Modification of K-member idler arm mount advice

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purplehazenils

purplehazenils

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I'm fixing a 69 Dart that was in an accident and needs a new K-member. I sourced the red one a while ago and welded all the seams but when I went to install it the idler arm mount of more different than I thought.

After some reading I think that the new one is a 67 and therefore has another idler arm, everything else seems the same (apart from passenger engine mount).

I need to move the idler arm mount from the old member to the new one.
Does anybody have any advice on how to make a jig for this? Should I use the lower control arm pivot and the steering box bolts as jig mount points? It obviously needs to be close but how precise are we talking about?

I have considered making a jig that uses the centerline of the hole in the "old" mount to line up the hole in the "new" mount and then measure for height but maybe the centerlines are different.

Any advice is appreciated :)

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Yeh, buzz up member OldManMopar. I think he posted a photo of a jig some time back. Not that hard.
 
Single mount idler is a 66 and earlier style. I believe it's narrower than 67 to 76. I'm not sure you can use that, never mind the different idler arm set up. I would think the 67 and up K frame is more readily available and probably not worth the cut and splice time. But you can probably do it.
 
66Valiant528 said:
Single mount idler is a 66 and earlier style. I believe it's narrower than 67 to 76. I'm not sure you can use that, never mind the different idler arm set up. I would think the 67 and up K frame is more readily available and probably not worth the cut and splice time. But you can probably do it.
Click to expand...
'67 also used the single mount idler. One year only.
 
Yes, that is a 67 slant 6 k frame. You could probably cut off the correct mounts from your wrecked K Frame, carefully, and remount them, on the 67.
I say this cause I see you are in Sweden, and K frames are probably not easy to obtain there.
I did it once along time ago, I just changed theotor mount.
Ole man Dave
 
barracudadave67 said:
Yes, that is a 67 slant 6 k frame. You could probably cut off the correct mounts from your wrecked K Frame, carefully, and remount them, on the 67.
I say this cause I see you are in Sweden, and K frames are probably not easy to obtain there.
I did it once along time ago, I just changed theotor mount.
Ole man Dave
Click to expand...
Agreed; and if memory serves me correctly, only the passenger side mount needs to be changed.
 
Maybe reach out to @moparmat2000, he has done a jig for this:

www.forabodiesonly.com

68-76 idler arm mount locator

Awhile back I made a jig to convert a 67 slant sux K frame to V8. At that time i lopped off that 1 year only bastard child idler arm mount. Well using a different K frame with the 68-76 idler arm mount as a jig, i made a fixture to install a 68-76 idler arm mount on the 67 K frame in the exact...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com

He did a jig to move the PS motor mount as well.

www.forabodiesonly.com

"V8'ing" a Slant K member

Now that Schumaker mounts just might be a thing of the past, and K members are getting more scarce by the day, how about some ideas on modding slant K members to "become" a V8 member? With my broke ribs and winter, this won't be happenin at my house immediately. "What...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com
 
Sorry Matt, I had thought it was Steve came up with this. THAT is the jig, posted above, I had in my mind
 
4spdragtop said:
No help, but following. :popcorn:
Click to expand...
Big surprise.

The double shear mount was a huge improvement and is absolutely worth transferring over.
First up, take several precise measurements from several points on the LEFT to the double shear (black) idler mount. Record them. Take numerous pictures. Save them. I'm talking centerline from the steering box mounting bolts to the edge of the idler mount, the holes for the through bolt, the flanges, everything that makes sense. Make note of how much the tabs on the idler mount lay over the K member where they are welded. Now using a series of grinder discs and maybe even thin blades on a Sawzall, remove the '67 Idler from the red K member and then the '68 and later unit from the bent one.
Clean all leftover welds from the red K member.
Take the '68 idler mount and place it on the red K. Position it so that it's placement matches the measurements that you have recorded. You can temporarily fasten it using am 1/8" drill bit followed by self tapping screws. Continue to recheck the measurements and adjust as necessary. MIG weld the tabs an inch at a time, alternating where you weld. It may not matter, but I'd not do continuous welds just to avoid the risk of things moving around with the heat. Once the welds are complete, I'd dress any sloppy welds with a grinder fitted with a sandpaper flapper disc.
The key to duplicating the placement is the measurements. Be thorough and accurate and you'll be as close to stock as any hobbyist can be.
EDIT:
I just saw the Jig/bracket that (MoparMatt?) made. That is an excellent tool that IF you had one, it would make things faster.
Everyone I know has a measuring tape though, so taking measurements is probably within your ability and costs nothing. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
So not to hijack but cn the earlier 66 k frame be converted to the double shear set up?
 
66Valiant528 said:
So not to hijack but cn the earlier 66 k frame be converted to the double shear set up?
Click to expand...

I sort of did that. By sectioning a '73+ spool mount /6 k-frame and moving the motor mounts, I got a k-frame with the better idler, spool mounts and a through k-frame sway bar. Bolted it in but never drove it, car ended up getting crushed. But I did save the k-frame.
 
(Big surprise)
That was rude !

As for the idler arm position make sure the idler arm itself ends up and the same position as the pitman arm relative to the ground and is the same length or you will (could) have a problem with toe in during bumps and on crowned roads or cornering .
 
66Valiant528 said:
So not to hijack but cn the earlier 66 k frame be converted to the double shear set up?
Click to expand...
yes. i did mine on the 64 and 65 darts i had. lots of measuring, lots of trial fitting and trimming. i didn't have the luxury of a spare K with a double shear because, obviously, it was an early narrow body. basically follow what @Kern Dog posted up, but you just fab it up out of plate.
 
Today I made a jig similar to what moparmatt did, instead of having a tube I welded on a bolt to locate the centerline and had a metal plate to locate the top of the idler mount.

I was very surprised by the result, the whole mount sits much higher than on the k member it came from. The tabs that both go to the k member are both higher than they were old the old member. I made note of the orientation of the mount i.e it should not be spun clockwise or anticlockwise from where it is now.

If I was making an idler mount from scratch I would not have questioned it but there is a big difference visible here.

The jig is not made of that thick steel but it is not flexing from where it should be, in other words I don't think the jig is lying.

Any ideas? Were the tolerances from factory this bad??

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Before you weld that all up you might want to tack it, then jig up the box, pitman and center link, and make sure that height business makes sense. The center link should pretty much be parallel to plumb / level, and you can determine that from the K to frame mounts

Also the pitman shaft and idler bolt should be pretty much parallel, so they swing in the same axis
 
My guess is that the steering gear bracket is slightly off on one of the K-members. A little tweak there will equal a lot on the other side and you likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference in driving between the two.
 
I think your jig is correct. Notice the lower control arm pin hole on the black k frame. Look at the contour of the top of the k frame in that area in relation to the lower control arm pin hole on both k frames. You can see there's a big difference between the two k frames in these areas and I believe that's where your difference is. I would go ahead and reshape the black idler arm mount where it fits flush on the red k frame all the way around, tack it like Del says and see how close you are. I bet it's right on the money.
 
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