Hemi swap oil pan questions

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I have a 6.4 in my 71 Demon using Schumacher mounts on the factory Slant Six K frame. I'm using the Milodon 31000 pan and my center link also has a hard stop on the passenger side of the oil pan when turning right. I'm actually getting ready to order the Holley one and just plan on chopping a chunk out of it for clearance, or keeping the Milodon one with some heating and beating to get the clearance I need. The drivers side is fine BTW.

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70Sbird said:
I have a 6.4 in my 71 Demon using Schumacher mounts on the factory Slant Six K frame. I'm using the Milodon 31000 pan and my center link also has a hard stop on the passenger side of the oil pan when turning right. I'm actually getting ready to order the Holley one and just plan on chopping a chunk out of it for clearance, or keeping the Milodon one with some heating and beating to get the clearance I need. The drivers side is fine BTW.

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Exactly what’s happening to mine except for Holley pan.. so here’s a question. If I swap to 73-76 components will I have to swap spindles / steering arms? I have big bolt pattern on it already don’t know what spindle it is though. Thinking about bump steer seeing the tie rod will be lower with 73-76 stuff
 
SlantedDart said:
Exactly what’s happening to mine except for Holley pan.. so here’s a question. If I swap to 73-76 components will I have to swap spindles / steering arms? I have big bolt pattern on it already don’t know what spindle it is though. Thinking about bump steer seeing the tie rod will be lower with 73-76 stuff
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Not certain, but pretty sure you don’t have to change the tie rods or anything. Length is probably different, but just an alignment thing.

Plenty of people have put the later BBP spindles and brakes on early cars and no one I am aware of has ever mentioned having tho change the tie rods.
 
SlantedDart said:
Exactly what’s happening to mine except for Holley pan.. so here’s a question. If I swap to 73-76 components will I have to swap spindles / steering arms? I have big bolt pattern on it already don’t know what spindle it is though. Thinking about bump steer seeing the tie rod will be lower with 73-76 stuff
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I'm not sure about mixing the components since the steering box mounts in the same place on the K frame and the tie rod ends should be similar. HOWEVER, the center link and Pitman/Idler are different. The 72 and older connect with the center link from the bottom (like we have in our pictures above), the 73 and up is reversed, with the arms connecting from the top. Here is a picture of a 72 and prior Idler arm on the left and a 73 and up on the right. I believe as long as the pitman/Idler/center link are all matched the tie rod ends are fine with either combination. Now I'm going to guess that with the new Holley parts based on the 73 and up spool mount K frame, the engine may sit a little higher and with the bolted ends of the center link facing down the center link may be lower, so there may be no oil pan fouling issue if using all of the 73 and up pieces, but as I said, that is just a guess on my part. If I had a 73 and up center link here I would try it.

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@70Sbird do you have part numbers handy idler and pitman arm for manual steering I think I have the big 1-1/8 spline? I’ll be doing it this way.. if I have to cut I have to cut. With the 73-76 stuff I know I won’t have to cut very much of anything it seems.
 
SlantedDart said:
@70Sbird do you have part numbers handy idler and pitman arm for manual steering I think I have the big 1-1/8 spline? I’ll be doing it this way.. if I have to cut I have to cut. With the 73-76 stuff I know I won’t have to cut very much of anything it seems.
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SlantedDart,
The 72 and older Idler is K7042, the Pitman is K7074. the 73 and up parts are: Idler - K7086 and Pitman - K7076
Those are all Moog part numbers. You mentioned the sector shaft diameter too, I forgot to mention that in my earlier post. the 72 and older have the "small" sector shaft, the 73 and up has the "bigger" one. I have a small sector Borgeson power steering box in my Demon so that means I'm locked into the 72 and down setup unless I want to change steering boxes....I wish I had known this earlier as I would have done some parts swapping to try both setups and see if I could do this with a minimum of violence to my new parts!
 
I have a 73+ center link kicking around. It’s dirty and has an idler arm still attached, no idea if the idler is any good. Someone could have it if they paid shipping.
 
I’ll let you guys know soon. Parts are on the way hopefully I’ll have them on by the weekend
 
I got my pan today but it's a few months before the engine goes in.
 
When I started my swap in my 67 Barracuda I ran into this same problem with the pitman arm and steering linkage. After trying another Kmember and trying make stuff fit. My solution was to get the Alterkation suspension it was pricey but I was tired of shotgunning the project and running into roadblocks. I figured 1 and done. We spend a lot time getting the parts together determining what we need and miss 1 detail and screws up the whole project. We get advise from those who have a lot of knowledge of what fits on what years but have no knowledge in the Hemi swap department and we go down the rabbit hole. I think that’s the biggest reason so many projects get abandoned.
 
