This will be an interesting build. I ran Mopars and Fords as a Texas Highway Patrolman in the early 80s and 90s. I drove an identical year model Diplomat for a few years and it was a solid car but horribly underpowered compared to the 440 Hemi and 460 Ford we were accustomed to operating. Looking forward to seeing what you can make this thing do.
How did it affect your job as a highway patrolman when you were driving one of these Diplomats compared to driving a faster car like a big block 1969 Dodge? Was it harder to get people to pull over?
@@Carburetedofficial Mea culpa. Whatever it's combustion chamber design it was a much stronger engine than the anemic 318. However, the brakes in the late 70's Mopars were absolutely dangerous. Those cars were fast in a straight line only.
@@moonbeamskies3346 it was just much harder to catch folks. Every one of these Diplomats I drove topped out between 115 and 120. Although it seems counterintuitive, slower patrol cars are more dangerous to the public since they greatly extend the time in pursuit.
Here in California, the CHP Diplomats were black and white slick tops with one red spot light on the driver side and a clear spot on the passenger side and a push bar. They looked awesome!
H Dylan trans cooler runs through the radiator and cracks pouring trans fluid into the cooling systems and is a common problem in Australian Ford Falcons, it usually also means that the transmission is history once it's milkshake.
Oh dang! I hardly ever hear about M bodies, the forgotten 4 doors of fun. I have an 87 Gran Fury, was a Wisconsin state patrol car. Now it's a magnum 360 powered burnout machine with EFI, 100 shot of nitrous, all kinds of Firm Feel susp stuff and a 46re trans for OD. It's the coolest daily driver ever and I feel like a princess every time I drive it 😊😎 You sir have a new follower and fan!
You are inadvertently helping me with a build. I have an 87D100 w/ a 318 . I was wanting a conservative build with about 4-500 horse. So I'm glued to this build brother keep up the quality content.
I'm loving following this build because it's giving me such memories and nostalgia for the 88 Gran Fury police I had in my 20's that I regret ever getting rid of. Best car I ever owned and my pride and joy. Thanks for the memories!
Hi Dylan, glad I stumbled across the first video on this Diplomat, which is how I found your channel. I love old police cars too. Looking forward to going through the backlog of videos and looking at other things that you have done.
“What’s more fun that driving an old car? Driving an older car with a manual” -Dylan McCool I want turbo sounds on gear changes. Have the only manual turbo 360 dodge diplomat that ever existed or ever will exist. Can’t wait to watch this build!!!
You have to find a vintage radio and the "wig wag" controller for the alternating flashing high beams. If it were me Dylan, I'd redo it a a detective's unmarked car with a bubble light on the dash and a mini light bar in the rear window.
I am left handed too. Great video. Can’t believe all the work that you do to save these old cars. You are a inspiration to a lot of people. Keep up the good work.
Love these old Dodges, looking at the Todo list: what about welding your own Headers, you can make the bend as wide as it will fit. (best flow possible). Cant wait see that w new engine running. Big Up!
On a car that moves on its own, a stuck wheel, loosen the lugs about a1/4" and drive it around slowly. This often breaks the wheel loose. Spraying a good penetrating fluid, not WD40, PB Blaster, Kroil, 50/50 mix of actions and ATF, around the hub / wheel junction helps too.
MEMORIES! In the late sixties and early seventies, I spent a good bit of time removing and installing the police equipment in predominantly Fury I cars running 440 Magnum engines Never got to drive one except in and out of the shop, but did have a fair amount of "shotgun" time. As built for the FHP, they had a top end of about 145-150, which was an "interesting" ride. They used Goodyear RS Patrol tires at the time, but they seemed to have a bit of a balance problem at speed. Could have been an installation situation, but we did only the electronics and electrical equipment. By the way, they had a factory installed A/C defeat switch, for that little extra boost. The headliner came with zippers to install the beacon ray blue light, and another by the driver's left ear, for the radio speaker. Lots of interesting details, plus a couple we added. The sirens at that time were mechanical, and drew as much as 100 amps for the Federal Q (Like fire trucks have).
Thanks, interestingly good comments. Those, early dedicated vehicles were some of our Garage talk back in early 1960s and forward… the 1957**/F CODES Ford “Interceptor😊 “ and “ PURSUIT “add in, Options, and so on:: were the most desirable and highest performances….
Ps:: also in my HIGH School Days ( 1965/Grad), the INDIANA STATE POLICE ran Hemi Mopars , us Car nuts thought on Toll Roads & kutnod Ligonier POST in 1962-64 years?. Efc
The first time I saw that bypass hose busted open with The telltale Pepto-Bismol I was like oh no been down that road a couple dozen times thankfully they weren't my cars 🤣
Wow, This mrings back memories!!! I remember driving those cars. I am a retired NYPD Highway Patrol cop. You can't kill those cars. I loved them so much I had a 1982 and 1985 used NY State trooper cars as my personalvehicles. I also love the inverted air cleaner top. We used to do that to the highway Cars to amplify the sound upon excellerstion. MEMORIES. I did not do that to my personal cars as it would mess up the computer system. I have the front ball joint socket. It is yours for the asking. The 1989 cars came with silicone hoses as they were blue in color. You have a 117 amp alternator on those cars. I also had a 1980 Plymouth Volare with a get this 360 4 barrel posi rear. That car flew until I was going to the preceint when a guy made a left right in front of me and that ended that car. If you need any information, feel free to reach out to me. Good Luck !!!!!
