1977 Dodge Aspen R/T with Gold on Gold Stripe Kit
I have had the car since 1991. Unfortunately it has been on blocks for about 11 years. I hope to have it back running by the end of the winter and fully restored by the end of spring 2008.
So this all started when I blew the U-Joints at 65mph and bent the tail shaft on the A833 4 speed. I put in a stock 727 and about a month latter blew the torq-converter in it. The car then went up on blocks till I could get around to it.....and time went and went and went till it was 11 years latter.
I moved the car 80 miles to my home and started looking at what I wanted to do to it. Turns out the Schumacher Services makes a small block to b/rb motor mount conversion kit. Thus it started.
I located a D100 with a built 400 Big Block and 727 in it. I wanted the 400 for several reasons. 1 it has a low deck height and I new that I was going to have space problems. 2 it has the biggest piston size that Mopar ever made (this was bored out .030 over on top of it). 3 it is a fast high revving motor (for a big block).
I then ordered the Schumacher Services swap kit, polly trans mount and headers along with aluminum sub frame connecters, Holly "Blue" fuel pump, Milidon center sump 8 quart oil pan, Oil filter relocation kit and up size filter attachment plate, Afco Radiator (BIG), and all the cables and such that would be needed to complete the swap.
I first pulled the now dead 318 from the car along with the radiator, exhaust and emission controls. I then cut out the old rubber sub frame connectors with a sawsall, much cursing and smoke followed as they were stuck and did not slip out even when the whole k-member was lowered to rest on the suspension. Once out the aluminum connecters slipped right in and firmed up the whole front end. I then test fit the radiator and motor mounts. Substantial cutting and grinding were needed on the front clip and k-member to get every thing to fit. I then sandblasted the entire engine compartment and sprayed it in black textured sound deadener/undercoating. Next I gutted the interior of the car masked off the windows and dash board sand blasted the small amount of surface rust and sprayed the floor with truck bedlinner. The car was then rolled into the garage.>
The truck was then backed into the driveway and the motor, tranny, brake booster, flex-a-lite fans, Mallory ignition system and gauges were removed.
The engine then got a fresh paint job and the oil pan was removed. A wrecker was called the remains of the D100 left and I had my driveway back :)!!!
Next the 400 and tranny were shoehorned into the engine compartment. It went in fairly easily as there was no oil pan to get in the way. All that needed to happen was to lift the tail section of the 727 and bolt in the cross member then torq the motor mount bolts to spec. I started to raise the tranny but could not get it to line up with the original cross member holes. It was lower by about a 1/4 of an inch. So I routed out the holes for a larger grade 8 bolt and tightened it up.
Then the problems started. The reason that the tail shaft would not go any higher is that the 12 inch brake booster was hung up on the drivers side valve cover. It had put a dent in the cover about the size of a golf ball. I removed the booster and discovered that the booster has a completely different bracketing system and shaft length than the one that came out of the truck (Agha). I also at this point had to replace the chrome valve covers that were on the motor as the driver side was destroyed.
Back to the Summit web sight. I got the Mopar black wrinkle coat covers and matching air cleaner along with all the gauges I wanted to install.
While I was waiting for the parts to arrive I called back under the car and put in the oil pan. Wrong!!! There was no room between the k-member and the bottom of the block to slide in the pan. I had to drop the center section of the steering linkage to get the pan in. The next problem was that the k-member is about 6 inches wide and covered 2 bolts on each side of the pan. I had to drill holes in the k-member that I could slip the bolts and ratchet head through to tourq the bolts (what a pain). This whole process took about 3 full days to get it all sorted out.
Next I went back to actually putting in the bolts and torqing them for the motor mounts. Once again I had to route out one of the mounts to get the bolt through (sigh). But now the motor was in.
I rewired the ignition system, put on the carb, installed the radiator with fans, valve covers, set up the linkages, hooked up senders, plumbed the water lines, relocated the oil filter and battery.
All that was left before the test firing of the motor was fill the radiator. I put in a gallon of antifreeze and it went right on to the drip pan. WHAT?
Apparently when I test fit the radiator I caught it on a bolt and put a hole in a fin. I tried to Sauder it but was unable and so I sent it out to a local shop. This fixed the problem.
I then reinstalled the radiator and fans. Filled the tank on the radiator and primed the carb. The motor turned and fired. There was this horrible screeching noise and smoke from the front of the motor. What now? The pulley on the alternator was bent and frozen. I removed the fan belt and tried again. I let the motor run for about 30 seconds off and on as I had to prime the carb any time I wanted to get it to run. I have not drained the fuel tank or put in the new fuel pump yet. No problems or so I thought. I then noticed oil dripping off of the k-member. It was coming from the oil relocation mount on the block. The o-ring that was supplied with the fitting was bad. I cut a gasket from some gasket material that I had and reinstalled it.
Next I spent about 3 nights in front of the TV soldering all the gauge connections and lights ECT. I modified the stock gauge cluster so that it would take the new Speedo, Tac and fuel level gauge. I put the Oil pressure and Water temp in mounting cups on top of the dash. Then the Trans temp, Volt meter and Fuel pressure gauges were mounted on the side of the floor shifter consol. Along with all this I installed a push button start, ignition switch and two accessory switches for the electric fan override and the fuel pump.
What A Mess.
So I got the fuel pump plumbed and the car starts YaY!! It shakes the whole house right now as it has no exhaust on it but it sounds great. Next is getting the new alternator hooked up and letting it run for a little while as it has been sitting for about 4 months due to lack of time and funds.
