NOT SO COOL

Lets start with some basics that you will need to keep in mind as you read this. It is also information that initially I did not have or that I did not pay enough attention to during the build, acquiring a cooling system and first season on the road.

The Viper Generation 2 motor RUNS HOT by design.  A fact I did not know until much later, and failed to pick up on. The water pump flows at a linear rate, pumping 13 gallons per minute (gpm) at idle to 114 gpm at 5,600 rpm. It generates 30,000 British Thermal Unit (btu) maximum.

By design, it's thermostat opens between 195 F and 205 F! For nearly all of us, that is 15 to 25 degrees HOTTER than past experience tells us what is OK!! Again, the thermostat DOES NOT FULLY OPEN until 212 F to 219 F!!! YIKES!!. I present a range, as the factory Viper Crate motor book is slightly different than the factory service technicians trouble shooting books. Further, the service manual says that 250 F is OK under "extreme conditions"!!!!!! Probably racing. YOW!!!!!!!!
The crate motor book lists a thermostat that starts to open at 180 F. It fully opens around 195 F.  In all probability the engine will still run in the 200's.

Which would have been great had I read the book more carefully. I would have been able to change it more easily. Changing a "stat" on the Gen 2 motor requires removing the entire fuel/air manifold, lines etc. Roughly a 4 hour job on a Viper. On my car accessibility is definitely a problem. Due to more stuff to remove, I probably would need closer to 8 hours.

The Gen 2 Viper radiator sits lower than the engine, which requires an extra pressure tank and lines. It has a 2 speed electric fan providing low and high speeds, which cycles according to engine temperature low to high and reverse when cooling. It also has a shroud than has flap doors which open allowing more air flow as speed increases.

Radiator caps increase the pressure inside the radiator. That increased pressure keeps the coolant from boiling. Water boils at 212 F. Most antifreeze boils around 238 F. A radiator cap increases the boiling point by 3 degrees F for each psi increase. Therefore, if a cap is rated 16 pounds per square inch (psi) the boiling point inside the radiator/engine is 212 F + 48 F  or 260 F. Most cars use a 16 psi cap.

I saw an article in HOT ROD MAGAZINE about a company in Michigan that made custom radiators. I started calling and investigating my needs for a radiator almost as soon as the motor mounts were done and the motor and transmission were initially fitted in. Remember this build took the better part of 17 years to complete. Being ever the optimist, beginning in 2011, I contacted all the usual custom build vendors, Summit Racing, Griffin, Be Cool, Champion, etc.etc. I made an assumption, WRONGLY, that they all knew cooling systems and what was required for a good design. Even today they seek minimum information about the engine, how it will be run etc. Generally, they ask opening size, engine horsepower and ask for a sketch of the core support.

They all were somewhat helpful, and depending on when I contacted them, had poor to very good web sites for designing a radiator. I finally settled on MARK 7 Custom Radiator in Michigan. The company featured in the magazine article. As it turns out, that was A MAJOR MISTAKE!
MARK 7 was a specialty machine shop fabricating custom and regular car parts for the industry. In addition, it WAS a custom radiator builder.

After much discussion, I provided them a full sized pattern of the radiator core support, core support opening measurements, Viper engine coolant flow rates from idle to wide open throttle. As listed, they are 13 gpm to 114 gpm. I also provided them with maximum BTU (British Thermal Units) per hour with a maximum of 30,000 BTU. We exchanged a lot of communications about opening size, radiator position in front of the core support or behind the support, clearances from the motor to the core support, water pump inlet location, fan thickness and potential clearance  issues and more.

The first issue was the water pump inlet pipe/tube. As manufactured it projected upward and though the opening in the radiator core support. I removed the pump, cut off the inlet tube, shortened it and turned it, utilizing an already existing bend, 90 degrees, and had it welded into its new position. Space issue solved I thought! Adding an oil cooler and lines created space problems directly under the pulley tensioner on the lower left as seen in the picture below..

You can also see the radiator outlet hose, home made pipe and hose leading to the pump. My design made from electrical conduit and 45 degree angles. The pipe was necessary to get a proper bend and spacing from the radiator to the pump.
It was a poor design! The radiator outlet is 2", the hose 2" and the pipe angle IDs reduce to 1 1/2"inch then 2" inch, then 1 1/2" then 2" inch hose. It leaked due to the angles and welds requiring two (2) hose clamps per end..




The next issue was the amount of space from the nose of the water pump pulley to the radiator.  A three (3) inch thick radiator would be within a fraction of an inch. Also in play were the inner wheel well/fender supports and battery tray. A larger radiator would require hacking them up to make a radiator fit if installed in the normal position on the back side of the core support leaving NO ROOM for any type of fan! They also are structural members for the core support and outer fenders.

There is a hood support and hood opening latch attached to the front of the radiator core support for vertical and horizontal strength as well as attaching a cross nose body piece. There was approximately two (2) inches of space from the face of the support to the back side of the hood support. I needed at a minimum 3" inches of space for a radiator and if mounted in front of the core support it had to be lower than the hood latch/support assemble making any radiator lower than the core support opening. The final design had the radiator in front of the core support and behind the hood latch assembly and using a low profile, heavy duty, 1,900 cfm flat blade, electric puller, 16 inch fan.. Attached directly to the back side of the radiator with no shroud. It came with a relay, temperature sensor and fuse.

 The hood support structure required that it be cut where the tape is positioned. The hollow core was reinforced with a solid round bar and welded in. Not seen is the latch and locking mechanism.

