Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[dodge man]

I replaced two blend door actuators on my 2010 Dodge Challenger. My arms looked like your hands. I finally figured out the installed razor blades under the dash.

 

[BravoXray]

Nice to see you are back working on your beautiful project. I can understand your frustration. It probably would feel even worse if you were doing this type of work for someone else, and not for yourself. From following along in this thread from the very beginning, I got the sense that you are the type of person that will do it only one way, and that is, to get it as good as you possibly can, whatever that takes. I really admire that trait in a person. You,re on the home stretch, and know that spring is around the corner, and as the days get warmer, you will start feeling more energized and hopefully you will get the strength to get your beautiful project finished up and start enjoying it. I,m positive every time you take it out and park it you will be receiving all kinds of compliments on it and it will help put the frustrations you had along the way into the rear view mirror. I wished I lived closer. I would love to see and hear your finished car up close, and watch it coming and going down the nice paved roads in your area.

Thanks for the kind words.
When I first started the restoration project, it was just to repair a rusty floor on the driver's side, bur once I pulled the carpet, I found the passenger side was full of pin holes too. I knew there was some rust popping out around the rear wheel openings, but once I dug into it, it was a lot worse than I thought, and it all went down hill from there. The engine was also using a lot of oil, so I was just going to re-ring and reseal it, but then I founds a 400 SBC truck block for sale, and one thing led to another and I ended up building the 434. The original 350 and Muncie are both completely rebuilt, preserved and bagged for future use.
The project has taught a couple of things, first, it's going to cost five times what you though it would. Second, it's going to take ten times as long as you thought it would.
Fortunately, I have the time, money and patience to put the car back together the way I want to do it. The only thing I would have liked to change would have been to find a date code correct 396 375hp L-78 engine to put in it, but they are hard to find and stupid expensive. Recently a bare .030" over block and bare rectangular port heads were posted for sale on a forum I frequent that would have been over $4000. I could get a new aftermarket block and good aluminum heads for about the same money.
I know my OCD and meticulousness have cost me a lot of time and money, but it will be the way I want it when it's done and that's all I care about, and I don't have a deadline to aim for. Everyone has their vision of how their car is put together, whether anyone else thinks it's right or wrong, and that's the way it should be. It's just another way to express ones individuality.

Brian is going to repaint the steering column with the Hot Road black, which will be a lot more durable that rattle can paint, which is what I should have done to begin with. I also gave him the front bumper brackets to paint too, while he's at it. Fortunately, he has a couple of days off work this week, so he should have them done this week and I can get the column back together and in the car this weekend.

 

[BravoXray]

I replaced two blend door actuators on my 2010 Dodge Challenger. My arms looked like your hands. I finally figured out the installed razor blades under the dash.

That's certainly what it seems like on any vehicle I ever worked on.
My friend Brian has a 2010 Challenger too, in B5 blue with the 5.7 Hemi and six speed Tremec. Cool, fast car. Also has a 70 Charger R/T 440 with FI-TECH EFI and a 4L60E that I installed for him.

 

[BravoXray]

I got the steering column back in the car and buttoned up today, but not without a couple of challenges. Brian got it painted for me and dropped it and the front bumper brackets off on Saturday. I started putting it back together and discovered that you have to leave the turn signal switch out so you can install the ignition key tumbler. Then when I went to install the turn signal lever with the cruise control controls on it, I discovered it was broken where it screws fast to the cancel cam. The lever is a tube that has the 4 conductor cable running through it exiting through a slot cut in the tube, and is then flattened out and a hole for the screw drilled in it. They also ground the sides of the flattened part down so it would fit in the slot in the cancel cam, which turned it into two tabs, one with the slot in it, with practically no metal on each side of the slot, so it broke off. I pondered WTF to do with it, so I smoothed out the sharp edges and made a little C channel out of some .030" aluminum, which holds the remaining tab in place and supports it better. Seems to be solid enough to work for now. I fired off an email to Dakota Digital with pictures, describing what the problem is. I'll see what they have to day.
I got the column back in, with a towel wrapped around it to protect it from any more damage this time, but it took a bit of finagling to get it just right on the steering box shaft to get the retaining bolt lined up with the slot in the shaft. Hooked up the turn signal and ignition harnesses and got it bolted up the the dash. The thin foam gasket that seals the two piece plate that covers the hole in the firewall was torn, so I made a new one up and got it and the plate installed along with the plastic cover that mounts below it. I got the steering wheel installed, but it wasn't clocked right, so I pulled it off this afternoon and reinstalled it where I think it should be really close to correct.
I pulled the fuel line off the EFI unit, attached a hose that went into a large coffee can, ran a couple of quarts of gas into it to flush out the fuel lines, and hooked it back up.
Next, made up an 8ga. wire to run from the alternator to the positive battery post. That entailed going to three auto stores and not being able to find and ring terminals for 8ga. with to a 5/16" hole. I ended up buying a few for 6ga. wire and trimming the part that crimps on the wire so it would crimp and hold the 8ga. wire properly. Got it run and connected, so It'll keep the battery charged.
Last thing this afternoon, I bolted the painted brackets to the front bumper, so it's ready to install once I get the left front fender installed.
Next on the list is to paint the forward facing part of the radiator core so the core doesn't show up behind the grille. I'm looking forward to getting it installed, filled with coolant and firing up the 434 for the first time in over a year and a half.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome stuff. Getting closer to firing it up. Any chance you could make a video of the start-up. I really enjoy hearing a powerful engine running, especially one that has a nice lumpy cam. I had my new mustang out yesterday for the first time this spring. Before I left the driveway, I set the exhaust to track mode so I could hear the throaty exhaust even better. Sure helps make this old man feel younger once again, after a long winter in hibernation.

