knote72
Stupidity is not unilateral, we all pay the price
Keep us (me) posted on the T56 swap. Wanna know what all fab work needs to happen, should I opt for it instead of holding out for the A-855
My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
- Thread starter 72bluNblu
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74SwingerA
Active Member
Seriously Blu - Get on that T56 man! You spent so much to collect the parts now park the darn thing and swap!
Jokes aside we are all anticipating the swap and I really want to hear/see the results.
Jokes aside we are all anticipating the swap and I really want to hear/see the results.
Well I actually got one of the last pieces for the install this week when my new 4.30 geared trutrac 3rd member came in from DoctorDiff. All that’s left for parts now (I think) is the drive shaft, and I’ve got to get the trans in to measure for that.
The bad news is I also managed to sprain my wrist at work, so, I’m sidelined for at least 3 weeks. It’s my dominant hand too, so I’m pretty much useless for any kind of mechanical work until it heals up.
The bad news is I also managed to sprain my wrist at work, so, I’m sidelined for at least 3 weeks. It’s my dominant hand too, so I’m pretty much useless for any kind of mechanical work until it heals up.
Come on now....tape that SOB up, rub some dirt it....and get back to hot roddin.
Man I wish. I tried ignoring it for a bit but a couple of my fingers were starting to go numb after a shift at work. So now doctors and work comp is involved.
Moot point anyway, if I could work through it I’d be at work, we sent a bunch of engines and personnel out with all the fires so we’re short staffed and into mandatory call back. So even if I was healthy the whole thing would be on hold until the strike teams come back.
WOW!!! I just read 11 pages. How did I miss this?
What a great build! I Love the detail to the suspension work done (actually everything done). The dash came out awesome!
What a great build! I Love the detail to the suspension work done (actually everything done). The dash came out awesome!
Dartsun
Mopar Dude
This is such a great build. Always like reading your advice Blu. Can’t wait for T56 swap update. Dustin
knote72
Stupidity is not unilateral, we all pay the price
Hey, someone in my neck of the woods!
Thanks!
I can't wait for the T56 update either!
Unfortunately, I tore some cartilage in my wrist back in September while I was at work. It's not terrible and I'm still working, but I kind of put my major side projects on hold because the more I use it the more it hurts, and work is usually hard enough on it that I need my time off to rest it enough to go back to work. And of course it's my dominant hand, so there's that. I've finally jumped through all the work comp hoops, got an MRI, and am working on my 2nd surgical opinion. So, hopefully I'll know what the "plan" is soon and I can get back to it.
Knock on wood, the T56 swap should go fairly quick once I actually start it. I pretty much have all the parts, I bought the crossmember for the T56 magnum from Tjfly4pay so the tunnel sheet metal and clutch master cylinder mounting is really the only fabrication that I have to do. The only other thing that will need to be made to finish the install is the driveshaft once I know the length.
panheadchuck
Well-Known Member
ANy chance you still have the pdf presentation , If so could i use it . PleaseAlright, next installment. Wiring hell.
I had a mechanical flex fan and the stock skinny fan belts on my 340 to start out with. I quickly found that no matter how I shimmed the pulley's or how tight I made the belt I would toss it whenever I really stabbed the throttle. Probably because of the stupid flex fan grabbing a tremendous amount of air. Not good! I was also having a hard time warming the car up and keeping it at temperature, the combination of flex fan, 26" aluminum radiator, and high flow water pump was actually cooling the car TOO well.
So, I bought a March serpentine conversion with alternator bracket, and upgraded to a 100amp Tuff Stuff alternator to handle the load from my new electric set up. Goldduster318 was kind enough to post up his conversion to dual electric fans using a set up from a Contour, so I did a little research and decided that was the way to go!
The fans come courtesy of a 1995-2000 Ford Contour. Dual electric fans, high and low speed, with a shroud that just about fit my 26" Champion radiator like it was made for it. To get it mounted I added a couple of 1/8" by 2" aluminum bar, and used the original mounting brackets on the fan.
I bought the fans new (Dorman 620-104), but hit the local PickNPull and picked up a spare set up that had the complete harness still attached. The entire set up is routed through a Dakota Digital controller, PAC-2750. It lets you program all the on/off temps, uses my autometer water temp gauge sending unit, and even allows me to program the fans to run after shut down for up to 5 minutes (and kills the fans if the battery gets low).
Dakota Digital Programmable Dual Fan Controllers PAC-2750
I did have to buy an extra relay for the dual fan set up Dakota Digital Relays with Wiring Sockets RLY-3
Followed by what I like to do LEAST, I wired this whole set up, along with finishing my battery cut off switch and relay to finally complete my battery to trunk relocation. I had been driving the car, just not with the cut off.
