The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Wanna bet?

BTW, I am sure that the engine will be running before Hans gets his Hemi running

So it's running before july Christer? If I wasn't building my house I would have taken the bet! So far it looks like the hemi will be in at the end of april / begin of may. Hope to run it the july dragrace. Till then the 340 will serve good duty.

Looks like a nice piece to install an engine indeed.

I thought I would amuse you MB readers with two pic´s of a really awful mod!!!!!!! (defenitely NOT done by myself.....!). The old shift knob/button is to the left and the "new" one to right. (I found a used set including knob/button/spring on ebay for only $17.50) Why have they done this terrible mod in the first place? Probably because they didn´t know where to buy the black plastic button.

Lessons learned:
1.You never know what you will find if you buy a many owned car.
2. Try to avoid many owned cars.

A really awful mod! Any more terrible mods out there?

I can think of a few things on my car that you might class as "really awfull mods". But I did them all myself!

I have had bad luck x3 lately (2 minor and one bigger). Here is the story:

1) My front bumper needs to be re-chromed. I thought that two months would be sufficient BUT on the door of the shop, there was a note saying that no private jobs will be finished before holiday. Really great!? My first reaction was to take the bumper with me and paint it body colour just for the summer. Giving it another thought, I didn´t. Sad to say this, but they will probably have my bumper ready before I am finished with the rest of the car.

2) As you already know, my trans and engine are back in place. The starter and headders are also mounted. The only "small" part I had to do was to attach the converter to the flexplate. And guess what!!!!!! My flexplate and my converter have different boltcircles! (My flexplate has a 11" bolt-circle and the converter has a 10" bolt-circle.) It was really, really, really close that I dropped everything and went away. The thoughts that popped up in my mind were that why am I not intrested in sewing, reading books or whatever.

The reason for buying a complete rebuilt trans was to stay out problems, but it seems like bad luck is hunting me. Yes, yes, yes, I should have checked before, but I didn´t. I didn´t have a clue that there were two different bolt-circle diameters. NOW I KNOW. It is called learning the hard way, isn´t it. (You may think that I am upset by a small problem but the thing is that I have had problems with my trans so many times that I have stopped counting. It isn´t fun any more.)

3) I need to have a propeller shaft shortened and balanced. That is why I have taken off the joints and the yokes. Good thinking NOT. The shop said that they needed the joints and and the yokes to be able to balance the prop shaft. No problem with the front yoke but the rear yoke is a bit worse since it is bolted to the rearend.

Other than that is everything OK.

Wish me good luck. It feels like I need it.

PS. Maybe a stupid question......: The best way to solve my converter to flexplate problem is to buy a flexplate with the smaller bolt-circle diameter, isn´t it?

I don't know what you are complaining about Christer! My luck has always been much worse than that!

I do know how you feel. But all this is just down to lack of experience. Been there done that. I have learned the same way. As time goes on you make fewer bad decisions and more good ones! Trust me! This is true. It all comes good eventually.

Because we have no way to learn about these cars in our countries we have to learn from personal experience. There is no other way. Some people hide their mistakes because they feel foolish and they do not want people to know they are not perfect.
I have always written down my mistakes and bad experiences and put them on this board so that others may see it and not make the same mistake. I bet a few people will see this and think "I never thought of that!" and you will have saved them a lot of trouble.

Anyway. Chin up old chap. Knock the dust off your clothes and come out fighting!

Just buy the correct flex plate. One problem solved.

Second problem. When I had my shaft shortened I had to give them the front yoke only. They did not need the rear bit that holds the pinion in. Check with them again what they need. they may have mislead you.

Thanks!

My worst frustration was gone during the same day. I even laughed at it today when I told a friend about my problems.

quote]Second problem. When I had my shaft shortened I had to give them the front yoke only.[/quote]

Same with mine. I decided to have a new shaft made (out of a bowtie one-ton p/u so I could put a stronger u-joint it! The shop did not need the yoke. But the machinist who made the shaft does own a chally, so maybe he had the measurements?

Good luck.

Here is a photo of the prop shaft, u-joint.

Todd

Thanks for the input fellas. I really hope the shop will settle for to only have the front yoke mounted.

About the prop shaft; I had mine balanced last summer and what the needed was the propshaft with u-joint and slip yoke in front and only the u-joint in the rear. So don't worry about that.

About the flexplate; I believe the one B&M sells has a dual pattern bolt circle so it can be used with both. I have one myself and it's a nice piece! But check for dual pattern first cause it has been a while since I bought it. But, you'll probably know, you'll have to remove the engine or trans again to install the flexplate...

About the bumper; thought about a body colored fiberglass piece...

Maybe I DO have my engine in sooner then you Christer

I went the 'glass front bumper route as a temp measure but I liked the look of it so much I kept it.

Easier to drop the trans to do the flex plate I think seeing as you have the propshaft off anyway and the trans is lighter.

I have had my engine in and out twice and the trans out maybe six times?

I bought a 2,800 stall converter once and fitted that only to find it made no difference because someone had fitted one before I bought the car! Had to buy another convertor and to it again. That was fine. But I used the same front oil seal because it had not been used much right?
Wrong. It leaked. So had to drop the trans again.
So there was the trans out three times just to do one job!

It feels like the progress is a bit slow at the moment.
That is why I thought I would show some VERY old pic´s.
They are from the eighties and show the car as it looked like when I bought it.
Those were the days....!

I will be on a well needed vacation during the next three weeks (to the north of Sweden). I thought I would wish all of you a nice summer filled with car meetings.