 

[BravoXray]

I'm getting close to starting it up. Today, I painted the front of the radiator core with Eastwood radiator paint, so you can't see the aluminum core from the front, got it set in place, the top plate bolted down on it, put the fan shroud in place, bolted up, got the new radiator hoses trimmed to length and installed. The cap is really close to the battery, and with it slid to the outside as far as it will go in the tray, you can just get the cap off. Tomorrow, I'm going to pull the battery and see if I can slot the mounting holes maybe 1/4" to 1/2" to move it over and give the cap a little more room. I can't go much more, or the negative terminal will hit the fender. I am also considering putting in an overflow reservoir, but not sure where I can install it. It would have been easy if the filler neck was on the driver's side, but it isn't so I'll see if I can come up with a mounting spot for it.
I was looking at the pictures I posted yesterday, and noticed something I missed when I installed the alternator wire onto the positive cable clamp. The cable clamp broke! So, today pulled the cable off the battery, cut the clamp off and crimped on a new one. It's a good quality solid copper clamp, so it's a better terminal than the lead one that broke.

I got an email back from tech support at Dakota Digital today, and he asked if I would send him the pictures of the broken turn signal handle. I sent them over to him and this evening he sent an email back that he had never seen one break like than and that he was sending me out a new one. That's great, but it means I'd have to take the steering column apart, again.
I might leave the broken one in as long as it works and change it next winter, as I'm sure there will be other items that will need to be addressed, as there always are with a project as extensive as this.

Time to watch the news.

 

[BravoXray]

Got it fired up for the first time in almost 2 years. It started immediately, on the first revolution, I think. Love the EFI for cold starts.
Only had one water leak, I forgot to tighten the clamps on the heater shutoff valve.
Holds good oil pressure, doesn't make any strange noises, and water temp came up to 170°F, although the EFI controller shows the temp going up to 240°F before the thermostat opened. Not sure about why that sending unit is reading so high, though that sensor is at the rear of the passenger side head, and the gauge in the car has it's sensor next to the thermostat. The six blade flex fan I put on it moves a LOT of air, just standing in front of the grille, you can fell the air being pulled in.
I let it run for about 20 minutes at 1800-2000 rpm, so the cam should be happy, and there is virtually no blowby, so the rings appear to be seated. A look around underneath didn't show any oil leaks.
Tried the transmission, and it goes into every gear easily, so the clutch is releasing completely. Speedometer works too.
For some reason the phone didn't pick up sound very well, so I'll try to get another video that captures the sound better. It does sound pretty nasty even though the cam isn't that radical. It's basically a hydraulic version of the 327 350hp L79 cam from the '60s. It has 239° intake and 246° exhaust duration at .050" lift, and .483" intake and .477" exhaust lift with standard 1.5 ration rockers.
The only real problem I have is that the alternator isn't putting out any current. I had it checked out a while back and after the tech replaced a couple components, it was putting out 90 amps, but I had to take it apart and reclock the rear housing because he put it back together 90° off and the output stud was hitting the valve cover. I must have messed something up, so I'll pull it off and take it apart to see what might be the problem. If I can't, I'll take it back to the shop and have him fix it.
There is one other little thing, the in-dash tach doesn't work, so I'll have to look into that too. Hope I don't have to pull out the instrument cluster again.

https://imgur.com/a/ADqYNHG

 

[goeduck]

Sounds GREAT!

 

[MossRoad]

Sweet music!

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome. That,s got to be a great feeling of accomplishment. Thanks for posting the start-up. Love the sound of the lumpy cam. Getting there.