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

[cudak888]

Van starter and starting solenoid cable were cut to length, a new end soldered on, and the cables wrapped for looks and neatness. The starter end has both cables fused to match the mini-starter, so I figured it would do well. Torched the smaller wire a bit, but it'll do:

At the solenoid below the bulkhead - the brown solenoid wire (from the van) was also soldered with a different connector:

In other news, my thermostat water neck arrived, but the thermostat sits in the thing loose. The designers of this thing can't expect me to mill the bottom of it to spec...or do they?

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

My 1970-style power steering hose arrived - an Edelmann 70344 for a 1970 Coronet/Belvedere with a Saginaw pump. $18 and change from Amazon. I had to relieve one of the bends in the pipe a bit (probably because of the lower '89 PS bracket), but otherwise it'll be a perfect finished fit once the adapter arrives for the steering box end:

Now to find one of those finned little power steering fluid coolers.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Another "one step forward, one step back" sort of day. My Summit carb arrived, and seemed to bolt in fine - until I realized the throttle linkage was binding on the huge chunk of aluminum cast into the left side of the M1 intake.

The nub of the throttle cable on the inside seen here was contacting the squared off part of the M1 casting.

I propped the carb up on that cheap 1" spacer shown in the pictures...for now. Rather than grind or hack anything, I ordered a 1/2" carb spacer. Should take care of the problem and not look too out of place.


-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

More fun with Dick and Jane tonight, courtesy of the Mopar Performance P4876850 Magnum conversion throttle bracket, at right:

Granted, seeing as anything associated with a Mopar kickdown that is not cable operated bearing the name "Lokar" is suspect, I should have known that I was walking into uncharted territories here (not to mention that there isn't any record online of anyone actually trying to use this bracket on their Magnum conversion).


That doesn't mean I'm going to knuckle under that quickly. Someone at MP designed this thing to work (we hope), and I'd like to put the part to its use.


Problem #1:
The P4876314 bracket has provisions for a bellcrank pivot stud, but the original stud is swedged to the throttle bracket. It's not serrated and press-fit - trust me, it's impossible to push the stud out and reinstall it with a hydraulic press (ask me, I tried).


The new bracket is obviously designed for a press-in or bolt-in piece, but I don't know the part number to find it, and Googling has been of no luck (nobody else references this part other than a few retailers).


Question is: Did MP ever issue a manual for this stinkin' little part? I bet they didn't, and I bet they forgot the stud too.

Now if the stud doesn't show up, I can always cut the swedged end off the stud and weld it into the MP bracket - which is probably the only option, but I'm not going to take guessing as an answer until I've exhausted all possibilities (yes, even sending an email to MP - bet that'll help! :banghead.


Which brings me to problem #2, which is the reason I suspect a manual might actually exist for this thing:


There is no indication which factory donor kickdown linkage (at the carb-to-bellcrank location) is supposed to be used with this piece. And, of course, this has been a black art mystery ever since Mopar ever invented the concept of designing a kickdown linkage that has a drawn reciprocation dingle arm built into it. In short, I'm left wondering whether I need a 340 kickdown arm at the carb, or whether I can stick with the 318 unit.


My guess is the 340, just by virtue of the MP conversion bracket's design vs. the stock 318 bracket vs. the stock 340. Almost certain the 318 arm would interfere with the throttle cable if mounted to the conversion bracket:


318 2-barrel Carter:

340 4-barrel Edelbrock/Carter:

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Couple of things tonight:


First, the BPE power steering fitting arrived today. Works well, and the setup looks as if it came from the factory. '70 Belvedere/Satellite hose is a nice clean fit, and reaches the lower 1989 Ramcharger/B-series Van P/S bracket without issue:

And my M-body radiator shroud (#3869812) arrived. Apparently, I'm the only person on the internet talking about them, save for one thread at the FMJ forums:

And now comes to light some of the reasons why I may be the only one talking about them. Initial fit tests suggest this shroud is probably the only ideal one for the Chinese KKS aftermarket radiator and the van's substantial 20" 5-blade fan (EDIT: The hell it is. It won't fit), but there are a few issues - some minor, others a complete PITA:

First off, the mounting holes on the shroud are about an inch higher than the holes in the radiator. Looks like a good excuse to put some serrated bolts to use, seeing that I spent so much time researching them for the throttle bracket.

