Before thinking about stereo equipment and gauges, you should think about getting the car running properly. You don't want your car to look like something that came from Tijuana.

Start with the distributor. Replace the points and condenser (and set to specs), disconnect the vacuum advance and plug the rubber vacuum hose. Start the engine, set it to the proper idle speed using the screw on the throttle linkage next to the throttle cable. Then, hook up a timing light, and set your ignition timing to the factory specs (hopefully there is still a sticker under the hood somewhere, otherwise look it up on the internet).

Once your timing is set, then you can move on to the carburetor. Turn in the mixture screws on the bottom of the carburetor, and count how many turns it takes for them to bottom out. Don't overtighten them. Then back them out to where they were. Once again, unhook your vacuum advance hose, but this time attach it to a vacuum gauge (borrow or rent one from an auto parts store). Start the engine, and then adjust your mixture screws in or out until you get the highest vacuum reading. Then readjust your curb idle (the screw on the throttle linkage near the throttle cable) until the idle is at the correct speed. Disconnect the vacuum gauge, and reattach the vacuum hose to the distributor.

These steps should more or less put your car in tune.

Other things you should be looking at are all the hoses and belts. Old vacuum hoses will have leaks, and cause your engine to run poorly. Leaking fuel hoses can cause bigger problems. Radiator hoses get soft and prone to leaks and failure, belts should be flexible, and not frayed anywhere.

Check the radiator for crud, and make sure the coolant is clean.

Check the brakes. Most likely you've got drums all around, so you'll have to remove them to check the shoes. This isn't a difficult job, just make sure the car is support properly when you remove the wheels and such, you don't want it to fall on you. Brake shoes are cheap, so there's no excuse not to replace them if the shoes on your car are worn.

Check the condition of the tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. There should be minimal play/movement. These parts are also cheap, but installation is a pain. The good thing is that if you do replace them, your car will drive far better, and you won't have to worry about them for another 20 to 30 years.

Converting to a 4 barrel carburetor will not get you all that much power. Any power gains made on the top end of the RPM scale usually come at the expense of bottom end power. Since you have a heavy car with a factory automatic transmission and probably a highway geared differential, you might find that some mods might actually make your car slower at speed under 60 mph. Before upgrading your carb/intake/cylinder heads, invest in a set of 3.55 gears for your differential. Just the gears will make a huge difference in your acceleration, much more than basic engine mods, and once you begin making engine mods, the better gears will make them all the better.

 

Now that was a well written comprehensive post. Follow that and you should be good to go.

 

Word to that. If I were you I'd just want to get her registered and have some fun.

 

thanks for all that info Sangetsu.

the brake lines gas lines and hoses are all pretty much new.

the belts aren't to bad.

the radiator is clean.

i asked my neighbor about timing and he said that it is fine. im not sure how he checked, or even if he did im not sure, but ill ask him again.

next time i go over to hanks garage, he said we'll rebuild the 2-barrel and set it to spec and everything. then ill ask him about brakes, suspension and such.

that 3.55 gear idea sounds great! ill start researching on that.

i don't want you guys to think hat i just stopped working mechanically on it. just most of the big mechanical stuff i don't have tools for, so i have to wait until i can get to hanks garage to work on it. im just doing this little stuff to keep myself moving and so i have something to do to the car, my arms are just to tired to polish more chrome haha.

 

The timing must be checked with a timing light, and the vacuum advance must be disconnected, otherwise you'll get an incorrect reading. When adjusting the timing, the idle speed will change, you want the timing to be at the correct factory specs with the idle at the proper speed, so you may have to adjust both the distributor and the curb idle screw a couple of times to get it right. Once the car is in tune, you'd be surprised at how hard a stock 318 with a 2bbl carb can run.

After gears, you can do the intake manifold and carb swap. The best thing to do is to get the top end off a 360 4bbl vehicle (including the cylinder heads), which are common enough. The 360 has bigger ports, and the manifold/4bbl setup for the 360 is common and cheap. You should be able to find the entire set up for less than the cost of a new Edelbrock performer intake.

I've had good luck with the Thermoquad carburetors, they are pretty easy to work on, but make sure you get an earlier model without all the wires hooked up to it. The Thermoquad can be tuned to make as much power as anything that Holley makes, the only advantage that Holley has is easier to find parts.

Next you should replace the cam, lifters, and timing chain. This will wake up your car quite a bit. Don't go too wild with the cam, you want something that will give you a good idle and mid-range power. Changing the cam is a big job, but dollar for dollar, it is one of the least expensive ways to get good power.

