Road Race / AutoX Project 1964 Dart Grüne Hölle

7/8/23:

I really enjoy this car, the handling, the way it is setup, everything.
I did the engine break in over the last week, Putting 500 miles on since last Friday or so.

Most of my trips took me on everyday errands, semi local car shows and cruises and to the bike trail.

This morning, I rode the bike 22 miles from the old USS Homestead steel site in Homestead PA, now called the Waterfront, through Pittsburgh and down the Ohio River a bit to the Bicycle Museum in Pittsburgh.
Now that I am not constantly futzing with this car,  I have time for fun stuff like that.

I am going to drain the oil / cut open the filter and inspect all for any issues tomorrow.
I have a few other small jobs to do tomorrow too..
- Fab up a new dipstick that will read 5-8 Qts of engine oil
- Fix the hood prop rod stay ( it fell off)
- Replace the Firewall Clutch Rod Grommet (it is old and Broken.. I got a new one)
- Replace the Oil Pressure Relief spring with a high pressure unit from a Hemi / B/RB Engine.
- Shim up the driver's side Engine mount so that the Exhaust does not rub the torsion bar.
- Raise the rear ride height for Trunk full of tools and for the tongue wight of the trailer.
- Probably something else too.. but I am not sure what that is at the moment.

After the bike ride today, I pulled the valve cover off and Set the lash on the valves - they were super loose.... and noisy.
I found my notes from last year and went with 0.024" and 0.028"  It sounds like one of them is still a but clackety so I will recheck those again tomorrow.

I love having the trailer hitch on the back of the car for the bike rack.

4 More miles to get to the point where the Ohio River begins.

A quick stop at the Ohio River for a drink.

A few more miles on the trail took me to the bike museum.

They said that they had bikes for sale..... But not this one.
I wanted to buy that forest green Vintage Schwinn - I think it would have looked perfect on the back of the dart.
But... NFS. :-(

Got home this morning and lashed up the valves on  the engine..... Getting there.

Should be packing up the trailer and getting ready to tow to Carlisle later this week.

Nice job on the car.  It looks great!  Nice shots of the Burg also.

7/10/23:
Thanks Noddaz!

Got most of the things on my list done!
- Got the oil Pressure relief spring swapped to the Mopar B/RB High Pressure unit. The OE Slant 6 spring must have a been a but mushy. - It is actually a bit on the high side now, but I prefer that instead of lower. I still have some shims in there so I can lower peak pressure a bit more if needed.
Man is that tricky to do in this chassis - I needed an 11/16" crow's foot on a universal swivel extension / rachet... goofy.  I also had to jack up the engine and swing the right side engine mount out of the way for access.

- Fabbed up a new dipstick that reads add when there is 5 qts and Is right on the Full mark when there is 8 Qts for Auto x or track days.
- Made a 1/4" engine mount spacer to keep the exhaust off of the torsion bar. Works good for now.
- Raised up the rear ride height 4 turns on the coilovers, anticipating a full trunk and trailer tongue weight.

-Had the hood off for some underside fiberglass repair for the prop rod mount.  
- Also painted the underneath of the hood.  It turned out pretty good, for a part that no one will really ever look at, except for when I have it up at a car cruise or something. It has a better vibe than raw fiberglass and resin.

- The helper at the garage today. I sent her to the tires first for some strength training with the 'ol Milton Service station tire inflator with double headed chuck. Good stuff, it took her about 1/2 hour to get the pressures correct, but she kept at it.  :D

She also helped me reinstall and align the hood on the hinges.

All that is left is to drain and flush the water if there is time, and then pack up and leave for Carlisle on Thursday.

So cool! The kind of use this car sees is inspirational

Shavarsh said:

So cool! The kind of use this car sees is inspirational

Thank you.

I hope it inspires you to build and do your own cool thing!

7/17/23:

Well I had made it to Carlisle All Chrysler Nationals and back.
Grüne Hölle Towed ~ 2000# of Trailer and Parts, with firewood and Camping stuff up and down many mountains on the way to Carlisle.  I met some new folks and found time to Hike and have dinner with friends as well as Do some proper Mountain Flogging of the car whilst the trailer was detached.  Good thing I brought the trailer as I Bought a 40" sign for the garage and I did not have to send it home with a friend.. I was able to take it home myself, as it fit in the ValianTrailer.

My pictures from the Chrysler all Chrysler Nationals 2023 can be found Here

Here is some documentation from my trip:
I Left home Thursday morning so that I could get to Carlisle and not take any interstates while towing. I had a Core 727 Transmission to Sell to A&A so the tongue weight was heavy for my little trailer.

