cool, I like the pro touring look as long as you don't do "ugly pro touring" lol. any idea of wheels yet, I might do that Idea of the engine bay braces on my dart if you don't mind,
68 GT convertible project
- Thread starter burdar
- Start date
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I really like the look of the Coddington HR-01 wheels. It all depends on how low I can get the front end. My best friend is a really good artist. He is making a rendering for me. We can play around with different wheel styles.
The body shop is ramping up to really get started on the car. The doors and fenders are off. The rockers look good. The inside structure of the fenders looks good as well. It looks like the rust is limited to the outer sheet metal on those.
The door striker areas have been fixed and bracing is being installed so the car can be bolted to the rotisserie.
I found the quarter panel patches I needed at Carlisle. I got lucky because they were discontinued last year. Stephen's Performance still had a few pairs left. I noticed there were a lot of variations in the color of Q1 at the show. Spray outs will be done this week to match the original color still on the A-pillars. Once that's done, the rest of the car will be blasted.
I flew out to Carlisle so I couldn't get all the parts I wanted. I basically got a lot of small pieces that I could fit into my checked bag. I got a lot of w/stripping, body plugs, body bumpers, battery cable, interior/exterior door handles and side mirrors. I found a starter splash shield, K-member to rad support brace and a trunk latch all on a $1 tarp. Hopefully the splash shield is an A-body piece. If not, it was only $1.
The door striker areas have been fixed and bracing is being installed so the car can be bolted to the rotisserie.
I found the quarter panel patches I needed at Carlisle. I got lucky because they were discontinued last year. Stephen's Performance still had a few pairs left. I noticed there were a lot of variations in the color of Q1 at the show. Spray outs will be done this week to match the original color still on the A-pillars. Once that's done, the rest of the car will be blasted.
I flew out to Carlisle so I couldn't get all the parts I wanted. I basically got a lot of small pieces that I could fit into my checked bag. I got a lot of w/stripping, body plugs, body bumpers, battery cable, interior/exterior door handles and side mirrors. I found a starter splash shield, K-member to rad support brace and a trunk latch all on a $1 tarp. Hopefully the splash shield is an A-body piece. If not, it was only $1.
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muddacres
Well-Known Member
Here is what i did with my door jams.
Jim
Jim
We are going to do the same thing. Once the car is off the rotisserie, we will reinforce that area. I don't want it cracking out again. Thanks for the picture.
It looks like we are going to replace more metal. The trunk drop offs have some pin holes in them. They aren't very expensive so we will be ahead in the long run if we replace them. Same thing for the front fenders. The lower patches are expensive. It will be cheaper to replace the fenders than to fill all the trim holes, install patches and straighten them out. Hopefully I can find all that stuff at the Nats in three weeks. Here are the updated pics.
Lead cleaned out of the quarter to rocker joint.
Bad spot cut out.
Someone butchered the firewall above the bulkhead connector. Here is the patch that will fix the area.
Tacked in place.
The car is on the rotisserie.
It looks like we are going to replace more metal. The trunk drop offs have some pin holes in them. They aren't very expensive so we will be ahead in the long run if we replace them. Same thing for the front fenders. The lower patches are expensive. It will be cheaper to replace the fenders than to fill all the trim holes, install patches and straighten them out. Hopefully I can find all that stuff at the Nats in three weeks. Here are the updated pics.
Lead cleaned out of the quarter to rocker joint.
Bad spot cut out.
Someone butchered the firewall above the bulkhead connector. Here is the patch that will fix the area.
Tacked in place.
The car is on the rotisserie.
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The K-member is done. The skid plate turned out nice. The torque strap bracket was welded on since the lip of the K wasn't wide enough to bolt it on. The rest of the K was completely welded and the steering mounts were reinforced.
The transmission is also done. I rebuilt it back in the late 90's. It only has a couple hundred miles on the rebuilt. It's a 904 with a TransGo TF-2 shift kit and a manual valve that fills the convertor in PARK. I power washed the outside, then took the tail housing off to paint and detail it. The paint is a cast coat iron color. The engine will be painted the same color. I wanted something different. I'm tired of orange.
The transmission is also done. I rebuilt it back in the late 90's. It only has a couple hundred miles on the rebuilt. It's a 904 with a TransGo TF-2 shift kit and a manual valve that fills the convertor in PARK. I power washed the outside, then took the tail housing off to paint and detail it. The paint is a cast coat iron color. The engine will be painted the same color. I wanted something different. I'm tired of orange.
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Last Thursday I went and had a look at the car. So far everything is going good. There aren't any real surprises. How do you like the 4x4 look?
The patch panels go a lot higher then I thought they would.
You can see the pin holes in the trunk drop offs. If the car hadn't sat around with the top down for 10+ years, I'm sure these wouldn't need replacing. Last I knew, they were just going to section in the lower part since everything else is real solid.