Then get a shift kit for your transmission. The firmer shifts will make your car accelerate better, and in my experience, transmissions with a shift kit seem to live longer behind higher-horsepower engines than stock transmissions.

Have fun with your car, and don't be afraid to ask questions. My first car was a '73 Plymouth 'cuda, and most of the mechanical lessons I learned were learned the hard way. But I had a lot of fun with that car, and used what I learned on other cars that I had later.

 

ill ask hank about the timing and vacuum next time i see him, thanks. just curious, how does timing get bad? does it get changed from factory spec just from driving?

i already have a Edelbrock 4 barrel and intake to put on, just need to wait because i need some other stuff and i just want to get the car road worthy before adding stuff.

ide love to do all the head and cam work. ive read a few of articles on making some decent horse from a 318. i was actually thinking maybe if money permits to upgrade to a 360 this winter. not sure yet though.

 

My dart is a factory 318 2 barrel motor, right now we are in the middle of putting a 74 318 motor together with an updated summit 4 barrel cam a 4 barrel weind intake and edelbrock carb a set of 318 closed chamber heads and a set of summit headers, that should give me some extra "UMMPH" and sound when out crusing

 

hey 64 whats the latest . i haven't been on in awhile is she on the road yet ?

 

no sadly. i have got a small list of what it needs, headlights, windshield wipers, and im guessing i need reverse lights

• HEADLIGHTS: i know the headlight switch is bad. power goes to it, but ends after it. i just need to but a new one off ebay. and i already checked the bulbs, i used the multimeter cables and hooked each to the bulb, then connected them directly to the battery. they all lit right up. my neighbor hank said that i could take the whole switch setup out using the little clips that hold it in. are those the little notches on the ring around it? i took a picture to get a better idea, its kinda hard to explain.
• WINDSHIELD WIPERS: i think all i need is a new end to the bar that swings the wiper, its really demolished. i just don't know where to get one.
• REVERSE LIGHTS: im not sure really whats wrong with them. im guessing that the two spots for wires on the back of the push button assembly is for them. i just need to follow wires back from the lights. it SHOULD be easy.

 

hang in there bud we've all been there . & most of are alot deeper in the ***** than you .

 

Well, it hurt to do it, but my friend convinced me to rip my old, raggy, ripped up headliner off. itwas in really badshape and had to come off. i just wasn't sure on how, so we just ripped it off. up above was FILLED with mice nests.

now, with it off i just need to sand the ceiling down, pop out some roof dents, and wait until i can get a new headliner.

the bad thing is though, i have no f*****g idea how that thng was connected on there, i thought after it was off i would understand, but i still don't. how is that thing held on on the sides?

 

Wear on the points, cam gears, distributor shaft, etc. all cause minor (sometimes major) timing changes. And some people like to tinker with the distributor when their car isn't running correctly.

 

Those metal bars are flexible spring steel, if you flex them, you should be able to pop them out of their channels at either end (after removing the screwed-on trim). If you buy a new headliner, you lay it on the ground, slide the metal bars into it, and then install the headliner by popping in one bow (what the bars are called, as they bend like bows) one at a time until they are all in. then you glue the edges all the way around, and re-install the trim/moldings.

 

thanks sangetsu. you've been a lot of help. im guessing there is a special glue to use. where do i find it? i searched headliner glue but nothing came up. sorry for all the questions.

 

You can use 3M spray adhesive, which is sold at most auto parts stores. The adhesive is only used for the insulation and the edges of the headliner which are covered by moldings. Most interior shops can make a headliner for your car easily enough, and it shouldn't be too expensive. I don't know of anyone who sells a pre-made headliner for a Polara (maybe someone here does).

Do not spray the adhesive on the headliner or any kind of material, just spray it onto the metal surface and then press the insulation/material onto the glued surface, it'll stick well. For clean up get a bottle of acetone (also available in auto parts stores). This will remove any glue you get on your hands, as well as removing old glue/overspray.

 

thanks for all the help.
there are a few places i found that i can find a headliner, cheapest being around $110 most expensive being $280.

 

Go to the part of town where everybody speaks Spanish, you'll usually find lots of body and trim shops there. I wouldn't trust such places to do paint and body work, but a headliner is simple to make and put in, and you'll find it much cheaper.

 

today i went over to hanks and got some work done.

