Spinneyhill Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 The visible ball hole in the drag link looks very warn. Can the ball pull out of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Spinneyhill said: The visible ball hole in the drag link looks very warn. Can the ball pull out of it? It seems pretty well secured, I think the draglink hole is not to bad. I’m more worried about the ball as that’s worn quite a lot and is not round any more. It’s worn so much that the bearing cups contact the ball stud part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 If the ball is 1" diameter and the same as the Dodge 8, it is the same as a Chev ball. The Filling Station have them and so do Then & Now. I got mine from the latter, along with Chev seats and spring kits to fit both ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Bother! the Master Parts List does not show the 128/129 in the drag link parts lists. On the Dodge8, the dust cover over the drag link ball is a piece of leather with a hole in it and two metal covers held on with springs that go right round the drag link end. You need to try the drag link ball in the end with no spring pressure on it. If it can pull out without much movement sideways, it is no good. For the ball, you will need to measure the o.a. length, the bolt diameter and thread and the taper to see if the Chev or Then & Now items match. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 (edited) Thanks. Ball is (or was) 1” with 1/2” thread (from memory) so that may be a good option. Edited May 20, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Is that tie rod bent or is it my imagination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 Yup, it’s got a bend. I thought it was wrong but it looks like it was made like that as it’s just a single bend in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 (edited) Gearbox done - we’ll almost. All the parts except one Countershaft and reverse gear idler in position - 1 roller bearing at each end of the countershaft and thick spacer at front. Countershaft and reverse idler shafts fitted with locking plate to secure. Output shaft bearing fitted to housing (I used a sealed bearing to reduce chance of leaks). Bob, I still need a good countershaft if you have one - mine is very worn - I fitted temporarily with the wear groves facing down and figured I can swap the shaft later if you have a better one. Rear cover gasket and housing fitted and speedo drive installed. I used a modern seal in the housing too. Output drive coupling installed to rear (note the park brake drum needs to go on with this and a couple of temporary nuts and bolts helps keep things together). Drive coupling pressed into rear bearing and then install main gear shaft. Note order of gears and washers. Thick washer followed by the thin dished one (dished part facing forward). Main shaft washer and nut fitted and tightened - but need a bigger socket to tighten fully. Front cover fitted (will need to come back to that later:)) Parking brake band fitted Park brake operating levers and adjusters fitted. Cover and parking brake fitted - note brake lever should be fitted to cover first and make sure that the gear lever and both selector shafts are in neutral before fitting the cover. Edited May 21, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 I hope you can get the input pinion in without removing very much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 (edited) 18 hours ago, RichBad said: Yup, it’s got a bend. I thought it was wrong but it looks like it was made like that as it’s just a single bend in the middle. The bend would be in the center if someone wrapped a tow rope/cable around the front axle and tie rod at the same time to tow it. I have never seen a tie rod bent in the center except from what I just described. Just a suggestion, but you may want to ask other owners of a DB like that to see if their tie rods are bent, too. Edited May 21, 2018 by keiser31 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 BEAUTIFUL job you are doing there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Spinneyhill said: I hope you can get the input pinion in without removing very much? Should go in from the front no problem, just have to remove the front cover. i hope:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 On 5/21/2018 at 3:49 PM, keiser31 said: BEAUTIFUL job you are doing there. I agree! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert b Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Yes the drag link is made that way with a bend as shown and Richard looks like i have to find you ball to ( ihave spare someware ) . Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 10 hours ago, robert b said: Yes the drag link is made that way with a bend as shown and Richard looks like i have to find you ball to ( ihave spare someware ) . Bob The bent tie rod is what I was referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 I have not seen a bent tie rod like that either. It will make it hard to set the toe-in! I expect one end to be a left hand thread, the other to be right so turning the rod lengthens or shortens the tie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 No problem for adjusting as one end is fixed - no LH thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 44 minutes ago, RichBad said: No problem for adjusting as one end is fixed - no LH thread. Now I'm confused. How do you adjust the toe-in? It all looks beautiful too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Loosen adjusting clamp bolt, remove tie rod pin, turn link to adjust in or out, refit pin, tighten clamp bolt. Not sure if all the Dodges are like that but it’s what mine has. One of the pictures above shows the adjuster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Front mechanics universal joint. Some wear on the pins but not too bad (the rear is a different story). Fitting the front half to the flange, pin fitted and re-riveted in place. Trunnions fitted together with output shaft/spline. I used o rings instead of cork seals on the pins in the hope of getting it to seal as the joint needs to be filled with oil and I’ve heard they leak for fun! Other half of the joint fitted (with a good silicone sealer on the joints) and tightened. Made a new felt seal for the sliding spline joint (top left is the old one). Finished assembly filled with oil - left over night and not the slightest leak. If it remains like