Here you can see the previous damage from possibly rubbing a guard rail. The old repair involved drilling a bunch of holes in the quarter panel, pulling out the dent and applying filler. You can see the filler oozing out of all the holes.(just above the initial cut line) The repair patch will cover a lot of this.
On Saturday my father-in-law and I built a K-member dolly. I used a small wooden cart to install the Challenger engine but it wasn't very stable. The engine wanted to tip side to side. I wanted something that would be solid that I could store an engine/suspension on long term. We started with a crude stand my dad and I had built years ago for the Challenger. The original stand didn't have any wheels on it and used the sway bar mount to attach the K. It did the job but I wanted something nicer this time around.
I used the outer frame mounting holes to attach the K to the dolly so it would be stable. The four arms that support the K are attached to the bottom of the main "T" so they can be unbolted and removed during installation. I didn't want to guess when making the trans support so I'll add that once the engine/trans are on the dolly.
There are better designs out there but this one didn't cost me anything and should do the job.
The patch panels go a lot higher then I thought they would.
You can see the pin holes in the trunk drop offs. If the car hadn't sat around with the top down for 10+ years, I'm sure these wouldn't need replacing. Last I knew, they were just going to section in the lower part since everything else is real solid.
Here you can see the previous damage from possibly rubbing a guard rail. The old repair involved drilling a bunch of holes in the quarter panel, pulling out the dent and applying filler. You can see the filler oozing out of all the holes.(just above the initial cut line) The repair patch will cover a lot of this.
On Saturday my father-in-law and I built a K-member dolly. I used a small wooden cart to install the Challenger engine but it wasn't very stable. The engine wanted to tip side to side. I wanted something that would be solid that I could store an engine/suspension on long term. We started with a crude stand my dad and I had built years ago for the Challenger. The original stand didn't have any wheels on it and used the sway bar mount to attach the K. It did the job but I wanted something nicer this time around.
I used the outer frame mounting holes to attach the K to the dolly so it would be stable. The four arms that support the K are attached to the bottom of the main "T" so they can be unbolted and removed during installation. I didn't want to guess when making the trans support so I'll add that once the engine/trans are on the dolly.
There are better designs out there but this one didn't cost me anything and should do the job.
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It has been a couple years since I've been on here. A little progress has been made on the Dart but it's basically just been sitting. The bank account needed to recover a little bit and I lost interest in it for awhile. I've been working on it again the last few weeks though. Not doing anything major, just cleaning up fasteners, a few brackets and a driveshaft. It looks like it was July of 2014 where I left off...
At the time I didn't own a truck so I borrowed my dad's Dakota and took it to Columbus to haul home parts. I ended up buying a lot of misc interior/exterior trim pieces but the main things were a GTS hood, fenders and trunk drop offs. I was able to get them back to the hotel in their boxes but it wasn't ideal.
I had to haul everything up into the hotel room for the night. I wonder what the maid thought when she saw all those body parts in the room? Before the 9-10 hour drive home, we spent an hour in the parking lot playing truck bed Tetris. We ended up taking the fenders out of their boxes and setting the hood on top.(supporting it with luggage, folding chairs exc...so it wouldn't put pressure on the fenders) The hood ended up flush with the top of the bed and we got an extra 1.5mpg on the way home.
The trunk drop offs only had some pin holes in them so there was no need to replace the entire part.(I'm no body expert so I'm just going by what I'm told...this is the way they wanted to do the repair)
The quarter panel to rocker area was fixed...
During disassembly, only two fasteners broke. The threaded end of the E-brake cable twisted off and the nut at the end of the rocker pulled out. Here is the repair...
At the time I didn't own a truck so I borrowed my dad's Dakota and took it to Columbus to haul home parts. I ended up buying a lot of misc interior/exterior trim pieces but the main things were a GTS hood, fenders and trunk drop offs. I was able to get them back to the hotel in their boxes but it wasn't ideal.
I had to haul everything up into the hotel room for the night. I wonder what the maid thought when she saw all those body parts in the room? Before the 9-10 hour drive home, we spent an hour in the parking lot playing truck bed Tetris. We ended up taking the fenders out of their boxes and setting the hood on top.(supporting it with luggage, folding chairs exc...so it wouldn't put pressure on the fenders) The hood ended up flush with the top of the bed and we got an extra 1.5mpg on the way home.
The trunk drop offs only had some pin holes in them so there was no need to replace the entire part.(I'm no body expert so I'm just going by what I'm told...this is the way they wanted to do the repair)
The quarter panel to rocker area was fixed...
During disassembly, only two fasteners broke. The threaded end of the E-brake cable twisted off and the nut at the end of the rocker pulled out. Here is the repair...
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Here's another one of those areas where I'm just repeating what the body shop tells me since I'm not a body man. They had previously installed quarter skins on other Dart's but really weren't impressed with them. They had never done a Dart convertible before and didn't know what they would get into if they tried putting a full hardtop quarter on. So, they decided they'd rather just replace the lower quarters behind the wheel well where the rust was.