• the bushing for the front end got put in
• hank fixed the headlights, but there stuck on high beams, now i need a head beam floor button.
• put in a new blinker clicker thing.
• found out i need a new fuel sender for the fuel gauge to work.
• also got to test drive the car. runs good. also found out the temp gauge works.

 

sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

 

ok i don't know what is going on. different electrical stuff just keeps on breaking and fixing them selves.

now the highbeam switch works perfect. got all lights working 100%.

but now my left blinkers arnt working good. i have to leave the blinker on the left position for about 10 seconds until they start up, and even then the dash light for the blinker doesn't always work. then after that initial 10 second wait if i try to use them again i only have to wait about 2 seconds.

good new. my dad says that we might be able to get the car registered in about a week or two.

 

after further inspection of my current sound set up (1980's alpine cassett radio and the speaker in the middle of the dash) i have found out that the speaker is not plugged into anything. the wires coming off of it dont have connectors or anything on them, there just wire. i have no idea where they hook up.

 

If you know the model number you can pull up Alpine Radios and get a wiring diagram.

 

The center speaker in the dash probably bit the dust before you were born. Most likely it was disconnected when the Alpine was put in, and the Alpine was probably hooked up to speakers in the door panels, rear deck, or possibly even box speakers set somewhere in the car.

If you remove the stereo from the dash, it should have a label on top with the wiring diagram on it. If the label is not there, you can still figure out where the wires go easily enough. Red will be hot, black will be ground, yellow will probably be the accessory (key-on) wire. The remaining wires will be for the speakers. To find out which one is which, adjust the fade to the front, and the balance to the right, then hook up a speaker to each pair of wires until you get sound. This will be the front right speaker. Set the dials to left balance, front fade, and then find the wires for the left front. The same process works for the rear, just adjust the fade dial to "rear".

 

the speaker actually looks a bit newer, so im guessing it was replaced with the radio. im not sure.

i tried to find a manual for it, but i searched until my computer is getting really bad pop ups now.

these wires are BS! it seems like they all splice into each other, and then there are about 3 or 4 loose wires or just wires a with little white couplers on them just hanging.

i took a picture of the wires coming right off the radio. if i could just find out which wire does what i could probably figure it out.

In order the colors are: brown, green, red, black, blue, then a thicker black

 

black should be speaker grnd,,brn.green left/right speaker positive/ blue dimmer/ red power. large black radio ground... what are the colors on the alpine? it should have red/yellow/black/blue..maybe with a white stripe? ive only came across 1 1980's alpine..with xlr type lead.. speakers white ..grey...green..purple with white stripes for the neg. a trick you can use is take a 9volt battery and solder wires to the +/- put the neg to the thin black. and put the positive to what you think are the speaker positives and listen to a faint pop. this will NOT harm the speakers.i promise you.!!!!!! doing so will find the right and left positive channels. in those yrs the speakers used a common ground. (shared) unlike todays audio systems.

 

ok screw the damn radio for a while. that thing is a pain in the ***. i shouldn't be listening to radio while driving anyway.

ok, so after re-testing everything, i think there are only 3 things that need to be re-placed for inspection.
-wiper still
-dash left blinker bulb
-front left park light

why would the front left light not work for park light, but it does for blinker? fried wire somewhere?

 

i think i have said this, but ill just re-cap:

i don't know why, but a Previous owner sprayed expanding foam into i think its called the cowl (the little slotted area in-between hood and windshield). lately i have been just using needle nose pliers and pinching out chunks. i know the proper way to remove it would be to take off the cowl, but with the car having other mechanical/electrical problems that is near the bottom of the list, which i will probably not be able to reach before summer nationals in July.

my question is, is there any chemical that will just break this stuff down? i sprayed PB blaster on a chunk on the ground, and nothing happened. the pliers are working, but i cant get corners at all. i just wanted it to have a little bit of a cleaner look than having visible foam covers edges.

 

Get a can of acetone from your auto parts or grocery store. It should dissolve it quite easily. Keep it away from sparks, and don't get any on any paint that you don't want ruined.

 

today i bought a new dome light bulb. i plugged it in and tried it, and it didn't work. then the open wire (i hadn't taped them yet) touched the metal roof, and the bulb lit up. teh bulb only lights when the wire is touching metal. but teh switches do nothing, they don't control the light and wont shut it off.

 

thats because the roof is grounded and completing the circuit. i bet if you connect the wire to where its supposed to go, the switch will work :-)