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Engine & Transmission
1968 Plymouth Barracuda Fastback email address - barracuda@mmsacc-stainless.com |
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Here is the build-up of 1968
440 Engine
We got the engine block back from RACE ENGINE DESIGN this week and have also gotten all the other engine parts. Now we can start putting it together. Here is the Engine Block Received the engine block back from Race Engine Design. This is what was done to the block -
Now we have primed it, blown out the internals with air, checked all oil galleys, and wiped out the block. We are ready to install the forged crank. Wiped Crank off, blew out oil holes in the Crank, removed Main Caps, installed Lower Bearings and Lower Rear Oil Seal.
Installed Crank, installed upper Bearing Caps, Torqued from center out to 85 foot lbs. Forged Pistons with Teflon Skirt
Installed Pistons with Bearings and torqued to 45 foot lbs.
Installed the Cam (Crane Cam #643801) and installed the Timing Chain (Billet Gear & Roller Chain Set from Crane)
Painted the engine block, installed aluminum heads with new high-strength stainless steel fasteners.
Pi-Thon Fire-Lock is a stainless steel compression fitting that replaces conventional Exhaust system clamps, dramatically improving under-vehicle appearance and offering superior sealing performance. We are using 2-1/2" Stainless Steel Exhaust. 06/17/2003 - We chose 2-1/2" Stainless Steel tubing for our exhaust. We measured and welded in our 90 degree and 45 degree elbows with Heli-Arc. We then made the tips out of 2 x 4 rectangular tubing, cut to the angle of the car. We then sent it out to Economy Metal Finish to be polished. It came back today, 06/23, and Karl did a wonderful job of polishing this to a mirror finish. Here is the picture before we install it on the car.
06/28/2003 - We started installation of the exhaust system from the headers out. We fabricated stainless steel flanges and reducers and heli-arced the stainless steel mufflers on from Flowmaster Mufflers. We then installed the Pi-Thon Fire Lock connecters from the mufflers to our fab'd exhaust tubing. All you have to do is slide the two pieces of tubing into the Fire Lock and tighten. Then we installed two hangers for each exhaust pipe so there is no vibration and then added our exhaust tips that we made.
Installed water pump housing and water pump after getting them back from the polisher. Installed the Oil Pan after getting it back from plating. Installed new polished Tunnel Ram and Demon Carburetors (650 Carbs built especially for specs on this motor.
Installed Taylor Vertex HEI Mag. All Lubricants provided by PENNZOIL
Polished Alternator being provided by Tuff Stuff Performance
05/29/03 - Received our Alternator-A/C Bracket today from Xtreme Billet. Here is a picture of ours. Can't wait to get it installed.
We have installed our Alternator-A/C Bracket from Xtreme Billet. If you Click here you can see it being made.
Received the Water Pump and Crank Pulleys from March Performance. They fit perfectly. We installed belts, and are waiting on the Flex Fan.
Automatic Torque Converter for Mopar 727 2500-3000 stall provided by Performance Torque Converters.
727 Automatic Transmission from Phoenix Transmission Products. Received it the week of 04-14-03. Here is a picture of it. Looks really nice.
We needed a deeper transmission pan for more capacity and cooling. So we chose PML. Ours has a black wrinkle finish and polished fins with a 2-quart extra capacity.
Here is a picture of the Trans Pan from PML after we installed it on the Cuda.
We have the old original Transmission Mount that came with the car, but it looks like somebody (or something) took a big BITE out of it! Couldn't use it, so we decided to make one out of Stainless Steel. We made a template and sent it to Precision Cutting Service. They cut the sides out of 1/8" Stainless. Then we took 1/8" x 2-3/8" stainless plate and cut & heli-arc welded the bottom end and drilled and slotted it for the rubber mount. Then we polished it. Here are the before and after pictures as well as the template pictures. Quite a difference!!
04/29/03 We got the motor mounts and here is a picture of the engine in the car.
The radiator from AFCO Hot Rod is now in the car, as well as the A/C condenser that we purchased with the Air Conditioning Kit.
04/30/03 Here is the 727 Transmission from Phoenix Transmission Products and the Stall Converter from Performance Torque Converters. Ready to install.
The complete Transmission is now in the car.
05/01/03 - We ordered the aluminum drive shaft from K & L Unlimited, Inc. (had to wait to get measurements after the transmission and engine were installed). It should be here next week. 05/07/03 - Received the Aluminum Drive Shaft from K & L Unlimited, Inc. The shaft diameter is 3-1/2". It is really a beauty! Here is a picture of it before we install it.
Click here to see how our Drive Shaft was made.
05/06/03 - It is such a tight fit in the engine bay with the 440 engine, that normal headers won't fit. We are getting headers from TTI. They are part # 440-200CC. 05-22-03 We received our headers from TTI today. Here is a picture of them (before we install). They are good looking headers!!! See more pictures of TTI headers and their shop by clicking here.
05-24-03 Started the installation of the headers. Passenger Side Driver Side Picture of underneath of the car with both headers in place.
