64 Dart 5.7 hemi update thread.

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Just thought of something with the steering column. The plate i got moves the column over a touch so that the steering shaft will clear the back corner of the hemis head. With the column moved over, the top of the column (were the steering wheel goes) will be at a slight angle. I sat in my car and wondered how to correct this. Looking at the u-shaped bracket that goes under the column, i started to wonder if i could make a new bracket or modify the one thats on there.
So far i figured out that if i hone out the holes that are already there (or drill new holes over a touch) so that i can move the upper column over to the left abit (which is the direction the lower section of the column was moved over to clear the rear of the hemi head), i think this will correct the slight angle the steering column has.
Doing this will make the steering column look off center in the hole in the dash were the column goes in just a little. I dont think its real bad, so if you use your original dash i think its able to be lived with. I think on the 64 Dart dash, you could just cut over to the left a touch to make the column look perfect. Ill be cutting up and fitting the polara dash to fit in my car so I shouldnt have an issue with this. Ill make sure that the column is center in the hole on the dash as i cut the polara dash up to fit.
I think that if i measure the difference between the two plates (the original plate and the new plate), that should be how much i need to move the upper column over. Ill do this by drilling new holes over a touch as i mentioned above.
Another note. Im using 66 bucket seats, they are narrower then my 64s. Im using them because i want to use a center console. The mounting holes are different on the 66 buckets then on the 64s also, so im going to have to make new holes. I gotta make sure that the driverside bucket seat is center to the column, but it also needs to clear the center console. This shouldnt be an issue i hope.

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Yes, basement work is winter work, but i need to finish it off so i dont have to mess with it anymore. While i was working on the basement the UPS guy brought my durango airbox. I tried playing with the durangos air tube, but it has another attachment on it that hangs over the radiator/fan area and i dont know if itll work yet. Using the rams air tube looks like the way to go. I have two pics of the different tubes leading to the durango box. I know the easy way out is to just get the K&N air filter setup, but im gonna try and use this box to continue the facotry feel in the enginebay i want to achieve. the box isnt pictured, but the lid of it is, just to give ya an idea were itll go. I understand not everyone is gonna dig this airbox thing i wanna do, but its a theme im trying to stick with.
Gotta get back to work in the basement tomarrow.

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hey man,, go with your ideas,,,i like the factory air box idea,,its some thing you made,,and didnt buy off the shelf to fit in,,,wil be very kool and effective im sure,,when your done you will be able to purchase parts at the parts store,,for a newer vehicle to keep and older koool classic on the road,,

and i hear ya about the basement project,, trying to work on 2 cars,, maintence on 2 other daily drivers,,and some home projects my self,,that i cant efford to pay someone to do,,or i refuse to pay that kind of bucks,, so one car off the road this season,,,collecting parts to do soem up grades,,and working on the other car,,then tear down my deck in the yard and build a new one,, before i complete the one classic,,before i move on the the 2nd classic,,,,i thought life was suppost to get easier as we got older.
soo many cars,, so little time and money,,,......
 
Thanks. Right now Im looking at a radiator out of a 93-97 jeep grand cherokee to see if it will fit. It has the right hookups for the hemi. As soon as i figure out how much room the radiator will take up i can see how far the airbox has to go over to clear it. the good thing about the truck hemi is the belt and accessories are close together which leaves ya more room then the car hemi.
I went with a manual rack and pinion because Bill at RMS said there wasnt enough room for a power rack, but id like to see closer pics of an AlterKtion with power just to see how much room it takes up. He also said at higher speeds the manual rack felt better/tighter then the power rack. One thing for sure, if i ever did try to get a power rack, the battery would most likely have to go in the trunk, i think the powersteering box would hit the battery, unless i modified the driver side fenderwell.
 
I was thinking about my groove i wanted to cut so that the valvecover bolt could be removed and the cover lifted up without needing to have the engine out. Then i thought of a better and easier way to access the bolt. Instead of cutting the groove i was thinking about, i thought why not just cut an access hole instead. I could cut a square hole in the fenderwell so that i could have access to the bolt. I figure the valve cover bolt could be left off when installing the engine, then through the fenderwell and with a swival socket attachment (and the wheel off) i could just put the bolt on through the hole. Then when it was on, i could have a small plate to cover the whole back up. Looking at my car and the location of the troublesome valve cover bolt location, im pretty sure its higher up then were the coil over mounts up.
Tomarrow when im taking a break from working on the basement, im gonna take a closer look at it. I think this is a better way to go and itll look nicer. Some other mopars have access openings anyway, so this wont be any different.

