Mopar Power for the Javelin

[Ray Bell]

Should I drop in to see such a showoff?

I'm not sure whether I'll be there Thursday or Friday, but one or the other, I'll phone again today.

[whtbaron]

Spoiler looks ok....if you don't want to drill holes in the deck, a little duct tape and it'll be there forever!

[beleneagle]

I'll drill. I can always weld them shut if need be. Here's some more pictures, and yes I know that the exhaust manifolds look like dodo....Went to get it alined today but it turns out that on the passenger side I have a severely bent (About 2'' out of line) inner, and outer tie rod ends, and the adjusting sleeve! I'm not sure how I missed that, but at least it got caught. Actually it's not that surprising as thrashed as the car was when I got it. So I've got everything ordered, and hope that it might get done on Saturday if the parts get in, but most likely it will have to wait till Monday.

[whtbaron]

Lookin better all the time... you've accomplished a lot.

[chirorod]

Love that clean engine compartment. And I like the spoiler. That Javelin will be mint in no time. I am jealous.

[beleneagle]

I hope to get most of the body work done over winter, but I'm going to make a canopy over the driveway so I can close it in with heavy duly tarps when I'm ready to paint.....

[beleneagle]

Ray and his lovely wife stopped by today. I really enjoyed their visit, they are a wonderful couple. I'm glad they went out of the way to visit me. Yes I told them you said to say hi whtbaron 8^) I would have loved to have them stay longer but I had a very important doctors appt to get to. My cancer doctor agreed with me to go after the cancer and stop it now(Good Lord willing of course) before it gets a chance to build up steam. I'm not looking forward to more radiation and the strong chemo, but it is necessary if I want to stick around. Besides the Javelin still needs more work!

[Rich Kinsley]

Good luck to ya. We'll all root for you.

[Ray Bell]

It was really good to meet David today, my wife also enjoyed a good chat with him...

Then we headed further west, but just before the junction of the I40 the D100 got the wobbles - a front wheel bearing packed it in!

David was instrumental in making it a lot easier to get back on our way. I got a lift with a really nice family from El Paso who were going off on vacation in Utah, they ran me up to Grants where AutoZone had the parts and then ran me back again. And wouldn't even accept gas money!

I phoned David and asked him to bring up the tools I didn't have to complete the job, he readily agreed to help and we spent a bit more time together.

His Rambler is obviously very much a work in progress, but it's a credit to him how it's turning out.

[chirorod]

The Javelin needs you, David. And I expect you will be driving it and using up tires for a long time.

[beleneagle]

Well I'm taking the Javelin into Albuquerque much later today. Got a friends Birthday to go to. Gonna shoot some pool, keep an eye on the car (being where we're at) and maybe have a drink or two depending on how long I'll be there. He's one of my two true blue friends I have in Albuquerque, and he's the one that got me into Mopars to begin with!
I must say that this treatment is going to make it hard to get much done, as it's really knocking me for a loop. Going to swing by my other buddy's while I'm there and have him take a look as to where I've started a little tranny leak. I'm just not up to getting down on that darn cold concrete and have that cold get in whats left on my bones. My water bill's been at $100 a month from trying to soak the bone pain away. Anyway that's enough about me as I'm starting to sound like a soap opera.

[chirorod]

The treatment should be over soon, and then you should be doing better. A lot of people can hardly move at all in treatment, so it sounds you are doing a lot better than average. I admire your spirit.

[beleneagle]

Actually the treatment never stops. It goes on till it either doesn't work, or numbers are so good that we cut back the strength a little, or I can't take it anymore due to it's wonder side effects,and then we switch to something else. When Ray was here, I was running a temp of 100.4 just from the treatment. I have been told by more than one cancer doc that I will be on chemo till the cows come home, and to just get used to it. I sure wish it stopped like so many other cancer treatments, but being a blood cancer (plasma cells), it comes right back should you decide to take time off for good behavior. Thank God that the radiation does stop, but I haven't started that yet. I've had it before, and it makes me super weak, where all I do is veg. I keep you posted on how it's coming, but for now, I'm going to soak my aching bones.....

[whtbaron]

Yep... he seems to be making better progress during treatments than the rest of us are with average health. The rafters for my heated shop are still in a pile on the ground and we're back under snow cover here today. Looks like another "next year" job.

[Ray Bell]

It's in the attitude...

