64 Dart 5.7 hemi update thread.

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The next pic is of the radiator being held in place so that its square to the frame. Ill have to make something to hold the passengerside of it even with the driverside. The other pic i took from inside the enginebay so you could see how much clearance i have for my filler neck. I could even raise the radiator abit if i need to, as you can see i can fit a screw driver on top of it.
Next ill have to fab something up so that that the passengerside of the radiator has something to rest against. Then I think i can weld in the lower support. Ill also have to make something up for the driverside, i need an area i can bolt it onto.
Ill update later.

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if that hose is a problem,,you can always go with a kool-flex type hose,,,bendable,adjustable,,,will stay in the position you shape it in,,,altho not a factory looking hose but will get the job done nicely,,there are other brands of that style hose that cost much less and work just as well,, i use the off brands with no problems,,,just a thought
 
OK, i stuck the hemi back in to see how things looked. Looks like ill have plenty of room for an electric fan set up. Also, the indentions i made for the valvecover bolts turned out ok. I cleaned up the center valvecover bolt hole that i made, but it still needs work. As you can see in the pics, it looks like i still need to do something about that passengerside exhaust manifold. I might shave it down abit. I dont think the manifold is actually touching the fenderwell, but as you can see in the pics, the heatshield is.
I might go buy a lower radiator hose to see how it fits, I dont have a pump, but itll give me a general idea how things should look. With the engine and radiator in, I can also check to see if a battery will fit in the engine bay, otherwise, the battery will have to go in the trunk. I can also start looking for a good place for the radiator overflow bottle. Im not sure if im gonna have room for the air intake box i wanted to do, i still need to look into that.
I also want to use the 97 jeep upper radiator support to cover up the top of the radiator, but i need to look into it further.

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Well, ill have room for the air box still but if i go with it, ill have to decide what to do with my overflow bottle. If the airbox is gonna be used, my overflow bottle will either be on the driverside of the car close to the radiator, which means ill have to route the line back in that direction or i can have it back in an area close to the firewall on the passengerside of the car, which if you look in the last two pics is where the 97 jeep grand cherokees overflow bottle is.
If i didnt use the air box the overflow bottle would go next to the radiator on the passengerside of the car.
I wont lie, using the airbox is gonna require me to cut an area in the fenderwell out, weld back in a "box like" section to keep the new area enclosed from the the elements and modiy the splash shield and the fender because they will have to fit around the area were the airbox will be. Its all still doable, but im not sure right now i have the skills to do it. I think ill give it some thought yet.
I want to use the air box and i know what i need to do, but i am abit nervous about cutting into the fenderwell. I think having this airbox put in and getting all that nice cool air from right behind the grill would really be nice, almost like a hood scoop. For now though im gonna work on the radiator support area and finish that up to i can at least check that off the list.
Also, doesnt look like much room for a battery does it?

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got the measurements for you. The battery tray is 8x11 the Optima battery is 7x9.25 inches. I place an aluminum overflow can in front of the battery and next to the radiator. Looks very clean and the drain valve is easy to get to as well.

Your radiator is huge!!! :rock: I don't know if you will have enough room to tuck in the overflow bottle next to the inner fender like mine. Maybe you can with the longer smaller diameter tank and still mount it somehow. The battery tray looks like it would work.

I debated on putting the battery in the trunk but decided against it. I may still do it one day. I like it the way it is for now.

Here are a few of my setup for you to ponder.

47b8df31b3127cceb41afc95189c00000035110AYs27Ji3ZsmPg

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Dave
 
Thanks for the measurements Dave, ill see if those dimension will work. The only problem for me is the radiators hose will come very close to hitting the battery. Hmmmmmmm
 
OK guys and gals, Jim (thats me), made something very cool today. While eyeballing my radiator, i started thinking about how i was gonna mount the thing onto the upper radiator support. I knew i didnt want any long bolts going from the front of the radiator all the way through the support, so i started thinking of making some brackets. Ive never did this before but I knew i kinda had to in order to make this all look nice, so I got all Chip Foose and start drawing what might work on paper. After I drew what l thought might work for the driverside mounting bracket, I then put that idea on a manilla folder, then i took it over to the car and test fitted it to see if it would work. It looked good so then i hunted down some metal. I found a place on my 64s rad support that looked like a good place to cut out my shape so i grabed the Dremel and went to town. After i cut it out I bent it into shape until it looked good. I test fitted several times, making sure the radiator was where i wanted it, then i removed my bracket, drilled some holes in the radiator support, placed my bracket back in place, then welded my piece on. It turned out awesome and i gotta say it was a big boost in confidance for me. Tomarrow ill make the passengerside braket.
The Dremel tool i bought is helping out alot, I also like the idea of using my 64s rad support for my piece, I not only didnt have to buy any sheet metal yet, but sense its part of the 64s orginal rad support it will spiritually bond with the new rad support..................:rolleyes: Ok, so i went to crazy town for a minute, sorry.
Well, what do you guys think?

