'68 Satellite 4-door light refurb...and big fat engine swap.

[Mopar Man 73]

What's next to bolt on?

 

[cudak888]

What's next to bolt on?

This is my checklist of everything that still has to go on that I don't have:

THINGS TO DO:

1. Steering gear (Firm Feel Stage I or II - not a fan of the Mopar factory steering OR still modern steering)
2. PURCHASED - Bouchillon BPE 4725 A/C brackets
3. Summit Racing carburetor + 1/4" spacer
4. PURCHASED - Mopar SB electronic distributor
5. Steering gear: High-pressure line
6. PURCHASED - Exhaust manifold bolts
7. PURCHASED - Exhaust manifold gaskets
8. 1992-93-style air recirculation gasket - have no idea on part number
9. Chrysler adapter linkage for Summit Carburetor (Holley parts?)
10. Intake manifold cooling bypass hose nipple (Anyone who wants $10 or more for this thing is an SOB, including Ma Mopar)
11. Sanden CP7H13 A/C compressor (Need it to align the pulleys)
12. Alternator (the one off the car is a '62 Lancer/Valiant 30-amp. I have the 1987-89 Chrysler-built 90-120amp unit with dual pulleys. BPE does not indicate whether it fits the 4725 brackets. Before buying any other alternators, I'm going to find out why it doesn't fit before making a decision).
13. Water outlet/thermostat housing (found a nice aluminum one on eBay)
14. AAP - Oil sender
15. Longer battery cables (Check first if van cables fit)
16. AAP - Upper radiator hose (use M-body, Diplomat type - I ordered a Gates for a '70 Satellite, and it's too tall)
17. AAP - Thermostat
18. Intake manifold vacuum fitting - might have twisted the one that's on the car now. Any source for these new and priceworthy?

-Kurt

 

[Mopar Man 73]

Wow! That's quite the list :grin:

 

[cudak888]

Wow! That's quite the list :grin:

Reminds me of the cardboard "to-do" lists that Freiburger and Finnegan have on Roadkill.

Mind you, I'm open to anyone with most of these parts who has them for sale used, if the price is right (excluding compressor, bypass nipple, and other obvious bits).

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Cast irony

-Kurt

 

[Mopar Man 73]

Nice looking!

 

[cudak888]

Not sure how much I'll get done over the weekend, as I have to take about 500 pounds of junk to the scrapyard this weekend (including the original block, heads, and '89 intake).

That said, I've been considering running Randy Bouchillon's Sanden bracket setup with the van's '87-89 style Chrysler alternator, which is made even more interesting by the 4-belt '89 crank pulley, as seen here, in comparison to the '68 3-belt (A/C equipped) setup:

All things considered, it isn't that different, and I'm not really gaining any new positions, as the fourth belt groove is the furthest forward of the four, and would have driven the factory air pump (which wasn't even on the donor van to begin with, not that I would have used it at all).

Randy's brackets are designed for an original '62+ style Mopar alternator, but is designed so that the alternator sits back in the brackets quite a bit, requiring the use of the outer belt groove, as seen here:

However, the '87-89 alternator has a few things going for it, which might just work in its favor, depending on how I go about this. The pulley sits farther forward on the snout, so I might have a chance to align the inner groove with that of the Sanden, allowing me to keep the two-belt setup. I believe the Bouchillon bracket is supposed to be installed with washers/spacers against the water pump as well, so a bit of back-and-forth with the brackets and the compressor might yield the ideal result that will also work for the alternator. I might have to break out the MIG welder to offset the mounting studs for the Sanden on the rear bracket, but it may just work without any major modifications.

If nothing else, the mounting ears will let me mount it without any issue, and the roll pin will allow for some adjustment. We'll see if the back clears the head.

-Kurt

 

[Mopar Man 73]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you.

 

[cudak888]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you.

Nothing in comparison to the engine swap - and especially selling off the old bits. A few washers back and forth, and maybe a bit of improvisation on a few brackets. Ho-hum, really.

This is the fun part...so long as nothing leaks.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

I'll say one thing right now: That Magnum exhaust manifold looks like it means business - even between the ample shock towers of a B-body. This is the #53006618 (RH) '92-3 Magnum manifold that everyone says flows like a header.

Clearance is just shy of 1/2" to the shock tower. I don't expect the engine mounts to flex that far.

Going to hold off doing the other side until I can order the Firm Feel box, but in the meantime, I can re-gap all my spark plugs to 0.50 in preparation for the HEI conversion.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Some good, unexpected news - I don't need to get the Firm Feel box, which means lots of play money for the rest of the parts I need.

For those interested in the change of heart:

Until today, I had the (incorrect) belief that the Mopar power steering box is the direct cause of unbelievably skittish handling, courtesy of my '69 A-body Valiant (my first Mopar, and a 22k mile car that is tight as a drum - hence, I have no reason to believe the P/S box to be worn). The Valiant presently has its original 13" rims with P185/70/R14 tires on it - about 2" smaller in diameter than the original factory 6.50x13 bias-plys - and I'd already installed offset control arm bushings and had the front end realigned to the specs given for radials online (not the old bias-ply specifications that have been pre-loaded into seemingly every shop alignment computer ever made).