Your cooling system issues are pretty normal. Until the thermostat opens, the block will have as much air as coolant and not cool. The steam created will pressurize the system and make your rad hoses hard. The bubbling you hear is the water (what little their is) in the block boiling. There is inadequate liquid to do enough cooling at this point and as soon as you shut off the engine there is no circ or cooling at all. Once it cools down a bit, top it off and it will be fine. OK, change the hose that leaks that you just found because of the pressure. BTW, I worked in a rad shop. There are a few tricks that you can use in this situation, but it would take too long to explain. Don't leave the rad cap off or you will have a gusher out the top of the rad before the thermo opens. The system shouldn't over pressure if the cap is working. It will release pressure at what the system can handle. Now, the crappy running after you worked on it was likely poor plug wires got wet and cross fired. Sounds like it. Then there is the pink goodness in the rad. Sounds like the trans cooler is leaking inside the rad. That would cause the pressure, overflow, and the pink in the water. I could be wrong on all of it.
Try the Setina PB-100 Series Push Bumpers. Got the classic looks and should be simple enough to adapt with some ironmongery if you can't find a OG Diplomat push bumper.
i like the old car, just don't be pulling anyone over. To quote a viewer from the live feed "ouch", we were not dropped this time but the transmission fluid in everything. Like the plan!
I stopped at 23:20 to say that a buildup of pressure in the cooling system with an open thermostat to me sounds like a bad head gasket or your radiator is completely shot and possibly gummed up like somebody put stop leak in or something. I will now continue to watch to see.
You said you wanted to paint the light bar. Back when I was in a certain car forums, everybody with this same car as me wanted to paint the rear amber turns signals red. I remember many people using Testors model paint in the color candy Apple Grape. And the results were pretty damn good at turning the orange the same red as the rest of the rear lens.
I'm going through a black steel rims and dog dish caps phase. I woke up one morning and decided that it was a great look. Old ex coppers are a fantastic bang for the buck if you want a hot sleeper.
Watching you try to remove the wheel reminded me of something my friend's dad told a group of us boys while he was "fixing" their 76 LTD: "If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer."
I'm so glad on the engine choice. I got a 99 dodge 1500 with the same motor. I'm so excited to see what you do with it. And Dylan if you need another engine I got one.
Having experienced a trans cooler failure, I knew why the radiator was spouting pink fluid almost immediately (after ruling out that "water wetter" stuff and incorrect coolant). You invest a part of yourself in every build, Dylan, so walking away from the car was understandable. I am not a turbo fan as yet, even though some of my favorite cars are turbo'ed...go figure. But I can get behind this turbo Magnum, because it's different, and maybe I will learn something along the way. Speaking of which - I am going to offer an idea: did the truck that gave you the engine also have an intact fuel system? Maybe, with a few tweaks, you could run a factory setup and keep your costs down, especially with supply chains going through difficult times.
Enjoying this build, having spent my share of time in black and white Diplomats. Ours had all four doors white, not just the 2 front doors. We had Federal Jet-sonic lightbars on them. Good cars.
It’s unbelievable how much knowledge and expertise you have about these older cars. It’s pretty impressive. I wish I knew more about cars and how to diagnose issues and repair them. Keep up the great work.
I know they didn't come with one but, that bad boy needs a 360 or a stroker. I've always wanted to build an A38 Aspen, Diplomat, Fury, Volaré, St. Regis, Newport, Gran Fury, small or mid sized Police Package Mopar with some sort of mean LA 340/360 or a stroker out of one of the 2 there's a company that sells a 426ci stroker package for the 360 and if you used the same crank and rods in a 340 that is bored 0.055" over it would be a 440ci LA. I realize that a basic 408ci would probably cut it fine and even a 360 or 340 with the same heads and cam would probably make similar peak HP and just less TQ it would just be cool to have a 426-440ci stroker LA with some nice heads, a high rise single plane, chunky hydraulic roller cam, long tubes and a 750-950cfm carb hooked to a 4-6 speed manual or a built A727 with a nice high stall and possibly a triple disk allowing lockup in top gear. Maybe even a taller axle if there's no OD so it'll still have a respectable top speed and decent cruising rpms, that's where the extra stroker tq would come in to make a 2.76/2.94/3.08/3.23 axle work with a 26-28" tire to leave hard and hit 140-160+mph up top. I love the Police 67-72 Polaras a lot too but, they're tough to find, heavier and usually beat to heck, one of those would be a no brainier to build a 512ci 400 or 543ci 440 based stroker from 440 source.
Unfortunately I've had the pink coolant problem, and it was the trans cooler leaking into the coolant too. It needed a new rad and trans service, but it took too long to catch.