There was a lot of dent pulling and making the panels straighter again. Would it have been a lot less work to just install quarter skins? Yes, but hindsight is always 20/20 and I don't like the idea of replacing factory sheet metal because of dents. Rust is another story. It is what it is I guess.
There was a lot of dent pulling and making the panels straighter again. Would it have been a lot less work to just install quarter skins? Yes, but hindsight is always 20/20 and I don't like the idea of replacing factory sheet metal because of dents. Rust is another story. It is what it is I guess.
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Test fitting the new quarters and hood. They fit OK. One fender wasn't welded correctly and needed some persuasion to fit. All in all, I think everything went OK for the initial fitting. There will need to be some work on the gaps where the hood, fender and cowl meet.
The D A R T emblem holes in the quarters were welded shut along with the GT emblem holes on the trunk. The rear panel holes were also welded shut...that trim panel will not be going back on. Then they seam sealed the whole car.
The D A R T emblem holes in the quarters were welded shut along with the GT emblem holes on the trunk. The rear panel holes were also welded shut...that trim panel will not be going back on. Then they seam sealed the whole car.
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Before the car came home, they started some of the rough filler work on the quarters and doors after pulling them as straight as they could. As far as the body is concerned, this is how it sits today.
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A 360 will be going in place of the 318. The short block is a MP non Magnum roller block crate assembly that they used to offer. I bought this one in late 99 I think. I put a couple hundred miles on it before pulling it and getting rid of the car it was in. It's been sitting since 05.
I used to run a Weiand X-Celerator single plane intake and thermoquad carb. For the Dart, I bought an Edelbrock Air Gap intake and Thunder Series carb. After test fitting the carb/intake, I found that the secondaries were hitting the center divider when the throttle was opened up. I sent the intake back to Edelbrock for them to look at. It took a month or so for them to figure out what they were going to do. In the end, they just decided to send me a new intake. During that time the engine just sat open with a garbage bag over it. Once the new intake arrived, I pulled the bag off the engine and found a mouse nest made of grass clippings sitting in the valley. Since it was a new nest, I hoped that they hadn't had a chance to get down inside and do any damage.
I got the engine up on the stand and removed the oil pan while the engine was still sitting upright. I thought it might not be a good idea to flip it over if there was a chance the mice had brought any crap down any deeper. I didn't see anything in the pan which was good. After removing the windage tray, I could see that they had been down that far but they hadn't made another nest.
After looking closely for any other foreign material, I flipped the engine over. I got lucky...the rest of the engine looked really clean.
Back in college, I ported and rebuilt the heads myself. Even though they didn't have many miles on them, I wanted them to be looked at by someone who knows that they are doing. I took them to the machine shop where they cleaned them up and redid the valve job. While the heads were out, I started the task of cleaning all the paint off the block. It was a very messy job but I finally got it clean.
I used to run a Weiand X-Celerator single plane intake and thermoquad carb. For the Dart, I bought an Edelbrock Air Gap intake and Thunder Series carb. After test fitting the carb/intake, I found that the secondaries were hitting the center divider when the throttle was opened up. I sent the intake back to Edelbrock for them to look at. It took a month or so for them to figure out what they were going to do. In the end, they just decided to send me a new intake. During that time the engine just sat open with a garbage bag over it. Once the new intake arrived, I pulled the bag off the engine and found a mouse nest made of grass clippings sitting in the valley. Since it was a new nest, I hoped that they hadn't had a chance to get down inside and do any damage.
I got the engine up on the stand and removed the oil pan while the engine was still sitting upright. I thought it might not be a good idea to flip it over if there was a chance the mice had brought any crap down any deeper. I didn't see anything in the pan which was good. After removing the windage tray, I could see that they had been down that far but they hadn't made another nest.
After looking closely for any other foreign material, I flipped the engine over. I got lucky...the rest of the engine looked really clean.
Back in college, I ported and rebuilt the heads myself. Even though they didn't have many miles on them, I wanted them to be looked at by someone who knows that they are doing. I took them to the machine shop where they cleaned them up and redid the valve job. While the heads were out, I started the task of cleaning all the paint off the block. It was a very messy job but I finally got it clean.
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I read an article in Car Craft where they made a baffle to fit a stock small block oil pan. I thought it looked like an easy/inexpensive project so I started making one. I made a template out of cardboard first.
Then I transferred it to a scrap piece of sheet metal.
After derusting the baffle, I added some oil drain-back slots. I don't know if they will really do anything but they are there now.
Finally, I had a friend of mine weld it in.
Once I got the heads back, I test fit the new Edelbrock intake. That's when I discovered that the intake didn't sit level on the block with all the bolt holes lined up. The entire intake was tilted to one side. I swapped the heads side to side thinking it was a head issue. Nope, the intake was still tilted to the same side when all the bolt holes were lined up. That intake got sent back to Edelbrock as well. However, they checked it out and said everything was within spec so they sent it back. While that intake was away getting looked at, I test fit my old Weiand intake. It fit perfectly and wasn't tilted at all. The next thing I did was borrow an old Edelbrock RPM intake from a friend to test fit. That intake was tilted just like my Air Gap. So, two Edelbrock intakes sit tilted on the engine but the Weiand fits perfectly. The machine shop and I were both stumped but to keep the project going, I ended up having the intake machined on only one side. That let the intake sit down lower on the one side and everything lined up.