I Stopped for lunch where the Elevation on US 22 was probably the highest, at least on my trip at ~2400 ft near the Allegheny Portage Historic Railroad site.

Then back on the road towards The valleys and Hills.
I forgot how much fun PA Route 994 is from Entrinken to Orbinsonia.. Too bad I had the trailer but it was a blast!
This picture is on PA 164 Which goes over that Green Hill in the horizon.

It is glorious when I encounter these Signs on the up or downside of the mountain, while driving this car.

After a few Hours, I got to Carlisle, dropped off my trans core, and Headed for the Campsite.  Shesh....  Always 10° Hotter in the Cumberland valley with ~1000' elevtation drop compared to home near Pittsburgh.

Friday Morning Got into gate 3 before the crowds.. Got the car all cleaned up and ready for the show, then headed to the swap meet to find some stuff that I probably don't actually need, but it's a fun walk.

Friday Nite Decided to cool off with a trip back to the mountains.. Found a nice Hike..


I Chose the Challenging route because I am a dumb ass and thought.... this is cool.
2.1 Miles starting at ~800 ft Elevation and ending at ~1900 ft elevation.

Got to the top and it was all good.

Carlisle is somewhere out there~15 miles away under that cloud on the left.

The Carlisle show has a lot of stuff like this..

And giga tons of 2008-2023 Challengers too.

I took US Route 30 home this time, and when there's a big government sign telling me the elevation, I can't help but stop and take some pictures.

I put ~ 500 more miles on the car and it's mostly good to go. I want to relash the valves again and get it cleaned up for the PVGP countryside tour and some other PVGP Shows this week.

Then out to Ohio for another trailer hauling adventure.

7/18/23:

After returning home from Carlisle. I got the car all cleaned and Checked on the valve lash. It seems that I either Have a lifter / pushrod not spinning or a Rocker arm that is not oiling out at the Adjuster screw. It's possible I might have to check on these rocker arms or just swap to stock rockers. We'll see.

I took the car to a local Car cruise tonight it was part of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grandprix "race week" where they have various events and shows all around the local area.

Here are some pictures from the event.

I took the hungry kid out for dinner, while the crowds were coming in and building up.

Then we walked back to the show where she was peddling her wares to the locals.

A few interesting notes.. since this is a local show near the town where I grew up, there were some Vehicles that My dad either had owned in his "personal collection" or sold at the car lot.

This 1933 Dodge Five Window Street Rod Sat around the house or garage since 1984 or so...
New owner is enjoying it and actually using it.

We parked next to a 1968 Dodge Dart GT that was sold off dad's car lot about 25 years ago. Same Owner has had it since he bought it off my dd in the late '90's

Tomorrow I will investigate the Rocker arm issue a bit more and swap to stock rockers if needed, or check for obstructions / drill an oil squirt hole on the chunky rockers if needed.

Oh yeah, remember this idea:


IT WORKS!

I have been taking the car hard around some Right Hand turns and no gas dribbling onto the quarter panel any more, so that is good. I just have to open the trunk and the valve when fueling up, but that is not a problem.

Planning on running the PVGP Countryside Tour Thursday.

Good to meet you briefly last night; the car looked great!

orthoxstice said:

Good to meet you briefly last night; the car looked great!

Thank you sir.

I will be at Schenley Park on Sat as well!  Always fun to meet forum members out in the wild. 

7/21/23:

I participated in the PVGP Coutryside Tour yesterday.
It was ~120 Miles of Heavy Flogging on Wesmoreland, Fayette and Somerset County PA Back Roads and Mountain Routes.

I was a group leader, and the fantastic volunteer organisers of the event thought that the lowly '64 Dart Grüne Hölle Edition should lead off the fastest group first at 9:00 AM.  
I had 4 Cars in my Group, all capable European Grand Tourers in their own right.
In my group:
2015 Porsche 991:

1995 Porsche Porsche 995:

1990 Porsche 964:

and a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 500SL

We had a blast ripping around some mountain roads and I made some new friends from Philadelphia and Delaware, it is usually unlikely that Porsche Guys were digging the Dart but they did. :D
This tour gets a way different crowd than the local car show car cruise guys which is refreshing.

It's safe to say that the engine is fully operating properly and spent much of the time between the 3500-5200 RPM range. Lots of Heel toeing and bliping of the the throttle for downshifts makes me smile, puts the engine in the proper RPM range to get torque coming out of any corner. 95 Mph Maximum Speed on routes that had no freeway or highway in sight.