Latest news:
Now my front bumper has a nice, fresh layer of crome on it (If it don´t go - Chrome it )

I have recieved a used prop shaft from the US and it looks like it will fit (I have not changed the u-joints yet, so I don´t know for sure if it will fit. The length is anyway 100% correct.)

I have switched my 11" flexplate for a 10" unit. The engine and trans are bolted together.

See ya!

Have a nice one mate.

dave-r wrote:Have a nice one mate.

I will do my best. The same to you.

BTW; If things turn out as excpected, I will meet up with Lars and discuss his Roller rocker problems (and maybe confuse him a bit...who knows )

Have a nice vacation Christer!

Oh and about that roller rocker thread from Lars; don't start talking 'bout football indeed...

little note: now we had a swede as a ref. boy was he bullshitting us!! He better put that whistle of him somewhere in a small dark hole... of his own!

A little update:

I think I already have mentioned that we now have moved to another garage. The new garage is 9km away from my apartment. That is 4km less than I had to travel to my old garage.

As with everything, there are pros and cons with the new garage (compared to the old one):
The pros include that we now have running water and that the garage is partly heated when we not are there. Another pro is that only three cars share the same garage now (compared to four cars earlier). The rent is very low compared to most other garages around. The cons include a quite low ceiling height and a rough flooring.

I am not sure if I shall feel ashamed for not having done more on my car OR if I shall feel proud of what I have achieved. I think I choose the latter because it feels better to do that. Well, at least the car is now standing on all four wheels and it is beginning to look like a car again!

I feel a little bit uncomfortable now that I reveal the places where there are layers of bondo, but what the heck, quite a few of our cars have lived a rough and tough life. My car is not an exception.

I have a set of Volvo rims (Amazon, P1800) on. The reason is that I want to protect my "real" rims during the forthcoming paint job.

A weired story: The Chrokee in the pic below has shared garage with my Chally for the last 10 years, but I have never met the owner in person. What a waste to have a worn car standing for so long time and not doing anything about it!

Looking good Christer !!

Sorry i havent wrote back to you in a while, school is taking all my free time and a little more
I finaly got sick by my studying and layd in still the whole weekend... not so good!

Keep up the good job on your car , i belive its gonna be awsome !!!!!

Mvh Chrippa

Chrippa wrote:Looking good Christer !!

Sorry i havent wrote back to you in a while, school is taking all my free time and a little more
I finaly got sick by my studying and layd in still the whole weekend... not so good!

Keep up the good job on your car , i belive its gonna be awsome !!!!!

Mvh Chrippa

Awesome!? Thanks a lot, mate!!!! Maybe not the best describing word, but it sure gave me some good vibes! My own goal is that the car is going to be "good enough". My expectations are not higher than that. We will see.....

I have been wondering what you have been up to lately, Chrippa! Good to hear that you are doing your homework and not spending a lot of time on this very addictive, but wonderful, board.

(Sorry for the late reply..... )

Christer wrote:
My own goal is that the car is going to be "good enough". My expectations are not higher than that. We will see.....

I have been wondering what you have been up to lately, Chrippa! Good to hear that you are doing your homework and not spending a lot of time on this very addictive, but wonderful, board.

(Sorry for the late reply..... )

Im convinced its gonna be a good looking bad-ass chally
Yeah ive been doing my homework but im still behind in math , its really frustrating!! I feel now that i could have spent more time on studying and less time on my xbox and computer , but in the otherhand i got sick as a result of stress so i guess i shouldnt blame my self so hard

And no stress in writing back im kinda slow myself

Cheers Chrippa !

I have pretty close to the same thing.
Factory Sleeper R/T (FLAT hood and no R/T on Trunk)
Burnt orange w/ Black vynal top, and Burnt orange interior
383 Magnum 727hd 323 gears
bout to put in my 4 speed though

sleepychallenger wrote:I have pretty close to the same thing.
Factory Sleeper R/T (FLAT hood and no R/T on Trunk)
Burnt orange w/ Black vynal top, and Burnt orange interior
383 Magnum 727hd 323 gears
bout to put in my 4 speed though

Nice car!

thanks

sleepychallenger wrote:I have pretty close to the same thing.
Factory Sleeper R/T (FLAT hood and no R/T on Trunk)
Burnt orange w/ Black vynal top, and Burnt orange interior
383 Magnum 727hd 323 gears
bout to put in my 4 speed though

Looks like family, this is mine:

That's a pretty car! Is that the stock color?

Sarah & Jon

Jon wrote:That's a pretty car! Is that the stock color?

Sarah & Jon

Yes, Dark burnt orange 1970 SE ( Assembly plant Los Angeles, CA Sept. 1969) with a 383. One of the 6584 that where built. Vinyl top, smaller rear window, overhead consol, leather seads, factory airco and a few more things.
Greatings Peter Jansen.

i knew i saw that car before

very nice one peter !

dodgefreak wrote:i knew i saw that car before

very nice one peter !

THANK YOU

i was in holland about 20 years ago. 2 R/Ts from LA with flat hoods. strange.
mine was built oct 69 sold nov 69 went to huntington beach and was purchaced there. wow, that is really cool.

, the years are going by and my Chally is still collecting dust in the garage. It is time to do something about it.

Maybe not very intresting news but by a coincidence I managed to track down a R/T hood for pennies. Well, not exactly. I gave $100 and I am VERY pleased with that price. It a bit "banana shaped" after a crash though. That is why I got it so cheap. I have already started to straighten it and it goes fairly well. Now it looks decent after only an hour or two in the garage. I tried to straighten it by standing on the edge of the hood, but the hood was too strong so I had to make a cut in the structure. I will weld it shut when I am finished.

Here are pic´s of it before I started to massage it.

Btw: I did not get the hood insers or the hood letters. Just the bare hood.