While the Air Gap was at Edelbrock getting looked at, I worked on modifying the distributor to cut down on erratic timing. I bought a complete Pertronix distributor and test fit the shaft into the oil pump drive gear slot. There was a lot of slop between the two. I bought a new intermediate shaft and the slop got better but there was still too much movement between the two parts. After I did some reading and seeing what other people did about this, I disassembled the distributor and peened the end of the shaft with a punch/hammer. This swelled the four edges of the shaft so they fit tight into the intermediate shaft slot.
I also noticed that there was a lot of up and down movement in the Pertronix distributor shaft. If left this way, the intermediate shaft could bounce which will change the timing. I added another shim between the distributor body and the locking collar to take most of the play out of the distributor.
Next, I add a collar on the distributor shaft right above the oil pump drive. This keeps the gear from bouncing and should help stabilize the timing.
The last thing I did before installing the intake was to reinstall a block off plate I made for the valley. It's very crude looking but it is designed to keep hot oil from spinning off the cam and heating the under side of the intake manifold. I don't know if it's needed with the Air Gap intake but I reinstalled it anyway.
Then I transferred it to a scrap piece of sheet metal.
After derusting the baffle, I added some oil drain-back slots. I don't know if they will really do anything but they are there now.
Finally, I had a friend of mine weld it in.
Once I got the heads back, I test fit the new Edelbrock intake. That's when I discovered that the intake didn't sit level on the block with all the bolt holes lined up. The entire intake was tilted to one side. I swapped the heads side to side thinking it was a head issue. Nope, the intake was still tilted to the same side when all the bolt holes were lined up. That intake got sent back to Edelbrock as well. However, they checked it out and said everything was within spec so they sent it back. While that intake was away getting looked at, I test fit my old Weiand intake. It fit perfectly and wasn't tilted at all. The next thing I did was borrow an old Edelbrock RPM intake from a friend to test fit. That intake was tilted just like my Air Gap. So, two Edelbrock intakes sit tilted on the engine but the Weiand fits perfectly. The machine shop and I were both stumped but to keep the project going, I ended up having the intake machined on only one side. That let the intake sit down lower on the one side and everything lined up.
While the Air Gap was at Edelbrock getting looked at, I worked on modifying the distributor to cut down on erratic timing. I bought a complete Pertronix distributor and test fit the shaft into the oil pump drive gear slot. There was a lot of slop between the two. I bought a new intermediate shaft and the slop got better but there was still too much movement between the two parts. After I did some reading and seeing what other people did about this, I disassembled the distributor and peened the end of the shaft with a punch/hammer. This swelled the four edges of the shaft so they fit tight into the intermediate shaft slot.
I also noticed that there was a lot of up and down movement in the Pertronix distributor shaft. If left this way, the intermediate shaft could bounce which will change the timing. I added another shim between the distributor body and the locking collar to take most of the play out of the distributor.
Next, I add a collar on the distributor shaft right above the oil pump drive. This keeps the gear from bouncing and should help stabilize the timing.
The last thing I did before installing the intake was to reinstall a block off plate I made for the valley. It's very crude looking but it is designed to keep hot oil from spinning off the cam and heating the under side of the intake manifold. I don't know if it's needed with the Air Gap intake but I reinstalled it anyway.
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Here are some smaller things I've been working on...
Earlier I showed this picture of an oil vapor separator I'm putting in the PCV line. It was just a cheap empty canister I found online. Last year I bought a 14 Ram and purchased a BT catch can for it. I looked at how that one was designed on the inside and decided to do something similar to this one for the Dart.
The BT catch can has the inlet and outlet lines separated by a wall of sorts. The vapors come into the can and run through a mesh screen. Then they turn a corner and go back through another mesh screen before exiting. That's what I tried to do here. I built a cardboard template to separate the inlet and outlet sides and transferred it to a piece of aluminum. Then I made a plate that bolts to the bottom of the "wall" to hold in the mesh screen. With this design the PCV system will be filtered twice inside the tank before entering the engine. The can on my Ram catches a lot of oil.
Here you can see how the inner "baffle" fits inside the can. You'll also see that the straight fittings that came on the can aren't on there any more. The straight fittings didn't work out very well so I ended up getting some 90 degree fittings. This allowed me to route the hoses in a much cleaner fashion.
Instead of just running rubber hose to the canister, I bent up some 1/2" aluminum fuel line to use instead. Since I'm using an Air Gap intake, I was able to route the hard line under the intake and then angle it down the back side of the passengers head. I'll only need short sections of hose to connect the canister to the carb. More on that later. Here you can see the mesh installed before I put the lid back on the canister. You can also see that I sanded off the logos that used to be on the outside.