A 1976 Dodge Diplomat had safety bumpers that had a pair of compressible piston-like devices. If hitting something solid, you had about 2 inches of safety travel, before any dent damage could occur to the bumper. Which seems like a feature that should have been kept on modern cars. Much more ding-proof than modern day plastic bumpers that get damaged quite easily.
I like this build. If it were me I'd ditch the black and white and go with maybe a charcoal grey metallic. With that badass power plant and the unassuming paint it would be every undercover cop from the eighties dream. Can't wait to see how it ends up.
Sorry to see that the restoration didn't go as planned. I am assuming that the transmission is probably trashed. I like your plan going forward. At least you will be able to drive it in the future.
As soon as I saw the pink milkshake, I thought "Transmission Cooler"! I bought an eBay rad for my Subaru and the trans cooler blew a few weeks after install. The ATF and the coolant became one. I didn't bother with sending it back and I bought a proper rad from the radiator shop. I tell you what, the trans flush I did turned into what looked like a triple homicide under the car lol.
Found one of these in the woods, gave $400 for it. Drove it for 6 years. Changed all the fluids and replaced all the servicable items. Never once left me stranded.
Easiest thing, FI-wise, might be to run the same Holley setup that's on your Challenger. Otherwise, you could do what the Turbobricks crowd does and run either MSnS (Megasquirt & spark) or Microsquirt on it. Would allow usage of most of the stock FI parts on the engine, just would use a different ECU, and GM sensors, instead of the Mopar parts. Might even be able to get away with the stock intake, just would need to fab up piping for an intercooler setup and find a location to mount the snail (or snails, if you decide to go twin-turbo), as well as an intercooler. Transmission-wise, I would either consider running the overdrive version of a 727 or 747 (with the boost, might need the heavier duty autotragic), or find a way to use either a T5 or modify the NV4500 to work in a car application with a shorter shift lever, that way the car doesn't look like a modernized Dodge version of a 1971 Volvo 144 inside with the yardstick length lever. You're going to want an overdrive, especially if you wind up going to a shorter final drive. If you go manual, leave the column shifter in place, to confuse passengers as you're driving around with it in park... As Jason Starnes says, I'd seriously be tempted to do it up as an undercover cop car. Let your other police car be the normal squad car. Another thing, I bet some trim rings on the rims would make things look even nicer, since you'd have the stainless cap, black rim, then the ring, reflecting light onto the rim and the cap.
I just went through my hubcaps and wheel covers. 4 sets of police caps, a set of 69 Dart wheel covers and a set of 63 Dart wheel covers. I love the cop rims and caps, had them on both my 71 truck and 74 Duster. Sold another set to a guy with a 68 Roadrunner.
love seeing old cars getting back to life i grew up in the 80s and remeber riding a wide spread of dodge ford n chevy and remeber dreaming of owning one my self and have owned a few god bless u for ur revivals seen the channel threw junkyard digs and vise grip garage keep it up these old mopars need love too
You have to do red and blue lights. Not all red on that light bar. It will make it 10 times better with that black and and white. Also. In the headlights and taillights there might be hid away lights or there might be extra wires connecting to the taillights and headlights to make them flash. So you could look into that and get to working with the light bar If you make them work. And there might be a siren behind the grill. Just some suggestion. Love the videos man.🤘
Dylan, Chrysler used Bakolite pistons in their brake calipers, and they're notorious for getting stuck. I used to do a lot of brake work, years ago in the mid 1970's. chrysler from day one had Bakolite pistons in their disc brake calipers, and have always had trouble with them seizing up in the caliper. So S.O.P. was to rebuild the caliper and installed the anodized steel pistons.
Dylan, where is your Sawzall? They will make short work of removing the old exhaust. Helpful hint. Take some old, or new exhaust pipe and form it to the outer diameter of the dust caps. You may have to split and weld it in a place or three and weld something over the other end to hit on. It will help when reinstalling the dust covers and you won't bend up the rounded end of the dust covers. Terminator X for the fuel and timing control? Leave a manual trans on the 360! A 4/5/6 speed manual trans would be so freaking cool!
Bad radiator does that. 2005-08 Nissan Frontiers were plagued with this problem. Frontier owners called it SMOD. Strawberry milkshake of death. Hope the 727 survives. Flush everything well. Torque converter, lines cooler etc. Good luck.
Glad to see your making a Dipplomat run. i still have my Grandfather's 77 Dipplomat its still has orignal 318 and had the Lean Burn. I had to run a MSD ready to run Dist because the old Lean burn computer was acting up and I do live in CA so i half to smog my car. next year I am finally Painting my car. and at one time i ran a holley 4bbrl Classic Carb 600CFM with a Weiand Stealth intake manifold. sadly living in CA I cannot pass Smog with that carb and intake. but i was able to keep my MSD because of the 2 C.A.R.B stickers for up grades I have herd some good things about the Holley EFI kit and I would recomend running a MSD full kit with Box
I had an 84 and put a 360 crate motor with a purple shaft cam and swirl port heads. Also Hooker headers, and Holley 650. MSD ignition made a huge difference too. Be careful my 360 required an externally balanced torque converter and damper. Even with 2.94 gears I could beat Corvettes out of the toll booths easily and chirp 2nd.
