The Dodge Challenger Message Board

One other thing I found was one of my rockers was missing the oil feed hole for the top of the pushrod. I took a chance and, with a pencil line drawn on at the angle i thought I needed, I used a hand drill to create an oilway that intersects with the internal oil groove as it should have had.

I have re-assembled the heads using new ARP bolts and taken the car out for a good hard run. Actually I drove it like a mad man for an hour.

Everything seems OK. I still have a water leak from (I think) the header bolts on one head. But I am working on that....

Next step is to remove the headers and rockers again so I can re-torque the heads.

dave-r wrote:I have re-assembled the heads using new ARP bolts and taken the car out for a good hard run. Actually I drove it like a mad man for an hour.

Everything seems OK. I still have a water leak from (I think) the header bolts on one head. But I am working on that....

Next step is to remove the headers and rockers again so I can re-torque the heads.

Well you can fix the leak when you remove the headers ,

Nice to see your ride up and running, I bet you feel better eh?

Pulled the spark plugs last night. Found something interesting.

I have NEVER had the same colouring on all my spark plugs in the past. There is always a couple slightly richer and leaner looking than the majority.

With these new metering plates in the outer carbs I now have 8 plugs that are all absolutely identical in tip colour.

The wideband O2 sensor told me the mixture was OK. But obviously that is an average of 4 cylinders on one side. I usually get #1 plug looking lean and #5 looking rich on that side. So when I jetted the front carb one size leaner and the rear carb one size richer I couldn't see how that could make the mixture better.

But it did.

Nice work Dave! The one thing I have found with aftermarket parts is to check everything closely. My $850.00 RAS Rocker assembly came with defective washers & gouged shaft! I had to send everything back to them.

Eddie you have these same metering plates and have the same jets in both carbs yes?

You should try going one size down on the front jets and one size up on the rears.

Great to see your up and running again Dave....

Man all the same color plugs with a six pac, NICE job

So what about the leaky,leakey?

drewcrane wrote:
So what about the leaky,leakey?

Daves not bothered about that as it was alcohol induced when he was younger but now it is normal at his age.....

dave-r wrote:Eddie you have these same metering plates and have the same jets in both carbs yes?

You should try going one size down on the front jets and one size up on the rears.

Yes, you are right Dave, 84's on the outboards. I have one more show at school Oct. 23 then I'll probably put the Chally up for the Winter. Been very busy at school with this CNC Programming class. This Spring I'll remember to do what you say and place the LM-1 Meter on it after the change and see what it shows. Thanks!

RedRaven wrote:

drewcrane wrote:
So what about the leaky,leakey?

Daves not bothered about that as it was alcohol induced when he was younger but now it is normal at his age.....

.
Hey I am not that bad. Its only every time I sit down.

dave-r wrote:

RedRaven wrote:

drewcrane wrote:
So what about the leaky,leakey?

Daves not bothered about that as it was alcohol induced when he was younger but now it is normal at his age.....

.
Hey I am not that bad. Its only every time I sit down.

Oh so you could always cut the roof off the car and drive it standing up

I should know if I am still leaking by the end of the weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Still don't know if I have cured the water leak from one head. I will probably find out tonight though.

In one last desperate attempt to fix it I decided to fit new header bolts because the water could still be coming from there (despite plenty of sealer on the bolt threads) as the bolts feel a loose fit to me.

Looking at what is available on the market I came across these split lock bolts that open up at the end to lock tightly in the threaded hole.

So after removing the headers yet again to re-torque the cylinder head bolts I have fitted these new header bolts to see if they fix my water leak.

If these do not work I have to assume the head has cracked or gone porus. A vacuum check showed no leak but sometimes a head only leaks when hot and under pressure.

I just have to hook the exhaust back up tonight and re-fill the block with water. To test the engine I will need to take the car out for a "hard" drive to get as much heat and pressure into it as possible.

Those look like some nice header bolts, I found some with 7/16ths head and a lock washer ,so far so good.

Hope you get the leak stopped

Fingers crossed Dave, I hope she holds for you mate.

Ah. Mission aborted.

I did wonder if I should put sealer on the grub screws that fit in the center of each bolt bead.

Three or four of them are leaking from there. I thought sealer at the split end might be enough. Clearly not.

I will have to back out each of the grub screws, coat them in sealer, and put them back in.

