The Shart - Adventures in turbocharging with a 1964 Dodge Dart

In the spirit of full disclosure, even though I custom built this exhaust I still had to dent the tube where it passed by the torsion bar. I also would have way rather used a V-band for the downpipe to exhaust connection, but cheapness prevailed and I had the 3-bolt flange (and gasket!!) lying around so that's what I used.

Also worth noting that when the initial starting point of the exhaust (turbo) has a V-band, things can really move around and clocking is both relatively infinite and fairly important. I got everything welded together and the downpipe was fouling with the torsion bar really bad, so a little tweak on the clocking and everything was somewhat hunky and a little dory. As good as can be expected for taking zero measurements anyhow.

That new exhaust setup looks great! Do you have any fumes inside from where it dumps?

In reply to crankwalk:

Well, I'd like to give you a full rundown of how the new exhaust sounds and smells, but unfortunately no such report is to be found.

I rushed home from work last night, installed my new fuel sending unit and was planning on meeting up with some friends for our somewhat weekly get together, but the car wouldn't start. It clicked once then nothing, and no amount of bashing on the starter would revive it. I think it is either the starter relay or the starter itself- I spent some time trying to diagnose last night but ended up just leaving it be to go meet up with friends.

And a brief googling this morning I think just showed me which to poles on the starter relay to jump to try to bypass it- telling me if either the relay or the starter is bad. The battery isn't dead and the starter is getting 12 volts to it. I'll jump it tonight and see what I can find out.

Woo Hoo!!

Well folks... here we go.

"Diagnosis" tells me the car either needs a starter or a starter relay. Neither are terribly expensive or complicated to install so I order both from my local parts store. Some jumping of the starter relay & solenoid leads me to believe she needs a starter. So, I tackle the starter tonight, dreading the fact that I was potentially going to have to remove my newly installed downpipe. Well, turns out by some engineering guesswork I am still able to remove the starter without taking off the downpipe, so that's cool. In goes the starter in about 25 minutes, turn the key, bam fires right up. I go inside, shower and change- feeling smug with success.

I go to the garage, hit the key, nothing. Zip. Zilch. No life. Key on the wideband lights up, lights work, ect. So expert diagnosis tells me that it MUST be the starter relay. In good clothes I attack the starter relay. It's on the firewall, couple bolts and screws, no big deal. Replace that feller, turn the key, bam bingo bango we have fire. I pull the car out into the driveway and park it behind my truck. I get the hose into position to water the yard, turn on the water, then get set to head out yet again. And again after the car sits for a couple minutes I am met with a dead key. Turn it to ignition, nothing, no clicks, no starter grinds, nothing.

I figure it's the ignition switch now and start looking into how to jump start the car and bypass it. I fiddle with that for a while, check some fuses for the stereo, and try jump starting it. Nothing. Finally I play with the ignition switch for a bit and realize that with it in 'run' the stereo doesn't work, and the lights are dim, and it's acting all weird.

Finally I get my wits about me and clean the ground in the trunk for my relocated battery. BAM Actually fires up, I kill it, it fires again. I go fiddle around in the house, fires again perfect.

I. Am. An. Idiot.

Check the grounds they say, always check your grounds they say... I've heard it so much it barely registered, but it was definitely my problem. Drove the car around a bunch, stopped a few places, it re started just fine. Also my gas gauge seems to work now (as it should, new sending unit) and the quiet exhaust is really cool. Still whistles some but now has a tone versus just noise. I'm happy.

For those that read this, or those who didn't, here's a well earned picture- look at how little of the exhaust you can see!! It tucked up really nice. The car feels more sophisticated and complete with an actual exhaust on it, not some trendy pipe spewing oil onto my fender.

And here's a poor quality video of leaving a stoplight. It takes a while because I suck at operating my camera phone and driving, which I guess isn't all bad. https://www.youtube.com/embed/JLicxTk6rrs

Thanks for reading!

Well, a day or two chasing a mystery electrical problem, only to find it was a ground is not too bad. At least compared to some of my failures.

Glad to see it's running!

In reply to floatingdoc:

In all reality it wasn't bad at all- the only upsetting thing is I thought of it right away but was too bull headed to check.

I guess I did learn that even if something has 12v going to it it can still have a bad ground, I assumed it wouldn't have voltage but I was wrong. So it wasn't a complete waste of time. I also spliced a nicer connection onto a terminal on my starter solenoid and now know it has a new starter and solenoid, so it's really a win win... in a round about way.

The saga continues... Changed out the waterpump, thermostat, and radiator hoses Sunday morning and decided to take it downtown to buy a suit for my upcoming wedding. After that I was going to run over to a brewery and have birthday beers with a buddy of mine.

Well, 4 blocks in to the 8 block drive from the suit place to the brewery and it just cuts out. No drama just no fire, no ignition, no nothing. I coast it to the curb and immediately pop the trunk and fiddle with the ground wire. I have no tools with me so I'm limited on what I can hope to accomplish, but none the less I try. No progress. My fiance had met me at the suit place so luckily we have another fully operational car, and drive home to get tools. I come back, clean the ground, tighten everything, and even add an additional little ground to the floor... Nothing. No juice. Lights are dim, ignition does nothing, same as before. I pull out the cell phone and AAA card and go have a beer while I wait for the tow truck.

Car makes it home no problem, tow guy even dumps it in the yard and helps me push it in the garage which was nice. I go out and fiddle with it some more to no avail, until I put the charger on it for a second, turn the key and it roars to life. Un plug the charger and it stays running and will re-start on it's own. Hmm. I actually moved the position of the ground from the trunk support to the floor, but I wouldn't think that would matter.