Reassembled, with the latch and lock in place, the support now allows space for a radiator in front of the core support.

 The core support and radiator installed. I had to cut circular openings in the core support for the inlet and outlet pipes. Note the sloped corners of the radiator top and bottom.  The core support contour matching the hood, making near zero clearance. The radiator builder said nothing about the slope or the fact that the top 1 1/2" inches of the radiator would be dry due to the slope and position of the radiator cap.  Further nothing was said about the possibility of using a remote fill pressure tank as found on many cars today. Also note the billet cap. It hid the fact that the radiator was shipped with a 13 psi cap.  The small radiator on the bottom right is a stock power steering fluid cooler. The air gap inside the radiator provided space inside the radiator for the fluid to boil and ultimately FAIL!! BIG $$$.

The back side of the radiator and core support.
Note how the 16" inch electric puller fan is installed. While the design worked, I found out later there should have been some kind of shroud creating a "tunnel" for the fan to pull air through the entire opening. Nothing was ever said about shrouds during the design process! I also learned later that ideally a fan should be a minimum       1 1/2" inches from the back side of the radiator.

Ok, so after the car was fully assembled ( The hood did not go on until the fall. Too big for me to handle alone.) it went on the road the spring of 2017. First was a number of laps around the neighborhood doing safety and operational checks and adjustments.
Beginning with the first trip to the gas station nearly every each trip was was an adventure in MURPHY's LAW. It ran ok and temperature was ok to the station, approximately four (4) miles. As soon as I pulled away the car was at 230 F! Stopped IMMEDIATELY and started checking. The fuse had blown. Two fuses later I called the fan manufacturer. Due to the economic downturn and auto bankruptcies they had closed ALL their American offices and tech support. A few days later I did get a call. Their written instructions failed to say they were for a light duty fan! My fan needed a higher rated fuse. Mark 7 supplied the fan and should have known or said something.

I was not getting a good temperature reading at the Auto Meter gauge. I had jumper-ed into the Viper head temperature sensor and Viper harness.  More calls. The Viper sensor registers a different voltage. The corrugated hose you see in the above picture was scrapped. In its place went a new hose, Auto Meter pipe with sensor fitting, sensor and ground. That meant I was not reading the engine temperature, only the coolant temperature. The PCM reads and monitors the engine but there is no after market fixes for that. I have since found out you can monitor engine temperature and other functions by plugging a scan tool into the OBD port and selecting the desired function

On its way to its first official cruise-in the weather was hot, humid a slight threat of rain and about 88 degrees, roughly ten (10) miles. There was a little "splatter" or spray on the windshield. The indicated temperature was between 210 and 220 F. (Remember no hood). Checked everything and found some coolant around the overflow and the radiator.  No problems going home. Called Mark 7 and told them about the  noisy fan, fuse and spray. After a lot of himing and hawing they said pry off the billet cap cover and check the radiator cap. It was shipped with a 13 psi cap! Remember I said most cars come with a 16 psi cap? Vipers require a 17 psi cap! I got a 17 psi cap and put it on.

Episodes like this continued on and off all summer.  After a lot of research and talking to a local restoration shop I fabricated a fan shroud removed the fan and reinstalled everything. It helped a little. I added an adjustable temperature fan control switch. That helped a little.

 Further research said move the fan off the radiator and back as far as possible. I removed everything and re-fabricated the shroud allowing me to pull it back a full 1 1/2" inches off the radiator. That helped a bit. Kept researching, found a diesel truck 16" inch, low profile, 3,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute) curved blade (quieter than flat, more efficient) fan with a two (2) year warranty, circuit breaker and wiring for a VERY reasonable price. Tried it in close to the radiator first, then flipped the shroud and pulled it back. That helped keep it near 210 F unless caught traffic. At steady cruise 2,000 rpm to 2.5 k rpm temperature stayed at 210 F.

Seeing shrouds at the various cruise-ins I noticed that they virtually seal the radiator creating a tunnel. My shroud would have to be remade from scratch. I found some 1/8" thick rubber, measured cut and fit it, made some brackets, yanked it out again, and attached it all to the shroud. There still are few small gaps but for all intents there is an air flow tunnel the fan is pulling through. It may be my imagination but I think there was improvement. I wasn't getting spray on the windshield but I was still seeing the coolant level drop  a bit after each cruise.

Thinking of the Viper fan/shroud set-up I pulled the fan and shroud again! This time I cut in six (6) 3" x 2" inch vents and made flapper doors from heavy duty truck inner tube. A hair dryer test showed they would open while driving and close when stopped. That helped.

I made it through winter and again hit the cruise-in shows. First hot day 10 mile drive, with the hood now on, droplets showed on the windshield. Definitely coolant! I started wrapping various possible locations with white cloth trying to find the source. Nothing! Then in late June 2018 a mid week show & cruise 92 degrees humid, 18 mile drive Car was happy at 210 F or a needle width less, until we hit stop and go rush hour.  Immediately started climbing 220 F+. Got rolling then stopped at traffic light. Temp went up and then down then back up then down some. Droplets on the windshield! Pulled into the cruise grounds and started setting up, chairs etc, opened the hood and set up the display sign. Did not see anything. First two guys who stopped, viewed the car and said the radiator was leaking and bubbling.
Sure enough, three inches from the left tank and about 5 inches down there was fluid and bubbles. We got the car home ok, but I could see additional fluid in the cooling fins and down the front of the radiator. I went straight to the MARK 7 web site. The Machine Shop was there but for radiators it said go to Rad AIR or whoever. I called the next morning and the woman who answered took a message. She said the radiator business was gone; shutdown, out of business!!! but she would pass along my message to the owner.  After a day or two I called several more times and left messages.
He NEVER RETURNED THE CALL!!!  The radiator is JUNK in 746 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IN MY OPINION, The radiator was defective from the start.  Poor design, 1" 1/2" air gap inside allowing boiling, wrong cap and probably defective from the start; leaking about 2 inches below the air gap. I guess that's what happens when you get sick, plans are delayed, stuff can't be done and things don't go as planned or you run into trouble trying to get things done.