I think the holley sniper would run forced induction, but if you're gonna do that I'd honestly keep the mpfi intake and run megasquirt for the ease of tuning. I think megasquirt will accept the stock crank and dizzy input signals. I know you can mod the intake for bigger throttle bodies and with the runner design+boost it would be a torquey tire frying machine.
Yes sir, I've seen an integrated transmission cooler fail like that before. It was in a 1999 year Hyster forklift. The radiator hadn't been back from the radiator repair shop very long when I came out to the customer to do a routine maintenance service. I opened the radiator overflow tank and it was full to the top and an odd yellow and felt oily. Because the transmission fluid was a C4 type and not ATF, it kinda threw me a bit. But all questions were answered when I pulled the transmission dipstick and I had a nice foamy, frothy mess on it. The sad thing was, that radiator had been repaired at a local shop and it failed after a few months in the field. The dealer I worked for had to cover the transmission rebuild and the radiator shop would only cover the failed radiator core. What a mess that was!
Hey Dylan. In case you didn’t know the old style LA timing covers bolt right up to the magnum engines. Then you could have a fuel pump provision, they don’t have a eccentric to drive the full pump though. I’m pretty sure you can just put one on and be gtg. I use magnum engines converted to carb and hei for demo derby cars.
When that pink volcano erupted I smiled knowingly because I have dealt with it. I was about to scream at the screen until you made the connection. You ignition is being screwed up by the infamous Lean Burn system. When you dropped the restrictive exhaust system you threw that poc system for a loop.
My dad drove one when he was a policeman and then got a white unmarked one when he was Sargent. Still remember him picking me up from middle school in it!
13:55 police wheels are also way thicker than normal wheels in terms of metal thickness. I think i read somewhere that crown vic wheels were made out of half centimeter metal which is thick imo
Just for future reference, if you try to time a Lean-burn engine, you typically need to unplug a sensor the computer reads. I know on TBI engines it was usually the coolant temp sensor; not sure on lean burn. That’s why your timing was way out of wack
Or, in the case of the lean-burn system, remove the vacuum line at the module. Volvo used the same system on their non-turbo 240 series cars from 1982-88.
check out Micro-squirt ECU, very inexpensive. 4 fuel outputs so you so do batch fire. there are more precise ECUs with sequential firing but for the cost its worth checking out.
This will be an interesting build. I ran Mopars and Fords as a Texas Highway Patrolman in the early 80s and 90s. I drove an identical year model Diplomat for a few years and it was a solid car but horribly underpowered compared to the 440 Hemi and 460 Ford we were accustomed to operating. Looking forward to seeing what you can make this thing do.
The 440 isnt and never was a Hemi!!!
How did it affect your job as a highway patrolman when you were driving one of these Diplomats compared to driving a faster car like a big block 1969 Dodge? Was it harder to get people to pull over?
I’d love to see Dylan have you come up and test drive that car when it’s finished.? Put on the old Smokey hat and pull over Dylan.
@@Carburetedofficial Mea culpa. Whatever it's combustion chamber design it was a much stronger engine than the anemic 318. However, the brakes in the late 70's Mopars were absolutely dangerous. Those cars were fast in a straight line only.
@@moonbeamskies3346 it was just much harder to catch folks. Every one of these Diplomats I drove topped out between 115 and 120. Although it seems counterintuitive, slower patrol cars are more dangerous to the public since they greatly extend the time in pursuit.
Elwood: "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses." Jake: "Hit it."
We're on a mission from God. Dylan. I think someone put Barr's stop leak in the radiator. Just a guess. But I've never see it a pink color.
"It's got a cop motor, cop brakes, cop transmission, cop suspension, it's made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas."
@@jpalberthoward9 Hahahah 🤣 "Fix the cigarette lighter."
@@NewWhirledSlacker42
"Where's the Cadillac?"
"I traded it for a microphone"
Love it. Best comment ever…
Here in California, the CHP Diplomats were black and white slick tops with one red spot light on the driver side and a clear spot on the passenger side and a push bar. They looked awesome!
H Dylan trans cooler runs through the radiator and cracks pouring trans fluid into the cooling systems and is a common problem in Australian Ford Falcons, it usually also means that the transmission is history once it's milkshake.
Oh dang! I hardly ever hear about M bodies, the forgotten 4 doors of fun. I have an 87 Gran Fury, was a Wisconsin state patrol car. Now it's a magnum 360 powered burnout machine with EFI, 100 shot of nitrous, all kinds of Firm Feel susp stuff and a 46re trans for OD. It's the coolest daily driver ever and I feel like a princess every time I drive it 😊😎 You sir have a new follower and fan!
@@amytaylor7043 hi Amy! Can I give you my credit card numbers??
I had a 1984. Chrysler New Yorker. Loved that car
8:56
That smooth bluegrass music. That music is just smooth
You are inadvertently helping me with a build. I have an 87D100 w/ a 318 . I was wanting a conservative build with about 4-500 horse. So I'm glued to this build brother keep up the quality content.