2 days ago, I swapped what I call the "chunky" Roller Rockers out for stock Slant 6 Rockers.
I had Ran these "chunkies" for a few years with apparently no issues, but not now.
There is a lack of oil at the Rocker adjustment Screw.  It was eating up Rocker screws because they were dry. That is why my lash needed reset a few times in the last 3 weeks. The solution there is to Install a Spray Bar in the Valve cover or Modify the Rockers for Adjuster screw  oiling - Which is probably what I will do.

After I Left for the Trip, I realized that the Rocker arm Swap back to stock arms was causing some interference issues with the valve cover. (the vales on this head must be a bit taller than stock. I Had a bit of a diaper on the Valve cover during the Countryside tour to catch any oil that was getting ejected out of the car during driving, and for now until I can get some time to do proper cleaning, welding and metal work on this Valve cover I have the Side of the road / parts store hack..

On the #6 where the Valve cover is slimmed down for the Heater box clearance on '60-62 Models the Rockers were knocking and wore a hole through the metal.


This is also happening on the inside too as I can feel the Rockers clicking against the steel metal baffle inside above cylinders 5 and 1/ 2 where the PCV and Oil Fill is.
Quick fix for now:

' till next time.

11/18/24:

I have not updated the thread here, because I have not done anything of note for well over a year. :(  :(

Work, vacation, and family have been demanding my time as well as my pseudo Mechanical Restoration on the 1962 Valiant Wagon from October 2023 through June 2024.

Some things that happened before the dart was parked:
Roof Rack bars installed:

Driving the Kid around for various things, Ice Cream, Girl scouts, Band, etc...

Why have I parked the most fun to drive car in the fleet for 15+ months? well let's fire up the 'ol time machine to find out..

I went on a trip in July 2023 from Irwin, PA to Greenville, Ohio towing a U haul Single axle Box trailer with the Grüne Hölle Dart.
I left here 'Round about midnight, and drove through 1.5 Hours of torrential rain around the Dayton area before getting off of I70 for the county and state routes. I arrived at my destination just about at sunrise, at 5:45 AM.

I met up with a buddy from another forum for some slanted discussions and to pick up slanted parts, as well as the 'ol Mike Jeffery Flow bench, and Mike's "Book of Secrets" as John refers to it as.  
On the way home outside of Columbus, Ohio I also picked up a complete, but disassembled Slant 6 core engine from a FABO Forum member that needed it gone.

John and I Enjoyed cruising around the back roads of Ohio, and went to a nice car cruise on Saturday about 40 miles from John's house. The cruise was at the A.B Graham Memorial Center, which is an old Miami East School District Building turned community center and museum.
The car show was nice, but I really enjoyed the museum. There were a lot of AG artifacts that I would not have known about as I was not raised working on a farm as a youngin'.

After leaving the show and returning to John's house I felt something not right with the engine.
I started to head home before sundown. I pulled over in Fletcher, Ohio, on US Route 36, pulled the valve cover and adjusted the valves again. Within 5 miles a lobe was wiped. - I nursed  it back home on 5 cylinders for ~270 Miles, stopping in metro Columbus around 9PM to put more slanted parts in the trailer.
I pretty much kept it in 4th gear, No 5th gear whilst towing a big, high box full of stuff.  Fortunately the interstate from Columbus to here is mostly flat so that helped.
It was slow and annoying, but I made it home to park the car in July 2023.

I will be pulling the head or the engine soon to see what happened. Possibly the valve springs have too much open pressure for this cam, I never thought to check that stuff, but I will now. I have another copy of the cam, and I will change the oil pump too, as the standard volume one is no good for this combination.
before I start all of that, I began a little bit of cosmetic (re)restoration:

Hood and Valence properly painted at the body shop:
I spray bombed them a few years ago with Rust-oleum Professional, it held up well, but I had some $ so I figured I would get it done right.

The behind the grille / headlights area was never painted correctly either.  I prepped and spra bombed those sections while it was apart.

I also plan on doing some work / welding / reinforcement to the Euro License plate frame. It's all made from scrap steel, actually 1981 Chrysler LeBaron Station Wagon Roof, it needs a bit of detail work so that will get done too!

'Till Next time.

Glad to see you back!!

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Thanks Michael, I never really left. I felt I did not have much to offer the GRM forums. I suppose I was a lurker for a while.

This car would be the most appropriate one of the fleet for sharing here.