BZZZ ZT-Colored Spagetti

Sorry only one picture with this post. Too hard to take individual pictures of dozens of wires.
Also, it dawned on me that everything you have seen and read up to this point up did not happen in simple, separate steps. There were multiple things happening at the same time. Especially after the body work was essentially completed.

Starting with the basics, the engine came with its original wiring harness. It also came with the original Viper car harness, ECM and PCM. ECM is the electronic control module and the PCM is the process control module. For us dummies and old people, Fuse Block and Computer. At some point I traded the ECM and body harness to a local performance salvage yard for Viper type parts I needed like the Viper adjustable clutch, brake and gas pedal assembly.

Online I found a VIPER Crate motor harness made by Chrysler. The difference between it and the stock harness is that it has a number of built in relays which block government mandated electronic functions for modern cars like Anti-Lock Braking (ABS) functions and built in car features but does allow the PCM to monitor and control the various engine functions. It came with a nearly fully size drawing, about seven feet long! Finding a place for the rather bulky relays and wire was difficult. Placing the PCM for accessibility and the trouble shooting plug in were problematic in that the dash was completely disassembled. Wiper motor, linkages, heaters, ducts and other wiring considerations had to be guesstimated but planned for.

If you can read, follow instructions and are not color blind you should be able to wire a car! For the car itself, there a number of systems and subsystems to consider. Also, before you start, what do you intend to add that wasn't in the original car?  A few basics are: headlights, tail lights, interior lights, turn signals, ignition, starter, battery etc., etc. What do you intend to add? A/C, monster stereo, light bars???

There a few choices available to rewire a car. Two (2) of the most popular commercially available  are Painless Wiring and Ron Francis Wiring. Both have one or more options. Their kits contain a fuse blocks either hard wired or loose wires you measure, cut, fit and connect.. They have fuse blocks rated for simple circuits, multi circuits, higher rated amperage and more fuses. Some have circuit breakers. Both seem to use General Motors wiring code and have each individual wire marked by color AND about every 8-12 inches printed on the wire is its function! ie. Headlight, Taillight, right turn signal etc. Both have have their supporters and detractors. I chose the Ron Francis brand; separate upgraded fuse block, individual wires and connectors.

The hardest parts of doing it was: Finding a good route or location; then having all the right wires in hand. Remember two (2) wires for left headlight, 2 for right, 2 for left turn etc plus ground. They add up quickly. They are flippy floppy like cooked spaghetti; requiring passage through body panels, grommets, and threading the wires into protective wire loom.

That wire loom cover IS A PAIN IN THE ASS!!! It looks really nice and professional when done. But.... As you thread the wires in they pop out at the first kink or bend. Taping them together in bundles helps a little. More buts... you can tape every foot or so. Then, if you forgot or add a system or circuit, GOOD LUCK! If  you have everything clipped, tie wrapped or through panels it either comes out and start over or you try to cram it though. Then you get it stuck, bulged, lumpy or out pops everything! OR if you taped the loom closed you have to cut it open. FRUSTRATION!!!

Suggestion. Wherever possible use existing body/panel openings. You can buy body panel plugs and grommets of various sizes, some are already donuts or you can make them either using a knife or carefully using a drill bit, drill holes in them or make plugs. I did both. I even made plugs. I used sheet metal, drilling holes to fit the wire loom, and two layers of bicycle inner tube cut X slots and rubber cemented them in between the existing sheet metal and metal "frame" opening I made. I used number 6 or 8 sheet metal screws to hold everything in place. Getting the basics in took the better part of two years. Again, this was due to unheated garage and work schedules.

Remember, once the wires are run, the pieces, parts devices they connect to have to be there too. Then the proper connectors have to be put on the wire ends. If the parts aren't there yet, you coil the wires up until the parts can be installed.

Then come sub systems: Electric fan: relay box, direct fuse line power line, ground. Stereo system: 4 speakers-8 wires, radio-3 wires, sub woofer 2 wires. amp: 3 HD wires and fuse. headlights: 2 relays and separate lines for power. Horn: relay, 2 wires.

The IDIDIT steering column has a GM type wire plug and eight (8) wires. Each had to be connected from the Ron Francis system to the matching plug and then plugged into the steering column. That was ok, even easy... Just follow the instructions and color codes.

ALMOST everything worked EXCEPT the brake lights and all the dash gauges!!!!! And it turned out to be an EXPENSIVE except. The expensive part will be described in another chapter.

BUT it took months and waiting for winter to end so I could work on the car to figure that the internal GM type switch inside the steering column was defective and  had to be replaced. It took a multiple phone calls to Ron Francis and IDIDIT to figure out why the brake lights would not work. I had to test the brake pedal light switch, all the attendant wiring, light bulbs, and sockets. The final solution was to pull the steering column, steering wheel, turn signal stem and other bits and pieces.

To do the replacement,  I attached a stout "fish" wire to the eight switch wires and pulled, wiggled and jiggled out the defective switch. Then you attach the "fish" to the new wires and switch and pull, wiggle etc. back through the column. Once the wires are loose they were then plugged into their individual slots on the main plug. IDIDIT did supply the new switch and reasonably clear instructions along with an online video, no charge even though I had purchased the column  two or three years earlier. It was just a pain in the ass to redo work already done then reinstall everything. The thing that was most upsetting was not knowing if what I had done would work until everything was done and tested.

Stupid is as stupid does! I failed to carefully read the gauge instructions and did not quite understand the wiring diagram drawings. I had to pull the dashboard out and rewire the gauges. I had failed to connect the ground wires to the correct terminal! They now all worked. One gauge played a role, or failed to play a role, in the expensive EXCEPT mentioned above.

Once we got the car on the road the SPAL electric radiator fan blew several fuses. I checked and rechecked everything. I got to the point where I was afraid to drive the car. I called the radiator supplier who installed the fan on the radiator. Then I called SPAL They are foreign owned and as is the case with many automotive suppliers, they have closed and consolidated their offices after the GM/Chrysler auto bankruptcies. I called and left several messages... They did return the call..... eventually. Their advice was go out to the car, look for the serial number and call them back when I find it. They did give me a direct dial number. They said it was black, molded in the black plastic. Turned out it was a printed label... Of course it was upside down. I had to get a mirror slip it into the space and use a flashlight to light the label. Called them back

Sou prize, sou prize!! Their written instructions were WRONG! They make no distinction in their instructions between regular duty and heavy duty fans. For a regular duty fan use a 30 amp fuse. That's all the instructions and drawing said. After I gave them a model number and serial number I was told my fan is HEAVY DUTY. HD fans require a 40 AMP fuse! Could have damaged the engine if I hadn't been alert and watching the temperature gauge which was now working. I shut down the car as the temperature went over 210!!! I stopped and as soon as I got out of the car I could hear that the fan wasn't running! I had included a tool box and spare fuses as part of a road kit. I pulled the fuse block cover and immediately saw the problem. All this happened before the calls of course, but I was able to nurse it home on a 30 amp fuse. As soon as I plugged in the new fuse it started.

I know! I know! I shouldn't have plugged in the new fuse without disconnecting the battery but when its 90 F, NERVOUS, away from home in a parking lot you do stupid things!

                                                      So much for colored spaghetti!

DON'T BE FUELISH

Getting to this point was pretty exciting! Pretty obvious that what was coming would mean that the engine would be one step closer to starting.

I decided to use the stock fuel tank, filler pipe and mounting location. It just seemed like a huge amount of work and expense for a new tank, floor alterations etc. With 2 fuel tanks to choose from I filled both with water and looked for holes. Surprisingly, both tanks were intact, NO HOLES! Using the fuel level gauge opening I then inspected them both and choose the one with the least corrosion.

A fuel injection engine requires an electric fuel pump to supply fuel to the motor. Again lots of online research and pricing for the pump. Basically there were two (2) choices. Internal, in the tank pumps and external pumps mounted inline as part of the fuel line. I finally settled on an internal tank pump. Then which brand? I looked at after market and "stock" units. The stock units were too tall and the majority of the big name aftermarket brands were as well and EXPENSIVE. I stumbled across and chose a Tanks Inc. pump. It had the necessary rated capacity, was adjustable to fit the internal height of my tank and a reasonable price. The instructions were relatively clear and easy to follow. Ok, of course I had to cut large holes in the tank to get everything into the tank, but the kit included everything necessary to fit, mount and seal it back up.

Since the top of the tank was cut for installation and access and feed and return line fittings projected through the top I did have to cut a section of the trunk floor. I dealt with this by fabricating a removable cover for access and any necessary repair. A picture is included of the access cover.
I purchased a new fuel tank fill level sending unit as well.

Internal tank corrosion was not bad but present. Back to the internet and research for solutions. I found several! After looking over various options and user comments and ratings I chose KBS Tank Sealer. It was/is basically a two(2) part system. The first part is a solution for corrosion treatment that dissolves and/or treats for surface preparation. The second part is the coating. The instructions were simple and clear. The user does have to be a little creative in sealing all the openings and parts. The tank and any related parts to be treated and coated must be rotated and moved about to insure proper cleaning, preparation and coating. That movement includes upside down. I used multiple layers of Saran wrap and numerous layers of duct tape to create the necessary seals. I had NO LEAKS during prep or coating!

The tank hanger straps were shot and were replaced with after market units supplied by Tanks Inc.. The original tank hangers had a thin rubber strip between the straps and the tank. I got a bicycle inner tube split it to width and length and used a little contact cement to secure them to the straps. Of course everything was painted or sprayed with rattle can truck bed liner for corrosion protection before reinstall.  A picture follows.

Fuel injection engines require fuel filters to protect the injectors from fuel contaminant. There are choices of direct in-line or larger canister style types. Depending on type there micron particle sizes to deal with too. I purchased a large unit rated for the required fuel flow and the smallest micron size capture, pressure and mounted it the floor pan rear trunk wall. The pictures shown are not in sequence, showing some of the hard and flexible lines in place.