Well this is not fun reading this thread. I just got my 6.4 crammed into the engine bay on my 69 Barracuda. Stock K member, Holley Pan, TTI mounts. But i'm still a weekend or 2 away from connecting up the suspension and steering. Looks like I will be running into this same problem.
 
cuda_Jeff said:
Well this is not fun reading this thread. I just got my 6.4 crammed into the engine bay on my 69 Barracuda. Stock K member, Holley Pan, TTI mounts. But i'm still a weekend or 2 away from connecting up the suspension and steering. Looks like I will be running into this same problem.
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It's good that the conversation is happening. I'll be doing my swap soon and it's good to know what the bugs are so they can be dealt with. The biggest issue I see is the drag link hitting the pan and it's both styles of pan with the issue. Hopefully someone will make the modifications to the aluminum pan and let everyone know how to do it. Steel pans are easy enough but aluminum brings in a new set of issues.
 
SlantedDart said:
@70Sbird do you have part numbers handy idler and pitman arm for manual steering I think I have the big 1-1/8 spline? I’ll be doing it this way.. if I have to cut I have to cut. With the 73-76 stuff I know I won’t have to cut very much of anything it seems.
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If you have manual steering from a A/B/E/F body, it should be small sector.

Big sector manual boxes are from C-bodys and Vans I believe.

Measure yours.

If it's large sector manual, buy a 73-76 (large sector) power steering pitman.
 
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Alright guys.. swapping the pitman arm and idler DID help BUT from lock to lock on the steering box is two turns. I’m at 1-1/2 and the idler ball joint crashes into the pan.. I might just leave it seeing there only a half a turn left. I have the ability to weld cast aluminum though so that’s up in the air…minimal clearance maybe an inch deep pocket.

There is another issue.. the tie rods. They are super angry going in from the top. No other way to do it since the tapper of the center link.. so there IS a difference between lower ball joint/ steering arms from 72 on up. the arm must raise up and correct this issue. You COULD drill out the center link and use a rod end style from the bottom but it will mess up bumpsteer pretty bad the geometry is very pissed off leaving it under. NOTE I’m use if my own motor mounts I made them to TTI spec except for crank centerline height, mine is a bit lower. Measuring from top of k member to crank centerline I’m at 5-1/2. I think they call for 5-3/4.. I don’t think a 1/4 inch would help the matter though.
 
Set the car back on the ground or jack the suspension up and check the angles...unless you've done that already. Disregard that...I didn't read it clearly, the idler crashes into the pan.
 
Did you happen to get a picture of the drag link hitting the pan with the OG parts on it?
 
SlantedDart said:
Alright guys.. swapping the pitman arm and idler DID help BUT from lock to lock on the steering box is two turns. I’m at 1-1/2 and the idler ball joint crashes into the pan.. I might just leave it seeing there only a half a turn left.
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What steering box are you using? Never heard of a box with only 2 turns lock-to-lock. I think even the quicker Borgeson box is 3.25 turns or something.

Regardless, pretty sure the limits for steering are not in the box, but between the lower BJ and the control arm. There is a little nub on the BJ that contacts a spot on the control arm that limits the steering angle. At least on the later parts there is a nub, just looked maybe the earlier BJ does it differently?

Something to look at.

SlantedDart said:
There is another issue.. the tie rods. They are super angry going in from the top. No other way to do it since the tapper of the center link.. so there IS a difference between lower ball joint/ steering arms from 72 on up. the arm must raise up and correct this issue. You COULD drill out the center link and use a rod end style from the bottom but it will mess up bumpsteer pretty bad the geometry is very pissed off leaving it under.
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Need to figure out what spindles and LBJ you have. You said you have BBP on your car, and unless they are aftermarket, I think that means all of your suspension should be '73+ now.

Snap a picture of the spindle and brakes.

Could be the tie rod issue is more about having the suspension at full droop with the tie rod ends screwed in too far. As suggested above, might try and load the suspension and eyeball the alignment. You might find the tie rods are happier then.
 
I have a classic industry one. Not sure of manufacturer. You maybe on to something about the nub stops.. I don’t have the arms hooked up too hard to turn by hand. At full drop the ball joints are pissed and it shouldn’t be like that.. it does have factory looking bbp brakes. The previous owner could of just put the old steering arms back on to match all the rest of steering components.
 
@DionR from what I gather the total turns is 4. Two per side from center. I’ll try and get pictures of the spindles.
 
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this pic I found of a 74 dart steering arm doesn’t have very much dip in it like mine does..
 
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