Justin keep us updated on your build that sounds bad arse
I'm loving following this build because it's giving me such memories and nostalgia for the 88 Gran Fury police I had in my 20's that I regret ever getting rid of. Best car I ever owned and my pride and joy. Thanks for the memories!
Hi Dylan, glad I stumbled across the first video on this Diplomat, which is how I found your channel. I love old police cars too. Looking forward to going through the backlog of videos and looking at other things that you have done.
“What’s more fun that driving an old car? Driving an older car with a manual” -Dylan McCool
I want turbo sounds on gear changes. Have the only manual turbo 360 dodge diplomat that ever existed or ever will exist. Can’t wait to watch this build!!!
You have to find a vintage radio and the "wig wag" controller for the alternating flashing high beams. If it were me Dylan, I'd redo it a a detective's unmarked car with a bubble light on the dash and a mini light bar in the rear window.
I am left handed too. Great video. Can’t believe all the work that you do to save these old cars. You are a inspiration to a lot of people. Keep up the good work.
I am too, just noticed when he was writing on the board.
@@SunsetSlimess me three!! I always get so excited when I find other lefties!!
Southpaw here as well...I knew there was a reason why I like Dylan 🤣
@@chrisfreemesser5707 never realized he was a southpaw till now. I always loved to watch my sister write, cracked me up.
I knew something was off when he was riding on that board
Love these old Dodges, looking at the Todo list: what about welding your own Headers, you can make the bend as wide as it will fit. (best flow possible). Cant wait see that w new engine running. Big Up!
I'm looking forward to this because when I started my LEO career I drove the Plymouth version of that... The Grand Fury but it was solid blue.
On a car that moves on its own, a stuck wheel, loosen the lugs about a1/4" and drive it around slowly. This often breaks the wheel loose.
Spraying a good penetrating fluid, not WD40, PB Blaster, Kroil, 50/50 mix of actions and ATF, around the hub / wheel junction helps too.
Awesome, just my opinion, i would do it like an unmarked car with push bar. Great work as always. Ive always loved these cars to.
MEMORIES! In the late sixties and early seventies, I spent a good bit of time removing and installing the police equipment in predominantly Fury I cars running 440 Magnum engines Never got to drive one except in and out of the shop, but did have a fair amount of "shotgun" time. As built for the FHP, they had a top end of about 145-150, which was an "interesting" ride. They used Goodyear RS Patrol tires at the time, but they seemed to have a bit of a balance problem at speed. Could have been an installation situation, but we did only the electronics and electrical equipment. By the way, they had a factory installed A/C defeat switch, for that little extra boost. The headliner came with zippers to install the beacon ray blue light, and another by the driver's left ear, for the radio speaker. Lots of interesting details, plus a couple we added. The sirens at that time were mechanical, and drew as much as 100 amps for the Federal Q (Like fire trucks have).
Thanks, interestingly good comments. Those, early dedicated vehicles were some of our Garage talk back in early 1960s and forward… the 1957**/F CODES Ford “Interceptor😊 “ and “ PURSUIT “add in, Options, and so on:: were the most desirable and highest performances….
Ps:: also in my HIGH School Days ( 1965/Grad), the INDIANA STATE POLICE ran Hemi Mopars , us Car nuts thought on Toll Roads & kutnod Ligonier POST in 1962-64 years?. Efc
The first time I saw that bypass hose busted open with The telltale Pepto-Bismol I was like oh no been down that road a couple dozen times thankfully they weren't my cars 🤣
Wow, This mrings back memories!!! I remember driving those cars. I am a retired NYPD Highway Patrol cop. You can't kill those cars. I loved them so much I had a 1982 and 1985 used NY State trooper cars as my personalvehicles. I also love the inverted air cleaner top. We used to do that to the highway Cars to amplify the sound upon excellerstion. MEMORIES. I did not do that to my personal cars as it would mess up the computer system. I have the front ball joint socket. It is yours for the asking. The 1989 cars came with silicone hoses as they were blue in color. You have a 117 amp alternator on those cars. I also had a 1980 Plymouth Volare with a get this 360 4 barrel posi rear. That car flew until I was going to the preceint when a guy made a left right in front of me and that ended that car. If you need any information, feel free to reach out to me. Good Luck !!!!!
Your cooling system issues are pretty normal. Until the thermostat opens, the block will have as much air as coolant and not cool. The steam created will pressurize the system and make your rad hoses hard. The bubbling you hear is the water (what little their is) in the block boiling. There is inadequate liquid to do enough cooling at this point and as soon as you shut off the engine there is no circ or cooling at all. Once it cools down a bit, top it off and it will be fine. OK, change the hose that leaks that you just found because of the pressure. BTW, I worked in a rad shop. There are a few tricks that you can use in this situation, but it would take too long to explain. Don't leave the rad cap off or you will have a gusher out the top of the rad before the thermo opens. The system shouldn't over pressure if the cap is working. It will release pressure at what the system can handle. Now, the crappy running after you worked on it was likely poor plug wires got wet and cross fired. Sounds like it. Then there is the pink goodness in the rad. Sounds like the trans cooler is leaking inside the rad. That would cause the pressure, overflow, and the pink in the water. I could be wrong on all of it.
