Week #146

With the heads on the motor and the order in to Crane for a custom cut set of pushrods, I set out to prep and paint all my interior plastic pieces.  I had several sets of just about every panel stashed up in the garage attic.  It was time to sort them out and choose which to use.  Most pieces I had were black while I had managed to find a decent B7 blue set of dash pieces at the Nat's one year.  In all the searching for good blue interior pieces I have NEVER found one perfect piece.  I have found totally undamaged pieces but the color has always deteriorated bad enough to not be usable.  Of the blue pieces I had in front of me, one dash piece was as nice as I have ever seen but again cannot be used as is... it would never match whatever else I used.  I was to "dye" a complete set for the car.

It was easy enough to pick out the best pieces to use as there was one example of each piece that was near perfect.  The only hold up was in that the best dash piece that the air grabber switch and reverse light mount through didn't have the holes.  Luckily I had a couple of these pieces that DID have the holes so I simply needed to made a template and transfer the holes over to the piece I was using.  This took maybe 45 minutes and I was on to the prep work.

Searching the Internet I found a company in Canada called Parasol, Inc. that claimed to have the finest hard plastic paint/dye available.  If applied properly the site says that the color "can not be removed".  They also have a color matching service.  I was intrigued.  I sent them a piece of an original B7 defrost vent that had some beautiful original color at the tube portion.  A couple of weeks later I had a quart of the paint and a small amount of their "adhesion promoter".  Any instructions for painting any kind of plastic includes getting the plastic surface as clean as possible.  I spent several hours doing just that.  I tried different cleaners and light solvents until I found what I thought was getting the textured surface really clean.  After a final wipe of lacquer cleaner (NOT lacquer thinner... cleaner) I washed every part in warm soapy water.  Then I went over the surface of every piece with Scotchbrite pads to rough it up a bit.  With all the parts laid out or hung up I followed the instructions for the promoter and paint.  It really looked good after it was all done.  The instructions say that it takes a full 72 hours to cure so I didn't touch it for a few days.  At the end of the few days I was excited to give it all a good look over and compare the color to the backs of some original pieces.  In the florescent lighting of the garage it looked off but out in the sunlight it looked dead on.  The guys at Parasol know their stuff and sell a good product. It isn't real cheap, but a custom mixed quart at $120 doesn't seem so bad after the parts are painted and look as good as new.

My pushrods came in within a few days of ordering them.  This weekend was earmarked for installation.  I laid out all the stuff I would need... the rods, moly grease, lifters, bucket-o-oil, a couple of tools and 8 new adjusters/nuts I ordered to replace a few bad ones.  My first step was to get a little oil in each lifter to help get them started at start-up.  The CompCams site actually recommends NOT pre-pumping up the lifters prior to installation as to keep the stress on the new cam to a minimum during those first few revolutions.  I kind of compromised by just pumping them up a little.  Something else to be concerned with is pre-load on the lifters.  Once the rod is adjusted to zero "lash", it should be tightened an additional amount into the lifter... this is pre-loading the lifter.  All literature tells me to pre-load from .020 to .060 deep.  I wanted to know how much turning of the adjuster equaled .020 to .060.  It turns out that 3/4 of a turn at the adjuster netted me .035 inches... that's what I used.  With the cam lobe at the base circle, I gooped up the cam face of the lifter and inserted it in the bore.  Gooped up both ends of the pushrod, moved the rocker out of the way and slipped it into position, threaded the adjuster into the rocker and threaded down to "zero lash".  After turning the adjuster an additional 3/4 turn I tightened it down and moved on to the next.  It took a couple of hours to get them all in and adjusted.  From what I understand it is ideal to have all the adjusters protruding the same amount... 9/32 by the Mopar motor manual... but that would require a different rod for every spot.  When I ordered my pushrods I took the shortest measured length at the intakes and the exhausts and combined each group, giving me just 2 lengths.  I have a couple of places where the adjuster is out a good bit farther than the rest but it will have to do.

With the pushrods in I couldn't wait to see the motor with the intake in place.  I had bead blasted a few weeks ago but had spotted a few places that needed additional cleaning.  After hitting those spots again and washing it with soap, water and the water hose, I threw it on the bench for a look-see.  Part of a "package deal" from the Nat's years ago was a new heat shield for the underside of the intake.  After chasing all the threads the shield went on fine.  I stuck the intake on top of the motor and stepped back for a look... and it was good.  The intake manifold bolt package I got from Roger Gibson included a layout of where each stud/bolt goes.  Without this layout I would have been lost.  I installed the studs in the heads ant test fit the intake again.  It slid into place with just the slightest of persuasion.  That's where my afternoon ended.  I should have this motor painted before too long!