K frame lowering blocks

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I don't know the answer but there has been plenty of discussions on this..........
hemi dart k member lowering spacers - Google Search

And this

K member shims

See post 13

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I am in possession of a copy of the "AUTHENTICITY GUIDE 1968 DART & BARRACUDA HEMI SUPER STOCK" written by Jim Schild with Larry Griffith.

This guide goes into great detail on the history and construction of the 1968 Hemi Darts and Barracudas.

There is info on the K frame and the motor mount and steering mount and the 1/2" X 2" X 2" spacers.

The rear spacer had 25/32 holes on center and the fronts had 7/8 holes on center. The 4 attaching screws where 1/2" longer than the stock bolts with a part number of 2836892.

I can not find any mention of any transmission mount mods anywhere in this manual, so I would "assume" ther were no mods in that area.

The manual dose show and describe the mods to the 4 speed shifter mounting plate to raise and move the shifter to the rear a small amount.

Hope this info helps some.


By the way Tom, very nice work, as usual.


Herb"
 
IMO, you're puttin the cart before the horse. You should make sure you need that crap first and then figure out how to go about it. A drop base air cleaner is a much easier option. Depending how the hood is made in that area, you may not even need lowering blocks. Did the original Hyper Pack cars have them? Ask @Hyper_pak what he did to his. Didn't his car have that manifold?
 
RustyRatRod said:
IMO, you're puttin the cart before the horse. You should make sure you need that crap first and then figure out how to go about it. A drop base air cleaner is a much easier option. Depending how the hood is made in that area, you may not even need lowering blocks. Did the original Hyper Pack cars have them? Ask @Hyper_pak what he did to his. Didn't his car have that manifold?
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He had a lower deck 170.
I am starting to think 1 inch is too much. But 1/4 or 1/2 is very reasonable.

I'm also in agreement with to that it might be an option to modify underhood bracing
 
Princess Valiant said:
He had a lower deck 170.
I am starting to think 1 inch is too much. But 1/4 or 1/2 is very reasonable.

I'm also in agreement with to that it might be an option to modify underhood bracing
Click to expand...

If it was mine, I would be working on other things until I "got to that point". That way, you're not doing anything unnecessary. Just a thought.
 
RustyRatRod said:
If it was mine, I would be working on other things until I "got to that point". That way, you're not doing anything unnecessary. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
I am to "that " point now because how the engine is setting in there is going to directly impact everything around it.
 
67Dart273 said:
I don't know the answer but there has been plenty of discussions on this..........
hemi dart k member lowering spacers - Google Search

And this

K member shims

See post 13

"
I am in possession of a copy of the "AUTHENTICITY GUIDE 1968 DART & BARRACUDA HEMI SUPER STOCK" written by Jim Schild with Larry Griffith.

This guide goes into great detail on the history and construction of the 1968 Hemi Darts and Barracudas.

There is info on the K frame and the motor mount and steering mount and the 1/2" X 2" X 2" spacers.

The rear spacer had 25/32 holes on center and the fronts had 7/8 holes on center. The 4 attaching screws where 1/2" longer than the stock bolts with a part number of 2836892.

I can not find any mention of any transmission mount mods anywhere in this manual, so I would "assume" ther were no mods in that area.

The manual dose show and describe the mods to the 4 speed shifter mounting plate to raise and move the shifter to the rear a small amount.

Hope this info helps some.


By the way Tom, very nice work, as usual.


Herb"
Click to expand...
As I understand it the Spacer that is 1/16 to 1/8 in thick between the tranny and mount was left out so the tranny would sit that little bit lower also. We could ask in the SS forum. Kim
 
I'm guessing no one makes a cowl hood for the old girl?

There is something cool about an offset hood scoop aswell
 
Just try the 3/4 nuts, they were .35/pc at Homie Depot. I didnt have any issue with the original bolt length.
 
i moved my k member down on my 67 barracuda. had the engine out and wanted extra clearance for dizzy and air cleaner
already have offset lower base air cleaner . when i took the bolts down the side near the steering box only dropped enough to put 3 1/8 washers in . this is what i ended up with 3/8 lower. no noticeable change . would of liked more but didn't want to introduce any binding .
 
The factory bolts are tapered to locate the K frame and they also keep the K frame aligned. If u washer it without keeping the taper ur risking the K frame moving around and having ur steering go outta wack but ur motor and tranny won’t be in alignment anymore either. Kim
 
I did what Phista said to my 65 Dart GT way back in 1983.
It did not change the way the car handled. It was even better on anti-dive during hard braking.
I did have to screw in the torsion bar bolts to relevel the car.
I did have to remount the Z bar for the clutch but the bolt hole was easy to elongate.
The 833 and Hurst shifter did not care.
The brake strut also needed loosening, then retightened.