Earlier I showed this picture of an oil vapor separator I'm putting in the PCV line. It was just a cheap empty canister I found online. Last year I bought a 14 Ram and purchased a BT catch can for it. I looked at how that one was designed on the inside and decided to do something similar to this one for the Dart.
The BT catch can has the inlet and outlet lines separated by a wall of sorts. The vapors come into the can and run through a mesh screen. Then they turn a corner and go back through another mesh screen before exiting. That's what I tried to do here. I built a cardboard template to separate the inlet and outlet sides and transferred it to a piece of aluminum. Then I made a plate that bolts to the bottom of the "wall" to hold in the mesh screen. With this design the PCV system will be filtered twice inside the tank before entering the engine. The can on my Ram catches a lot of oil.
Here you can see how the inner "baffle" fits inside the can. You'll also see that the straight fittings that came on the can aren't on there any more. The straight fittings didn't work out very well so I ended up getting some 90 degree fittings. This allowed me to route the hoses in a much cleaner fashion.
Instead of just running rubber hose to the canister, I bent up some 1/2" aluminum fuel line to use instead. Since I'm using an Air Gap intake, I was able to route the hard line under the intake and then angle it down the back side of the passengers head. I'll only need short sections of hose to connect the canister to the carb. More on that later. Here you can see the mesh installed before I put the lid back on the canister. You can also see that I sanded off the logos that used to be on the outside.
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I also mentioned earlier that I was going to install the inner fender to cowl braces that came on the 74+ cars.
Since the 68 doesn't have enough of a "lip" at the cowl to mount them, I made this bracket that mounts to the lip so the braces can be installed.
I put a brushed finish on the brackets and sprayed a clear over them. Then I just put them in a drawer and forgot about it. A few month later I looked at them and saw that the aluminum was corroding under the clear and they looked like crap.
I stripped the clear and polished the bracket. I originally was just planning on using nuts on the bottom side to hold it on, but after looking at it closer, I didn't like that idea. I ended up making a bottom section that is threaded so the cowl "lip" will be sandwiched in between the two parts. I think this looks much better.
I'm going to use polished stainless button head bolts/screws to hold the two halves together.
Since the 68 doesn't have enough of a "lip" at the cowl to mount them, I made this bracket that mounts to the lip so the braces can be installed.
I put a brushed finish on the brackets and sprayed a clear over them. Then I just put them in a drawer and forgot about it. A few month later I looked at them and saw that the aluminum was corroding under the clear and they looked like crap.
I stripped the clear and polished the bracket. I originally was just planning on using nuts on the bottom side to hold it on, but after looking at it closer, I didn't like that idea. I ended up making a bottom section that is threaded so the cowl "lip" will be sandwiched in between the two parts. I think this looks much better.
I'm going to use polished stainless button head bolts/screws to hold the two halves together.
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The standard brake and gas pedals on these cars are very plain and boring. I saw some aftermarket pedals that I really liked but the price was outrageous. They were pretty simple looking so I thought I would try to make them myself. The gas pedal was very easy to make.
I'll end up putting rubber plugs in all the holes so my foot has some grip. I haven't figured out where to get the rubber plugs yet though. One idea that I tried didn't look the best so I need to figure out something different.
The brake pedal was a little more difficult but it wasn't bad. The brake lever is curved at the bottom so a flat piece of aluminum won't work there. After I had the rough shape cut out, I supported the edges of the piece on (2) 2x4's. I set a floor jack handle lengthwise across the aluminum and smacked it as hard as I could with a rubber hammer. It worked really well and my brake pedal now has a nice curve to it.
I'll end up putting rubber plugs in all the holes so my foot has some grip. I haven't figured out where to get the rubber plugs yet though. One idea that I tried didn't look the best so I need to figure out something different.
The brake pedal was a little more difficult but it wasn't bad. The brake lever is curved at the bottom so a flat piece of aluminum won't work there. After I had the rough shape cut out, I supported the edges of the piece on (2) 2x4's. I set a floor jack handle lengthwise across the aluminum and smacked it as hard as I could with a rubber hammer. It worked really well and my brake pedal now has a nice curve to it.
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Before painting the engine, I wanted to test fit the TTI headers just to make sure they were going to fit without any issues. It's a good thing I checked because the newer truck block has some extra mounting bosses that an older blocks don't have. One header tube hit the mounting boss so I had to grind it down. I'm not sure if the shorty TTI's would clear this area or not.
Once that issue was taken care of, I painted the engine. Like I said earlier, I'm tired of orange so I went with a cast coat iron paint. It looks a little funky right now without any other color to help set it off. It should look really good in a blue engine bay though. While the paint was drying, I started to assemble the K-member.
Once the paint was dry, the engine/trans got bolted together and set on the K.