I also almost forgot an important little aside. When we initially started the engine we were kind of running around like chickens with out heads cut off; looking for leaks of all types and kind of surprised and elated at this momentous step forward!. YEP!! we found one! Crawling under the rear of the car we found a large puddle of gas!! After a quick shutdown, and depressurization of the system I found that I had pinched the large and floppy o-ring canister seal. Had to order a new one! There is a link to First Start-up and on CAR DOMAIN.com to see and HEAR a mufflerless Viper engine.  A pic of the filter canister .follows.

Now I need fuel lines. Remember back in MO POWER that I said Chrysler personnel had told me the motor mounts were backward? I could not figure out where the fuel line went on the Viper motor. Out of pure frustration I took a shot at contacting Chrysler to ask WHERE? My son had posted a number of pictures on a car site of the build. I mentioned that he called it Project Red, White, Blue and had posted it on CARDOMAIN.com trying to get their attention. Boy did I ever! They called and emailed me! The site had several hundred hits and they emailed the mount comment. The Viper uses a hard fuel line with special fittings and standard pipe thread/AN connections. The stock line at the motor is a two (2) foot section costing over $200.! Their response was there are two (2) plug fittings one on each rail end of the manifold that are NPT plumbing/AN thread. Also surprising, the manifold is one piece unit with combined internal fuel passages and manifold.  Remove the "rail" plug, remove the stock fuel line and fitting and put the plug in where the hard line connector was and your are ready for new fittings and lines.

So now I know where to bring the fuel line to. What to use? The easy way out is rubber fuel lines. Talk to enough guys and shops familiar with rubber lines and they say plain rubber lines start to break down and very quickly you can begin to smell gasoline vapors! Every one said use metal lines. They are difficult to bend, can kink or crack and run; difficult to properly flare, nut and seal. Doing this on your own requires special tools, patience and equipment: or pay someone. There is at least one other alternative however. It is somewhat pricey. Some of the new cars on the road and many drag race teams are using composite layered, braided and coated lines with standard pipe end fittings (NPT) or AN fittings. I chose this route. I used a 3/8 inch boat rope and pulled it tight from location to location and wrote down the measurements. I marked possible routes and locations for brackets. I did this three (3) times and arrived at the best route for the lines. I got the custom made lines from JDA Enterprizes /Tech AFX.              .

The last bit of the system is a fuel pressure regulator. Too much pressure can damage the injectors too little can burn them. Either way engine damage could result. The Viper engine I have requires roughly 55 psi. A picture of the Mallory regulator follows.

MO, MO, MO POWER!

All engines whether gas or diesel are nothing more than air pumps. The more air they pump the more efficient they become. When fuel is added they then become sources of power ie. an engine..

Without going into great detail, here is a bit of HEMI history. What is a HEMI? Hemi is a shortened name for a hemispherical head combustion chamber for an engine. Simply described, cut a ball in half, look inside and you have a round chamber; cut two (2) holes for valves to operate in and put a spark plug between the valves. This design allows for VERY large valves without piston interference and ideal spark plug placement. The large valves allow more air and fuel to flow, therefore providing mo' power. Chrysler Corporation started working on this so named head design in 1941. They worked and developed the head design through the Second World War and even introduced several aircraft engines utilizing the head design. Those motors never really saw the war or production but they did break speed and performance records for aircraft. They were basically abandoned with the coming of jet age.

The late 40's and early 50's saw American car manufacturers introduce horsepower wars. Prominent players were GM/Cadillac, GM/Oldsmobile and Hudson. Hudson, working with their straight 6 engine won the early NASCAR stock car championship several times in the early 50's.

Chrysler introduced its hemispherical head engine in 1951 as a 331 cubic inch engine. It almost immediately surpassed all the other manufacturers in horsepower. Each Division except Plymouth quickly followed; with the DeSoto offering a 276 cu. in. hemi and Dodge in late '52 with a 241 cu.in. hemi. Chrysler entered stock car racing and was almost immediately champion. By 1955 DeSoto was at 291 cu. in., Chrysler was 331 cu.in. Depending on whose history you look at Chrysler, had the first passenger car with 300 horsepower. They capitalized on that with the model name Chrysler 300. In '56 the Chrysler motor grew to 354, DeSoto to 330 and Dodge 315 cu. in.. By '57 Chrysler was 392, DeSoto 345 and Dodge 325. By 1958 all the hemispherical head engines were gone as they were big, heavy and expensive to produce.

Chrysler reintroduced the HEMI engine in 1964 as a 426 cu. in. motor. It was an all in racing motor variously known as King Kong in its early years and later as the Elephant motor due to its weight and size.  It was instantly a winner at Daytona taking the first three positions in the Daytona 500 in 1964. It became the basis for all TOP FUEL and FUNNY CARS through today.

The 1956 DeSoto 330 came in two basic variants. The two barrel (2) carburetor version and a two (2)
four barrel carburetor version. Both of my cars were of the two barrel versions. Aftermarket performance parts for this motor were and are virtually nonexistent. There some parts for the Dodge motors and a huge aftermarket for the Chrysler motors. So if I wanted performance for my build what do I do? Chrysler hemi? Very expensive either used, rebuilt or new. What about the big block 383, 400, 413, 426 or 440 cubic inch Chrysler motors? Parts availability is very good but cost is HIGH compared to Chevy and Ford motors. I priced out MANY different motor scenarios for the Chevy, Ford, Hemi and building a Mopar big block after I knew the body repairs and body mounts were viable as I described in "LOOKIN UP".  Again, I stuck with the something "different" idea but all MOPAR.