Try the Setina PB-100 Series Push Bumpers.
Got the classic looks and should be simple enough to adapt with some ironmongery if you can't find a OG Diplomat push bumper.
i like the old car, just don't be pulling anyone over. To quote a viewer from the live feed "ouch", we were not dropped this time but the transmission fluid in everything. Like the plan!
@3:50 "Stall twenty! STALL TWENTY! Get it over there, and shut it off, before we all choke to death!" Oh, wait. Wrong car.
I stopped at 23:20 to say that a buildup of pressure in the cooling system with an open thermostat to me sounds like a bad head gasket or your radiator is completely shot and possibly gummed up like somebody put stop leak in or something. I will now continue to watch to see.
You said you wanted to paint the light bar. Back when I was in a certain car forums, everybody with this same car as me wanted to paint the rear amber turns signals red. I remember many people using Testors model paint in the color candy Apple Grape. And the results were pretty damn good at turning the orange the same red as the rest of the rear lens.
Last time I did it I used VHT tail light tint and it looked pretty convincing!
Hey Dylan. I'm trying to get in touch with you.
99 or 2000 ish Cobra???
Went from resisting to start and now it starts in just a second the cops said stop resisting and it did. Great work man!
I'm going through a black steel rims and dog dish caps phase. I woke up one morning and decided that it was a great look. Old ex coppers are a fantastic bang for the buck if you want a hot sleeper.
Watching you try to remove the wheel reminded me of something my friend's dad told a group of us boys while he was "fixing" their 76 LTD: "If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer."
Those wheels and tires really do look the part! I can't wait to see this one come together!
I'm so glad on the engine choice. I got a 99 dodge 1500 with the same motor. I'm so excited to see what you do with it. And Dylan if you need another engine I got one.
I love these kind of videos. old cars driving again after so many years. With a little bit of love you can get old cars to run again!!
Having experienced a trans cooler failure, I knew why the radiator was spouting pink fluid almost immediately (after ruling out that "water wetter" stuff and incorrect coolant). You invest a part of yourself in every build, Dylan, so walking away from the car was understandable. I am not a turbo fan as yet, even though some of my favorite cars are turbo'ed...go figure. But I can get behind this turbo Magnum, because it's different, and maybe I will learn something along the way. Speaking of which - I am going to offer an idea: did the truck that gave you the engine also have an intact fuel system? Maybe, with a few tweaks, you could run a factory setup and keep your costs down, especially with supply chains going through difficult times.
Enjoying this build, having spent my share of time in black and white Diplomats. Ours had all four doors white, not just the 2 front doors. We had Federal Jet-sonic lightbars on them. Good cars.
It’s unbelievable how much knowledge and expertise you have about these older cars. It’s pretty impressive. I wish I knew more about cars and how to diagnose issues and repair them. Keep up the great work.
Great car and great job, Mr.! Congrats! MOPAR OR NO CAR
I know they didn't come with one but, that bad boy needs a 360 or a stroker. I've always wanted to build an A38 Aspen, Diplomat, Fury, Volaré, St. Regis, Newport, Gran Fury, small or mid sized Police Package Mopar with some sort of mean LA 340/360 or a stroker out of one of the 2 there's a company that sells a 426ci stroker package for the 360 and if you used the same crank and rods in a 340 that is bored 0.055" over it would be a 440ci LA. I realize that a basic 408ci would probably cut it fine and even a 360 or 340 with the same heads and cam would probably make similar peak HP and just less TQ it would just be cool to have a 426-440ci stroker LA with some nice heads, a high rise single plane, chunky hydraulic roller cam, long tubes and a 750-950cfm carb hooked to a 4-6 speed manual or a built A727 with a nice high stall and possibly a triple disk allowing lockup in top gear. Maybe even a taller axle if there's no OD so it'll still have a respectable top speed and decent cruising rpms, that's where the extra stroker tq would come in to make a 2.76/2.94/3.08/3.23 axle work with a 26-28" tire to leave hard and hit 140-160+mph up top. I love the Police 67-72 Polaras a lot too but, they're tough to find, heavier and usually beat to heck, one of those would be a no brainier to build a 512ci 400 or 543ci 440 based stroker from 440 source.
What a beautiful time to sit down and watch a new Dylan vidya
Unfortunately I've had the pink coolant problem, and it was the trans cooler leaking into the coolant too. It needed a new rad and trans service, but it took too long to catch.
Great another project like the old car that we haven't seen drive yet
growing up my dad had a diplomat. that car is incredibly clean for an old survivor, it certainly never saw any salt.
A 1976 Dodge Diplomat had safety bumpers that had a pair of compressible piston-like devices. If hitting something solid, you had about 2 inches of safety travel, before any dent damage could occur to the bumper. Which seems like a feature that should have been kept on modern cars. Much more ding-proof than modern day plastic bumpers that get damaged quite easily.
Then the insurance companies wouldn’t make a profit. And the car companies wouldn’t sell as many new cars.