David is a fighter, he has the determination to get the job done. Taking the car into Albuquerque is going to test out the little things... cooling system etc... that are essential in the ultimate plan of things.

It's good to know he has other projects in the wings, too.

[beleneagle]

Na, it's because of all my online friends!

[old woolie]

David, you are an amazing individual. Tougher than a boiled owl.

Keep up the good work.

[beleneagle]

Actually I'm more like stuffed pigeon!

Well you guys are going to call me crazy, or I told you so, but I've been playing with adding a little tiny bit of weight to the flexplate in-between the two I added. I'm doing this in order to smooth out a roughness I felt when I took the car on the freeway at higher engine speeds. I'm at 20 grams right now, and tomorrow I'll get it back out on the freeway. The pistons that are in it, I'm sure are LA style (heavier) with the round dish, as apposed to the Magnum's (lighter) oval shaped dish. It is this, I believe that is causing my little vibration. I have improved it quite a bit so far. Being that I'm using the me-balanced flexplate that came with the motor, I got to thinking that the engine was way out of balance before with no weights what so ever (before I added them) and that's why the bearings were in such sorry shape for a low mileage engine.

[beleneagle]

What? Where's the peanut gallery? I figured somebody would have something to say about my wheel weight balancing attempt! I'm using plain old lead wheel weights that clip/or are hammered on. There is a teardrop shaped hole in-between where I welded the Mopar weight kit weights per the Mopar instructions. That makes it a perfect place to stick them on, as the faster I spin it, the harder it clamps! Plus it's no big thing to take them off or switch them out for different ones. I'm also thinking about adding a small sticky wheel weight to the inside of the balancer. That way the balance is fixed front and rear. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this. Yes I know I should have had it done (balanced) when it was apart, but I didn't have the money then or even now. I'm mean how hard can it really be? My friend Bill showed me the old school way of balancing pistons and rods using three 2x4's and some string. I'm going to use it for sure on the next engine I'll build, but it's a little late for that method now. Thus why the wheel weights.....

[whtbaron]

Peanut gallery has been a little busy this week.... and I'm thinking, what? No bubble gum?? On a more serious note you're getting over my head here... I've never attempted anything even close. Closest was maybe straightening a snowmobile crank for a one lunger. The only thing I can say is don't overlook bellhousing alignment as being a possible source of vibration if altering the wieghts doesn't give you the results you are looking for. Mixing and matching engine/transmission combinations can sometimes go awry.

[beleneagle]

Yea I've heard about the need for offset dowel pin the Morparts sells. I really hope it doesn't come to that. I'm thinking That I might have too much weight as it is, but won't know for sure till I get it on the freeway for a good run. I know it's not off by too much, but feels like a chainsaw lightly running up against the floorpans at about 65MPH and higher. I checked for tires/ chassis by taking it out of gear, and it went away when I dropped the engine speed/load. I don't really think it's carburetion issue as I'm running just a tad rich. Each time I add weight it gets better. That's why I think it's a out of balance issue......

[beleneagle]

I'm Henry the 8th I am, Henry the 8th, I am I am. I got married to the widow next door......

[whtbaron]

LOL... did we party a little this Saturday nite??

[beleneagle]

Naa, just bored. The wind is howling and it's burr cold outside!

[whtbaron]

Cold here too...minus 15C this morning and I'm back to shovelling snow...

[beleneagle]

Burrrrrr! Now that's ccccold! You can keep that all to your self. In fact, if I could sent you my blamy 15 degrees for the low, I would! You can have all the cold and snow that you want! Just means more fun in the sun fer me!

[beleneagle]

OK, here's what I've been up to. As you can see, it isn't something that's too hard to figure out. Gotta keep it simple cause of my brain drain!





I'm up to 30 grams, but it sure is making it much smoother! Yes I know that the flywheel is chewed up, but here in a few months, the tranny will be coming out to get built, and I'll be installing a new converter, so it's only going to be that way for a little while.

[whtbaron]

My biggest concern is that you could end up at a point where you no longer feel the vibration, but the balance is still out enough to cause a premature failure in the crank. Guess you'll just have to take for a rip over 100mph to make sure....lol.

[Ray Bell]

Good sharp photos!

A mighty brave thing to try, I hope it works. I'd think it important to make sure the weight can't slip from its present location too.

[whtbaron]

Better grab an 8 3/4 for that thing real quick too.... I heard the price in North America just tripled cause they all emmigrated to Australia!