That said, the tiny 13" rims have given very little options for me to put decent tires on it, so I recently acquired a set of mutt SBP rims (three 4.5" width, one 5.5") to experiment with, along with a pair of decent, unused P215/70/R14 tires from a garage sale. I wanted to get an idea of how much tire I could stick under the Valiant (answer = the P215's fit with room to spare) and whether I'd have to make significant adjustments to the torsion bar ride height:

^Gasser Valiant!

After throwing the wheels on and doing nothing to the alignment, I took it around for a spin, just for fun. I didn't really expect anything different, but for the very first time, not only did the car track perfectly straight, I could feel it pull itself back to center after exiting both left and right turns.

"So THAT's how the stock steering is supposed to feel!"

I'm not sure if it is because the caster was increased with the back end on the ground, whether the larger sidewall deflects better, or if the control arms are in a sweet spot with the taller wheels. But having learned how to drive with 4-turn Saginaw slushbox steering gears in Fords (and driven virtually no other steering box since), I immediately felt right at home and comfortable with the now-correct steering feel.

With that said, I therefore expect the Satellite's box to feel no different than the Valiant on the P215's, provided the alignment is in spec. Hence, no need to spend an arm and a leg on the Firm Feel box - all I want is centering, not stiffness. Maybe I'll go for the fast ratio pitman arm in the future, but not now.

I didn't have an opportunity to photograph it yet, but the engine has both exhaust manifolds on it now. Looks impressive.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

The BPE brackets came in today. With the alternator mount where it is, there is no way to mount the '87-89 Mopar alternator to it due to clearance issues with the back of the alternator and the cylinder head. I could weld an extension to the bracket that would place the alternator higher up, but I'd only be asking for more trouble in the long run.

And this is why you always check what lies underneath factory wrapped cables. This is the positive battery-to-starter cable, and it took no effort for the insulation to peel right off the wire, but stay stuck firm to the weaved wrap:

Luckily, the van cable is perfectly designed for the Denso starter and is quite a bit longer. Soldering a new end onto it shouldn't be a problem at all.


In other news, my radiator shroud arrived. Turns out it's a huge 28" unit (3673819) for a 1973-4 Charger and won't even come close to sliding in the '68 B-body engine bay. I measured the mounting holes on the Chinese radiator, and measured the shroud mounting holes at 25.25" in width, and 12.25" in height. Ring any bells?


-Kurt

 

[Mopar Man 73]

There's always surprises...

 

[cudak888]

There's always surprises...

Haven't really been that many, quite frankly. I'm not that surprised that the BPE bracket is a bit of an oddity, but it's an aftermarket part that was never engineered for this engine by Chrysler. It's understandable that it's limited in its applications to what Randy designed and specifies it for.

Almost everything else has been an adaptation of factory parts, which has been the one thing keeping me out of the deep poo-poo.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

What an evening.

I decided to try my hand again at soldering the ends back onto the old radiator for eBay. After failing a few times, I realized that I simply wasn't letting the solder cool. Once I figured that out, I had instant success - but first I had to clean it all up again to re-solder it correctly.

Then I hooked a bike tube up to the hose nipples and pressure tested the radiator; just to make sure I hadn't caused any leaks. I hadn't, but it turns out the lower radiator hose nipple is whistling air just a bit, right in the tightest spot to fix. After fighting with it for 15 minutes, I finally get it clean - and another 15 minutes later, I'm able to get solder on the joint.

So I pressure test it again, and it's leaking out one small pinhole in what I just soldered. Damn. Fire up the prop torch again and the bottom half of the radiator lit up like a broiler oven, nice even flame and all. Turns out I had spilled a bit of rubbing alcohol in there when I was cleaning up the joint. So I smothered it away...and two seconds later, it lights up again on it's own.

At that point, I say F it, and bring out the can of ABC and let it have it. I spend the next 15 minutes trying to get the damn extinguisher foam out of my mouth, and an hour cleaning the work area up of that same lousy yellow dust. Oh well, at least it didn't go down in flames.

Good thing that radiator is just for eBay.

Now, if that wasn't bad enough, my distributor from eBay has been waiting to be installed since I got home from work, but by now, it's too dark (and I'm too pissed) to start dragging tools out to find TDC and time it just right. Nope, not in the mood for that sort of accuracy. So I decide to just open the box and stare at my newfound purchase.

Bad idea.

I thought tasting the fire extinguisher $hit was bad enough. THE FOAM INSIDE THIS BOX SMELLED 10 TIMES WORSE. I took one whiff, reeled back, and proceeded to run outside, unpack that dizzy, and throw out that box faster than I put out the radiator fire. Then I realized the damn distributor has taken on the smell too, and was proceeding to take over the fire extinguisher stench for sheer stinky machismo.