I'm not really sure there's an appropriate or inappropriate car to share here. I know there's the internet car culture thing of respect all builds but I truly believe here we actually do. Hell I follow a couple of Hyundai builds that are more of a maintenance thread cuz it's interesting to see the engineering that goes into a brand new car I'll never own.

What he said!  I love this place for the diversity of the cars and the members themselves.  It's just a great group of folks that all love their particular vehicle.  Since there is such a wide variety there's very little of the brand X sucks commentary so often seen on brand or platform specific forums.  I like that a lot.  

In reply to wawazat :

Yes, less brand bashing is surely refreshing.

Thanks for the update! I hope the engine issues aren't too major.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Yep, For sure Matt.

I think it's just a wiped lobe.  I hope to tear into it a bit soon.  I will probably pull the whole engine to clean out all of the glitter and crap that collected in the sump, however.

12/15/24:

Last week, I Finished the painting of the trim on the front areas near the headlights between the headlight and the grille area, and got the front grille and valances reinstalled.

This week, I drained the fluids, and pulled the engine and transmission. I have a Mike Jeffery prepared racing head on this engine. It is the style without spark plug tubes, so the head needed pulled to remove the offending lifter and inspect the damaged camshaft ̶l̶o̶b̶e̶ nub. The lifter is also heavily damaged.

I hope the pull the tins today, swap the oil pump, clean up and reinstall everything.
I also would like to order different length push rods.

Here is a bit documentation:

Engine Removed:

Dished Lifter :-(

That's depressing ......

Wow! I've beaten many lifters to death over the years, but that is bad!

12/28/24:

Here is a rundown of some of the work that has been accomplished:

I got the old (broken) camshaft removed. There were 2 cam bearings which were damaged as well.
Maybe it is possible that the bearing trash got in between the lifer and lobe - Could it be that caused the one lobe to fail?  (The failed lobe was next to a trashed cam bearing.) the other 11 lobes were fine.
I had a partial set of cam bearings on hand so I knocked out the damaged #2 and #3 bearings and replaced them with the extra set that was lying around on the shelf. I do remember the bearings being tight from the build 2 years ago, but I did not know how to correct the condition so I let it go on the last rebuild... live and learn.

This time with the new #2 and #3 cam bearings everything spins well with or without assembly lube.
I got the new cam degreed in at 101.5° with a goal of Intake ℄  of 101°. The previous cam was installed at 0° offset to get the cam degreed in, this cam required 2° to get near 101°.

I cleaned up the tins and inside the engine a bit. Of course, there was some glitter, but nothing extreme like when a rod bearing fails.

The custom oil pan needs a bit of refreshing.

I had found a leak on the bottom of the pan 2 or 3 years back - I dabbed on some RTV sealer on the crack as a temporary fix, now it is time to fix it correctly.

If you followed the saga the entire time, you will recall that the valves in this head must be a bit taller, so when I switched back to the stock rocker arms in ~July 2023 they rubbed the valve cover on cylinder #6.

I fixed the cuts in the valve cover also with a dab or RTV, it worked well and kept the oil in.

Now it is time for a proper fix for this as well.

The valve cover plan looks nice - you don't expect any heater hose clearance issues at the back?

Also, I just noticed the metallic hose on the water pump inlet. Maybe it was a few pages back, but what exactly is it? That hose has been a bit of a nuisance for me, and while I seem to have a decent solution, that may be better.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

I am sure the VC will work fine.

The cut down over Cylinder #6 is for the 1960-62 Valiants and lancers so that you could remove the VC for valve adjustment on a 225 with the heater box in place. 1960's did not have the notch and most of the other VC's from 1961-73ish did but 1963 and newer cars did not need that notch.

The Lower hose is a universal "hot rod hose"  I see they are now made in black, might have to get a new one. They come with nice adapters as well.

Mishimoto Metal Hose

12/29/24:

I completed a bunch of metalwork today.

The pan got its little repairs:

Reinstalled the metal windage screen and red loctited the small button head screws that keep it in place.
Fingers crossed as I put ~15,000 Miles on this first configuration of the pan and the screws were still tight and loctited in place when I removed them a few weeks ago for cleaning etc.

Fresh Paint looks good in pictures.

I placed some cut lines on the VC for future surgery and #6 cylinder bump.

I have probably spent 10 hours on this little part so far. It sure does not look like much, but a lot of little cuts, little hits of the MIG, grinding, finishing, and dolly work take time to complete. I want the finished product to look like it was factory-made that way.

I can soon clean up the rear main seal retainer on the engine and install the oil pan, oil pump, and distributor.