While my son was home from school, he came to me and said look what I found on the internet, on EBAY. What he showed me was a 1996 Dodge Viper Generation 2 motor with 5600 miles on it salvaged from a wreck. It was complete, top to bottom, including clutch, pressure plate, bell housing, wiring, computer, engine harness and body harness and one header. There was no guarantee but the seller verified the motor was unhurt and running.when salvaged. He had intended to build a race car but had changed plans and was now selling. We bid twice, staying low, and did not expect to win. We had researched, on line, salvage yards specializing in performance car salvage; what similar Viper, Corvette, Camaro, Challenger and Mustang motors were being sold for. We won the bid! Boy was that a HARD NUT to sell my wife!!!!!!!!!

A new Chevy, Ford or Mopar crate motor would have been roughly about $500. cheaper and still would have required wiring, computer, carburation, headers etc. Pictures of our "crate" motor, motor mounts and various stages of installation follow.

Our "crate" motor as shipped. Not shown is the motor wiring harness, and car/body harness, ECM and PCM, which came in separate packaging. Nearly 100 % of the online sold motors included ONLY the motor. No accessories, pumps, a/c units, wiring, coil packs etc. This purchase was complete top to bottom!
That't what made such a buy!.






The one of the motor mounts welded in and before painting, with motor installed. I was told later by Chrysler engineers that I had assembled the mount backwards!  More on that a little later. The engine shop that helped with this work gave some really BAD advice which nearly cost me the engine and thousands of $$. They said I did not need an engine oil cooler. It was OK to plug the line fittings. Turns out plugging the line fittings partially starved the engine of oil and caused damage when we did get to the point of running. The engine and transmission had to be pulled, torn down and repaired.  This cost me a full year plus and $$$$!              




The motor as installed. Note the "high tech" 2" x 4" spreader bar and chains for lifting the engine. I used 1/8" x 3" heavy metal flat stock and loops welded to it. Then drilled the flat bar to match the header bolt holes and bolted the bars in place. The "spreader" keeps the chain from crushing the valve covers. Found out much
 later there are lift points on the engine for installing hooks. Early
Viper headers had a two piece headers. You removed the "elbow"
 turn out and used the header as the lifting point.

 Viper headers have a nearly 90 degree turn out to get the exhaust pipes to the rocker panel area for the Bonneville/ Ford Cobra "lake pipe style"for the exhaust.. For a straight back setup, the turn outs had to be cut off. With professional welding help you can see the 3" stainless pipes attached to the cast headers.

Both DeSoto motors were sold. One locally, to a builder, and the other to a DeSoto restorer in Georgia.
I had been looking for a DeSoto Adventurer dual quad 2x4 carburator manifold for over a year when just a few weeks after the Viper purchase a man called and said he had one!. The price was SO cheap I could not let it pass! Only about 4,000 were made in '56-'57! I made a few $$ by including it with the engine going to Georgia.

Ok, we have motor. What about a transmission? Automatic or stick? To me was almost a no brainer! A Viper is stick shift. Through my early teen years stick shift was dying out, BUT, the "most desired factory "muscle" cars had stick shift. Shopping around, a new Tremec T-56 6 speed for a Viper would be about $3 to $4 K. I located one on line from salvage with 26 miles on it! I got one DIRT CHEAP! It came from an '06 Dodge Ram 1500 Pick up SRT 10 with Viper engine. It will cause headaches which I'll cover a little later. A picture of the "crate" transmission follows.

To get everyhing into the car we eventually"gave up" and cut the floor. I had saved an overlarge piece of floor from the 4 door car which was trimmed down, bent slightly and overlapped for attachment. In this later picture,you can see a black border which is flat stock welded in for reinforcement, drilled and tapped to install the removable floor section.
You can also see the partially installed Viper adjustable clutch, brake, gas pedals and rotating control knob hanging down.
Once the front clip (fenders, core support and inner fenders were installed) the only way to remove the engine and transmission is to separate
the transmission from the bell-housing,
then the bell-housing, clutch and pressure plate
then the engine. Adds a ton of hours and expense
which came into play when the engine had to be
repaired.

In the foreground of this picture you can see the transmission mounting cross-member and behind it the and to the sides the X member which was fabricated during the frame modifications.

This picture shows another view of the transmission cross-member with the transmission installed.










Now I need a rear end. Ford 9 inch is the most popular rear end with lots of gearing possibilities and aftermarket parts. BUT, this is a Chrysler product! Chrysler used Dana rear ends for many of their muscle cars and heavy duty pick ups and vans. I found a Dana 60 4.10 posi-traction unit from a salvaged 1999 Dodge Ram 1 Ton Van. Dana 60's are very large, heavy and the ring gear is 9.75 inches. Bigger and stronger than the Ford. It came with an inspection certificate saying it was mechanically ok. A picture follows which shows the new flanges, axles and extra long stud bolts.
Many Chrysler products have offset center sections for reasons unknown to me. To make this rear end work, I had the housing cut down on one side and added to on the other to match the old DeSoto rear end. Then new axles were ordered from after market suppliers along with new end plates. The end plates in this conversion are commonly Ford pattern and include better heavy duty Ford "big end bearings and  studs.

