Some new and exciting things are going to happen this year with the Dart! Not big things but a couple changes that will really change this car and its driveability. First off is a brand new CC374 Champion radiator (yeah I know, they're cheap but I figure I'll give them a shot). Mine arrived and is SQUARE! No warping on this unit which I was surprised since I seem to attract all of the most defective new parts on the market. Polished and $200 shipped. I know people complained about the fans they use so I opted to get my own. After seeing others fit the Ford Contour fan to this radiator, I was sold. The only issue I was going to run into was the thickness of the shroud. The CSR pump is longer than a standard pump (as most already know). So seeing how close others' pump noses were to the fan, I had some concern. I bought a brand new Dorman unit (HORRIBLE QUALITY SHROUD!) and with some trimming, I was able to make it work! The Dorman unit had 1/4" gaps on the corners that would allow air to suck right past the shroud and not pull through the radiator. I trimmed at least 3/4 of the periphery of the shroud to make it straight. I must say that I did a darn good job with the dremel though. It almost looks like a factory trim. Had to trim and .10" from the front edge of the shroud where the water pump motor is and that was all. Going to run an automatic relay system so that the low fans kick on at 180 and off and 170, high on at 200 and off at 185 or 190. No I didn't buy one of those costly Dakota controllers for this. Just 2 relays, 2 temperature switches, and 2 override switches. Will save a lot of money doing it this way and it should work just fine. I will have override switches so that I can manually run the fans on high or low whenever I want to. Also added a small catch can and PCV system with new breathers (that also look better) since the way I had it before allowed oil to keep puking onto the valve covers. So here's where I'm at so far with it.
Before:
After:
Look at how bad the mating surface of this Dorman shroud is! The silver line I drew is the line I used to make it straight again.
I added my own nutplates instead of using the ones provided on the radiator.
Now with fans in place, everything is going to fit!
Here's where I had to trim just a bit from the shroud. Not bad at all.
Mounted my overflow bottle brackets like so
So now the biggest change I'm going to make is the 200-4R transmission swap that others here have done. I've located several cores for $75-$100 and am having a friend build it for me. I would love to use Extreme Automatics or someone similar but dang those things are $$$$ ($2200 to start for what I would need and that doesn't include all the other crap I need on it). I am going to have the bellhousing machined off, add Extreme Automatics' adapter ring, and use a Reid SFI bell. Will order the 200-4R conversion crossmember from US car tool as well to help save some time and fabrication work. I will have Dynamic build me another high stall converter for this transmission too. This one will be a 9-1/2" 4500 stall unit. It will have an external lock-up switch so that I can manually lock it when I want it to lock on the highway. It will not lock otherwise which is what I need it to do. This will change my rpm from 3100 @ 60 mph to 2000 rpm @ 60 mph. Oh and guess what? Power Tour is coming through Wichita so you bet your sweet a$$ I'm going to be in it! I will do the run from Oklahoma City to Wichita and several others I know are planning this as well. My new shifter for the transmission will be a Precision Performance Products shifter. Supposedly the last shifter you will ever buy. I've held one a dealer here and they are indeed amazing and the shift is so solid. My B&M is a big piece of crap compared to this new shifter. I'm so stoked about the shifter alone I can't hardly stand it. Plus it's only 3/4" wide too so no more big bulky shifter on the floor. I'll have to get new carpet but that's ok. I can deal with that.
So when I get this swap done, my 727 trans and 8" 5500 stall converter will be up for sale. If any of you are interested in something like this, let me know. Will be a few months before it's ready. I have no issues with the trans now, just not liking the highway rpm. The converter was very expensive so someone will get a good deal on this.
