Crosswind air gap clone and ram truck serpentine setup

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75slant6 said:
When the time comes for me to swap my 5.9 back to efi, I’ll swap the magnum front cover back on and leave the crosswind on there and see if I can’t get it worked out where a truck compressor can be used with the crosswind, before I switch back to the kegger. It’ll probably be a few months yet but I’ll see what I can come up with
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Looking back on your findings, what was your ultimate outcome with the 91 style front drive system?
Cost just doesn’t seem that much especially if you are in my shoes and have to replace the factory truck compressor anyway.
Used x wind intake - $150
91 front drive @ U Pull - $50
Reman compressor - $160 (Rockauto)

I paid $345 ($299+shipping and a bad attitude on the phone) for a MP M1 intake from Indy Cylinder Head that was advertised at $199... so that set up is really tempting and probably the way I will go on the next ones.

Also, thanks so much for all of your research and pictures! Very well done!
 
mopower76 said:
Looking back on your findings, what was your ultimate outcome with the 91 style front drive system?
Cost just doesn’t seem that much especially if you are in my shoes and have to replace the factory truck compressor anyway.
Used x wind intake - $150
91 front drive @ U Pull - $50
Reman compressor - $160 (Rockauto)

I paid $345 ($299+shipping and a bad attitude on the phone) for a MP M1 intake from Indy Cylinder Head that was advertised at $199... so that set up is really tempting and probably the way I will go on the next ones.

Also, thanks so much for all of your research and pictures! Very well done!
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I wasn’t the one who was messing with the 91 dakota stuff. That would’ve been @Bobzilla
 
75slant6 said:
I wasn’t the one who was messing with the 91 dakota stuff. That would’ve been @Bobzilla
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Oh man! So sorry!

So @Bobzilla ... Same question!

This is a great thread, I’m sure I’m not the only member that really appreciates the lengths @Bobzilla and @75slant6 have gone to (among others) to help all of us looking for a solution.
Thanks again guys!
 
Sorry I have not finished with the 91 Dakota bracket yet. Been busy lately.
I will try to make time to get the broken bolts removed tomorrow and do a better mockup, to see how it sits. I will post photos when I get it set up again.
 
Dual pattern intake with LA-style thermostat housing, factory Magnum heads and timing cover, and the 91 Dakota AC bracket. I don't have a 91 Dakota AC compressor, and the later Magnum compressor from a 99 Ram truck does not have the same bolt patter in the rear, so this one is only lining up with two front AC compressor mounting holes.
This radiator hose is from a 99 Ram. It comes close to the AC compressor bracket, but it does clear, and looks like a passenger side radiator connection is possible.
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Still not sure which compressor will work though. By part numbers, and best I can tell in the Dakota pictures I took, the Dakota uses 6 rib serpentine belt. The Magnum engines use a 7 rib belt. The questions continue.
 
So what's the trick? A '91 bracket? I see those in the wrecking yard all the time.
 
Not sure when I'll get to the junk yard again, but I need to find an AC compressor that will fit the 91 Dakota bracket.
If there is a compressor with same mounting bolt pattern AND the 7-rib pulley in the correct position, this will work.
 
I had a set of underdrive pullies on my magnum several years ago. I couldn't find a 7 rib belt in the size I needed. I ended up with a 6 rib that fit great. Never had a single problem with it.
 
It looks to me like fabricating a bracket to attach the rear holes of the compressor to the bracket itself wouldn’t be all to elaborate.
This set up sure would have saved me a lot of money, more parts hunting and I know time is money. I’m guessing this set up could have been a $200-$300 savings over going the route I went if not more.
 
Hi Guys. Do you know if there is a range of years for the 91 Dakota AC/Alt front bracket? Having trouble locating a 1 year only. Does it have to be from a Dakota only and does it have to be a V8 5.9 or can it be 5.2 or V6 for that matter?

Thanks
 
The bracket in my previous posts was from a 91 Dakota with and LA 318 that I found in a junk yard. That is the only one I have ever seen with this bracket. Not sure what other engines may have had it.
 
Thanks Bob. You wouldn't happen to have the stamped number easily accessible on your serpentine bracket set-up would you?