What is not shown is the drive shaft. I some how failed to take a picture of that component. It is all black, 3 inches in diameter. Of course there is a tale of woe for it. There is a shop locally that makes custom drive shafts as well repairing them. The owner happens to live a few streets over and volunteered to come over one evening and measure for proper length; and kind of check out what I'm building. After all the specs were laid out, I went to the shop and made the order. An employee wrote everything up. Occasionally people don't listen carefully and make mistakes. That happened I guess. The splined universal they ordered came in, was welded in and the shaft was done.... BUT it was the wrong one. The engine is 1996 the transmission a 2006. DIFFERENT transmission different, different output shaft. We came VERY close to wrecking the transmission when it was started. The drive shaft universal was just floating inside the transmission supported by the oil seal and the transmission shaft was rotating inside. To understand this take  your thumb and first finger and make a circle. Take a finger from your other hand and insert in the circle and spin it.Had either part slightly misaligned the they would have ground each other to  pieces. Only the transmission oil  seal kept them aligned and away from disaster. After I figured out why the wheels weren't spinning I had to remove the shaft, they had to cut the shaft, get a new part and redo it.  TWICE! The second one was the wrong part as sent by MOPAR parts. It would not go on. Remove again, haul back again etc. Third time was the charm!!

NO DRIPS, NO RUNS, NO ERRORS or CHAIRS, BLOCKS & LADDERS

Hey it's another season of baseball... thought the "title" would fit, and may be the Indians will win the World Series this year.

First, A WARNING!!!!! DON"T BUY DuPont Chroma System Paints  or new company Axalta paint!!!!!!! Long story short, if you breath on it IT CHIPS!!!!!!!!!

Long story, I have used PPG paints my entire life for car painting. Never had a problem other than what I did wrong. as I learned to paint a car. The usual runs, drips, sags, orange peel and over spray. In this case the PPG paints I would have used and SHOULD have used would have cost about $3,500.! I should have bit the bullet and paid the price. Being new to the area, I found out later that the local dealer was adding a very large premium to his prices. I should have looked and shopped around. A dealer 20 miles away would have been cheaper. The only other local paint dealer being a DuPont dealer had the paints  for $1,750.00. I went cheap after his assurances that the paint was every bit as good as the PPG. In mixing, blending and spraying, etc. it worked like the PPG paints. It was only during reassembly that it became apparent that the paint has NO DURABILITY, CHIP RESISTANCE or even bump resistance. Wherever the trunk, doors, trim and etc. touched, bumped or were drawn up by bolts there are chips. I taped all edges, joints, seams etc during fitting and reassembly. When I removed the tape there were chips! As the car sits now, it nearly needs repainted and has not even been on the road!!!!!!!!!!! The only thing I can say good about the paint is that the color is fantastic. But that is probably due to my color choice; Dodge Viper Brilliant Blue Pearl and Cadillac Diamond White Pearl.

ENOUGH of my rant!

I can't even begin to teach you how to paint a car.  So.... It took me all summer to prepare the body for painting. I did just like the TV shows: filling, smoothing, straightening sanding, priming and SWEATING: ALOT, to the tune that I lost better than twenty (20) pounds! Not that it hurt me! I did learn one thing. This car has large body panels without stamped body lines or accent lines. All it has is a slight curve or radius. No matter how hard (or soft) I tried, the panels would flex slightly, so could never sand to get a flat, straight surface regardless of how much filler was applied or sanded. I basically gave up.

How do I paint everything in a home garage, and to boot, do it in two (2) tone?

What we discovered during the disassembly was that some of the small sections of the car had "layers" of sheet metal that were held in place by clips, screws and body trim. That was how the factory did the two tone paint schemes. The small pieces were painted the alternate color and assembled in place. I can only guess how the factory did the large sections, but here's how I did it.

I had to cover and mask the car body below the roof line then paint the roof three (3) times. Base coat, pearl coat and clear coat. I had never painted a roof before and the car stands roughly five (5) feet tall. How the heck do I reach up that high without dragging my arm, spray gun, and the air hose on the roof or not touch the roof? I don't! I used several step ladders, 2" x 10"s and laid a "platform" around the perimeter of the body and "walked the plank." It worked reasonably well. Just be careful of the footing, openings and especially hose position. Sorry no pics of that.

Then how do I two tone the main body? Tons of tape, newspaper, old tarps and plastic drop clothes.  I followed the body trim line holes for masking. I figured the body trim pieces would basically split the line of the holes so I half masked them and had nice straight lines to follow. Apply the paint, base, pearl and clear coat. Let thoroughly dry, remove masking, and re-mask everything in reverse, for the other color.

 Prepped for white pearl. The top is done and covered.

Body prepped for white.

Body sections in blue.

The body in blue partially done. Quarter panels are in primer at this point.












Okay, that took care of the body, now what about the hood, fenders, inner fenders, trunk lid, doors nose piece and the other bits and pieces? Not having a spray booth and all the attendant holders, carts etc. What to do? One articulating ladder for door holder, some hand made hangers over the rungs, two (2) large tables for doors and parts, peg board garage wall with tarp for the hood, patio lawn chairs with concrete blocks to balance and raise fenders and overhead garage door tracks with heavy wire bent to support inner fenders and other pieces.

 The hood hung on the wall. It is said that pearls and metallic paints come out better if painted vertically. Less likely to tiger strip if you see it better.

 Doors on tables for back side and edge painting.

Radiator and fender inner supports.

Inner fender/ wheels, doors on tables in background.

 Fenders prepped for blue, white area masked out,

Back side of fenders. Note the patio chairs, masked and on concrete blocks. Back side of fenders are masked. There are also blocks on the chair seat to balance the weight of the fender.

 Fender in blue.

 Fender re-masked for the white arrow.