After getting both headers in place, I discovered that I needed to take the driver side header back off & install the transmission first, then put that header back on. Because of the tight fit, everything must be done in the proper order. We added a 1/4" shim on each motor mount to give us clearance, especially by the steering box. We bought a manual steering box, but found out that the internals were worn out. We contacted Flaming River and will be receiving a new manual steering box from them. (We already purchased a stainless steel steering column from Flaming River and it is beautiful). Go to the Front End Page to see more about the steering box. We reinstalled the transmission and will be installing the new extra capacity trans pan tomorrow night.
Green-Stuff Metal Polish is absolutely the easiest polish you will ever use. You will get your job done faster with better results and a longer lasting shine.
Aeroquip will be supplying us with Stainless Steel A/C lines.
WYSCO has supplied us with flexible Stainless Steel upper and lower Radiator hoses as well as Heater hose. 06/28/2003 - We have now installed the upper and lower stainless flex radiator hoses from WYSCO.
We have now installed the heater lines from WYSCO. We made Stainless Steel tubing adapters from the front of the motor to the hoses and an adapter from the firewall to the hoses.
Here are the A/C hoses from Aeroquip. Go to Interior Page for installation.
08/2003 - Intake System We purchased a 2-piece Tunnel Ram made by Mopar Performance. After setting the specially-made carburetors by Barry Grant on the intake and installing it on the engine, we discovered that our new 6-pack hood wouldn't close. The combination of the tall intake and the carburetors, made it too tall and the hood hit the carbs with no room for an air cleaner. We needed to shorten the top piece of the Tunnel Ram by 2-1/2". We weren't able to find anyone who could modify it, so we made a new 2-piece top portion. These are the steps we took to make the top plates:
PIC1 - PIC2 - PIC3 - PIC4 - PIC5 - Here is a picture of the hood in place on the car. It now fits and will close nicely. If you look closely inside the scoop, you can see that we now have clearance.
09/2003 - Built the fuel-log from 1" stainless steel tubing. Made the ends and then welded them into the tubing. Drilled and tapped for inlet & outlet. Made fittings for all four fuel lines and welded them into the fuel log. Attached four stainless steel fuel lines to the carburetors. Need to find someone that can make me a sheet metal air cleaner.
12/2003 We will be receiving an Electric Fan, model Slider (like the one pictured below) from Billet City. It is a 16" diameter fan, with a custom aluminum housing and an SPAL fan which will push 1920 cfm. We have to put it in front of the radiator because there is not enough room for it between the radiator & the water pump pulley. If you want something that is really "trick" for your car, you need to get one of these from Billet City.
12/09/2003 - We received the "Slider" Electric Fan from Billet City. To make it easier for installation, we removed the upper portion of the grill assembly.
The fan came with pre-drilled and tapped holes on the outer ring for ease in mounting. We attached the fan to the front of the radiator with stainless steel straps that we made and polished.
01/15/2004 - We have received an overflow tank from Del's Battery Box. This is a custom overflow box, made of polished aluminum, in a Penta Star design. If the radiator should overheat and overflow, the overflowing coolant will go into this box instead of on the ground. When it cools, the coolant will go back into the radiator. Here are pictures of the tank before installation.
02/29/2004 - We installed the overflow tank from Del's Battery Box. We drilled the bottom to accept stainless steel fittings for the inlet from radiator and outlet for drain. Here is a picture of it installed. SUPER!!
02/25/2004 - We had originally put a set of old valve covers on the car that we had blasted. But we wanted the valve covers to be different since just about everything else on the car is "custom". We called on Gary at Unique Aluminum Products to make us a set of aluminum valve covers. They will be polished aluminum and engraved with the name Wild Fire with the letters painted the color of the car. Here is a sample of the valve covers (without the engraving). Can't wait to see them!!
03/15/2004 - We received the new custom valve covers from Unique Aluminum Products. Here is a picture of them before installing. As you can see, they did a GREAT job. The script they used for Wild Fire is perfect!!
It was hard to get a good picture because they are so shiny that they reflect everything. So we placed one on the car & took a picture so we could see how they will really look. It's still tough to get clear pictures, because they reflect everything around them. But they are beautiful!
09-02-2004 We found some 1" o.d. Stainless Steel flexible wire loom and polished it. We cut it to the proper length, made a nylon bushing to fill the hole in the firewall, installed it and ran the wiring through the loom to all the front lights, electric fan and horn.
05/05/2005 Previous top radiator line that we installed was too close to the upper belt, so we decided to make one out of Stainless Steel. We fabricated it out of 1-1/2" Stainless tubing, polished it, and used one of the new Pi-Thon Radiator Clamps to install it.
We felt that we should add a strap from the engine to the frame to keep the engine from tearing away from the motor mount. We fabricated a Stainless strap that is bolted to the top of the head and goes down to an adjustable turnbuckle.
05-25-05 We could not find the "right" look for our PVC valve, so we decided to make one. We used Stainless Steel Hex Bar, drilled and bored. Then we made a Stainless Steel Check Ball with Stainless spring for one-way action. We connected everything from the breather to the back of the intake with Stainless tubing.
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Installed the heads and timing cover.
Will be receiving Mufflers (Delta Flow Stainless
Steel Mufflers) from 
This
is the old mount. See how it looks like something
took a bite out of it on the right side.
These are the side pieces after they came
back from being cut at 
Here
is the new one that we welded and polished. Looks
much better than the original!
Fits
like a glove & looks great!!
