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Back in black II!
https://mail.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58547		 Page 7 of 10
Author:  Rick Covalt [ Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:58 am ]
Post subject: 
You should soon be ready to race!! Good progress Reed
Author:  Reed [ Sat Apr 02, 2016 7:40 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks! I do definitely want to get this truck down a track at some point. I think the trans needs some attention, but I am mentally cataloging the engine speed parts I have socked away in my garage and planning out a performance build. I don't do manual transmisisons and I want an overdrive, so I will also be looking into a Volvo/Laycock overdrive adaptation. Short term I think a fluid change and band adjustment is needed. Second and third are OK, but first gear is still very sluggish and acceleration from a stop is very poor. If the internals look bad while I am in there I will just swap it over to a rebuilt 904 I have under my workbench and rebuild the 727 with a shift kit.

Ultimately I want this beast to be fuel injected and supercharged, but that is a ways down the line. Right now I just need to get it running well as a daily driver. I still need to do some repair work to the wiring harness in the engine bay. The horn wiring is completely wrong and I want to upgrade the charging and ignition systems. At least all the dash lights work now (except the high beam indicator).
Author:  Joshie225 [ Sat Apr 02, 2016 8:30 am ]
Post subject: 
If the acceleration from a stop is that bad you might very well have a bad stator clutch in the torque converter. I would be tempted to swap the converter, but make sure that you get the factory high stall version or better.
Author:  Reed [ Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:31 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks! I will investigate that when I get into the trans. Acceleration from a stop is very poor for a vehicle with 3.91 rear gears.
Author:  Reed [ Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Quite an interesting drive
I drive my truck about 40 miles to my brother's house today to help him finish moving. All went well. Then I started home at about 7 pm. I got roughly 20 miles own the highway when I starte smelling radiator fluid. I looked down and saw that the temp gauge was pegged. Then I noticed that the ammeter was deep in the discharge zone. Then I noticed that the dash lights were very dim.

I tried to motor on, hoping that the voltage regulator in the dash was wonky, but the coolant smell got stronger. I pulled off in the parking lot of a big shopping mall so I could be in a well-lit place when I popped the hood.

I left the engine running and I fully expected the alternator/fan belt to be missing or popped off. However, to my great surprise, the fan belt was in place but the fan wasn't moving, even with the engine running. The fan belt wasn't slipping, but the power steering belt was turning. I shut the motor down and tried turning the fan by and. It moved freely and the alternator and water pump spun just fine.

Any guesses what had happened? :lol:

When I first got the truck I noted that the timing mark was nowhere near correct. The vibration damper finally and totally DIED. The center core is still firmly pressed onto the crank snout but the outer ring flops around completely loose. That is why the power steering pump belt was still spinning- the pully bolts to the center of the vibration damper.

I new the outer ring on the vibration damper could sip, but I didn't know they could utterly and completley fail. I guess driving at 80 with 3.91 rear gears finally did the 40-year-old damper in. 3700 RPM is a bit excessive for normal highway driving, I suppose. :lol:

I'l post pictures of the carnage when I get the time to dig into it. Good thing I have three cars! My truck and van are down, but I can still drive drive my sedan.
Author:  Reed [ Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:10 am ]
Post subject:  And to top it off...
I forgot to mention that yesterday morning the guts f the carbsonly electric choke thermostat unit fell apart on me rendering the choke and fast idle inoperative. Also, when I arrived at my brother's place the engine was running rough after the long highway run. I pulled the plug wires one by one to see which cylinders were the problem and I found that the RPMs did not drop when I pulled cylinders 1 and 6. This is odd. There was healthy spark for each cylinder, bt the engine didn't run slower or rougher when the wires were pulled.

The engine also will idle perfectly smooth sometimes like all the cylinder are working, but after it gets warmed up and it idles rough. I need to double check the valve lash and do a compression check.
Author:  kesteb [ Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:23 pm ]
Post subject: 
Slant 4, gotta love it. Check the plug wires and distributor cap.
Author:  Reed [ Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:36 am ]
Post subject: 
For sure. I have new cap, rotor, plugs, wires, coil, and even an HEI system ready to go, but I got some nasty kind of flu bug and I am feeling pretty low. Maybe by this weekend I will be able to crawl outside and lok at the truck again.
Author:  Reed [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Now being Project: Mission Creep!
I received a NOS heavy-duty three-groove truck vibration damper in the mail last week and went out this morning to do a quick install. It turns out that I can't get the vibration damper puller installed without pulling the radiator, so out came the radiator.

In the process of draining what fluid was left in the cooling system, I discovered that the shop I paid to power-flush the cooling system didn't. The same old rusty cruddy coolant was in the system as was in it when I got the truck. So now I figure that since I have the radiator out and the cooling system drained I might as well flush the cooling system.

Then I got to looking at the engine. With the radiator out and the crank pulleys out of the way, now would be a great time to pressure wash and clean the engine. So off came the fan and water pump pulley to let me blast away the grime.

