It's always something ain't it? It's been a while (last spring?) since I posted and I'm certain that y'all have missed me... My long roof is a 70 Belvedere w/225cid, 3-speed manual... I got the windows tinted, new tires on stock rims, actually I bought a set of the 8" wheels from Wheels Vintique. 275/60's on rear and 235/60's on front. Full front suspension replacement including heavier Torsion bars which really smoothed the bounce under the slant six! I did get the original AC up and working but the compressor was knocking purdy loud and while I was on my ways back to my AC man to recover the nearly $200 worth of R-12 I just installed a hose blew! You could really light up the engine compartment at night with a blacklight!!! I now have the Classic Air kit mostly installed. I was delayed by the fact that the fan wasn't going back in without moving the radiator forward an=almost an inch!!! I now have an electric fan pushing the needed air from the front. Works great! The car (daily driver) had a nasty shake while driving on the highway. So I put the axle on stands and put her in gear. Man was the u-joint on the frontside wobbly. I fixed that before the car did a pole-vault on the highway. Now it's making some not so good noise while clutching into 1st or reverse, a real noisy throwout bearing (bearing's been noisy a while but getting worse) and it often pops outta 3rd gear while driving, always loud and always fun! I just picked up the new Klutz assembly today and within the next week I'll pull the tranny and take a peek inside and I'll replace the klutz and put it all back together. I have the engine mounts and the tranny mount and will install them at the same time. I might just pull the engine at the same time as the tranny so I can clean it up nice and paint both it and the engine bay. Soon, I'll buy a rebuild kit for the 2bbl carb and intake I have on the shelf and then put it and the intake in place of the single barrel. I've replaced the fuel tank sender and I still read empty. Every rare once in a while it will read something but it always goes back to empty. I've grounded the wire from the sender wire to ground and the meter comes right up and I do have a good ground to the sensor. Any thoughts??? I am looking for a few parts and I'll find their proper names an part nos. and then post my needs. In the meantime I'm driving the 70 Ranchero up & down the highway. It's fairly clean but is mostly a parts-runner and rainy day car. I really need to make some room in the garage so I don't have to put the car on jack stands on a sloped driveway. It sorta scares me. Well I'm not gonna drink so much coffee the next time I sit down to post some more, but then again, why not. I like long stories! I'll get some updated pics with the exterior work done soon. Thanks to every Wagon Junkie on the site. It' s good to see that I'm not the only wagon freak out there!!! Go Mopar! Rennie
YO Rennie, One thought. Iz there a "Bridge Strap" between the sending unit and the fuel line that bridges the rubber connector? Go to your local Mopar Dealer. That bridge strap is still available. 'Bout $7 and your problem might go away
THEN SQUEEZE THE ENDS AN ROTATE 'UM BACK 'N FORTH ONE AT AH TIME TO MAKE SURE YOUR CONTACT IZ GOOD! IT IZ NOT FUN DROPIN' THAT TANK OUT OF THAT QUARTER PANEL TO CHECK THE SENDING UNIT AND FLOAT:banghead3: YOU HAVE CHECKED TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT THE GAGE
You bet it wasn't fun but I have a new sender in there. I did connect the wire to the frame for a moment and the gauge went right up!!! I'll go under this weekend and double check that strap. It could be the weak link here. You know, I was a bad child, so this might just be some of that karma being returned...
If you ran a wire directly to ground and the sending unit and gage regestered,Then you need to check the fuel line mounting straps and the self tapperz in the frame rail 'cuz your loosing ground either at that bridge strap or somewhere down stream
sounds like you're not afraid of a little under hood work. I can imagine that Belvedere drives nice with the 225 engine. I owned a 70 Duster with same and it was well powered, very good city car at the time. You probably already know the longevity of that engine. I would just vote for checking/replacing motor mounts which may be contributing to the vibration and gear disengaging. It sounds like you have a good plan though. Boy did we miss you while you were away!
