by Roger Bettoni (Roger) » 04 Sep 2003 0:17
Glad to hear the info helped you Duane. You may have difficulty repairing the enlarged hole, as the material used for the base and body of the mirrors is pretty cheap and nasty alloy and difficult to weld so I am told. Maybe consider enlarging the other hole to match, then have slightly larger than normal threaded fasteners installed in the door skin, to accommodate a larger stainless or chrome screw?
Yes Dave - spring is in the air and the countryside is covered in wildflowers right now. Still getting the "every second day" down-pour, so not great driving conditions yet. All a bit redundant from my point of view, as the chally is in bits still. I'm waiting on a few final parts to arrive from the US so I can complete the engine improvements. Discovered all sorts of nasty things when I tore it down - like a leaking timing cover, totally corroded water pump, perished engine mounts, cracked exhaust manifold etc etc. You probably know more than most what it's like when you get into things like this - one problem area leads to another... Ho-hum - at least I'm getting there.
Also discovered that the exhaust valves had been hitting the pistons at one stage, yet the heads and valves seem to be all stock with no apparent damage other than the slight marks on the top of every piston - haven't quite figured this one out yet (maybe an earlier owner did something I'm unaware of)?? My new heads have finally arrived and look the part too, with oversize valves (stainless valves, hardened seats etc) and quality springs, ported and polished by a Chrysler guru in the city. They should improve the flow greatly. When it's all back together, I'll touch bases and let you know how it all works. I could potentially achieve around 250-300 hp from the little 318 with a bit of luck, although I really just want to make her more efficient and reliable at this stage.