You can see the ground just barely on the far right of this picture, on the upright holding the trunk hinges in. Anyone have some genius reason that wouldn't provide a good ground? I've since welded a stud to the floor right next to the battery in hopes of having a more solid ground.

The only other noteworthy piece of diagnosis is the positive terminal has actually gotten discolored as if it's been warm, and when I touch it after the car has been running a bit it's usually warm to the touch. Google tells me that is usually indicative of a bad ground.

So, electrical geniuses of GRM... any ideas? I plan on adding an extra ground at the engine tonight, and I've moved the ground in the rear to the actual floor. Could the battery have a bad cell in it and hooking it up to the charger jarred it back to life?

Thanks for reading!

In reply to Gunchsta:

I bet a good engine ground will solve (most) of your starter issues.

Great build BTW

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Thank you!

I'm planning on stopping at the parts store on the way home, hopefully that does it. I'm trying to trust this Shart- and it seemed like it was working really nicely yesterday until it lost power.

On my 3rd date with my wife, in the rain, in the middle of downtown Atlanta traffic, my El Camino's ground strap basically welded itself right off the battery post, leaving no evidence of the clamp whatsoever. I still don't know exactly what happened, but I think the rain combined with a 40+year old corroded ground cable had something to do with. With no tools other than a knife, and no power to the car, and traffic honking at us, and soaking wet, I split the frayed, burnt end of the strap into two strands, wrapped them around the post, and twisted them together. Sure enough, it fired right up as AAA arrived.

Somehow, three years later that woman married me. Congratulations on also finding someone who puts up with your E36 M3.

In reply to maschinenbau:

Awesome! ha ha ha. In hindsight I bet if I would have tried to jump it it may have started and ran home, but both the lady and I were a bit frazzled with the whole day so the tow was nice.

Also I think I read in the Rice Rod thread that you recently got married, congrats to you!

Is this a unibody car? Half and half like the early Camaros?

Make sure you have a good engine/chassis ground. Ideally, the panel your main negative battery cable is attached to should have as few seams between it and the engine/chassis ground as possible, especially for as old as this is. Corrosion between the seams can be a real bitch.

I fought with similar issues with a relocated battery in a second gen Camaro. It would start off a starting charger hooked to the jump points under the hood, but not off the relocated battery, or jumping off the battery. We ended up adding a couple new engine/subframe/body grounds and welded in plates over a few body seams and solved the issue. (Might have been overboard, but we weren't screwing around with it any more.)

Maybe I missed it, but did you verify integrity of the positive terminal to both its cable and the battery? A hot terminal says poor connection, not just poor ground.

In reply to Crackers:

Yeah unibody car with a K-member/sub frame. I'm thinking that maybe the seams (as you pointed out) between the inner fender, floor, and the trunk upright were enough to make it suck. Fingers crossed.

I'm also going to add a good engine to chassis ground somewhere tonight then maybe go for a drive if the weather holds.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

The positive terminal is tight and seems pretty solid, although I am using a side post to top post adapter. I have one of the bolt on top post terminals- I'll throw that on tonight too.

One thing I have done to help ground connections, after the metal is clean, coat with anti-seize, then attach cable. This prevents rust and helps make a good electrical connection. Depending on where the ground was connected, it might not be making a good path all the way back the starter, body seams and age. Might make 2 engine grounds. I make a habit of having 2 engine grounds, just in case one is forgotten.

An old, potentially rusty, car like yours ought to have multiple grounds. Engine to chassis, trans to chassis, starter bolt to chassis, battery to chassis, body to chassis. Redundancy will save the day in a case like this. I even had a ground going from the distributor hold-down clamp to the chassis on one of my cars.

Hope that you didn't get your Sunday-go-to-meeting wedding suit all crudded up with your greasy fingers . . .

In reply to TeamEvil:

Yeah it's definitely going to get grounded for misbehaving yesterday.

seriously though I'm going to add a bunch of grounds. And fortunately it didn't act up until after the suit appointment, maybe it was just trying to keep me from drinking more unnecessary delicious beer...

Also, Readers Ride of the Week???

STOKED! Whoever's in charge of that thank you!

Gunchsta wrote: Yeah it's definitely going to get grounded for misbehaving yesterday.

LOL, I see what you did there!

In reply to Crackers:

Glad somebody picked up on it.

I try to run a cable from negative to a starter bolt. Even if only 8 gauge, just for redundancy. Can never have too many, or too big, grounds.

I can't believe I missed this thread. I'm envious of how quickly you got this together and up and running.

where is the shart's timeout area?

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

Thanks- It came together really quick. I think it was like a month from start to "finish"... meaning driving but not dialed in.

In Reply to 759NRNG:

It's tucked away in the garage with the door shut and the positive battery cable cut off.

Which means I actually gave it SOME attention yesterday, and I also bought a new terminal and some ground straps, so it's barely on time out.

Hell after drinks at the brewery it came home, I got it started with the battery charger, and did a garage brake stand because I was still a little, uh, frustrated. Yeah, that's it.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

Also I just did the old profile creep on you (and saw the comment on the readers ride thing) that you built a slant 6 turbo set up a while ago on megasquirt. Do you have a build thread? I would love to check that out. Also I would love to play with megasquirt on something soon... either this or something else but EFI is another bit of witchcraft to me.