5.9 Magnum to TF904

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No problem.

I did think of something else, regarding the starter. I managed to kill 3 standard starters in the first few months of having my car on the road. They would last about a month each, with the override clutch being destroyed (should have been shimmed?). I switched to a dakota starter and it's been good ever since. The new starter also sounds better, more like a modern car. Not that it really matters, but I thought it was a good change. Plus the extra room is nice too.
 
UOP said:
No problem.

I did think of something else, regarding the starter. I managed to kill 3 standard starters in the first few months of having my car on the road. They would last about a month each, with the override clutch being destroyed (should have been shimmed?). I switched to a dakota starter and it's been good ever since. The new starter also sounds better, more like a modern car. Not that it really matters, but I thought it was a good change. Plus the extra room is nice too.
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Funny thing is that I ordered a Mini starter last night. I think I will need the room. I haven't quite decided what exhaust I am going to use in the end, for starters, I am going to use the stock exhaust from the 318. I guess it will fit. I am going to paint the engine bay this week and I haven't ordered a radiator yet. I am leaning toward the 3 row 22 inch Champion. Any opinions? I hope to have this together in about two weeks.

Should I keep the single plane M1 or use the Mopar airgap? The motor came with the M1, I bought the Mopar Airgap awhile back when I was thinking about a 408. I have to check the airgap I believe it is for the LA360. I will check tomorrow.

Thanks
 
Cuda67, save your self a bunch of headaches and cut of the drivers side truck motor mount pads if you plan to run headers.The stock exhaust manifolds will fit the Magnum heads. Enjoy!!!
 
cuda67 said:
Funny thing is that I ordered a Mini starter last night. I think I will need the room. I haven't quite decided what exhaust I am going to use in the end, for starters, I am going to use the stock exhaust from the 318. I guess it will fit. I am going to paint the engine bay this week and I haven't ordered a radiator yet. I am leaning toward the 3 row 22 inch Champion. Any opinions? I hope to have this together in about two weeks.

Should I keep the single plane M1 or use the Mopar airgap? The motor came with the M1, I bought the Mopar Airgap awhile back when I was thinking about a 408. I have to check the airgap I believe it is for the LA360. I will check tomorrow.

Thanks
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The LA manifolds will fit the Magnum heads no problem. The headers I've got on my car are for a LA motor (block huggers, remember my car is not an a body). I used LA gaskets.

As for the radiator, I don't have an opinion on that. I've got an aluminum 22" 2 core radiator in my car, but it's not an apples to apples comparison to what you're looking at.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't know exactly what you're doing with your motor. But, I'm guessing that since you're going to run the stock exhaust, the air-gap would be the better choice. Keeps the torque down low while making good power, right on par with the M1. There's a reason they're so popular, they work. However if you've got the Magnum M1 and a LA air-gap, the choice would be obvious, the M1 since you've already got it.
 
Ok... reviving an old thread since my exact questions have been asked already...

My new torque converter arrived on Saturday and I was checking the alignment with the stock Magnum weighted flex plate and found this same situation:

fstfish66 said:
old geez,,, he is asking about the flex plate not being centered,, look at the pic of your red/orange TC,, the crank register button is off center on yours also,,he is asking if it will throw it out of balance,,not weighted balance,,,almost out of round
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So three of the four bolts will fit but if I elongate the hole to fit the fourth bolt (as has been reccommended), the flext plate will be slightly off center. How can this not be a problem?


UOP said:
Just for those of you who are interested, I also elongated the hole in my stock magnum flexplate to run a standard 904 converter. Been driving it for a year now with no weird vibrations or any other issues. I was a little concerned about whether or not the bolts would back out, but I've checked them several times and they're still tight. I did use a little blue loctite on the bolts though.
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UOP, by some long shot chance that you check back into this thread, can you clarify if your flexplate was centered or not? Sounds like you had success so I'd love to replicate whatever you did. :D
 
It's never been a problem for me, runs well up to 6k. You do realize the converter is neutral balance, so there is nothing that will be affected by it being .00002372872392387 off, your thinking too much.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
It's never been a problem for me, runs well up to 6k. You do realize the converter is neutral balance, so there is nothing that will be affected by it being .00002372872392387 off, your thinking too much.
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Ok...this is encouraging!

You're right that the converter is neutral-balanced of course but once you move it off the center line, the system will be out of balance.

As you suggested though, the amount of the imbalance may be insignificant.

