working room)
Everytime we repair something on this car it's the same story: Almost no working room. Most of the time you can barely fit a wrench.

Not a great design from a maintenance point of view.
Look at my 72 cutlass supreme (It has an sbo but even the ones with bbo seem to have way more working room in pictures)
or look at a 70 chevelle (same platform), 69 camaro or 67 impala for example.
Those all seem to be way more maintenance friendly due to having more working room.

I don't know. I kinda spent 50k on this car to punish myself.
Could've bought a 70 chevelle ls6 for the same money at that point.
Yeah the mopars look the best and we've got the hemi (unfortunately i don't have a hemi personally) but i think the chevelle would be the better choice for the non masochist mechanic.

If you want a charger better get it with a slant 6.
Or hire your own personal pitiable creatures (mechanics) to do the work for you. (Like Jay Leno does)

I should do like hoovie from hoovies garage.
Make videos about how great these cars are and let someone else do the crappy work for me while making money at the same time. :D

The primary point of making all cars was/is to make money, obviously.
And while there were many factors in designing all cars, I would be surprised if ease of maintenance was high on the list if it was on the list at all.
I suppose that you are working on a 50 year old car way past its life expectancy , with less than ideal shop equipment.
In retrospect, what would you suggest Chrysler did differently in your particular situation?
1. Limit it to a smaller engine.
2. Enlarge the engine bay and make necessary changes in the car's size/appearance.
3.?

10 kilos of .... in a 5 kilo bag is never easy
 
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In retrospect, what would you suggest Chrysler did differently in your particular situation?

2. Enlarge the engine bay and make changes in car size/appearance.

Edit:

With a lift, power & specialised tools in general i'm sure its easier to work on.
But i still don't see changing motor mounts being a fun and easy job then.
 
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Let me tell you something: It was NOT a great idea to put a big block (440 in my case) in that (to) SMALL engine bay!

You can't reach ****.
There is almost no working room, kinda like a modern car.
I just REALLY wish there was more working room.

Judas Preist, are you a pussy or what???? I got a /6 I'll trade you for your 440, you cover all shipping on both motors and it's a deal!!!!!!
 
So you want a bigger car?

In general no. But if that would mean effortless repairs then yes.
I dont know the size difference in a sbo/bbo vs. big block mopar (440hp in my case) but my 72 cutlass is shorter than my 69 charger while still having more free space under the hood. (same goes for the chevelle ls6)

Well i need to stop talking about how great the gm a body platform is according to my opinion. (At least in this thread) :D
Obviously the b bodys are great aswell. As has been pointed out both have their strengs and weak points.
I was just pissed of yesterday so i needed/wanted to vent.

But really from the late 60s and 70s american vehicles:
You guys think the b body/mopars in general are the easiest to work on? I still have a somewhat hard time believing that.
 
Haven't you heard?? Those stupid engineers designed them with exploding transmissions too..... Just send that pain in your *** over here and I'll deal with it.
 
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