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Ok, so i did a little work on the access hole today. Looks rough right now, but later i will take the engine out and cut the hole nicer with a cutting tool. As you can see in the pics the threads on top of the bolt will need to be cut down so that when i have the cover plate for the hole on the threads will clear the plate.
Cool thing is the suspension is plenty low, so it wont be in the way. With this access hole all i have to do is take my tire off if i need to remove my valvecover, no need to raise the engine out. This hole will look nicer then what i was thinking about doing, which was to cut a groove from the top down to the bolt.
The bolt will have to be removed in order to lift the engine out, but thats easy to do.
I still gotta work on the other two valve cover bolts. The front one wont be too bad, but the rear one will either require some good hammer work or another access hole (havent decided on which).

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Got my jeep crand cherokee radiator in. its 27 1/4 wide, which i knew. ill have to trim the flat part of the frame out so that it will have room. Im still thinking the radiator cap will be close to the hood, wont know till i get the radiator slid down into place. If its too close, ill drop the lower radiator support a touch.
 
do you have enough clearance ,,for engine movement??? around that valve cover bolt hole you made in the shock tower??...
 
I still gotta clean the hole open abit more. How much do you think the engine will move with all metal motor mounts (no rubber)? how far do you think i should go above the valve cover bolt?
 
completely solid motor mounts..??? im sure it will give a little,, i was thinking,,if you sliced out enough to put a half of a pipe,,sorta like a tube cut in half,,welded in place with the opening towards the head,,you could slide the wrench or socket straight down,,instead of removing the tire to get to it,, but the tube would have to go a little below the bolt,,because that side of the motor will move down,,,not up,,,just a thought,,
 
What i ment by solid is that theyre not made like the factory ones with the rubber pad/block.
 
Hey guys, havent posted in awhile on my project, but i really havent got to do much on it, but i finally got my basement done. Anyway, pulled my engine back out so that i can start the big clean up job in the enginebay and under the car. I have a question in regards to making room on my passengerside fenderwell for three of my valvecover bolts. In order for three of my passengerside valvecover bolts to clear i had to make some changes. As youve seen, ive made a hole for the center of the three, i still have to clean it up abit, but the other two i still gotta work on. I was just gonna grab a hammer and start denting in the areas where the valvecover bolts were rubbing, but i thought of something that might make it easier. What if i heat up the area and then hammer it in? Later this week, im gonna try it on one of the areas. Anyone else tried anything like this? any tips would help.
 
man I hope all goes well. I don't have to hammer anything... I guess thats b/c the engine bays a different huh?
 
Hey Dodgenut64, Don't know if it's too late to offer an idea on the steering column angle thing. I run across this device from Wizard Fab, Steer Clear, who builds a housing that permits a builder to shift the lower exit of the steering assembly & place the steering column at a more horizonal angle, giving more foot room in the passenger cabin. Not sure if your Flaming River column will work with it. You may be too far along in your build to change directions in the steering choices to concider the Wiz Fab device at this point, but take a look at their web site. Just a thought...

http://www.wizardsteerclear.com/
 
Moparsky said:
Hey Dodgenut64, Don't know if it's too late to offer an idea on the steering column angle thing. I run across this device from Wizard Fab, Steer Clear, who builds a housing that permits a builder to shift the lower exit of the steering assembly & place the steering column at a more horizonal angle, giving more foot room in the passenger cabin. Not sure if your Flaming River column will work with it. You may be too far along in your build to change directions in the steering choices to concider the Wiz Fab device at this point, but take a look at their web site. Just a thought...

http://www.wizardsteerclear.com/
Click to expand...

Thats a cool device, thanks for the site. Actually i really only have to grind a touch off the exhaust manifolds heatshield and grind that hole on the mounting plate like i mention before.


I managed to heat and beat the fenderwheel down like i planned, but its a bit tricky getting my engine back down into its mounting postion all by myself, i actually wedged it in there yesterday before work and had to have my wife come help me. Anyway i was trying to see if those valvecover bolt areas would clear better now, but i ran out of time. This weekend ill get the engine back in there and take some pics. So far my hammering doesnt look too bad.
As far as fitment, yes the early a-bodies are abit tighter then 67-and ups. Im a little concerned about the passengerside exhuast manifold hitting a little hump on the fenderwell. I cant really beat that area up too much, because behind it is some thicker metal were the cam bolts go. Ill post pics the weekend. For now, im gonna start getting the paint off the enginebay area.
 