Started doing interweb searches on LA Dakota A/C serpentine hoping that there may be a small range of years. I checked 1990-1994 Dakota and RAM 5.2 and 5.9. Here are some pics from Car-Parts database. What I found is that this is a one year 1991 Dakota 5.2 ONLY mount.
Not trying to take credit for Bobzilla's, Slant76 and 74sport time and efforts. I just wanted to widen the search criteria if possible.

1990 Dakota- V8 not offered.

1991 Dakota- This is the one we want per what Bobzilla's hard work has shown. A/C compressor high up giving clearance. Radiator hose routing correct.
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1992 and 1993 Dakota have the same arrangement for both years. RAM is similar. You can see that the AC compressor is mounted lower and the AC lines mount more to the right side. Also notice the upper Radiator hose routing direction.
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Looks like the casting number on that 91 Dakota bracket is 53006580.
Anything with a full multi port fuel injection Magnum engine should NOT have this one. This was a transitional deal to get throttle body fuel injected LA based engines into Dakotas with serpentine belt setups.
 
Hey everyone, today, I finally messed around with my serpentine ac bracket and an extra LA 318 that I have. I came up with a few potential solutions to enable the use of A/C with a crosswind style intake. Now first, let me just say, I’ve only eyeballed this and haven’t starting doing any actual mods.

Ok, first off, both options are going to require cutting off that one corner of the bracket that interferes with the t-stat housing. In option 1, cut the corner (red line in pic 2) then add material (aluminum weld or jb weld) to the “groove” beside that bolt hole, then drill and tap that. (Yellow spot in pic 2). Next, cut off the factory bolt hole on the ac compressor (red line pic 3) and drill out the hole just forward of the original hole (yellow dot/arrow in pic 3)
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Oh, now option two, cut off that one ear, then making a steel plate, that bolts to the remaining 3 holes, and add 4 holes/nuts to the plate that offset the compressor toward the drivers side of the engine by 1/4-1/2”.
Option 2 would obviously raise the intake a 1/4” or so but shouldn’t cause any problems as far ask clearance goes. I’m planning to try these out in the coming weeks so I’ll keep y’all posted on any results. If someone beats me to it, please post your results!
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I put a 318 magnum in my 85 d150 with crosswinds intake ( what I had laying around ) and kept the serpentine belt setup and a/c. I did option 1 that 75slant6 suggested and used a 70 dart 340 with ac thermostat housing to get the hose away from the compressor. Will take pics this weekend
 
Ok got a few pics my compressor doesn’t have the extra mounting hole. My plan was to leave a little of the one I cut down and then make a bracket from that to somewhere else on the front bracket. However I will probably just get a new compressor with the extra bolt hole and do as 75slant6 described. Also the upper radiator hose is kind of at a odd angle with the thermostat housing being pointed to passenger side. I plan on taking the truck to the local parts store and looking through all the hose to find one that works without having a splice in it like the current one.

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Well shucks. I just realized tonight that I use this port (pic stolen from the original post in this thread) for my temp sender for my water temperature gauge! So that just added another hurdle to my setup. I wasn’t planning on doing this swap any time real soon but I noticed Saturday that my mechanical fuel pump is leaking, so I may as well swap to the magnum front cover and run an electric pump.

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sport74 said:
Okay guys I've got a crosswind AKA air gap clone that I've put on my 408 stroker which is Magnum based. I went to put the air conditioner and alternator bracket on and the bracket is hitting on the air conditioner side on a boss on the intake. It also looks like it will be hitting on the thermostat housing as well once I remove the boss. I'm wondering if any of you have had this issue before and what you did to fix it I'm trying to retain the factory Serpentine setup without doing a bunch of major modifications and worrying about pulley alignment and things like that. My plan is right now used to grind down the boss on the intake maybe drill and tap it for a bracket if need be later on but to cut one corner off of the AC bracket and Run 3 bolts on the compressor. Let me know if any of y'all have done this or have done anything different to make this work any help is greatly appreciated thanks so much.

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Not sure if it will help you or not, but the accessory bracket and a/c compressor are different and I think smaller on a Ram 1500 van. If you can't make yours work maybe see if the van one can be used.
 
A simple solution; get an Edelbrock Air Gap. It all works together on the Magnum. click on my avatar, it shows how is designed to fit.
Good luck regardless.
 
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