My latest project: 1970 Dodge Dart 512 C.I. Bracket Racer

Some of you may remember that I used to have a 1972 Dodge Dart which I drag raced.

Well, I got the itch to get back into racing Our new house is only 3 miles from the Speedworld racetrack and I can faintly hear them running the cars from our house. It was just too much for me to bare I haven't been doing much in the way of local fourwheeling, so I thought drag racing would give me something to do on the weekends.

A couple weeks ago I bought a 1970 Dodge Dart off of E-bay. The car was located in New Jersey, a mere 2500 miles from home I decided this was the right car for me mainly because I really needed to get out of the house on my own for a couple weeks and this was just the excuse I needed

The car is going to be stripped and repainted. It will get new quarter panels, at least one rocker, one floorpan, new door hinges, fiberglass hood, bumpers, and most likely trunk lid as well.

The new color will most likely be orange, but it just may end up being red, like my old one. Plans for it include a 650HP, 512 CI, big block Mopar and an automatic transmission. I'm just not sure if it will be from BB or SB or whether or not it will even be a Mopar I plan on ditching the torsion bar front suspension for an aftermarket K member which gives you rack and pinion steering, upgraded brakes, and the choice of coilover shocks or airbag suspension.

The rear end in the car right now is a trussed Mopar 8 3/4", with a three link suspension and coilovers.

 

[RockRanger]

When will the first drag strip run be?

 

[Rick]

Not sure. I need a front end alignment, windshield and rear glass re-installed. Not too much longer

 

[DB_1]

Car turned out great Rick, I'm sure you're itching to make a few passes in it. Where is the nearest drag strip to you?

 

[Rick]

Speedworld is 4 miles away http://racespeedworld.com/

 

[Rick]

It don't come easy, you know it don't come easy...


Oh boy... Started the motor today and let it warm up so I could check my hot valve lash. Pulled the valve cover after I shut it down and I was met by a rush of oil... The oil wasn't draining back into the bottom end fast enough at all.

Looked around and saw that each and every oil drain back hole is blind. That it instead of dumping into the lifter galley, the engine block's deck surface is in the way.

This should have been noticed by the engine builder. He had the heads off twice, even replaced the head gaskets. He should have seen that the oil returns were going nowhere.

I gave him a call, he apologized and said they would get right on it once I bring it in. So... time to pull this thing out again

It's not going to be as easy taking it out this time either since the whole front end is put together and there is no big gapping hole to pull it through.

I need to let it sit for a couple days. I'm just too frustrated right now

 

[Turdle]

Yes, I agree. But I also let out a big "phew" knowing you caught it.

Some guys would have just hit the race track and ruined everybody's day while they cleaned up the track.

 

[Rick]

Depressing, I just turned the car back sideways in the garage

Sure wish I had some gearhead friends close by. Even something as "easy" as pushing the car around on dollies is VERY difficult when you have to do it alone... The damn expansion cracks in the floor catch both the front and rear dollies at the same time making it nearly impossible for me to push by myself I think I just lost a gallon of fluids in an air conditioned garage

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

C'mon Rick, use those off road skills we learned. You just need a little momentum to bounce over those little bumps that hang up the wheels.

Sucks that you have to pull the motor again. Any way they can do it in the car or just pull the heads?

 

[Rick]

I bought cheap dollies. They have short and wide wheels which fit in the grooves really nice and tight... When you get four fronts and four backs stuck at the same time, they're really stuck... I ended up laying sheet metal across the cracks on two positions at a time. That's all the sheet metal I have on hand. I need four sheets so I can just slide right over the cracks.

 

[rookieshooter]

Rick, I truly feel your pain. Such a high rush and then this. Yes he should have noticed it. Just hope the oil pick up was emerged in oil the whole time it was running.
It only takes a few seconds of no oil between the rod bearing and crank journal to wipe a bearing.
All that reciprocating mass changing direction so fast and with no oil in that small amount of air space between the surface of the bearing and crank journal can spell disaster.
Don't want to be a harbinger of doom, but I sure would want him or an independent 3rd party to go over that engine.

 

[Rick]

Guess I'm not the only one...

He has a different aftermarket block, but the same heads.

There are 4 drain back holes per head.

As you can see, his engine was finished before he found out also.

 

[Dannyboy]

That's too bad Rick, fire a message to Sean (evil eye) I bet he would come give you a hand. I'm a little far from the West Valley these days.

 

[corkey]

good things to those that wait,
and good save on finding the problem,,

anxiously waiting for the video ,,

 

[Rick]

Engine is out. I'll be bringing it back to the machine shop tomorrow.

The machinist called me first thing this morning and asked if I wanted him to come over to look at the situation to see if anything could be done, short of tearing into the motor.

I forwarded him the following picture as well as a few others from the same thread. Once he saw the photos he realized there is no getting around a full tear down. He was really upset that he hadn't caught the problem himself. Let's just hope the third time is a charm...

 

[sparksafly'n]

Dang you got super lucky,well in away!! Glad you caught it when you did.

 

[Maniak]

Engine is out. I'll be bringing it back to the machine shop tomorrow.

And how much pepto did you need to take afterwards? I bet pulling that out of a nice painted engine bay with the grill etc on it was nerve wrecking.

~Mark

 

[Rick]

No grill. I had to pull the grill and bumper

 

[Burns]

Man this is just horrible rick. Just when the project comes to a head this happens.

 

[Rick]

Nah, not horrible. Just a minor setback. A blown engine would have been horrible...

If I ran the engine as is it would have run out of oil in the pan after it pumped all the oil up to the heads. That would have really been horrible.

 

[GJarrett]

Whew. Frustrating, but thankful you caught it before disaster. I assume the builder will take care of it pro bono, but are any perks offered to you for the extra hassle you're having to weather for this? It never hurts to ask