Hey "DodgeNut64",

Any updates on your cool 64 Dart project :scratch: ?

How's that Polara dash cluster install going :thumbup: ?

Looking forward to seeing the your latest adventures
on your 64 project !
 
Ive started to sand my enginebay. I also think I have the valvecover area cleared now. I removed the tar/weather sealer stuff out of the front and rear wheelwells, Ill still have get what was left behind with the sander. The heating torch and puddy knife worked well. Ill probably spend most of this fall cleaning up the enginebay and under the car. I need to remove my hood tension bars in order to get to the firewall better with the sander.
Over the past few weeks ive gotten more "stuff" for my car. I now have all the interior pieces except for the armrest pads, this encludes the carpet, seat covers, door panels, armrest bases, door handles and on the way i have the convertible panels that hide the convertible workings. Ive also ordered the well liner and the top boot. I was trying to get all that stuff so i could check off one of my goals (interior stuff), but as you know interior stuff includes wiring harness to, but i found some good deal and didnt want to pass them up.
Almost ready to start welding, but had to get some different wire, the stuff i got with my welder was for flux core.
Ive also been selling some stuff on ebay (big headach). I actually make more money working overtime at work in 4 hours, then i did selling a bunch of stuff on ebay and its taken me hours to post the stuff, straiten out issues with payments (i had my old email in my file so the buyers payments were all pending) and packing the stuff. I just sold the stuff to get it out of my house, it wasnt taken up much room, but i figured if i wasnt gonna use it, maybe someone else could.
Anyway i think next week ill get back into my car and maybe try out the welder. I work both sat and sunday (24 hours OT), 12 hours each day. Its real good money, but no weekends means no time to spend with the kids. Anyway. maybe next week ill take some pics of my progress. Im thinking maybe this fall/winter i might try to change out my rad support. My dash will have to wait, thats gonna take some skills, and im thinking ill save that till later. I want to get good with the welder before i tackle that.

Thanks for the interest in my project, its moving along, but i still have alot of work to do. Ill keep everyone posted.
 
Hey guys, i havent posted in awhile. I finally got to use my welder last week. It was awsome. I didnt get to mess with it this week because some dumb@$$ hit my car, so ive had to deal with that all week. My rental is a new dodge avenger, gotta say, i like my neon better. The avengers OK, but has a bulky feel about it. Bad rear blind spot also.
Back to the welder. i did ok for my first time, i gotta figure out how to make small spot weld size welds for the stuff i gotta do for my car. I guess slow my wire speed down abunch? I think if i can make some small spot weld like welds, i might tackled those holes were my shocks used to come up through the fenderwells and i might switch out radiator supports (64 to 66) this winter. Any tips would be helpful.
Ill probably start sanding again this week, gotta get those hood tension bars off. When i get the enginebay sanded down ill take some pics. I havent found a reason to stick the hemi back in yet, those indentions i made to clear the valvecover bolt ears, look good, but i need to make them look nice (i have few tiny dents that need worked out).
 
keep going man sounds great,,, one word of advice,,when you remove the rad housing,,or i should say before you remove it,,the perfect thing to have would be from a pick up truck accessery store,,a load lock,,has threads on both ends so you can adjust the width to match the width of the truck bed,,has pads on each end,,or get a 2x2 or 2x4 cut it to the exact width of the inner fender wells where they attach to the tops of the fenders. this will keep the inner fender wells and fenders in place. once you remove the radiator housing they will want to fall in towards the engine bay.keep the tool you use to do thsi with towards the front,will make it easier to get the new housing in and adjusted to weld,,hope this helps
 
Thanks for the advice. I just got my blair spot weld cutter set today, these should help.
 
OK, some progress. As you can see in the first pic i got the lower rad support off and im gonna try to get the top section tomarrow. The second pic is a pic of the area i dented in so that the valvecovers could be taken off without lifting the motor up. My aircompressor is too whimpy to run any air tools, so im gonna have to buy an electric grinder. I gotta looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnng way to go.
The spot weld cutter works awsome. highly recommended.
Im gonna have to get some sheet metal sometime down the road to fill in those shock mount holes, whats the best tool/way to cut shapes from sheet metal?

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