I'm planning on having all the accessories painted black. I don't want everything to be polished. So, for that reason, I had a friend of mine photoshop the valve covers black so I could see what it would look like. I like it. Once the engine compartment is all together, everything will flow together and I don't think it will look out of place.
Once that issue was taken care of, I painted the engine. Like I said earlier, I'm tired of orange so I went with a cast coat iron paint. It looks a little funky right now without any other color to help set it off. It should look really good in a blue engine bay though. While the paint was drying, I started to assemble the K-member.
Once the paint was dry, the engine/trans got bolted together and set on the K.
I'm planning on having all the accessories painted black. I don't want everything to be polished. So, for that reason, I had a friend of mine photoshop the valve covers black so I could see what it would look like. I like it. Once the engine compartment is all together, everything will flow together and I don't think it will look out of place.
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Last year I made a custom trans cooler bracket to mount a cooler in front of the radiator. I positioned the cooler as high as I could so it would be in direct air flow through the grill.
A coarse tooth count wood blade works good at cutting aluminum on a table saw. I just went slow and used WD-40 as a lubricant.
I drilled out the two square holes just below the frame rails in the radiator support to 5/8" and installed some bulkhead fittings. Then I ran my cooler lines to those fittings.
I didn't want the mounting bracket to impede any flow into the radiator so I used a 1 1/4" hole saw to remove some un-needed material.
To add a little rigidity back into the piece...and to improve the looks...I used a dimple die to dimple the holes.
Just a light polishing with 0000 steel wool.
Here is the finished product.
Just a couple weeks ago I read that you shouldn't mount this style cooler with the fittings pointing down. Air can get trapped in the upper part of the cooler and reduce its effectiveness. I'll probably flip it over and redo the lines. I'll need to move it down lower so I can fit some 180 degree fittings up top. It won't be in the direct airflow but maybe it won't matter that much. I also see a problem with running one cooler past the lower radiator hose. I thought I could run it underneath the hose but it's going to hang too low. Running it on top of the hose would work but might not look the best. I'm thinking about running both lines to the drivers side. I tried to minimize the amount of extra holes I needed to drill in the body for the cooler but I might have drill one more.
A coarse tooth count wood blade works good at cutting aluminum on a table saw. I just went slow and used WD-40 as a lubricant.
I drilled out the two square holes just below the frame rails in the radiator support to 5/8" and installed some bulkhead fittings. Then I ran my cooler lines to those fittings.
I didn't want the mounting bracket to impede any flow into the radiator so I used a 1 1/4" hole saw to remove some un-needed material.
To add a little rigidity back into the piece...and to improve the looks...I used a dimple die to dimple the holes.
Just a light polishing with 0000 steel wool.
Here is the finished product.
Just a couple weeks ago I read that you shouldn't mount this style cooler with the fittings pointing down. Air can get trapped in the upper part of the cooler and reduce its effectiveness. I'll probably flip it over and redo the lines. I'll need to move it down lower so I can fit some 180 degree fittings up top. It won't be in the direct airflow but maybe it won't matter that much. I also see a problem with running one cooler past the lower radiator hose. I thought I could run it underneath the hose but it's going to hang too low. Running it on top of the hose would work but might not look the best. I'm thinking about running both lines to the drivers side. I tried to minimize the amount of extra holes I needed to drill in the body for the cooler but I might have drill one more.
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I started looking at my radiator options. I really like the look of the stock radiators upper tank but decided to go aftermarket. I looked at Champion radiators but didn't like the look of the angled upper tank that they advertise for the 68 Dart. Since I'm using the newer style aluminum water pump, I went with one for a 70 Duster. I think the number was cc526. It has a more squared off tank which I like.
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I really wish I had a shop to work in but only have a small two stall garage right now. I needed to have my Ram inside during the winter so that meant cleaning and organizing the garage. I didn't have room to store the engine/K-member assembly separately so it needed to go under the Dart. This would give me a good chance to start mocking everything up so there would be no surprises after the car is painted. I bought some 1/8" angle iron an made a lifting bar to get the cherry picker out away from the car as much as possible.(the cherry picker's legs got in the way while removing the engine) The body weighs next to nothing so the 1/8" angle is more than enough to lift it. The problem comes when trying to lift the front end with the engine assembly in place. The 1/8" is at its limit so I bought some 1/4" angle that I'll use from now on.
I was originally going to convert to manual steering but decided against it. I didn't like the thought of the 24 to 1 ratio so I'll be going to a stage 3 Firm Feel box. For mock-up purposes, I cleaned up the stock box and mounted it to the K-member before the engine went in.
After buying the complete Pertronix distributor, I read on here that it won't fit in an A-body because it's too tall. That got me worried so I put the wiper motor in place and test fit the distributor. It's pretty close but should work fine with angled plug boots.
I was originally going to convert to manual steering but decided against it. I didn't like the thought of the 24 to 1 ratio so I'll be going to a stage 3 Firm Feel box. For mock-up purposes, I cleaned up the stock box and mounted it to the K-member before the engine went in.
