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Project Psyko Cuda

Continued from Project introduction thread:

So, I know it's been a while since the last update. I've been busy with life (yet again... Amazing how often it sneaks up on ya, huh?). Long story short, Life's been going in a wonderful direction and I not only have time for the car, my girlfriend and I are living together and it's about the most wonderful thing that's happened to me. She's been showing HUGE interest in my car, as well as helping out with things. Not to mention she loves Classic Rock, as loud as I do. I'm still shocked at how awesome she is, I consider myself an extremely lucky guy.

Anyway, enough about the mushy stuff. On to the Car progress!

Since the last post, I've taken off the fenders, doors, and basically I'm attempting to clean everything up. Got the woman to start cleaning and grinding away at the dirt and grime and grease in the fender wells, and in the engine bay. The car is just caked with crap! 40 years of dirt, and at least 20+ years of a leaking power steering box has made alot of nastiness.

Also got the engine and tranny pulled, and the engine torn down. The pistons look like crap. No wonder I've been pinging horribly, and requiring a ton of Octane to get anywhere. May be ordering new pistons today, but still not sure if I want to do that, or stroke it. Pro-Charger was my original choice but I may change that for now. Heads look ok for the stock X-Heads. (Anyone know the CC's?) and the rest isnt bad. Found some Eagle H-Beam rods in there which was a nice surprise. Bearings look good, no abnormal wear or anything. Just the buildup on the pistons. Also found a windage tray on the inside. One less part to buy!

Pics incoming.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1.../enginebay.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/clean1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...girlfriend.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/apart2.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/apart1.jpg

Parts list!

Engle Camshaft 231/231 @0.050 (To get rid of that crappy old Mopar Performance 248/248 @0.050 Cam)
Engle Springs
TTI Headers, Ceramic Coated, and internal Thermal Barrier
TTI Exhaust w/ Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers
Moog front suspension bushing and rebuild kit.
All tools to do front suspension.
Torsion Bars 1.09" thick
2" Lowering Kit for rear end
New Clutch Fan (Pre-Aluminum radiator, was cheap upgrade)
ARP Engine Bolt Kit
SubFrame Connectors

The list will grow with what I truely want later on, but for now I just want to drive it this summer!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/parts1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/parts2.jpg

Got some more things done. The block and crank are back from the machine shop. They were able to just polish the crank, and hot tank the block. We got it honed and put together, but have to take it apart, as the instructions for the piston rings weren't too clear... we talked to a buddies dad who was an engine builder/machinist for 23 years... he set us strait. Either way, it won't take long.

Other then that, I got some more suspension parts in. Things cleaned up. Painted the K-Frame and the lower control arms. Also welded Lower control arm stiffening plates on and will repaint and install those as soon as I'm done scraping and scrubbing the grease off the front end.

New parts include:
CAP Auto Products Tubular Adjustable Upper control arms
Aluminum Adjustable Strut Rods
Bigger Torsion bars (stock 0.85" new 1.2")
New rear sway bar
New pitman arm
New Idler arm
2" Lowering Blocks for the rear end (Only temporary)
New bushings all around

Also found the exhaust tips I wanted.

Here's some car porn for you guys. More to come later in the week!
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...syko/Block.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1.../EngineBay.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ko/k-frame.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...suspension.jpg

Exhaust tips
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...syko/tips1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...syko/tips2.jpg

Also got a new toy:

Finally got my air Compressor! (Works quite well with all tools, even air drill, die grinder's, and sander)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...yko/newtoy.jpg

Well, got a bit more work done on the car before our camping trip last week.

Got the engine bay painted, as well as the inner fender wells.
New upper control arms (Yes, I know they're on backwards, I just wanted to make sure they fit and get the camber close).

Also got my strut rods installed, they're very solid and easily adjustable. I love the way they look too! Got the K-Frame painted and all pretty, welded some things on to stiffen things up, as well as stiffened the lower control arms with the Braces. Cleaned up the brakes, painted the calipers an aluminum color to match a bit better.

All in all, got a decent amount done, but not as much as I wanted to.

Next up - Drop off the heads to get cleaned and new springs put on (Since my spring compressor doesn't want to work lately) and put it all back together!

and now, the pics!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...aypainted1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...aypainted2.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...amepainted.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...bular-arms.jpg

Cool project, man. It's good to see more Mopars in the mix.

Where did you get your front rebuild kit with all the moog parts? Looking for something for my challenger. Also what are your plans for the rear suspension?

looking good man, sweet car.

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I plan on, down the road, doing a 4-Link coilover kit for the rear. For now, however, I'm just doing a 2 inch drop on the leafs with a 2i nch Block to get the stance I want for the rest of the summer. In the process of buying a house with the girlfriend, and trying to finish the car to drive it, I got the itch this summer bad...

Sooooo in due time, the expensive parts will come, but for now I have to watch where I spend my money!