Last night I cleaned up an old mini starter from a 92 Dakota. I thought it was going to be a direct fit but it wasn't. I had to grind away a bump on the block as well as take some material off of the starter case. I had a mini starter on this block in the past which makes me wonder if I had it installed correctly the first time.

I started out today by cleaning up the ps box and mocking it up on the K-member. It was very close to hitting the headers but I knew the engine wasn't in the correct location just sitting on the stand. I decided to stay with power steering. I was originally going to install a manual box but decided against it. I'll eventually send the ps box to Firm Feel for a stage 3 rebuild.

I temporarily installed an old fuel pump because I know the alternators get fairly close to them. I'm going to mock up a smaller denso alternator and wanted to make sure everything was going to clear.

Now that those parts were installed, it was time to lift the body over the engine.






I read a post that said the Pertronix distributors don't fit the A-bodies. I was worried so I put the wiper motor in place and checked the clearance. It's very close but it should clear if I use 90 degree plug ends.


After getting the trans mount fastened, I checked the ps box clearance at the header. There is plenty of clearance now.

I've got about 2 3/4" of clearance between the water pump pulley and the radiator core. I was planning on running a Taurus electric fan. I'll have to see if I can find a depth measurement on that fan/shroud combo. Rock Auto shows length and width but not depth. If it's not too deep, it should fit this radiator nicely.