After buying the complete Pertronix distributor, I read on here that it won't fit in an A-body because it's too tall. That got me worried so I put the wiper motor in place and test fit the distributor. It's pretty close but should work fine with angled plug boots.
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I was planning on using a Taurus electric fan. I've read about them on this site and it seemed like a neat idea. I found complete new units at Rockauto for not much more than a replacement motor for the factory fan assembly. Before spending the money on a new one though, I wanted to test fit one. I went to a local salvage yard and found one already removed sitting on the inside of a Sable. I think I gave $15 for it. When I got it home, it was obvious there was no way it was going to fit. The core of the cc526 rad must sit a lot closer to the engine then the radiators most people are using for this swap. Even if I trimmed the back of the unit so the fan was basically touching the core, it wouldn't have cleared the water pump pulley.
Since that plan was a bust, I measured to see if I had room for a clutch fan. I'm using billet aluminum pulleys which are thicker then the stock pulleys. That pushes the clutch too close to the radiator so I have to use a fixed fan. I wanted to run a shroud but didn't have a stock piece to test and didn't really want to spend that much on a reproduction. I've got a few shrouds from various other vehicles up in the attic but they were all way to big. That meant I had to make one myself. Since my fabrication skills are very limited, I wanted to keep the shroud very simple. Giving the shroud a rounded top for fan clearance would have exceeded my skill level so I settled for a 15" fan which would keep the opening within the boundaries of the shroud "box".
I bought a piece of aluminum at the local metal shop and used my small sheet metal brake to make the "box". My brake was really too small for the job but with some creative thinking, I made it work. Here I'm test fitting the "box" for the first time. It was hitting the upper and lower rad hose nipples so it needed to be modified.
I used a piece of exhaust tubing as a guide and made a notch for the upper hose nipple. I was able to move the shroud up on the rad about an inch.
Now the "box" fit the radiator quite nicely.
I wanted the shroud to have a nice clean look so that meant having the ends welded instead of using bolts or rivets to hold it together. So, before I cut out the center fan hole. I gave the shroud to a friend for him to welded up. He welded the four corners and added in a half circle reinforcement inside the upper hose notch.
Since that plan was a bust, I measured to see if I had room for a clutch fan. I'm using billet aluminum pulleys which are thicker then the stock pulleys. That pushes the clutch too close to the radiator so I have to use a fixed fan. I wanted to run a shroud but didn't have a stock piece to test and didn't really want to spend that much on a reproduction. I've got a few shrouds from various other vehicles up in the attic but they were all way to big. That meant I had to make one myself. Since my fabrication skills are very limited, I wanted to keep the shroud very simple. Giving the shroud a rounded top for fan clearance would have exceeded my skill level so I settled for a 15" fan which would keep the opening within the boundaries of the shroud "box".
I bought a piece of aluminum at the local metal shop and used my small sheet metal brake to make the "box". My brake was really too small for the job but with some creative thinking, I made it work. Here I'm test fitting the "box" for the first time. It was hitting the upper and lower rad hose nipples so it needed to be modified.
I used a piece of exhaust tubing as a guide and made a notch for the upper hose nipple. I was able to move the shroud up on the rad about an inch.
Now the "box" fit the radiator quite nicely.
I wanted the shroud to have a nice clean look so that meant having the ends welded instead of using bolts or rivets to hold it together. So, before I cut out the center fan hole. I gave the shroud to a friend for him to welded up. He welded the four corners and added in a half circle reinforcement inside the upper hose notch.
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While the shroud was off being welded, I turned my attention to the alternator and engine accessories. Since I wasn't using an electric fan, I was able to get away with a smaller amperage Denso alt. This one is a 65 amp version and fits the space very nicely. I was able to make my aftermarket billet brackets work by making custom length spacers on the main pivot bolt. I still need to figure out what to do about a cover for the alt pulley. It looks ugly at the moment with no cover. As you can see, I also decided to stay with power steering and bought the corresponding brackets. The Dart originally came with a Federal PS pump but the brackets are designed for a Saginaw pump.
Once I got the shroud back, I had to figure out an accurate way to cut out the fan hole. I knew if I tried doing it free hand, I would be upset with the results. I did some checking online and found a Youtube video on how to make a circle cutting jig. It was a simple concept and it seemed like it would work well. Basically, the jig mounts to a hand held router. There is an adjustable center pivot bolt so you can set it to the exact radius you need.
First I made a crude little apparatus to find the exact center of where the hole needed to be. The bolt just extended out from the center of the water pump and made a mark on the shroud in the right location.
Once the center was found, I was ready to cut the hole. Here is the jig/router set up on the shroud, ready to start cutting.
We made three separate shallow passes, going a little deeper on each pass in order to get through the work piece.
It couldn't have worked better! The hole is perfectly round. The directions that came with my fan called for 3/4" clearance around the outside of the fan blades so the hole diameter is 16.5".