Had to shim the k member on my 84 Shelby too but that was to correct the SAI miss match from the factory
 
Professor Fate said:
As said, the Hemi Darts and Barracudas dropped the K frame for hood clearance- I think it was 3/4 or 1" off the top of my head. They do sell reproductions of the proper spacers. The hemi guys claim it doesn't affect geometry too badly, but there's always people that aren't comfortable with anything other than strict factory specs. But if you're overly concerned with it, you can use the F/M/J body spindles which are another 3/8 taller than the stock A body spindles and gets you back into a comfortable range. Plus it gets you 4.5" BC discs, too; if that's something you're after...
Click to expand...

They were 1/2'' from what I`ve read ------------I have a set on the bench that I made , and havent used because of the direct fit of my steering column, if I drop it , it would make the shaft too short , which I had to cut for the rack and pinion.
 
Regardless of screwed front end geometry, "I'd bet" that you could bend those T bars until you could barely get the thing together and it would not hurt them, one bit

But I agree with some others. Explore other options. Maybe even EFI LOL
 
oldkimmer said:
The factory bolts are tapered to locate the K frame and they also keep the K frame aligned. If u washer it without keeping the taper ur risking the K frame moving around and having ur steering go outta wack but ur motor and tranny won’t be in alignment anymore either. Kim
Click to expand...

Exactly. Just one more reason "not to".
 
Thanks for the input everyone, very interesting topic.

The other day I had no idea this was ever done or an option, however I see that to pull it off is like building a level 5 model kit, there's a lot of peripherals to consider.

On my build thread, it was questionable if I would achieve hood clearance, so someone suggested the k frame lowering option.

However, I won't be doing it on my current project because I fabbed some steel motor mounts and adjusted several other areas a 1/4 to half inch at time and eventually achieved clearance.
 
I've run spacers between the K frame and frame rails since 1982...they aren't 'dropping' the K frame, they're raising the car.

I only use 1/2" thick, nothing thicker.

The torsion bar misalignment is meaningless. I could go into a lot of explanation on that...but I'll just say it is no issue. Same goes for the steering column alignment.

If you don't believe me, just go look under a Chevy truck and you'll see T-bar misalignment that'll make you puke.

The real concern is suspension geometry. That's because when you drop the K frame, you are adding to the 'spread' of the LCA/UCA pivot points without adding to the spread of their ball joint points.

The good news is 1/2" seems to make no difference, in either alignment or driving.

This mod offers a lot of clearance in a some important places. The most important is hood clearance...a dropped base air cleaner is often easier said than done, and usually results in other stuff getting hit like the kickdown linkage or float bowl, etc.

So with the spacers, I was able to run a 440 (RB) with a Torker intake, Holley 800, and the usual cheap 14" air cleaner. All of it fit under the hood....nothing worse than holes in hoods.

I also now run a 499" (B) engine with M1 intake and 4500 Dominator, again all under the same hood.

But would I use a 1" spacer? Hell no.
 
I really can't understand most of your post so I can't comment on it...but I will say two things:

1) The spacers are not there for speed or racing. They're there for space. 1/2" is a ton of space when it comes to being able to close the hood or not.

2) Things have changed, yes. We can now admit to our tingly feelings for other men, we can protest by stealing Nikes from Target, and we can fight the man like never before. But math? Math hasn't changed a single bit. If you need to fit a 24" tall engine in a 23.5" tall compartment.....you'd better get out the old school spacers. Cast iron compresses poorly.
 
Lower the k-member if you would like. I believe there is a better way to fit a slant six under the hood. He is not compressing the engine he is adding a 4bbl carb. I posted what I did because I think lowering the k-member is just stupid now. Technology has changed . Why not raise the back of the hood. those blocks and all the changes would be far more expensive then just using a air hat. Like I said things have change. Just think before you act.

Or you could always put a parachute on the hood like they did in 68.

aomni22[1].jpg
 
Raise the hood? Talk about old school lame fixes. That's like adding A/C by rolling down the windows.

Air hats? Chances are good you'd drop the top of the air hat so low it would impede airflow. That's counter-productive. Those air hats look like you-know-what, too. I'm not seeing a whole lot of modern technology at work in either of your suggestions.

Spacers are easy, fast, light, cheap, and all but invisible. Hammers are old, too, but they sure have stayed popular.
 
brian6pac said:
HaHaHa I under stand what you are saying but it's not that drastic of a angle.
If your that smart, figure out what the angle is in 3/4" at 35" long
Click to expand...

I would bet a dime that the crossmember tolerance when built likely had damn near this much angle variance!
 
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