For a moment, this irritated me - until I realized the distributor shaft was jamming when I turned it. "F*!)(#)#*$(@#*$!!!!!. More crap from FleaBay!" was my first inclination. Then I realized the distributor was rattling. Sure enough, on top of the mechanical advance weights was a small rock dancing the rumba. Four pebbles later, the problem was solved. But it still STINKS.

I threw it in the engine for now. Who knows where it is timed - all I care is that the distributor is not within the confines of the house. Hell, I'll consider myself lucky if a rat slithers into the engine bay this evening and takes a piss on it.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Good news today. Intake bypass nipple arrived and I had time to get the engine to TDC at the compression stroke, so both distributor and bypass hose have been installed.

That said, Felpro's master gasket kit had the wrong distributor O-ring in the kit. I couldn't get the distributor seated - not even with some light taps from a rubber mallet.

I happened to have a genuine Mopar distributor O-ring spare left over from my '98 Dodge Ram Van (the Magnum 3.9), and sure enough, the thickness of the Mopar O-ring is smaller. Small enough that the Felpro O-ring had a line cut around its entire diameter from my attempts to seat it.

By comparison, the Mopar O-ring allowed the distributor to slip in with no more than the light pressure one would expect. Feels nice and snug.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Ok, couple of updates. First off, a decent photo of the dizzy (which looks pretty nice considering its history) and its cap (which looks fantastic):

A daylight photo of the engine, for once:

And here's where it gets interesting. Since I did not have any 1970+ style front accessories, given the 1968 and 1989 donors, I ordered (the cheapest) 1970 SBM alternator bracket I could find off of eBay.

I test-fitted it today, and found out one of those nagging compatibility issues that nobody tells you on Magnum swap pages ("...everything else fits!"), and you don't find out until it's too late.

The problem is that the Magnum head protrudes farther than the original heads (a known fact), but this causes interference problems with the one-piece bracket brace at the back:

It's no problem for me once I chop it shorter and put it back together with the MIG welder, but it's something you don't want to run into if you don't have access to welding equipment - or a friend who welds for beer.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Modifying the bracket went well, if a bit messier in the back:

Very tempting to get a nozzle with a pointed tip for the MIG welder, if such a thing exists.


It fits nicely, considering the accuracy needed to make sure the alternator's bolt lined up through the entire curve of the bracket. I installed spacers after mocking it up here:

However, I'm still not sure if this will work with the 1989 4-pulley setup. Again, have to wait for the Sanden to arrive before I can figure that out. If I deem it wise, I'll extend the BPE brackets to move the alternator mounting up and outwards away from the cylinder head.


In other news, the Magnum exhaust manifolds I bought had a bung for an air injection pipe on the passenger's side. While it was easy enough to buy a Steiger Performance blockoff plate for it, it was a pain to find the gasket, Mopar #53010000. It's available, but try to find it listed in any parts store catalog. It doesn't come up under EGR or exhaust parts.


However, one eBay seller thankfully cross-referenced the Mopar number, and apparently the gasket is best known as an EGR gasket on 2004-09 Nissan Quests with a 3.5L V6, Airtex part number 3F1078. Seller gave these alternate part numbers as well: 14719-4S100, VG179, 70-1150, EVG175, 3F1228, 779-2681, FE337, E879, 2-2580.


Not a great picture, but the gasket is installed:

I also found out that I bought the a 727 inspection plate instead of one for the 904. Anyone want to trade?

I re-installed the plug wires. Looks like a spaghetti factory, and I'm a bit ticked that cylinder #4's wire is too short (no matter what the wire combo) and the others are a bit too long. That, and they're that bright freakin' red - but I figure the used 7.5mm wires stand a slightly better chance of preventing crossfire than stock 7mm's.


I have, however, cooked up a great idea to route thee wires in a classic way, using the stamped Magnum covers. We'll see if it works.

And an overview shot, for the sake of it:

-Kurt

 

[Homstead]

Pretty cool project! Keep up the good work!

 

[cudak888]

Thanks! Any bit of encouragement helps - there are days when it's quite a mission...

Today was a slow day, but I was able to get an M-body upper radiator hose to fit the KKS aftermarket radiator. I gave the parts store an '89 Diplomat w/318 as the source car.


Unlike a '70 Satellite hose, this one kinks downwards to meet the slightly shorter radiator. I did have to cut it short at the radiator end:

Comes close to the BPE brackets, but not as close as it appears. An aluminum thermostat outlet (already ordered) ought to take care of it:

I've also figured on using a 1969-and-up one-piece power steering high-pressure hose instead of the ridiculous two-piece 1968 unit. The fitting on the P/S pump will probably need to be swapped, but that shouldn't be difficult - if I can find someone selling the flare-to-1/2" SAE adapter for less than a ridiculous $23 as a "Mopar" part.


-Kurt