By the time they have cooled enough for me to do that it will be too late to fire the car up again. So it will have to be tomorrow night now.

It'll not best you Dave.......

Well I am 100% sure now that the cylinder head is knackered.

That's it for me. I can't afford to spend anything else on the car. I have cut back on so much over the last 20 years in order to keep this car. I can't do any more.

Car is now for sale.

Well I dont know what to say....sounds like you are upset ,but hope you will calm down and dont sell the car Dave cool off and take some time to think this out

Drew's right, you know. Take some time off and think the whole thing over. These cars are a labor of love. We knew that getting into this thing. 20 years is a long time. You want to give up on her now? The investment you made in your beautiful car has to be doing better than your retirement... I know it is in my case. Plus, if you get rid of it now, you'll never forgive yourself. If I would have kept my Cuda', that would have been 24 years for me. STILL Kicking myself! OUCH!!!

In short, my friend, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

Dave what harm will it do her just to park her up for a while, you have a nice garage so put her to bed for a while and sort out the wonga.

What ever WE THE LADS can do we will. We must have the world of parts between us to help you out- lets make a plan as to how we can forward on it.

patrick wrote:In short, my friend, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

One thing's for sure, especially this side of the pond (well, your side of the ditch, actually), you won't easily find another car if you change your mind afterwards. You've been through all the hardest parts, including the bodywork, reassembling everything, so I'm sure a simple mechanical failure, as aggravating as it may be, is not your only reason. Might be the last straw, though, I can understand that.
I don't know how the car stands in your life, family-wise and health-wise, and you're the only one who can call the shots on that, but I can say this :
winter is probably not the best season to sell this kind of car, you might wait till spring (except if someone here or at the MMA who knows your car springs at the opportunity).

What's the problem exactly with the head, is it cracked, did the porting go too deep and vibrations did the rest ?

The head is not cracked that I can tell and it passed a vacuum test. But when it heats up it looses water at quite a rate from just below the two center exhaust ports. This is a common area for these heads to fail.

It might be repairable The other head was repaired in this area before I bought it. Aeroheads do a pair of heads that would work for $599. They would just need surface grinding to get the correct compression.
http://www.aeroheadracing.com/id6.html

But you are right. It is not just this incident that has made me give up. It is one problem after another. It is the effect my illness has had on me, the death of my mother, my sisters unoperable cancer.
But more than anything it is the constant financial worry and strain. I do not have any headroom financially. I just don't need that worry. It is wearing me down.

Of course I would love to keep the car. And if I can I will.
But if someone stuck £30K under my nose I simply would have to take it and to be honest it would be a weight off my shoulders.

But if someone stuck £30K under my nose I simply would have to take it and to be honest it would be a weight off my shoulders.


I can relate,if someone offered me that kind of money my car would probably be gone!

lets be honest with or without the head problem its one hell of a well put together car and if it does sell, someone will be very lucky to have a car like that

I have had mine for over 34 years with plenty of let downs and way too many dollars sunk into it. Never thought once to sell it though as it is part of my life. Just too many good memories to part with the old girl.

My question to you Dave is what would you be doing with your time if you sold the Challenger? Are you really that burnt out on the sport to not participate anymore? Maybe park it for a while and let time aid your ultimate decision.

Jon wrote:I have had mine for over 34 years with plenty of let downs and way too many dollars sunk into it. Never thought once to sell it though as it is part of my life. Just too many good memories to part with the old girl.

My question to you Dave is what would you be doing with your time if you sold the Challenger? Are you really that burnt out on the sport to not participate anymore? Maybe park it for a while and let time aid your ultimate decision.

If you had to decide between your Challenger or your house which would you pick?

Sorry, I didn't realize it had come to that point. Depending on the circumstances though selling a house in this economic environment might be the right choice. Around here prices are still falling and their are many who have decided to quit paying the mortgage.

A few times I had been flat broke as leaving home with my Challenger and worldly possession packed in the trunk. Then the motor blows and I'm riding a motorcycle to work, just parked it till things got better. Sure glad I didn't sell it.

Maybe sell a share in the car to retain some interest in it.

I am very sorry to hear of your sisters condition Dave. That alone would 'do me in' and with your home you need to give the highest priority financially. I just hope there will be a way you can keep it.