that is a different story! Fitted to the gearbox output flange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Just an observation I've seen a few times with these cars on the tie rod: If someone used a floor jack with a decent size plate to lift the front end, many times that plate also contacts the tie rod. This causes the tie rod to bend. With the bend in the middle of the TR, its a very high possibility of how the rod got bent as many lift these cars using the center of the axle. I've also knownof cars that have fallen off jacks and blocks onto the TR and the same results have happened. The fixed end of your rod is a wishbone and in the picture it doesn't look level to the the control arm. I'm sure you checked for tension in the wishbone pin but a fixed end tie rod should not have a bend as no half rotations are possible, only full rotations. I believe there's a good possibility your rod got bent at one time as I described above. I could be wrong though and I'm just bringing the possibility to light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted June 24, 2018 Author Share Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) Finished the sump. Had it re galvanised a while ago but was a bit nervous about re-fitting the inner oil tray (removed before plating) as it’s rivited in and the rivets are sealed with solder. Worked out quite well, made sure everything was very clean to start with and tinned all surfaces and it ended up easier than expected. Rear drain tube soldered in place Inner tray ready to fit Tray riveted in place Rivet heads soldered to seal Edited June 24, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 Rebuilding the light switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Fitting the rear brakes. Had new lining fitted (modern material bonded to bands) but also fitted rivets (mainly to fill the holes and look correct). Note, if restoring your brakes with bonded lining it’s best to clean/bead blast the bands first, then fit the lining and then paint/powdercoat. The temperature to cure the lining glue will damage the paint/powdercoat (found that the hard way). All the parts ready to fit Bands and linkages fitted Adjusted after fitting the wheel/drum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Something in my memory is telling me I have read that a different, softer lining should be used for these types of brakes, rather the modern hard stuff. I wouldn't know where to find it though. Maybe on these fora somewhere? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Thanks - when I took it to the relining shop they said they had different grades - I asked for the softest possible. I’ve always done this on anything I’ve had to get re-lined as I figure it gives better low temp performance at the cost of less life of the lining (not really an issue on this) and also reduced wear rate of the drum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 (edited) Rebuilt the front wheels and fitted to the car. Finally the car has four wheels again:) Cleaned up the felt seal contact area and fitted new bearings. Lots of sanding, two coats of sanding sealer and 5 coats of varnish. Spokes fitted and inner hub being fitted. New felt seals and bearings Fitted to the car. One was running slightly untrue (about 3mm runout) but when I fitted the rim & tyre it seemed to even out. The order of tightening the rim bolts seems to make a big difference. Four wheels at last! Edited July 22, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Looks really good. Great job on the wheels, are those the original spokes? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 8 hours ago, r1lark said: Looks really good. Great job on the wheels, are those the original spokes? Thanks! Not sure about the spokes, I think they could well be original as it didn’t look like they had been apart before. There were a couple that weren’t so good but with a good sand and varnish they came up nice and have a good bit of character. They were all very tight when I refitted them too which hopefully means they’ll last a while longer:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 Finished the steering wheel. It wasn’t looking great to start with but after a good sand and filling some gaps with epoxy it seemed to come up good. I know the wood and polished aluminium finish isn’t original but it looks good and a shame to hide. Sanded the wood and aluminium and sealed with a couple of coats of sanding sealer. spokes polished and first coat of varnish. After about 7 coats of varnish. Steering mounted engine controls ready for fitting. Had to make a new inner shaft as the horn cable was corroded solid inside the original. Made the new one out of stainless. Also had to make a new horn button as the original was missing, used aluminium but I think the originals were Bakelite. Finished wheel fitted Control levers and friction ring at lower end. Thanks Bob for making the friction ring as mine was missing. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Fantastic job, it looks fabulous sitting there on its own wheels! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 (edited) Well, thought I was making progress with the engine but took a step backwards, all the gory details here - http://forums.aaca.org/topic/314814-1928-series-128129-fast-four-engine-rebuild/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-1787538 so started finishing off some of the other items. Running boards with new rubber and polished the aluminium trim strips ready to fit. Also got some nice aluminium rivets. One finished and back on the car. And the other Edited September 22, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Got rear springs back today, reset, cleaned up and new bushes. Fitted to the car and for the first time in a while have the car on all four wheels again:) Sits up quite high at the rear now, hoping it will drop down a bit when the body goes back on. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Looks great. Neat work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 Made up some new cables for the battery/starter. The outer cover came up good when re-plated but a couple of the end fittings were missing. Not sure what they are for - I guess they are just insulators - the original ones looked a bit like bakelite - I made a couple of new ones out of wood which should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) Details of the engine rebuild. Finally got all the parts back from the machine shop - after well over a year!! Parts from the machine shop: Head skimmed and cc'd. Block cleaned, re-sleeved back to standard, skimmed, valve seats re-cut, guides lined, crack tested and pressure tested. Crankshaft reground and balanced with flywheel. All bearings re-white metaled. Valves re-profiled. New Exhaust valves and pistons. Head, Block and front covers cleaned and painted - thanks to Matt. Block took some serious cleaning - was de-greased and power washed prior going to the engine builder, engine builder 'hot tanked' it, then I de-greased and power washed again. Still had crud in the oil galleries/reservoirs so made up a 'U' shaped tube to fit to the air line to get into the reservoirs - combined with lots of carb cleaner this seemed to shift all the dirt. Some long Moroso bottle brushes were perfect for cleaning the main oil gallery. Machined the valve spring holders to get rid of the retaining pin wear grooves Opened up the rod oil holes with a countersink to provide a slightly larger area for collecting the oil. Added a chamfer to all the bearing shells - provides an additional oil reservoir as well as allowing any debri to collect away from the bearing surface, also stops the 'sharp' edge acting as an oil 'wiper' All the parts cleaned and ready for the rebuild. Edited October 7, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 (edited) First step - engine bolted to the rear mount then fitted to stand. Used thread sealer on the two bolts that go through to the crankcase to reduce likelihood of oil leaks. Fitted rear oil gallery blanking plug (square head) and crankshaft rear bearing upper oil retainer with thin gasket. Ensure face of retainer is level with block face to help get a good seal with the sump gasket. Use thread sealer on all threads. Fit camshaft and crankshaft bearings and shims Fit crankshaft and caps. Check bearing shims are aligned (even clearance to crank journals) and tighten nuts. Tighten progressively to 60 ftlbs (that's what mine were line bored at). Keep checking it's free as you go - mine could be turned by hand. Fit split pins to the main bearing nuts. Fitted oil pump and oil pressure relief valve Fit cam followers - I chose to do these before fitting the pistons as it's easier to turn the engine over before the pistons are fitted. Fitted valves and springs. Valves adjusted to 0.007" Inlet and 0.008" Exhaust. Tappet covers fitted Fitting Pistons. Gaps for the 4 rings evenly spaced and away from thrust face. Big end nuts tightened gradually to 45 ftlbs. Split pins fitted to all the big end nuts. Fitted rear bearing oil seal felt and sump gaskets. Seal and gaskets 'glued' to block with sealer. Pay attention to the gasket around the rear bearing oil retainer as this needs to be trimmed to ensure no overhang into the cavity otherwise this will result in oil leaks. Fit flywheel bolts to crankshaft - this needs to be done before the sump is fitted - can't be done after (guess how I know). Note gasket shape around oil flinger. Fitted sump - note to ensure the front flange is level with the front face of the block. Use sealer on the front bolts as they protrude into the crankcase. Made new felt seal for flywheel lower cover and fitted. Fit intermediate front cover, camshaft gear (note thrust washer goes on first) and crankshaft gear. Ensure sufficient amount of sealer between the cover and the joint between sump and crankcase as it's not a great fit here. Fit timing chain - note generator needs to be fitted to be fitted to hold the gear and tension the chain. Fit oil throw out cup to crankshaft and spring loaded plunger to cam shaft. Check that generator gear oil feed tube is clear and aligned correctly with the reservoir in the gear support housing. Fit front cover and crankshaft pulley. Use thread sealer on all bolts that pass through to the internal crankcase cavity to reduce chance of leaks. Fit generator gear cover ensuring spring and plunger are fitted to the cover first. Fitted head studs - use stud lock to stop studs turning and seal into the water jackets. Check head gasket fits correctly Fitted water pump and connected to generator and installed manifold studs - use thread lock on all studs to prevent unintended removal and stop leaks as they all go through the water jacket. Fitted starter motor, oil pressure union, timing cover, filler cap and dipstick Ensure brass ring (distributor shaft bush) is fitted to block and fit distributor drive shaft - note that this only fits in one direction so check it is correctly engaged in oil pump drive. Fitting head Fit horn, vacuum tank and vacuum pipe clip (rear stud) and tighten head nuts. Tighten progressively, starting with centre nut and use a circular pattern. Leave time between each tightening step for gasket to settle - final tightening to be completed after first run. Distributor can be fitted - checking the drive engages correctly with the shaft (only goes one way) and fit the retaining stud and lock nut (tighten lightly then back off to ensure distributor can still advance/retard correctly). Next step - put it in the car. Edited October 9, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Beautiful job. Again very neat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Great job, thanks for posting the steps! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 (edited) Engine back in the car and new plug leads made and plugs fitted. Fan fitted Exhaust and inlet manifold painted (baked in the BBQ much to my wife's pleasure) and bolted together also made a new manifold nut to suit. Manifold and carburettor fitted and timing and throttle controls attached and adjusted. Flywheel fitted - don't forget to fit the spigot bearing into the crankshaft and add some grease to keep it lubricated. Clutch pressure plate cleaned and joints greased. Clutch assembly fitted to flywheel - used gearbox output shaft to set clutch alignment before tightening. Adjusting pressure plate pre-load - set dimension to 1 5/16" Vacuum and fuel feed tubes made and fitted. Adjusted points gap to 0.030"and set timing to 12degrees (mark on flywheel) with timing in fully advanced position. Fitted radiator, temporary coil and exhaust. Filled with oil and primed oil using the oil pressure gauge outlet port (to pre-fill all the reservoirs). All ready for initial start up Edited October 9, 2018 by RichBad (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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