Anyway, the final product. Pulley's installed, no more belt throwing. Fan installed with 180* thermostat. No more flex fan, more horsepower, and shorter warm up times.
Special thanks to goldduster318, he made up an AWESOME pdf presentation about how to set up the whole fan installation and wiring. :thumbup:
And just as a bonus, the diagram I made up for my battery relocation, cut off, and relay...
Let’s see if this works...
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/electric-fan-26in-radiator-pdf.1715101084/
bbab3
Well-Known Member
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Great thread! After reading about your use of spring sliders I did some searching and found this document.
https://static.speedwaymotors.com/images/charts/Slider_Tech.gif
What's your take on it?
https://static.speedwaymotors.com/images/charts/Slider_Tech.gif
What's your take on it?
That’s pretty much the instructions for how to set them up for best use as far as the position of the spring eye bolt in the slider and the angle of the sliders themselves.
The bit about having the front spring eyes mounted narrower than the rears isn’t really relevant on A-bodies as the spring mounts aren’t designed that way. You could do it, but it would be a ton of work to accomplish that and having the springs set up that way has both pros and cons. E-body springs are set up that way from the factory.
bbab3
Well-Known Member
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Thanks for the reply. The reason I ask is that I had problems finding 8 3/4" for my Barracuda, and put a 9" out of a Versailles in with disks, and 3.55 trac-loc out of a 1/2 ton. The spring perches are 1/2" wider if I remember correctly and I have been considering offsetting the rear shackles, or now using the sliders moved outward as a solution. The car is in the body shop right now so I can't measure it to see what's feasible.
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jedrattle
Well-Known Member
I love your build! I'm stealing some ideas for my '64 Valiant. I'm having cooling issues right now. I read about your radiator/fan setup. I'm going to start collecting the parts to replicate it. I didn't see what radiator you're running. Is it a champion? What part number?
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It's a Champion 26" 3 core. The part number is CC374, it was listed for an E-body application originally. I believe the radiator dimensions have changed since I bought mine though, pretty sure what they offer now is a 374B which is taller and doesn't fit as well.
knote72
Stupidity is not unilateral, we all pay the price
The champion that's sized for the A-bodies (CC526) is 22". Is the 26" for better cooling, or just so it fits the fan setup better?
Both. The 26” is better for cooling, surface area is king in thermodynamics. And the contour fan set up won’t fit a 22” radiator. I didn’t get the 26” for the contour fan set up though, I went with the 26” first because I had a factory 26” A-body radiator and added the mounting points when I converted from /6 to V8. It leaked so I replaced it with another 26”.
Champion just doesn’t list a 26” radiator for A-bodies. Not sure why, A-bodies came with 26” radiators from the factory. You just have to check the height dimensions. They’ve changed the measurements more than once since I bought mine. There’s also some new offerings for aluminum radiators now too, some with stamped tanks that look a little more factory.
dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
This is the first time iv saw this thread. You did an amazing job on the instrument cluster. Holy cow that is amazing I may have to give that a try. I like original appearance stuff so I'm not a huge fan of aftermarket gauges etc. But the barracuda dash is my favorite cluster of any of them. So that swap would be so cool it's not original but it's like a rallie dash if they would have put one on the darts. Very very cool I guess I'm gonna have to keep my eyes open
jedrattle
Well-Known Member
Thank for the reply. I think I'm screwed though. My little early A is tight in the engine compartment. I think it will fit width wise but, the depth..not so much. Looking up specs it looks like the radiator and contour setup is about 6 1/2ins deep. I half a little bit over 5ins from the core support to the waterpump pulley. Back to the drawing board
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
How about engine driven fan. Use fan clutch off 1990 jaguar XJ6
mygasser
Well-Known Member
i just bought one of those for my 68 valiant i'm fitting a 383 into. the guy has turned up a lovely adapter to bolt to the water pump pulley bolts too so it's a direct fit.
neil.
jedrattle
Well-Known Member
I wanted to run this contour setup to elimate the engine driven fan. My little 273 needs all the help it can get! Lol. I might have to look at that as an option
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
The jag clutch comes with a centering bushing to line it up on a mopar pump. Its about 3/4" shorter than stock mopar V8 fan clutch. If using poly motor mounts, engine shouldent walk forward very much on hard acceleration.
The contour fans are about 3" deep from the radiator core to the back of the shroud and about 3 1/2" from the radiator to the back of the motors. The motors are offset though so the 3 1/2" depth doesn't line up with the water pump. And the Champion radiator tanks overhang the core, so you wouldn't just add the depth of the radiator to the depth of the fans.
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