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OK, heres the passengerside bracket . I found some bolts and mounted it up, finally no claps to hold it up. Now i have to work on my lower support, which would have been real easy, but my lower support is bent up abit so i need to get it flat again. Once i get it flat, all i need to do is drill two holes, so that the prongs on the bottom of the radiator will sit in them. Im thinking of putting a few rubber washers on each prong to cushion the radiator abit.
Bad news though.............i burnt up my dremel tool, I was in a hurry and cranked it up to 10 trying to cut something thick and it went poooooph. Oops

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Well, I drilled the holes for the two prongs on the bottom of the radiator so that the radiator would sit on the lower support. I need to notch out the lower support for my drain tap though. I sat some rubber washers under the prongs to see what they looked like, theyll work, but id like to find some smaller ones so that they hug the prongs better, the ones i have are a little big. Im not sure i even need the rubber washers, but i though that when the cars on the road, it might help to have that cushioned abit. What do you guys think?

Ill also think i have to cut some length (not much) off the bottom of each prong so that they will not touch my front valance, i wont know forsure until after i weld in the lower support and then hold up the valance to see if they clear.

I put my hood on to see if my filler neck still had the proper clearance, and it does. I gotta say, this radiator project (although no completely done) has turned out better then i thought it would.
Im glad I went with the 66 rad support and the 97 grand cherokee radiator. The set up looks factory and if i need another radiator in the future, it wont be hard to hunt one down. I also hope that this project pays off in the end and Ill never have any serious overheating issues. Im going to go with an electric fan and Ill also try to find a fan shroud to help keep things even cooler. My dream is to take this car on long cruises across this beautiful country of ours and go to events like Hot Rod Power Tour, and the last thing i want to experience going across the desert is over heating issues.

Well, i cant do anything else until my new Dremel tool comes in, so this should be it for a week or so.

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Thanks. Im just glad I got myself out in the garage and working on this project. We had a few warm days last week and that got the ball rolling. I think I'll save crawling under the car and removing all the dirt and such till spring weather, right now i dont mind kicking on the heaters and getting out while it's abit cold, because I dress pretty warm for it.
 
Hey Jim nice progress with the radiator support. As a suggestion I would use the factory type grommets on the bottom. They are larger in diameter and in thickness to support the weight of the radiator and use the upper holes to keep it in place. That's factory and I think if you use the side brackets for weight support you'll have problems later. Just my opinion, otherwise it looks very good.
 
Thanks. Do you think the lower support will be strong enough to support the wieght of the radiator? Also, do auto parts stores sell those grommets or would i have to pull them off something in a junkyard?
 
looks great,, one thing,,,looks like the side tank ( plastic ?) is touching or very close to the curved part of the lower suport,,ide find a way to coushin that so you dont rub a hole in the bottome of the side tank,, can the pins be shortened ??? maybe slide a very tight fitting piece of rubber hose over the pins i nthe bottom to act as a locking device,,just my 2 cents,,,

but comming along nicely
 
Dodgenut64 said:
Thanks. Do you think the lower support will be strong enough to support the wieght of the radiator? Also, do auto parts stores sell those grommets or would i have to pull them off something in a junkyard?
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I would think that he weight of the radiator shouldn't be a problem for the lower radiator support. That's how the factories designed the mounting and the radiators, even full don't weigh that much. As for finding the grommets, I don't know if a parts house would have them but surely a dealer or junkyard would be able to cough up some thing. It would also help with the close corner issues mentioned.
 
Thanks guys. The passengerside of the radiator still needs to be pulled flat abit (remember the dent), but other than that the picture makes it look alot closer then it is. Ill have to check on the grommets when im looking for the fan shroud.
Im hoping my dremel comes in this week so i can continue on with this project. I should have the lower support notched for the drain and welded in sometime this week.

Well, to pass the time ive been looking into the Polara dash abit further. I gotta be honest, im not sure if itll work yet. If i cant get it to work, i may go with my second choice which is a 66 barracuda dash.