Still, would it make sense to elongate ALL of the holes and center it? I don't know at what point you start to weaken the plate.
 
MRGTX said:
Ok...this is encouraging!

You're right that the converter is neutral-balanced of course but once you move it off the center line, the system will be out of balance.

As you suggested though, the amount of the imbalance may be insignificant.

Still, would it make sense to elongate ALL of the holes and center it? I don't know at what point you start to weaken the plate.
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Mine has been in car and driving for almost two years now. No problems with balance and no vibrations. It is truly simple. You are just like the rest of us, " we tend to over think things.". Just elongate the one hole, put it together and have fun.
 
Boy ain't that the truth! We are all afflicted with the same disease.

I don't mean to be an ***, I know how you think, and I know this has been a pain in the arse for you and you want to do it right. I'm firm on this because all the folks I know that have done the swap have done it this way, including myself, so we all can't be wrong.

You have a choice, You can hope for 6 more people to chime in that have done the swap to come say the same thing, or you can run it.

In general there are more important things to be concerned about, like suspension stuff like: Good leaf spring bushings, frame connectors, 1"+ torsion bars, offset UCA bushings and k-frame reinforcement and 17+ 5.72 backspace rims and good tires for better handling and control. There is also an article on how to 'pump it down' the steering box to give better road feel. Google it.

You've got to pick which area is gonna receive the attention and which will be good enough, ask me how I know. Look at my build, I went deep.

Perfect is the enemy of the good on these cars, or any old car, the build tolerances were ridiculousness wide. Don't worry about the little things that give them personality. :)
 
Thanks, guys...

I think you're right. I was assembling the converter and the flex plate with the three bolts that fit....and my father looks over my shoulder, sees right away that it's about 1/16" off center and says- "no way." When my old man (who has been hotrodding since before my Dart was manufactured) gives the thumbs down, it certainly makes me hesitate.

Nevertheless, I'm just going to mount it up and go. You guys seem to know what you're talking about and I think you're right that I'm wasting my time worrying about it. Fortunately, this will not be my daily driver...I'm not relying on this car as a means of putting food on the table so even in the worst case scenario, it's not that big of a deal. I just don't want to wreck the motor or transmission because the budget is not going to provide a replacement for either for quite a while. So I'm really trying to err on the side of caution.

FWIW, the modified stock plate seems to be the ONLY means of getting the Magnum mounted up to the 904. As many of you guys know, B&M used to make a suitable flex plate but it's long out of production. I called B&M just to be sure and they confirmed this. I also asked why the 727 plate wouldn't work. The tech explained that there was something different about "input shaft offset" (which doesn't sound right to me) but the bottom line is that they just weren't compatible. (Has anyone ever tried?)

Anyway, B&M then directed me to call a company called JW Performance who had supposedly offered a flex plate that would work. This turned out to be totally false. They had flex plates to mount up the Magnum to several transmissions (I could have sworn he said Powerglide :banghead: ) but no 904.

Ok, thanks again guys (especially PoisonDart74!) for your help and patience. I'll pass along the results. :D
 
What i've always wondered is if it would just be possible to take a neutral balance 904 flexplate and have it balanced to magnum specs.
 
magnumdust said:
What i've always wondered is if it would just be possible to take a neutral balance 904 flexplate and have it balanced to magnum specs.
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Better yet, you can get a Magnum-balanced converter. I believe that for some years, this was how they came from the factory. Neutral flex plate, balanced converter.

But to your question, yes, you can balance a flex plate yourself. I'd be very worried about welding/epoxying the weights so that they would hold up to the heat and forces over the long term.
 
So I spent some time with the Dremel and hogged out the one misaligned hole in the stock flex plate and I was able to mount it up to the converter...it's slightly off center of course... but when looking through the instructions from TCI, it's mentioned that this procedure might be necessary and I assume that any time you do this, the result will be a slightly off-center plate...so perhaps it's common and not that big of a deal after all (as you guys have suggested).

I forgot to take a picture but I'll do so when I get home. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting this thing assembled. I have Mopar fever...need some wheel time in my Dart ASAP. :D
 
MRGTX said:
Better yet, you can get a Magnum-balanced converter. I believe that for some years, this was how they came from the factory. Neutral flex plate, balanced converter.

But to your question, yes, you can balance a flex plate yourself. I'd be very worried about welding/epoxying the weights so that they would hold up to the heat and forces over the long term.
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yeah but custom balanced converters are pricey
 
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