The motor is a ‘96 Magnum 360. It’s a stock Ram 1500 Magnum setup with a Ram Van power steering pump bracket (lower to clear the battery tray). The van used a smaller pulley on the A/C, so the van’s belt was too small with the truck compressor. Got to get a longer belt to install the new compressor for A/C. The van compressor crowds the thermostat housing neck too much. (This is an old LA style with dual mounting bolts, so I had to modify the compressor mount to clear since it’s not offset like the Magnum specific manifold.)
The truck passenger manifold works but I need manual steering to run the driver’s side log. Picked up a 360 smogger to work until I can source a reasonably priced HI-PO 340 driver’s side. 727 mounted in, I need a different kickdown cable, the Ram truck’s hits the floorboard. Overall I’m happy with how it’s going, my V8 S10 swap problem solving skills have come in handy. I got the motor level and perched where I want it. A 1” carb spacer and my filter will be just peaking through the hood. I am going to fabricate a sealed foam bottom plate to mate up to the bottom of the hood similar to my Firebird’s Ram Air pan for a functional cold air intake. Rear end is about 3/4” off center. I can live with that. Might try to weld the new perches on tomorrow now that I have my transmission set to pull my pinion angle. I backed out the torsion bars all the way when I got it, with the engine and trans in the front slammed to the ground and the tires tucked like a stanced VW GTI... Not a good look for the Fish. Tightening the torsion bolts was way easier than the first go ‘round. It lifted the front back up and I’ve got another 1” or so to raise it if I want. Going to flip the rear spring front pockets to bring the rear down, got some 70’s street rake going on. Looks like all the cars I drew as a kid in the early 80’s.
Flip the spring hangers before welding the spring perches to your axle. The flipped spring hangers really mess up the pinion angle. I tried it on my dart. I ended up putting it back to stock and used 1" blocks. The angle was really bad and that was with a stock rear end. I wasn't about to cut the perches off to start over.
Stock perches were a bear to get off. Neither front shackle bolt nut would budge. Guess I’ll cut them off and replace. Managed to mock up the rear so at least I know what length driveshaft I’ll need.
Tackled the underside today. 2004 Mustang driveshaft is on its way, should bolt right to the rear and I’ll just have to swap the input shaft. Slowly making progress...
Rear tires came in the mail. Off with the 235/55’s and on with the 245/45’s. 22 inch aluminum radiator goes in tomorrow.
The Mustang driveshaft is going to work, glad I had the foresight to nab the Mountaineer/Explorer flange. The Mustang’s was smaller. Radiator is going to require some bracket massaging, but it will work.
Driveshaft installed. Swapped the yoke and there is 1 1/2” of play with almost 4” of engagement. Flipping the front leaf spring cups should make for 1” if play and plenty of engagement. Oil pressure sending unit installed, and I swapped out the 27 tooth speedometer gear for a 38 tooth that will read correctly with the 245/45r17’s and 3.73 gears. Interesting that you rotate the housing instead of having to change the drive gear and the driven gear like a GM.
How will flipping the leaf spring mounts change the transmission slip yoke engagement? Will it pull the rear axle forward?
Less angle on the shaft. Shortest distance is a straight line. If the rear sags, the shaft pulls out a bit. Might be closer to a 1/4” but for my situation it’s to the good.
When the suspension sags, the rear end actually moves toward the transmission very slightly because the rearend/spring is pivoting on the front mount and travels in an arc. It's a very tiny amount though. On my 66, it amounts to about 1/8" - completely insignificant. If you're simply move the front mount upward, I doubt there'd be any measurable difference in distance between rearend and transmission. Either way, with 4" of spline engagement, it's a very moot point.
I was doing it to bring the rear down without using blocks. The shaft pushing into the transmission a little more was just a little bonus since I would have liked a 46.5” shaft center to center and the 2010 Mustang’s was 46” center to center. When I said sags, I meant dropping away from the floor pan not pressing up into it. Drooping may have been a better choice? Lol With the pockets flipped I also have a better angle to use the Mountaineer “anti-wrap bars.” This will help keep the driveshaft from possibly hitting the floorboard since there is no pinion snubber on the 8.8” rear.
Leaf spring front mounts flipped, rear dropped to where I wanted it. Got to adjust the passenger torsion bar to level the car out the set the rear pinion angle.
with the longer slip yoke you used, do the internal splines go right to the end? many of the longer ones don't, just giving a better support in the tail housing bush. this can mean only a short spline engagement though, in your pics the yoke looks quite a way out of the trans'. a simple spacer at the axle pinion will give more engagement and i'm pretty sure they're available through 4x4 suppliers for (modified for offroad) explorers. neil.
Thanks, I’ll look into that. The internal splines don’t start right away, but the output shaft extends past the rear outer seal. The yoke is 1 1/4” from bottoming out but it looks like 2” exposed.
Sourced a rust free uncut hood and fenders yesterday. Out with the old rotted parts, on with the much nicer replacements. Might slap on the driver side fender tomorrow. Hopefully this is the start of a productive spurt. The top of the driver fender bubbled up and rotted through and the front of the hood was no better. Will sand the red panels down and prime them soon enough.
I ordered a 90 degree oil filter adapter but since I’m using truck manifolds it will put the filter in the way. Wish I would have turned the wheels to the left, filter goes on fine. Oh well, learning a lot as I go. Driver super stock spring came in, passenger delayed until Thursday. It put the rear up where I wanted it. When I get the passenger side in I can set my pinion angle and weld my perches on. Billet spacer solved my Mustang driveshaft length, pretty pleased about that. Hood lines up great, only a small dent to fill along with a raise ding by the driver hinge and the back corners to massage back in place. Cleaned up the driver side grill, all the pieces fit perfectly now. As luck would have it, the two bad areas on my red fenders are good on my old so I can patch together a nice set from what I have. Getting motivated, I’m going to take some vacation time from work soon so I can start making some significant progress.
My bumper filler panel was in better shape than I thought, only a couple small holes to tack. Rear window trim set came in, much better candidate for a driver restoration. Right super stock spring came in, now I can install and set the pinion angle. Looking forward to making some substantial progress on this next week after my vacation.