Second, the lower radiator hose binds. Apparently, M-bodies use a different hose that does a little dance around the shroud. Dayco C70483 is the solution. Looks like I've already worked my way through two sets of hoses.

Close quarters with the PS pump snout, but safe:

This is where I'm a bit ticked off. The fit at the upper hose is such that it's getting pinched. I can remove some material, but there will always be contact and a snug fit:

The 20" fan doesn't look like that much of a tight fit against the top, but once the lower radiator hose problem is solved, the clearance will be notably smaller:

Also got the original valve covers back from hot tanking. Doubt if I'm going to use them, but they sure look a heck of a lot nicer now:

And in other news, I'm convinced the 340/360-style 4-barrel kickdown lever is correct. I've been looking at a few photos of small blocks with Thermoquads, and the bellcrank positioning is the same. Can't hurt to try. Anyone have an upper kickdown rod for such an application?


-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

First - while looking for those radiator studs, I wound up finding a workable kickdown stud - a new repop of a Max Wedge crossram bellcrank stud:

It's pretty much the same thing as the small block kickdown stud - with threads. Brewers Performance confirmed that the stud is 1-1/16" long (the same as the swedged SB piece) and should bolt right in the Mopar Performance Magnum bracket. If the threads are too small to fit snugly in the bracket, a captive bolt should center it.


As for actual work on the car:


1/2" carb spacer arrived today. The linkage clears the intake now, though the included carb studs were too short. Threw on these for the moment until I dig up a set in a suitable length:

And here's my little sacrilegious HEI unit beautifully hidden with a Designed2Drive heatsink adapter for Mopar distributors:

It looks great under the hood, in that it pretty much disappears!

With a Ford E-core coil in place here (I hope to modify a Ford coil bracket to mount onto the original canister coil adapter), the HEI unit should be next to invisible:

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

A few proper daytime shots of the build:

I took a hammer to the 318's original return spring bracket and reshaped it into something usable on the straight-up Magnum mounting boss:

The MP conversion throttle bracket has been installed, seeing that the pivot pin should be a bolt-in:

Mopar ECU wiring harness...

...meets HEI, the way I like it: Half-invisible.

The ballast resistor was cored out and a piece of wire soldered in its place:

Reinstalled - and clocked properly, as the PO had pointed the leads straight down, interfering with the heater control valve. Not anymore.

In preparation for the cooling system flush, I performed some athletic sanding of the mating surface on the problematic thermostat housing/water outlet. No longer a problem:

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Made a quick stop to the junkyard (not the one I got the engine from) today to scout out a few things. I must have gone by 30 Magnum 5.2's and 5.9's this time. Yard was CRAWLING with them, though every single one looked quite rough.

I was able to pick up two really nice Magnum air cleaners (and could probably have come home with 20 more), which I quickly found out are useless to me. They sit comically high on the 4-barrel Summit carb (and probably all others), plus, the bottom of the pan hits the float needle adjustment screw due to the clearance needed for the small-diameter filter element.


Looks like I'll have to dig up a proper air cleaner off a 1970's 4-barrel application. Good luck to me, for there wasn't a single carbureted Dodge in the junkyard that would have yielded one cheap ($100+ for an air cleaner on eBay is BS in my book). Not even any pre-'92 TBI engines. And I'm sure as hell not putting one of those plastic Dakota lawn sprinkler ducts on top of this build.

On the right is a Ford E-core coil bracket, which I intend to modify to mount onto the factory, small-block canister coil bracket. On the right is a little gem that I found on a 1992 Ram (oldest Dodge on the lot there) - a dual-row power steering cooler.


The dual-row power steering cooler looks much like the old single-row units on big block Mopars. It's just the ticket as a slightly over-the-top-looking power steering cooler that still looks period.


Unfortunately, it was designed to mount right on the block in the same spot my power steering pump is located. A bit of home-brew engineering would be needed here.


I wanted to use something that would look similar to the stamped steel bracket used on big block Federal pumps equipped with coolers, so I took the magnetic timing pickup bracket from the van, pressed it flat, and welded it to two pieces of curved steel cut out of the original 318 flexplate.

The not-so-complete, but satisfying result by the end of the evening:

The only SAE pump reservoir bolts I had from the PS pump rebuilds were studs - so I have two studs protruding from the back of the pump to mount and center the bracket, hence the curved shape. All works out rather well, I'd say.


By the time the whole thing is done, it should look something like this:

-Kurt

 

[Homstead]

Looking pretty darn good! Keep up the good work!

 

[cudak888]

After one failure to solder the power steering cooler correctly yesterday (fins weren't clean enough to take the solder), I'm pleased to report 100% success:

And it looks even better under the hood:

Not bad for a junkyard cooler mashed up with a magnetic timing pickup bracket and a few pieces of flexplate. And it even wears a stamped Mopar part number on it - bet that'll drive someone on Moparts nuts in about 50 years.


I'm not 100% willing to rely on the solder though. I'm going to fabricate a pair of brackets to fit onto the original mounting tabs and MIG them at each end. I'll feel more confident that this thing won't one day melt itself off into the P/S pump pulley.


-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

One of the fellows on FABO asked why I had modified the ballast resistor rather than delete it entirely. My reply said quite a bit about the build, and I thought I'd share it here too:

I like the look of hiding all the little modifications or stealthy upgrading to newer parts that look like older parts. As a result, the whole enchilada looks entirely familiar - yet, it's completely different, requiring more than a few double-takes to figure out what kind of visual parts trickery is going on. It doesn't let in on how subtle it is until you give it a good look.

Take out the resistor, and that's just one less illusion, possibly betrayed further by the splice and solder required to join the factory terminals.

Packaging everything under the hood of a beater 4-door B-body is just icing on the cake. It may not be a real RK41 police Belvedere, but as a clone, I'm able to build it more as a Mopar fan's fantasy of what we really wish most police car packages to be - some kind of stealth, untouchable unicorn of a performance package, with a whole bunch of oddball goodies under the hood that look cool just by virtue of being out of the norm.

More often then not, most of these packages are not much different than their performance model equivalents, but the legend of factory go-fast bits in an unassuming plain white wrapper remains quite the emotional draw. That, and I'm sure that scoring performance bits cheap off a decommissioned car back in the day was the period equivalent of scoring some Trick Flow 440 heads for nothing on eBay today: It's the thrill of the bargain-basement hunt.

Needless to say, the real thing often falls short of our imaginations, but what fun is that? I let my imagination run wild here, and built something straight out of Jake and Elwood's Small Block Cop Car Performance Cookbook (on sale at all retailers, beginning the summer of '81).

At any rate, a beat-up '69 CHP Polara with a 440 gets my attention faster than a HEMI-powered '69 Charger Daytona, and I'm sure I'm not the only weirdo who thinks like this.

There's a good possibility the 318's original valve covers may even work their way back onto this thing too. The clips keep the wires looking very nice and orderly, and I'm not sure I care for that plastic click-in-place oil fill port on the Magnum covers. Plus, it's a dead giveaway that there are Magnum heads on this thing (though, strangely enough, I don't mind advertising the fact with the Maggie covers).

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Max Wedge bellcrank pivot stud arrived today:

...and it fits perfectly. Makes you wonder why MP didn't put it in the kit in the first place, as they include it with their Max Wedge bellcrank kit.

However, the pivot itself is about 0.5mm larger in diameter than the original, and the bellcrank wouldn't fit. Not until I put the bellcrank in the drill press, anyway. Now it fits perfectly:

And so, a happy, over-complex, $20-more-than-it-should-have-cost solution to what should have been a non-issue in the first place. :banghead:


-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Power steering pump cooler is finally painted installed and plumbed. What a mission - the first paint job was a disaster. This thing is NOT easy to strip of paint, as can be imagined:

Fabricated my Ford E-core coil bracket too, mounts directly to the factory intake bolts. Best part? I found a bunch of NOS Accel spark plug ends and a few two-piece, hammer-together clamping tools in my Dad's old diesel parts stash, which gave me the opportunity to cut up a special short wire for the coil (temporary, until I have new wires for the whole thing):

And, possibly the biggest thing that I've kept mum about - I've painted the original covers. I just can't go through all the effort of making this engine look period, and blatantly give it all away with those Magnum covers. Plus, I've missed not having the spark plug wire guides. Like the power steering pump, I screwed up the first paint job on these and had to strip them this evening. Pain enough to do it once in the day, twice just stunk!

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Stealth Magnum!

Whoever came up with those looms was a genius. Also modified each line to a better length and crimped 90 degree Accel connectors to them. Not really keen on how loose the fit is at the dizzy though.

-Kurt

 

[tallhair]

I really like this project and the PS cooler .. will follow along

 

[cudak888]

A to-do checklist of things remaining to get this thing started:

• Exhaust manifold collectors (just ordered a pair of Walker 41726 2.5" ball flange type 6" pipes - hope these damn things work).
• Some more random exhaust pipes to get them where they belong
• Sanden CP7H13/U7312 compressor
• Possible rerouting of fuel line due to compressor
• Possible rerouting of oil dipstick due to compressor
• Starter lower bolt (somehow, can't find the one from the donor van)
• Still short the two bolts that fit onto the lowest engine mounting ears and bolt into the transmission
• Get more Hemi Orange paint for thermostat outlet
• List more crap on eBay to pay for all of this $h!t

And stuff that would be nice to have sooner than later:

• 4-barrel style kickdown linkage section (carb-to-bellcrank only, possibly bellcrank too), pretty much prevents operation due to line pressure
• 18" fan
• P2998326 fan shroud
• Decent Chrysler 1970+ alternator w/dual pulleys (helps if you're not killing the battery)
• 4-barrel air cleaner

I really like this project and the PS cooler .. will follow along

Thanks tallhair.

Incidentally, did the air cleaner fit on that Holley? Almost hit the trigger on an air cleaner from a Monaco this evening, until I realized it had a 4-1/8" opening for a big 2-barrel, but not the 5" of a 4-barrel.

-Kurt

 

[tallhair]

Thanks tallhair.

Incidentally, did the air cleaner fit on that Holley? Almost hit the trigger on an air cleaner from a Monaco this evening, until I realized it had a 4-1/8" opening for a big 2-barrel, but not the 5" of a 4-barrel.

-Kurt

Sorry for the delay Kurt. I just went out and pulled out the Holly and unfortunately it doesn't fit dammit

Man those holley's are heavy

 

[cudak888]

Sorry for the delay Kurt. I just went out and pulled out the Holly and unfortunately it doesn't fit dammit

Man those holley's are heavy

Is it interfering with the recess for the air filter, or is it teetering on the float adjuster screw? Opening should be big enough, given it fits the AVS.

Let me know. If this keeps up, I may have to throw a Carter/Eddy on the engine whether I like it or not.

-Kurt

 

[69roadr]

nice work Kurt. i commend you on a job going well and your writing skills. do you have coffee cans full of nuts, bolts and washers that you're always looking through?

 

[cudak888]

nice work Kurt. i commend you on a job going well and your writing skills. do you have coffee cans full of nuts, bolts and washers that you're always looking through?

Thank you!

I do have a pretty good assortment of general engine fittings and hardware here, but most of the fittings on the engine is from the '68 318 or the '89 360; the latter minus any of the metric bolts from the accessory brackets or power steering pump. The grade 8 exhaust bolts are one of the few exceptions - I bought them specifically for the job.

Those valve cover bolts with the built-in spreaders come from the '89; thought they'd be a nice upgrade while remaining 100% factory. Need to touch them up too - the socket wasn't kind to their paint job.

-Kurt

P.S.: Hate coffee cans. Guaranteed to start spiderwebbing with rust (before turning into an literal can of rust) and then transfer the oxidation onto whatever is in the can. Gotta love Akro Bins.