72 Dart Swinger 3.6L Pentastar +T5

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Got the 8-1/4 installed on the 1/2" offset Hyperco fiberglass leafs. I need to plumb the 11" Grand Cherokee disk brakes, install the cover and fill it.

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Since I had it rolled out of the garage to check the ride height, i washed it down and snapped some update shots. We're getting there!
The borrowed yellow 15" steelies off my brother's Baracuda are the only 4.5" bolt pattern wheels I have,,lol. Its getting time to pick out some wheels/tires, i guess.


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qkcuda said:
Car looks great! I know you had an adjuster issue, but did you end up resetting the pattern, or leave it as it was?
Click to expand...

I tried my hand at setting it up from scratch. I got pattern looking a bit better but its still not quite right.
Odd thing is when I pulled the pinion out, the inner bearing just slipped off. No press fit at all. The made it easy to change out the shim but its not right.
Also, a couple faces on the pinion showed signs of pitting, so its past history is in question.

The ring and all the bearings looked really good shape, so it'll work for now. These 4.56 gears and 90s truck Dana trac lok diff came with this 8-1/4 when I bought it, so i'm not going to be too upset if i have to rebuild it down the road. I'll also have a better idea if I'll need to change the ratio.
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kmag88 said:
What a brilliant idea to swap that motor into a Dart!
I'm planning to swap one of those motors as well, but just to an older Jeep, not a A body. Did you find out if the speed input was neccessary for the PCM to work properly?
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I was looking a bit more into a speed signal and wonder if this would work to translate the Ford Speed sensor on my T5 to the Chrysler's ABS module so "mph" gets on the CAN bus?

Dakota Digital SGI-5E

The SGI-5E is used as either a signal multiplier (up to 16X) or signal divider (up to 125X), making this unit extremely flexible for almost any application. While the SGI-5E is intended to correct only the signal feeding the electronic speedometer, in many cases where a speed signal is shared or on a databus, the SGI-5E can instead correct the signal feeding the engine and transmission computers.

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Universal Speedometer Signal Interface
 
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I'd like to hear more about the composite leaf springs. I've not seen anything really in the mopar world talking about them
 
71Duster said:
I'd like to hear more about the composite leaf springs. I've not seen anything really in the mopar world talking about them
Click to expand...

Since my build is low weight, the weak 318 leafs, which weigh in at 45lbs a piece, weren't going to work.
The Hyperco I spec'd out are just 10lb EACH! You get some unsprung weight savings too.
Composite Leaf Springs | Corvette Leaf Springs | Hyperco


Here's a decent thread on FG leaf on moparts:
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread...s/1157228/re-fiberglass-springs-any-good.html
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New wheels aren't high on the list of priorities but they're fun motivator to get the real work done.

The 15 x 8 steel wheels on the car now have a 4.3" back space with 225/60-15 T/A tires.

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I want to have the exact same tire & wheel size on all 4 corners. So I used this cool wheel offset calculator to easily show the difference that a change in tire & wheel would make from the current setup.

Wheel Offset Calculator
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I'm looking to go with 265/35-18 on these AMR 18x10 wheels
Offset : 24mm
Backspace: 6.4"
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I just really liked how they looked on @71duster06 's car
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Even with a Dr.Diff offset spring hangers, the rears may need a small spacer. I'm currently measuring ~2.0" from the leaf spring to the steel wheels but these 10" rims need an additional ~2.0".


For tires, these Kuhmo V720 look to have a good balance between performance and cost.

When GrassRoots tested them compared to the BFG Rival S,( which is nearly 2x the price), they held their own.
Finally Tested: Kumho’s Latest Extreme-Performance Tire | Articles | Grassroots Motorsports
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While i wont go as far to say the kumho's hold their own today, I definitely agree with a value tire while sorting out the new car. That first set will probably be a throw away as you try to un-hamfist your 10yrs of FWD racing into a RWD. :D
 
Trojmn said:
While i wont go as far to say the kumho's hold their own today, I definitely agree with a value tire while sorting out the new car. That first set will probably be a throw away as you try to un-hamfist your 10yrs of FWD racing into a RWD. :D
Click to expand...

In Tirerack's track test the V720 was decent "The Kumho Ecsta V720 gives the Potenza RE-71R a run for its money by delivering impressive dry performance"
Being that they're $400 less/set than Re71r, they're it. We'll see if I can do as well in the RWD Swinger with the Kuhmos as I can with Re71R on my FWD Focus ST.

