Mopar Muscle Association UK

thats starting to look like 'err' a charger looking good its taking shape now so hopefully you will see it all nicely finished soon. cant wait to see it finished.

Thanks and you're not the only one

I used the works tractor to hoist the ex Pinball Wizard Charger engine onto it's stand. Once securely bolted to it, I set about checking it over. I freely admit I'm no mechanic -I'm no good at fault finding or measuring wear & tear on components. We could really do with someone who knows what they're looking at coming & taking a look.

Turns over fine -a lot easier once I took the spark plugs out
All the rockers & push rods move freely.

We then span the engine round on the stand & peered inside the sump.

The sump itself is odd. Capacity has been increased by welding in a 2 inch wide strip to the deepest part. There are also home made baffle plates. The actual sump shape is slightly different to our other Charger motor. Can anyone identify just what we have here?

Rather worryingly, the filter on the oil pick up tube contained several pieces of ...plastic we think. Not magnetic anyway & didn't feel like aluminium. The valve stem oil seals perhaps? I know the Reliant ones are black rubber & harden with heat, becoming brittle & sometimes breaking up to work their way down into the sump.

We pulled off one of the crankshaft end caps. No signs of wear through the top coating & although a few small scores in the surface, nothing the other half would consider worth worrying about.
Lousy picture of the crank cos the light was fading, but no signs of major wear there either.
Opinions anyone?

Photos in order of the text

last ones to go with text

The modified pan is a larger capacity HP/ hemi pan, that has been banded for even more capacity. The pick up tube should have had an equal amount added to it's length, yours doesn't look like it has. This was the way we used to do it way back when cheap aftermarket deep pans weren't available. The stock pan will suffice for general hoonage and will not hang below the K frame.The plastic bits are almost certainly the remains of the valve stem seals, that's where they usually end up when they harden and disintegrate.

I was just about to post more or less what Blue just said. Buy a new HP440/Hemi sump with those baffles in. You always find bits like that in the pick-up tube screen over time.

The Top pan looks like its had the general "A" body treatment.

Goin great guns , nice to see you havin a go , once you check for wear the motor will be back together before you know it.

Thanks for the replies. I'll try and take some better photos when I'm next in there. I'll also take my book with me. One thing for sure so far is that I'll need is a full set of gaskets and valve stem seals.
Where's the best place to get them?

So the general opinion is keep the original sump pan rather than the modified one?

Also when I undid the bolts to the crankshaft end caps and pulled them out they were a creamy colour and texture. I know this means water and oil have been mixed at some point but this it the only place that I've seen it on this engine. All the rest of the oil in and around the engine looks and smells just like normal used old oil. I'll see what the rest of the other bolts look like when I get round to checking them.

Might just be moisture from condensation due to the engine being stored. All the parts that look like that need a good clean.

I would buy a new 440/hemi sump so that you get the baffles. Maybe fit a windage tray too. It will free up a little horsepower by keeping the crank free of oil.

Went to John's on Wed and here's the progress so far.

NS sill completely re built as the panel we got was too flimsy for the job, (not an AMD part)
Hinge pillar all sorted and finished,
Floor in
Trunk floor got put roughly in place while we were there bit still needs work before it's put in properly. Note how much of the back end has been removed now.

It's great to see the car being put back together.

last few.

Wow Tanya, where's the back end?!
Tell ya what though, you are going to absolutely love that car when its done

TOP JOB!!!! I was hoping to be down on Saturday but as usual, everything gets in the way these days

Can't wait to see it in the flesh. Hopefully this Saturday.

You must be over the moon with her, shes gone from being a lace curtain to a solid car. The only way to do it.


Well done