Hell yah!!!! I been waiting for someone to do a magnum build. I have wanting to see about putting a magnum in a old dodge. Cant wait!
I had built an AMC Javelin, SST, 1972 360 without a turbo and got 425 to the rear wheels. That was back in around 1985.
Fuel management system, terminator X seems like it can hold up to what you want.
I like this build. If it were me I'd ditch the black and white and go with maybe a charcoal grey metallic. With that badass power plant and the unassuming paint it would be every undercover cop from the eighties dream. Can't wait to see how it ends up.
Sorry to see that the restoration didn't go as planned. I am assuming that the transmission is probably trashed. I like your plan going forward. At least you will be able to drive it in the future.
Thank you for sharing and the appreciation to your subscribers
29:40 this build just got awesome.
As soon as I saw the pink milkshake, I thought "Transmission Cooler"!
I bought an eBay rad for my Subaru and the trans cooler blew a few weeks after install. The ATF and the coolant became one. I didn't bother with sending it back and I bought a proper rad from the radiator shop. I tell you what, the trans flush I did turned into what looked like a triple homicide under the car lol.
Found one of these in the woods, gave $400 for it. Drove it for 6 years. Changed all the fluids and replaced all the servicable items. Never once left me stranded.
Sounds like you've got some good plans for it Dylan! Look forward to seeing it!!!!
Easiest thing, FI-wise, might be to run the same Holley setup that's on your Challenger. Otherwise, you could do what the Turbobricks crowd does and run either MSnS (Megasquirt & spark) or Microsquirt on it. Would allow usage of most of the stock FI parts on the engine, just would use a different ECU, and GM sensors, instead of the Mopar parts. Might even be able to get away with the stock intake, just would need to fab up piping for an intercooler setup and find a location to mount the snail (or snails, if you decide to go twin-turbo), as well as an intercooler.
Transmission-wise, I would either consider running the overdrive version of a 727 or 747 (with the boost, might need the heavier duty autotragic), or find a way to use either a T5 or modify the NV4500 to work in a car application with a shorter shift lever, that way the car doesn't look like a modernized Dodge version of a 1971 Volvo 144 inside with the yardstick length lever. You're going to want an overdrive, especially if you wind up going to a shorter final drive. If you go manual, leave the column shifter in place, to confuse passengers as you're driving around with it in park...
As Jason Starnes says, I'd seriously be tempted to do it up as an undercover cop car. Let your other police car be the normal squad car. Another thing, I bet some trim rings on the rims would make things look even nicer, since you'd have the stainless cap, black rim, then the ring, reflecting light onto the rim and the cap.
Alexis Eduardo García
Oh no! That sucks!! Woohoo for the 360! That’s what I had in mine! Now I want it!!!
I just went through my hubcaps and wheel covers. 4 sets of police caps, a set of 69 Dart wheel covers and a set of 63 Dart wheel covers. I love the cop rims and caps, had them on both my 71 truck and 74 Duster. Sold another set to a guy with a 68 Roadrunner.
You don't get enough likes for the stuff you taught me man. Your content is grade A+
love seeing old cars getting back to life i grew up in the 80s and remeber riding a wide spread of dodge ford n chevy and remeber dreaming of owning one my self and have owned a few god bless u for ur revivals seen the channel threw junkyard digs and vise grip garage keep it up these old mopars need love too
You have to do red and blue lights. Not all red on that light bar. It will make it 10 times better with that black and and white. Also. In the headlights and taillights there might be hid away lights or there might be extra wires connecting to the taillights and headlights to make them flash. So you could look into that and get to working with the light bar If you make them work. And there might be a siren behind the grill. Just some suggestion. Love the videos man.🤘
The plan for this one excites me!
He'll yeah. 360 magnum. I can't wait to watch it happen.
Dylan, Chrysler used Bakolite pistons in their brake calipers, and they're notorious for getting stuck. I used to do a lot of brake work, years ago in the mid 1970's. chrysler from day one had Bakolite pistons in their disc brake calipers, and have always had trouble with them seizing up in the caliper. So S.O.P. was to rebuild the caliper and installed the anodized steel pistons.
I rarely see a content where 80s mopar passeger cars rebuilt cant wait to see that car with its new 360 keep the good work.
That 318 is still salvageable. You could drain it and rebuild if for another car in the future after you pull it out.
Dylan, where is your Sawzall? They will make short work of removing the old exhaust.
Helpful hint. Take some old, or new exhaust pipe and form it to the outer diameter of the dust caps. You may have to split and weld it in a place or three and weld something over the other end to hit on. It will help when reinstalling the dust covers and you won't bend up the rounded end of the dust covers.
Terminator X for the fuel and timing control?
Leave a manual trans on the 360! A 4/5/6 speed manual trans would be so freaking cool!
Bad radiator does that. 2005-08 Nissan Frontiers were plagued with this problem. Frontier owners called it SMOD. Strawberry milkshake of death. Hope the 727 survives. Flush everything well. Torque converter, lines cooler etc. Good luck.
When Dylan walks away and says he needs a moment then you know its a big deal! 😆😂
Time lapse was cool man, your videos have become top knotch. Keep it up dude!