Once I got the shroud back, I had to figure out an accurate way to cut out the fan hole. I knew if I tried doing it free hand, I would be upset with the results. I did some checking online and found a Youtube video on how to make a circle cutting jig. It was a simple concept and it seemed like it would work well. Basically, the jig mounts to a hand held router. There is an adjustable center pivot bolt so you can set it to the exact radius you need.
First I made a crude little apparatus to find the exact center of where the hole needed to be. The bolt just extended out from the center of the water pump and made a mark on the shroud in the right location.
Once the center was found, I was ready to cut the hole. Here is the jig/router set up on the shroud, ready to start cutting.
We made three separate shallow passes, going a little deeper on each pass in order to get through the work piece.
It couldn't have worked better! The hole is perfectly round. The directions that came with my fan called for 3/4" clearance around the outside of the fan blades so the hole diameter is 16.5".
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I had been looking online at custom air cleaners for a long time, trying to find something I liked. At first I was thinking about a factory six-pak style air cleaner but decided against it. I found something I liked better but it was more advanced then what I was capable of doing myself. I ended up modifying the design into something that I could handle.
I started with a $20 14" drop base air cleaner from Summit. I knew I was limited by how much drop I could have in the base since the Edelbrock electric choke gets in the way at some point. I couldn't find the exact answer online so I took a chance with a 1" drop. As it turns out, 3/4" drop is the most you can have with an electric choke before the air cleaner hits it. I needed that extra 1/4" though because I was too close to the bottom of the hood for my liking. The air cleaner came with a 3" filter and that's the size I wanted to use. Anything under 3" doesn't look right IMO. I ended up taking the base over to a friends house and we modified it to fit the choke. We cut the base open, bent the metal up and out of the way, then welded it back together. Now, the 1" drop base will fit over the electric choke with just a smidgeon of clearance. This modification did require I grind away some of the rubber on the inside lip of the air filter. It was an easy mod and doesn't affect the filtering in any way.
The next thing was to make that generic 14" air cleaner look custom. I went to the local metal shop and had them cut me a piece of aluminum 3" tall x 4' long. Then I used a 1-1/4" hole saw to drill 14 equally spaced holes along its length. I played with the hole spacing on a sheet of paper until I found the one I liked the best.
Then I dimpled each of the holes with the dimple die I used to make my trans cooler bracket.
At that point, it was just a matter of bending the aluminum around the air cleaner. I wasn't sure how easily it was going to bend since the dimpled holes add strength to the aluminum. As it turns out, it wasn't an issue.
Here is the finished product before paint. The aluminum sits inside the outer lip of the air cleaner base/lid. There is a little room between the lip of the base and the air filter element. I riveted the ends together after cutting them to length. The rivets are in the back so you can't see them. If you can, you're leaning under my hood too much. I don't think the air flow will be hindered too much. There is a lot more open area then a factory air cleaner assembly.
Here it is on the engine. Like I said earlier, hood clearance is a big issue. I don't have enough room to use a traditional wing nut to hold the air cleaner in place. I have an idea for a custom fastener but haven't started that yet.
I started with a $20 14" drop base air cleaner from Summit. I knew I was limited by how much drop I could have in the base since the Edelbrock electric choke gets in the way at some point. I couldn't find the exact answer online so I took a chance with a 1" drop. As it turns out, 3/4" drop is the most you can have with an electric choke before the air cleaner hits it. I needed that extra 1/4" though because I was too close to the bottom of the hood for my liking. The air cleaner came with a 3" filter and that's the size I wanted to use. Anything under 3" doesn't look right IMO. I ended up taking the base over to a friends house and we modified it to fit the choke. We cut the base open, bent the metal up and out of the way, then welded it back together. Now, the 1" drop base will fit over the electric choke with just a smidgeon of clearance. This modification did require I grind away some of the rubber on the inside lip of the air filter. It was an easy mod and doesn't affect the filtering in any way.
The next thing was to make that generic 14" air cleaner look custom. I went to the local metal shop and had them cut me a piece of aluminum 3" tall x 4' long. Then I used a 1-1/4" hole saw to drill 14 equally spaced holes along its length. I played with the hole spacing on a sheet of paper until I found the one I liked the best.
Then I dimpled each of the holes with the dimple die I used to make my trans cooler bracket.
At that point, it was just a matter of bending the aluminum around the air cleaner. I wasn't sure how easily it was going to bend since the dimpled holes add strength to the aluminum. As it turns out, it wasn't an issue.
Here is the finished product before paint. The aluminum sits inside the outer lip of the air cleaner base/lid. There is a little room between the lip of the base and the air filter element. I riveted the ends together after cutting them to length. The rivets are in the back so you can't see them. If you can, you're leaning under my hood too much. I don't think the air flow will be hindered too much. There is a lot more open area then a factory air cleaner assembly.
Here it is on the engine. Like I said earlier, hood clearance is a big issue. I don't have enough room to use a traditional wing nut to hold the air cleaner in place. I have an idea for a custom fastener but haven't started that yet.
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