Hi everybody !! I just got my first MOPAR !! It's a 1967 Dodge Coronet 500
Born with a 318 now a 68? 440. This is where I'm at.........
First time with a old car project , limited skills but learn fast.

The car as I got it....Off the road for 10+ years. Fogged for storage and turns buy hand. Factory Holley Carb off for rebuild and starter missing.
Driveshaft off with a spare. The 440 is from a 68 Newyorker and the trans as well ? Headers and dual's. The rear end is a 8 3/4 from a 71 Road Runner. There is some rust : Rear 1/4's and lower front fenders. None on the doors / floors / trunk / cowel / under hood / frame. Interior needs work and front glass is cracked. Missing 1 part of the trim , drivers rear 1/4 over the wheel. And a truck load of spare parts !!

I found a rebuilt exact match carb and bought a new starter.
I'd like to get it running , but not sure where to start ?

Drain the tank sounds like the first step ? How to do this right with out damageing anything ?
Put on the carb and figure out the linkage : not on the car.
Bolt on the starter : figure out the right wires to attach ?
Bolt the headers and exuhast back together : off to get to the starter ?
Fresh Fluids and gas.

Any sugestions on " How To" would be great.

 

I'd take it easy and break things down to their simplest form

Don't worry about carb linkage, etc, but do get the engine running, here's how I'd go about it:

For now forget the tank. Pull the fuel line off right at the pump, and rig some hose into a separate tank/ can. When you do get ready to start, get a SAFE method (squirt bottle) to squirt a little fuel down the carb throat for initial fireup.

You say the engine was "fogged." I'd still be tempted to squirt a little oil in each cylinder, for when you first turn it over.

BEFORE you try and crank the engine, I'd get or build an oil prime shaft and prime the oil system.

So drain and change the oil, but leave the filter OFF. Put a pan under it because you'll make a mess.

Hand turn the engine with a wrench until the TDC marks are up. Confirm that the rotor is pointing to the no1 plug tower, if it is not, rotate the crank one turn. Pull the distributor after marking where the vacuum is pointing, and where the rotor is pointing.

Below the dist. is the intermediat shaft, driven off the cam. With the engine on TDC NOTICE where the slot is oriented in the shaft. You can use a big screwdriver to "walk" the helical gear up, and then get down in there with some hooked wire to pull the gear up and out. Then you can put your priming shaft in.

Turn this COUNTER CW with a drill. Don't turn it much, and be careful, as you should see oil come out the filter mount in short order. When this starts to be clear --new oil-- fill the filter and install it.

Next, remove the oil sender, and plumb some scrap fuel hose to the opening with a hose barb, into a can. Prime until this starts to get clean oil.

When you do, reinstall the sender, and continue to prime. You should feel a lot of resistance on the drill motor

Unless you pull the valve covers, you won't really know if the valve gear is getting oil, and you WILL HAVE TO turn the crank by hand to get the cam oil holes to line up and distribute oil to the valve gear. This is a lot easier with two people.

Once you get oil "up," you'll have to reset the engine to TDC. This is a trick, because "no 1 ready to fire" only happens once every OTHER crank turn. If you have pulled the valve covers, just bring the marks up to about 10* before TDC, and look at no1 valves. If they are NOT both closed, rotate the crank one turn.

Now re-install the dist. drive shaft with the slot returning to it's original position. You will have to "guess" this as the gear helix moves it. Then drop the dist. back in as per original, and hook up the plug wires.

With the carb on, a good starter and battery, you are ready to try for some fire. Before you do anything else, I'd turn the key to run, and measure from battery positive to the "key" side of the ballast resistor. You are measuring voltage drop from the battery, through the bulkhead connector, the ignition switch, harness, and back out the bulkhead connector. You should see LESS than 1/2 volt drop.

If you see 1/2 volt OR MORE, I would "hot wire" the car to get a good hot spark, until you get troubles sorted out. Don't leave the key or the "hot wire" clip on very long without the car running or cranking.

Another note: It is TEMPTING to be under the hood and try and start/ crank the car by simply jumpering the two exposed terminals on the start relay. WHEN YOU DO THIS the coil does NOT get 12V for start, as the bypass circuit is IN THE ignition switch. The ignition switch MUST BE turned to "start" to actuate the bypass circuit. Obviously, if an engine is hard to start and NEEDS a good spark, it "ain't" gonna get it when you jumper the relay.

Enough. time to "see what ya got." Best, again with two people, one to operate the key. Begin by cranking the engine, and with the coil wire held near the block, check for a good spark. If this is OK hook up the coil wire, squirt about a tablespoon of fuel down the carb, and see if it will fire. If it does, you will have to repeat this until the carb gets fuel from the pump.

On a side note, probably best to "rig" a hose from the pump output to a can and crank the engine until you get any sour gas flushed from the pump and supply line. Do this of course, into a can.

DO YOU HAVE a factory manual? You can download some from this link:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...al%2C+download

They don't generally have to be the exact year, as the engines were similar through the years.

 

Welcome Eh! There you go, beautiful stuff 440. Look to Bishko auto literature for a reprint manual. Don't rush and hook up mufflers to hear any engine noises. Here are some wiring diagrams that should help.
http://www.valiant.org/electrical-diagrams.html

 

On that note, you can get free diagrams at My Mopar:

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

On the left, click "Tools/ Reference" and go from there

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome!