51 Cambridge build

[falconvan]

Yeah, they handle much better without the pizza cutter tires.

 

[bob w]

Falconvan returns!!![cl

 

[falconvan]

Couldn't resist an old Mopar project!

 

[Sniper1]

Well, fun was had. Not as much accomplished as I had hoped, getting old is not fun, my back went on strike.



I mocked up the disc brake kit, had to do some clearancing as the bracket didn't fit the caliper as delivered. Not sure if it was the caliper or the bracket that was the issue.



Here's the part that needed widened. You can see where I used my belt sander. Took about an hour to do both as I was trying to sneak up on it.

 

[Sniper1]

Instructions say to replaces this zerk with a 90 degree one, which will ease servicing in the future. True, but it neglects to tell you what size. It's 1/8" NPT. If you keep the straight zerk you will have to pull the caliper to grease it.

 

[Sniper1]

Had to clean up the spindle as received from the machine shop. Also needed to draw file the threaded holes as they had burrs. Ran a tap thru the holes as well. Didn't have a die for the spindle threads, but I had a nut that did the job.

 

[Sniper1]

Bracket, once clearanced, bolted up to the spindle. I see why Rusty Hope had you drill out and tap the spindle. No room between the rotor and spindle for a bolt head or a nut to fit.

 

[Torchie]

What disc brake "Kit" are you using?
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Sniper1]

Rotor installed. Rusty Hope spacer fitted on the spindle beforehand. No grease on the bearing as this is a dry fit. The kit spaces the spindle nut out enough that the cotter pin will not fit the existing hole. RH's solutions are a bit doubtful to me. So I just deleted the washer between the nut and the bearing. You will see I had already updated to a later style spindle nut and retainer solution. Same application as the rotor donor.

 

[Sniper1]

Caliper fitted up. You can see clearly how that 90 zerk is a good idea here as well.

 

[Sniper1]

Flip side of the setup showing caliper fit. Yes, I have new cotter pins to go in, just recycling the old one for the dry fit.

 

[Sniper1]

Money shot. Dropped the assembly into a stock 15" rim, spun it around and everything clears.

 

[Sniper1]

Here I try to take a shot of the closest spot, maybe a 1/4" or so clearance between the caliper and rim.

 

[Old Iron]

That'll work, I've had less clearance that worked. The only thing you have to look out for are wheel weights hitting the caliper.

 

[Sniper1]

Yep, you can see a wheel weight in the pic, no where near the caliper so I should be ok. But other than as a spare tire I don't plan to run the stock rims anyway. I am running 17's in the back right now and once I get this swap done I plan to update the fronts as well.

 

[Sniper1]

Update time.



Spent some time cleaning things up in prep for reassembly. Pulled the tie rod assemblies out so I could clean up the sleeves and install the new tie rod ends I bought. Turns out my plan for less expensive tie rod ends hit a snag. The threaded ends are fine, the location of the zerk fittings would have worked. However, the diameter of the tapered studs was too small and my window for returning them passed, two days ago, lol. Teach me to slack off. So I have new tie rod ends coming. Decided to pull the pitman arm off so I could crape off decades of grease and clean it up, only to decide that I may as well replace the pitman shaft seal. Would have been nice if I remembered that before I finished my tie rod order, oh well NAPA can get it for me for about the same cost



Cut one coil off the Aerostar springs I installed earlier this year. Got them back in where they belong. Bought a Pneumatic cut off tool, but it appears either my compressor can't keep up or the tool is under powered, so I converted an old miter saw into a chop saw and got it done.



Found that my oil pan screws were all loose, I suggest this might be a maintenance item added to the oil change check list. Heck this might even slow up the oil leak I have.



Tomorrow, I hope, I start final assembly on the disc brake swap. I should have all the stuff I need on hand, except the tie rods. Might reinstall the old ones just so I can move the car about.

 

[Old Iron]

[cl
[P[P[P

 

[Sniper1]

Been awhile since the last update. I only get my son one weekend a month and Covid hit me the last weekend I was supposed to have him, hence the delay.

So this update will show the process of converting to an electric fan setup. Backstory, the original radiator sprung a leak and the price for an aluminum replacement was way less than getting the old one properly restored. So I figured if I wasn't going to spring for the proper restoration of the old radiator I may as well get the much, much less expensive radiator. I wanted a two row core, but that was out of stock and I ended up getting the three row one instead. First up, a pic of the old radiator and the leak is seen.

 

[Sniper1]

I really prefer to have a puller fan but the clearance between the water pump shaft and the radiator precludes any single fan. I could have tried to fit up a pair of smaller fans, but I didn't like the CFM ratings of what would work with the room I had. I tried to find a reference for CFM requirements vs HP produced, good luck there. I did find several that gave a CFM recommendation based on cylinder count, useless. Pretty sure a 300 HP 4 banger is going to need more airflow than my 97 hp flathead 6, but that's not how the cylinder count recommendation works out.

After some research and thinking I ended up with a Derale 18217 fan. Designed to work as a pusher or a puller, 1800 cfm on low speed, 2400 on high speed. I did some airflow measurements with the stock fan that I will post up later once I have the numbers for the electric fan.

Some might wonder why I wanted to go with an electric fan. Well Engine Masters did a Dyno Shootout and the type of fan I have took 30+ HP to spin that style of fan at 5000 rpm. My stock flathead put out 97 HP when it was new. That's a big chunk though the EM fan had 6 blades, mine has 4, they ran a shroud, no shroud on my setup and If I ever hit 5000 rpm on my flathead I won't be worried about fan HP loss but rather why my rod put a hole in my block, lol.

Here's a shot of the stock fan setup, my Trusty Assistant is pulling the radiator.

 

[Sniper1]

In this shot my Trusty Assistant has pulled the radiator and fan and is reattaching the water pump pulley. I did have him spin the water pump pulley once reattached to ensure there were no issues with the bolts hitting anything. As I explained to him, the bolts will sit a bit deeper without the fan in place and it's a heck of a lot easier to address that now rather than later when everything is in place.