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Got my 18 x 10 in & they HIT the leaf springs!

AMR site lists the Backspace as 6.3" well that's a bold face lie. The real Backspace is 7.2" :mad:
They're going back
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myduster360 said:
New wheels aren't high on the list of priorities but they're fun motivator to get the real work done.

The 15 x 8 steel wheels on the car now have a 4.3" back space with 225/60-15 T/A tires.

View attachment 1715370198

I want to have the exact same tire & wheel size on all 4 corners. So I used this cool wheel offset calculator to easily show the difference that a change in tire & wheel would make from the current setup.

Wheel Offset Calculator
View attachment 1715370193




I'm looking to go with 265/35-18 on these AMR 18x10 wheels
Offset : 24mm
Backspace: 6.4"
View attachment 1715370194


I just really liked how they looked on @71duster06 's car
View attachment 1715370199

Even with a Dr.Diff offset spring hangers, the rears may need a small spacer. I'm currently measuring ~2.0" from the leaf spring to the steel wheels but these 10" rims need an additional ~2.0".


For tires, these Kuhmo V720 look to have a good balance between performance and cost.

When GrassRoots tested them compared to the BFG Rival S,( which is nearly 2x the price), they held their own.
Finally Tested: Kumho’s Latest Extreme-Performance Tire | Articles | Grassroots Motorsports
View attachment 1715370196
Click to expand...
In your post #361, Those look a lot like the 15x7 fifth ave wheels I have for both cudas, right down to the center web. Are you sure those aren't 15x7s ? Measurement is taken from bead flange to flange not edge to edge. I say this because if your using these as a guide and they are 7s, and you go ahead and order 8s thinking these are 8s, you may run into fitment problems.

If they are indeed 8s, where did he get them widened at because the late model style rims that came w the 4 hubcap nubs. And 5 extra holes in the webs for wire wheel cover lock bases like that didnt come anything wider than 15x7. I have seen them as 15x5.5 , 15x6 , and 15x7. I want the keep the fronts 15x7, but widen the rears to 15x8.
 
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moparmat2000 said:
In your post #361, Those look a lot like the 15x7 fifth ave wheels I have for both cudas, right down to the center web. Are you sure those aren't 15x7s ? Measurement is taken from bead flange to flange not edge to edge. I say this because if your using these as a guide and they are 7s, and you go ahead and order 8s thinking these are 8s, you may run into fitment problems.
Click to expand...


The 15" are not old stock Chrysler wheels. They're newer aftermarket repos.

If the 18" had the 1" less bs they were suppose to have, they would have fit. Unfortunately All their 24mm offset 18x10 wheels have 7.2" bs.
Its was just a typo on their website. AMR apologized and are paying to ship them back.

Their 18 x 9s all have no less than a 30mm offset but would work with an 8mm spacer.
 
I'm liking these wheels a bit better.
They're a 15mm offset which will fit better than using the AMR's 30mm offset with an 8mm spacer

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Great Build Idea! I just signed up on "For A Bodies Only" so I can follow this thread. (Honestly, I am probably too excited to see how your Dart runs with the 3.6. :) ) My wife & I hated the idea of a minivan, but when we finally broke down and bought one, I found myself "in love" with the Pentastar 3.6. Then my brother-in-law picked up an AWD Challenger with the 3.6 and I was impressed even further. Your Dart is similar to a build I've been contemplating ever since we got that van. I'm looking forward to combing through the entire 15 pages of this thread to figure out exactly what decisions you've made for transmission and ECU setups.
 
myduster360 said:
Yep. The 3.6L Manual PCM actually has the VIN of the 2008 SKIM module I'm using.
...Only hardware difference that may be a real issue is Cooling fan control. Wrangler use a PWM fan motor, where I'd prefer a simple Relay control. Not sure how to resolve that but honestly haven't spent any time on it.
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Curious... How did you overcome the cooling fan issue? I'm putting an '07 Charger 5.7 into my '50 Dodge Panel Van right now and am using all factory wiring modules in an effort to retain ABS, Cruise, etc. (with the exception of the airbags). I'm using a Northern radiator meant for a '57 Chevy (because it fits my space requirements) along with the dual fan setup meant for that radiator. Worst case scenario, I'll swap the Northern fans out for the stock Chrysler fans from the Charger radiator which I still have. Honestly, and please excuse my ignorance here, I don't even know if I'll have the same issue because I don't know whether the Charger uses PWM fan motors. I just haven't gotten that far yet. :)

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