I've had leaking internal trans coolers in the radiator on a few occasions. Mostly on GM products though.
15:56 omg i love that sound, she sounds so right
Dodge Diplomat, was also called Plymouth Gran Fury, Caravelle Salon, in Canada.
Glad to see your making a Dipplomat run. i still have my Grandfather's 77 Dipplomat its still has orignal 318 and had the Lean Burn. I had to run a MSD ready to run Dist because the old Lean burn computer was acting up and I do live in CA so i half to smog my car. next year I am finally Painting my car. and at one time i ran a holley 4bbrl Classic Carb 600CFM with a Weiand Stealth intake manifold. sadly living in CA I cannot pass Smog with that carb and intake. but i was able to keep my MSD because of the 2 C.A.R.B stickers
for up grades I have herd some good things about the Holley EFI kit
and I would recomend running a MSD full kit with Box
Bummer that happened but really like the 360 build up plus turbo!! She will be a little screamer!! Can’t wait. Different and wild like it.
I had an 84 and put a 360 crate motor with a purple shaft cam and swirl port heads. Also Hooker headers, and Holley 650. MSD ignition made a huge difference too. Be careful my 360 required an externally balanced torque converter and damper. Even with 2.94 gears I could beat Corvettes out of the toll booths easily and chirp 2nd.
Look forward to the coming episodes! I guess it’s better that it happened just outside the shop rather that somewhere down the road!
I think the holley sniper would run forced induction, but if you're gonna do that I'd honestly keep the mpfi intake and run megasquirt for the ease of tuning. I think megasquirt will accept the stock crank and dizzy input signals. I know you can mod the intake for bigger throttle bodies and with the runner design+boost it would be a torquey tire frying machine.
Wow, I just love it. My father in law had one of these back in the day. It was a nice car. You:re upgrade will make it a great car.
The tires in the rear are massive but looks pretty good don't hit a bump I see rubbing in the future @Dylan McCool
I'd never repaint this thing, the look of it already is great.
Yes sir, I've seen an integrated transmission cooler fail like that before. It was in a 1999 year Hyster forklift. The radiator hadn't been back from the radiator repair shop very long when I came out to the customer to do a routine maintenance service. I opened the radiator overflow tank and it was full to the top and an odd yellow and felt oily. Because the transmission fluid was a C4 type and not ATF, it kinda threw me a bit. But all questions were answered when I pulled the transmission dipstick and I had a nice foamy, frothy mess on it. The sad thing was, that radiator had been repaired at a local shop and it failed after a few months in the field. The dealer I worked for had to cover the transmission rebuild and the radiator shop would only cover the failed radiator core. What a mess that was!
Hey Dylan. In case you didn’t know the old style LA timing covers bolt right up to the magnum engines. Then you could have a fuel pump provision, they don’t have a eccentric to drive the full pump though. I’m pretty sure you can just put one on and be gtg. I use magnum engines converted to carb and hei for demo derby cars.
Loving this! No idea about American cars being a Brit, but it looks awesome!
The diplomat was highly under rated. My second car was a retired patrol car with a single barrel 360.
When that pink volcano erupted I smiled knowingly because I have dealt with it. I was about to scream at the screen until you made the connection. You ignition is being screwed up by the infamous Lean Burn system. When you dropped the restrictive exhaust system you threw that poc system for a loop.
My dad drove one when he was a policeman and then got a white unmarked one when he was Sargent. Still remember him picking me up from middle school in it!
Agreed I’m a big fan of satin black Steelies as well. Some cars you have to go with us at White but still those are my two wheel choices.
13:55 police wheels are also way thicker than normal wheels in terms of metal thickness. I think i read somewhere that crown vic wheels were made out of half centimeter metal which is thick imo
never thought i would hear dylan talk about repainting a car
Just for future reference, if you try to time a Lean-burn engine, you typically need to unplug a sensor the computer reads. I know on TBI engines it was usually the coolant temp sensor; not sure on lean burn. That’s why your timing was way out of wack
Or, in the case of the lean-burn system, remove the vacuum line at the module. Volvo used the same system on their non-turbo 240 series cars from 1982-88.
this is one of my most sought after cars. they are so rare in comparison with the typical Po Po list. Our town had 3 sky blue ones
How could you do brakes without Kevin? You know that’s his favorite thing 😂
🤔😏 I'm honestly very excited for the direction you're taking this. Can't wait to see what else you come up with lol.
I am really looking forward to seeing everything you have planned for the car become a reality.
It will be a bad ass car when you get done
My grandfather had a green 86 diplomat with a 318
cant wait to follow this build
I'm ready for the upgrade on this Diplomat
check out Micro-squirt ECU, very inexpensive. 4 fuel outputs so you so do batch fire. there are more precise ECUs with sequential firing but for the cost its worth checking out.
I like were this is going Dylan no one else has ever done this especially with a Mopar can't wait till the next video
love my Diplomat to bits yours is going to be really fun to watch come together.
love these cars. i got a 78 coupe with a mild 318la with magnum heads 727 trans and 355 rear gear
I’m here can’t wait to see the car on the road!!!!!!