Doors "hung" on the ladder.

 Door done in blue with stripe still  masked over.

 Door re-masked for white stripe.

 Door is complete. Note the trim holes that were used to "draw" the paint lines.

 Body rolled out of the "paint booth." Arial view.

 Side view of the body.

JACKED UP!

After the body was sandblasted, epoxy primed and truck bed liner were sprayed I tackled the frame as previously described in FRAMED.  It may seem like a simple operation to switch the old frame with the modified one but it wasn't.

I had to figure out how to lift the body off the frame, roll out the old chassis, roll the "new chassis" in, and then lower the body back down and hit the body mount holes and studs. I could not use my rotisserie as I had made no provisions to make a body only connection to the rotisserie. Remember the pictures? I used the frame for all the lifting.

After more looking and measuring I decided to make some 4" X 4 ''s with 2"x 4" I had laying around. I planned on laying them on concrete blocks crosswise under the body. The "stacks" had to be outside the width of the body to clear the tires. It very quickly became obvious that would not work as the 4" x 4" lift points would crush the fenders and rockers.

I had to make some small 4"x 4" blocks and lay them on the crosswise 4" x 4"s and against the flat side of the body panels so they were in contact with the flat floor and as close as possible to reinforcing mounts or body mount connections.. Then, I had to make one short 4"x 4" to lay crosswise on the floor jack and fit between the frame rails and span the transmission tunnel gap. As usual, it was lift the front, then back, lay in concrete block and the 4" x 4"s back to front back and forth!

 As can be seen in the pictures I used 16 concrete blocks, four to each stack. It looked like everything was going well until my first attempt at rolling the chassis out! The trunk has a large well in the floor for the spare tire to sit in, in a near vertical position. The right rear wheel hit the spare well and obviously when the front wheel got there it would too!! More lifting and jacking! By now I was out of suitable 4"x 4" blocks so I scrounged our kindling piles and found 2" x 4"s and stacked 4 pieces at each point. A little wobbly.... but they worked. Out came the old chassis and in went the new!

Then work everything in reverse... lifting and jacking.  Before lowering the body I put new rubber body mount/ isolation "donuts" on the frame mounts. Surprise surprise! I got the "new chassis" within a fraction of an inch and was able align everything up with a little levering.

All jacked up!

INCOMING!!!!

SCARED TOWING!

Coming off the rotisserie we were finally ready to have the body sand blasted. We rolled the car out, still on the old frame, and hooked it up. Not sure how it would tow and track so we towed the car around the neighborhood. Everything went okay. So off we went to the sandblasters, about ten miles away.

Everything went well.

Two (2) days later it was ready to come home, so off we went again. The weather reports for the day were threatening rain late in the afternoon. My son and I got within a couple of miles from home and everything kind of went south!

We came up to a traffic light and made a right turn and the tow bar snapped and bent at a right angle!! BAD NEWS! Fortunately, I guess, there was a business drive with a lot of room, an unpaved drive and grass just ahead. I pulled over and parked. I ran inside and got got permission to "disconnect" and leave the car while we raced home to bend and weld the tow bar back into shape.

Once home there was no torch so we had to beat the bent section back into shape and use the sheet metal welding wire to effect a repair. It was the only wire I had left! I laid a number of welds one over the other. It look like CRAP! What else could I do? 

Off we went back to hook up and retrieve the car. We got all hooked  up proceeded very slowly. For the first mile it was a straight line with one stop sign. We were crawling with the four way flashers on. Traffic was light. Then we got to the main road, a three lane medium to heavy traffic road and a right turn required to continue! Yeah, it did it again! SNAP!!!

There are business along there, so again we maneuvered in. I knew we could not fix the draw bar with the weather threatening, so I convinced my son to sit in the open body and steer the car to follow the truck. I showed him and had him try the steering to understand it would take some real effort to turn it. I assured him we would be safe going slow and if the bar failed the worst that could happen would be the car slowly bumping into the back of the truck! 

He had to sit on the floor, peering out over the windshield frame and muscling the steering wheel to keep the car in line with the truck!!! I drove with one eye on the rear view mirrors and the other on the road, headlights and flashers on! Roughly half a mile up the road was a traffic light with a left turn lane with an incline, a less busy two lane road and mile from our house. The car tracked reasonably straight to the left and he was able to complete the turn. We managed to get the car home with a final left turn onto our street then a straight line to our house. My son was scared, but he did it!

As we were unhooking the car and preparing to roll it into the garage it started to sprinkle. We grabbed a camera and shot a picture or two and shoved it in .

Later we did an inspection, cleaning and vacuuming the sand and found one (1) small hole in the body that opened during the sand blasting. I spent several days cleaning and epoxy priming the body. As well as repairing and patching the hole, Later, I sprayed the under side, passenger compartment floor and trunk with truck bed liner. Had to buy a special gun and outside air temps effected the spraying. Instructions, in fine print, three pages in said 70 degrees or less!!!   Got the idea from a TV show. Later still, I the did the front inner wheel well liners and interior of the front fenders.

It never did rain that afternoon or evening.

Prepping to leave for the sandblast shop everything all hooked up.
                                                                                                                                              

Different angle of the car and tow bar.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

We made it! The car as it came home from the
sandblasters.

                                                                                  

                                                                                  A different view of the car as it came home.                                                                                Look carefully at the draw bar.                 

The draw bar after after it was removed. We were done towing so it was cut up for scrap.
















                               
                                                                A close up of the failed weld.