Move engine back

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Heywodja

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I was wondering if it is possible to move an engine back about an inch or so on a 72 dart with 360. I am using the generic spool mounts on a k member from a 73 dart.

Not looking to make a project out of this or doing a bunch of fab work I just need a little extra room up front

TIA
 
Is it possible? Sure. But you’d need to fabricate new engine and transmission mounts. And then deal with the transmission linkage and/or floor opening depending on your shifter and transmission type. And then deal with the exhaust issue (header clearance), distributor to firewall and wiper motor clearance, and even the valve cover to firewall and valve cover to bulkhead connector clearance.

Depending on how far you move it some of those may be bigger issues than others. Seems like a lot of trouble for very little gain. What is the clearance issue in the front?
 
Serpentine waterpump pulley clearance to electric fans on the aluminum shroud of a griffin radiator.. using CVF serpentine belt system..

I guess the solution would be to get another radiator and shroud
 
Put your fans on the bumper side of the radiator , instead of the motor side of the radiator ! May have to reverse the polarity on the fans !
 
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Electric fan is necessary there is no provision for a fan..
 
Fans are either push or pull. You can’t just move the fans from one side to the other. If dead set on the serp setup, get some pusher fans… personally, I’d dump the hella expensive serp setup…
 
It does look nice. If you really want to use it, simply switch to a pusher setup as suggested by @Rmoore . If there is no room, that beautiful serpentine setup may be a no go.
 
What’s the distance from the core to the serpentine set up?

Is it just the fan motors that hit stuff? I run a serpentine on my 340 with my Ford contour fan set up.
 
What’s the distance from the core to the serpentine set up?

Is it just the fan motors that hit stuff? I run a serpentine on my 340 with my Ford contour fan set up.

It is a combo of the width of the shroud @ 3/4” and the fan housings.
The radiator is dual 1 1/4 tubes cross flow. I will probably look into mounting the fans in front of the 26”radiator. If that does not work then it’s time to look into a different radiator that has a thinner core
 
I was wondering if it is possible to move an engine back about an inch or so on a 72 dart with 360. I am using the generic spool mounts on a k member from a 73 dart.

Not looking to make a project out of this or doing a bunch of fab work I just need a little extra room up front

TIA
Well, moving back an inch IS a project, WITH the fabbing.....so NO...
Add shortening/replacing the driveshaft to the list 72bnb gave You, unless You move the axle back on the leaves, which opens more issues...shock angle/clearance, exh., proximity to the fuel tank, spring bias/wind-up, etc.etc....
 
It is a combo of the width of the shroud @ 3/4” and the fan housings.
The radiator is dual 1 1/4 tubes cross flow. I will probably look into mounting the fans in front of the 26”radiator. If that does not work then it’s time to look into a different radiator that has a thinner core

That's just a generic flat shroud, it's not a good design. Air will "pile up" on the flat sections of that shroud, it's not really efficient. You can get a generic flat shroud fan set up like that on the cheapest radiators out there, I'm surprised Griffen gave it that little thought. And the spacing and location of the fans doesn't maximize their coverage. Do you know the CFM output for them?

A dual 1.25" tube core shouldn't be much different in width than the 3 core Champion I run. It has .75" tubes, but 3, and obviously there's space in between the extra row. I would bet the cores are probably within a 1/4" of each other.

I would ditch the fan set up before I did anything else. The Ford Contour set up I run would fit that 26" radiator. The shroud is angled toward the fans (hard to tell in the picture, but it is), the fans are not just bolted to the back of the shroud itself, and the fans are offset. The fan motors are pretty deep, but they're offset from most of the major components. Your serpentine set up is a bit more complicated though, so they may still interfere. The fan and shroud combo is pretty cheap though, $135. Heck you might even be able to return it if it doesn't fit as long as your careful with it...
Dorman 620-104 Dorman Electric Fans | Summit Racing


My full install is here, but you can see what I mean from the pictures...My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
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Fans are either push or pull. You can’t just move the fans from one side to the other. If dead set on the serp setup, get some pusher fans… personally, I’d dump the hella expensive serp setup…
Those fans MIGHT be reversible if the fan blades can be flipped, being straight-contoured, would work rev.-polarity. Don't know the fans tho'.
 
Serpentine waterpump pulley clearance to electric fans on the aluminum shroud of a griffin radiator.. using CVF serpentine belt system..

I guess the solution would be to get another radiator and shroud
IMO, I think that's your best solution. Otherwise, you've got a lot of work ahead of you. Be careful which radiator you go with if you do that. A lot of them out there are not made well. The cores are positioned badly and end up being to far "back" into the engine compartment with a big gap between the core and the radiator support. That ain't good. A lot of them are like that, too and it's tough to find one that's not, because of the mass production make them all a little different and made to the "WRONG" specs, so be careful what you buy. I would try to look for something like an original three row factory radiator. The fit will be much better and I think you'll get the room you're looking for.
 
It’s much easier to move the radiator to under or on the other side of the core support than moving the engine back.
 
I will update with pics when i get this figured out.

Thanks for all of the advice
 
How much driveline slip will you have left?
1/2 inch is one thing but anymore and itll cost more money and time to compensate the byproduct/effects than the radiator or fan swap.
 
I am using the USCT radiator support setup for a 26" radiator. I am traveling now but as soon as I get back I will be able to post specifics.

For now this is a shot of the radiator support

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Got the radiator at the shop now, they are taking about 3/4 inch off the side walls of the shroud, hope this works
 
If you don’t have space to go with a pusher system on the fans, I would think shaving the fan mounts or even shaving the radiator mounts would be much easier than moving the engine.
 
Pusher fans are typically 35-40% less effective than puller fans...

As mentioned, look at moving the radiator into or in front of the yoke..
 
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