Hey Guys, a little history: i replaced plugs, plug wires, dist. cap, rotor, coil, timing chain, rebuilt carb., most vacuum lines, and battery. i've owned car now for about (4) months. at first it acted like it had a vacuum leak, but i found none. turned out to be timing chain and gears which i replaced. the carb. then started acting like "old faithful" shooting up gas when i tried to start it. so i rebuilt it again (being i took it apart so many times to re-jet) only this time i checked the choke adjustments and found them all to be way off. i could tell it made a difference, but it was still was hard to start. so thats when i put on a "pertronics" coil and found out the ballast resister was shot. after that it started up every time REAL nice! the gas mileage had went up even after re-jetting the carb. (plugs are light brown). NOW TO MY PROBLEM: cars running better that it ever has (for me), i went out of town about a (2) hour trip. about half way there i notice the car is running a little warm a little over the half way mark). i get to my sister's house ok. so the next day i check the anti-freeze and it's full. it was raining so i figure i better get going back while it's about 20* cooler out being it's all up hill to Tucson. i'm about half way home and the temp. goes up to about 3/4 way up the gauge, so i pull over, radiator is hot but full, oil is a little low (about a quart) so i fill it and wait. temperature is now down but within a mile it going up fast and starts knocking. i'm on the freeway doing about 70 mph. and it's about 10:00 at night and i have a line of cars trying to introduce themselves to my back end. FINALLY, i find a turn off, but now the poor "ole" car wants to die but i'm hidden out in the dessert. so i figure i got to get both the car and i to a phone about a mile back. about an hour later the car and i are being towed to Tucson. AND FINALLY MY QUESTION: the car was knocking pretty bad, the water pump sounded like it was yelling at me, i checked the oil and found no anti-freeze. the anti-freeze looked ok and the radiator was full. what should i look for? burnt lifters? i found no bent rods, also got a new thersostate to put in as well as a new head gasket. what else?? i figure now is the time to put the 2 bbl. and manifold on, and have the head gone thru, but not if i ruined the main bearing or such. thanks for your help!

How was your oil pressure? If it's knocking, I'd say that's one of the first things to look at. Also make sure your fuel pump isn't leaking internally, as recently mentioned in another post.

oil pressure sensor was disconnected, so i have no idea. i was about to put a better set of gauges in the car so i could really know whats going on, but i was too late. i'll replace the fuel pump being it's "31" years old anyway.

not much replies and i know most of you would have said something by now. i just looked at the oil again at night with a flashlight and i don't think i need an oil analysis. i see metal particals floating around. so.... i guess she goes to my personal grave yard till i get the urge, or i retire (which ever comes first). oh!, i forgot to mention that a whole lot of transmission fluid is dripping out now, i suspect the rear seal. too bad... so young (under 60k), i'm the second owner, everyone tells me she looks new. well... till we meet again. thanks!

Sixty thousand miles in 31 years=not much driving. To me thats worse on an engine than driving the snot out of it for 31 years. Something failed under the stress of your long drive...something the engine might not have been used to. What I'm trying to say was explained to me by a friend....If a car was driven on short trips, low rpm conditions, low speeds, than the engine "takes a set" so to speak. Operate outside those parameters, and soon things will fail. One of the things I did before I installed the low mile engine in my Satellite (from a '73 Dart) was remove the cylinder ridges, lap the valves and put in new valve seals, new water pump and gaskets. Removing the cylinder ridge prevented broke top compression rings, commen with low mile engines brought back to life.

By chance, did you replace the lower radiator hose? Old molded lower hoses can collapse at high rpm's, causing a restriction and over heating.

"The water pump sounded like it was yelling at me."

What condition is the pump in now? If you take off the belt, can you turn its pulley freely?

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

i'm down to a couple bolts on the intake manifold and it's coming off. the water pump turns freely by hand and it pumped some anti-freeze out. i already have a new one. i'm thinking my biggest worry is lifters(?). i figure i'll take them out, check the cam, take the head off and apart to clean up, then put a new head gasket on. new oil, anti-freeze, the 2 bbl. manifold and see what happens. the oil really had very few particles floating and i figure if i have to rebuild the engine what do i have to loose. i agree that taking an old car and running it at 70-80 mph. is going to break some parts. thats why i have done so much work on it. i feel i really have nothing to loose by going thru it but time and the worst thing that can happen is i need to rebuild it and put a new rear seal on the transmission. i did notice that the carb. was a little loose even with star washers on it and the manifold had a couple of bolts come a little loose also. so next time maybe i'll use a high temp. loc tight.

What makes you so worried about the lifters? They don't normally fail. They're cylinders of metal, nothing more or less, and they're one of the last things to be damaged by overheating.
Figure out why the fasteners are loosening and fix that. Locknuts are a good idea on the carb studs, but if your carb gasket is too thin, you can bottom the nuts on the stud threads before the carb is cinched down tight.

May as well replace the head-to-manifold studs with new ones (you can and should Loctite those into the head) and use new brass nuts when you put on the manifolds.

Thread Here.

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SSD, so i should just check out the valve train out and clean it all up? i have fiber lock nuts, but i won't use them because of the high temperature on the manifolds. so, i'll get some steel locking (brass?) nuts. do you know who sells them mail order? i used star locking washers on the carb, and should have used spring locking washers, because they vibrated loose.