Then I got to thinking, I have the alternator off, so I may as well upgrade the alternator to a higher amp unit. And while I am into wiring, I might as well upgrade to an HEI ignition system. And while I am over there on that side of the engine, I might as well do the fuel line modification.

:lol:

So that is where the list stands right now. From a simple vibration damper swap to a whole long list of things to do. We'll see if I chicken out and just put the new damper on and refill the cooling system instead.
Author:  emsvitil [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:37 pm ]
Post subject: 
Mission creeeeeeepppppp..............
Author:  Reed [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 7:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Creeping along! :wink:

Got the old damper off, did a quick pressure wash on the motor, discovered that the timing chain cover to damper seal is worn/damaged. Fortunately this engine has the later style timing chain cover where I can press a new seal in from the front. :D

Did a half-azzed cooling system flush (ran the garden hose into both ends of the heater core hoses until the water cae out clean).

I am going to scratch the ignition, fuel line, and alternator upgrades for now. I need to get this truck back on the road ASAP. I will replace the ignition system components, though, but leave it stock Mopar EI for now.
Author:  Reed [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Dang, getting hard to find a timing cover seal! Nobody in town had one in stock. Rockauto to the rescue, but it won't be here until next Monday. Looks like I will reassemble with the old seal in place and run t until the new seal gets here.
Author:  Reed [ Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
Got the truck back up and running! What an adventure. I found a store in town that had the timing cover crank seal as part of a timing cover seal kit, so now I have an extra cover-to-block gasket (but no cover to pan gasket. Hmmm). I read on the board an old factory bulletin that the three groove truck pulley has to be used with the crank bolt. Thats fine with me, I always install a crank bolt, anyway, and the crank bolt is used to press the damper on the crank snout.

I tried threading my last crnak bolt into the snout of my crank and it just wouldn't go. I cleaned and carefully tried to wrk it in and it just wouldn't thread. I guess at some point in the trucks life someone tried to thread something into the crank but cross-thread the first couple threads. So I had to chase down a tap to clean up the crank snout threads.

I finally found a tap ($50!!!) and spent about an hour working to get the crank threads cleaned up. My first attempt ended in me tapping cross-thread (D'OH!), but eventually I got the threads cleaned up to the point the crank bolt went in smoothly.

I tried installing the damper only to find that the first few threads in the crank snout were actually stripped out, so I ended up using a block of wood and a sledgehammer to get the damper on far enough for the crank bolt to grab enough threads to apply pressure. Ultimately, it was irrelevant since the engine is worn out enough to not have enough compression to hold the crank from turning when I turned the crank bolt to press the damper on. I ended up sledgehammering the damper all the way on. Not ideal, I know, and not very nice to the crank thrust bearing, but it is done.

I got the engine reassembled, replaced the blown exhaust pipe gasket, repaired the failed carbsonly electric choke thermostat, and FINALLY fired the engine back up. I think I have either or both a failing torque converter and a worn out distributor. At idle the engine will sometimes drop about 300 RPM and idle rough and the timing will stay far advanced, but then it will sometimes pop back up to a higher idle and the timing will retard back to where it should be. At one point I put it in reverse while it was idling rough and the engine almost died so I revved it and the engine suddenly increased idle RPM and ran much smoother. It acts like the weights and governor in the distributor are sticking or the lockup clutch in the torque converter is sticking and lugging the motor, but this is a 1976 727 trans that I am fairly certain does not have a torque converter.

:shrug:

More projects for another day. Right now I am just happy the truck is back up and running.

The motor and trans are pretty beat, though, so I will definitely be gather parts to put together a fresher motor and trans. I want to go with a 225/904 lockup combination for less parasitic power loss in the drivetrain. I chickened out and didn't o anything except reassemble the motor and get it back up and runnig. No other upgrades. I want to get it running reliably and well with the current configuration before I throw more variables into the mix.
Author:  Reed [ Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Decisions, decisions....
Well, I am fairly certain that the stator (or some other part) in the torque converter is failing and is close to being completley failed. The motor lugs at low speed (almost stalling out the engine) and acceleration is horrible.

I have two choices. Spend a couple hundred (or more) dollars on a new torque converter and install it in the original 727, or get a driveshaft made up and swap in a rebuilt 904 I have under my bench. I like the idea of the 904 because it is rebuilt and it is a lockup which might help a little with fuel economy on the highway.

Labor is basically the same for both propositions, cost would be roughly the same (getting a driveshaft cut down and getting a 904 yoke is about the same cost as a new 727 torque converter).

Hmmmmm. I am leaning towards the 904. More efficient, less weight, less parasitic power loss, freshly rebuilt, strong enough for my uses. I can always rebuild the 727 later if I find I actually need that much beef.
Author:  Tim Keith [ Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
sounds like you need to swap the transmission
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