Also, I may go with a 4 speed instead of the 5 speed. It would be cheaper, which means i could get my car on the road faster, and it should be easier to install then the 5 speed, because I shouldnt have to do much in order for it to fit (besides the trans tunnel hump).
 
After all the work you just did the 5speed would be a synch. I'm no custom fabricator but i was able to do it an I have zero experience. Goodluck.
 
daves66valiant said:
After all the work you just did the 5speed would be a synch. I'm no custom fabricator but i was able to do it an I have zero experience. Goodluck.
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Thanks Dave, that makes me feel good. I would love to have the 5 speed, but I think i could get a 4 speed that was rebuilt and all the linkage i needed for no more then $1500, maybe less.
I guess from seeing and reading about that guys road trip with his 64, I began to rethink things with my car abit. My desire to have it on the road is overpowering my desire for some of the nicer mods i wanted to do. With the 5speed and a new (unused) hemi engine, im still looking at over $9,000 easy, maybe more. If i go with a pulled hemi (low miles), and a rebuilt 4 speed, it would be closer to $4,000. I would still need things like a paint job, 3rd member, wheels and tires, leafsprings and hangers, rear brakes,wiring harness, EFI gas tank, and a top for my convertible, but going with a used hemi and 4 speed would help get my car on the road faster.
I originally had a goal of getting this car done at 40 years old, but im only 33 (34 in april) and i would really like to have this car on the road in the next three years, and i cant do that without changing a few things in my plans. I never even got to drive my car, it was already half taken apart when i got it, it was someone elses project, so i really have a strong desire to get things rollin. That link i posted with that guys road trip just made me rethink a few things. So going with the 4 speed is more about money then the mods required for the 5 speed.

Thanks again for all the nice complements about my project, it helps me keep things rolling when i know some of you guys are watching and waiting for updates.
 
hey, nice work man...and quick question...i spotted your minivan in the background...has it had the water pump or steering rack replaced yet?!
 
dodge nut,,, i had to cut corners,,or change plans during my build,,now im chaging plans againnnnn,,, i took the car off the road ( had clutch problems) so i started collecting stuff again,,,parts,info,,,etc,,was going to almost re do the entire car,new after market wiring,,all hiden,tremec 5 speed,,era correct wheels,,and maybe a repaint,,,,well im stil gong to d oall this but putting it off till next year,,,got to get it running real soon,,i have an offer from a magazine to be part of an article,,,im hoping i get it up and running real soon,,,,then it will be back to the refreshing again,,,you can always go with a over drive 4 speed,,,still have drivablitly,,,and get it running sooner,,,
i just hope you dont climb in my boat,,,and redo it down the road again,,,,
just my thoughts
 
Well, in the end, im still gonna have a few good mods. I will still be going with the 5.7 hemi and alterktion, so the cool factor will still be there. Sure a 5 speed would be nice, but sense im not looking to build a quater mile car, i can go with 3.23 or higher gears for the rear, so it wont be too bad really. Worse case senerio if a few years down the road i wanted to swap to a 5 speed, it wouldnt take much to do it.
I do thank you for your concern, but really, im gonna be so happy to get this car on the road that I dont think there will be room for dissapointment. I mean just think, ill have the car on the road and be driving it at least 3 years faster if i go with the 4 speed and a pulled engine. Thats three years of top down, wind in my hair, hemi rumblin from the tail pips, driving. :toothy10: So, dont feel too bad for me guys, this car will still be real fun to drive even with the 4 speed.
Youve all heard the term "Never feel sorry for a guy with an airplane" right? Well how about this one "Never feel sorry for a guy with a 350hp 64 dart gt convertible with rack and pinion steering".:rock:
The most important thing i want to get right the first time is the enginebay sense it will be painted. If later i put a 5 speed in, most of those mods will be under the car, so i wont have to repaint anything.
 
We are only 2 months apart. My birthday is next month. The big 34. I had figured this was going to be my only build so I went all out. It has been a 18 year process because I originally had my original first car since 15 that was a hardtop 66 Valiant. That went out the window when I found this awesome 66 Vert. Funny how plans change. Luckily, everything swapped over and I have tons of spare rust free parts from the deceased 66...doors, hood, trunk lid, fenders, bumpers, etc. Cool part was I used the roof for the floor tunnel on the Vert.

I think you have a good handle on what you want. I would think OD would be best in a 4speed while keeping cost down. The 5 speed conversion was not cheap for sure. I would love to have a 3rd gen Hemi, power rack and a t56 6-spd. Maybe we can meet up on the power tour one day with our verts and compare notes and burnt rubber. :cheers:
 
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