ok - so the welding I had done to the passenger side manifold to seal off the heat riser holes didn't seal completely, so I found another drivers-side (no heat riser) pre-smog 318-360 truck manifold on ebay, hand-planed the port faces flat, ground out the same ribs as before, had it blasted and Cerakoted, and bolted it on. Had the y-pipe blasted and Cerakoted too and now have the exhaust just about reinstalled - now with the exception of the tailpipe/muffler the whole exhaust is coated in either Cerakote or Jet-Hot -











...and I'm fabbin' up a bunch of armor and who doesn't love having a fresh supply of death wheels, flapper discs and sawzall blades for 'doom and destruction' bwwaahaahAHAHAHHAHAHhhhahahahhaaaaaa....

i have found that dewalt "death wheels", while being more expensive [i buy them in boxes of 25] than other brands, will last longer, and they have the benefit of being able to "bend" [] slightly if put in a bind and not shatter like the other wheels will.
your exhaust looks great by the way.

ok - for the first time since the the buildup, drove the truck around the neighborhood loop, and I'm happy to report it drives well and running better and better - the chassis feels good, no bump steer, etc. So yayee.

Initially the Sniper wasn't running the engine 'to my satisfaction' - it 'ran' but had acceleration stuttering and dead spots, but...the more it runs...I'm cautiously optimistic that the more the engine runs and drives around the Sniper is indeed learning how to 'do its job'. I am hopeful that the EFI will tune itself into perfection the more it runs, so that is the plan - drive it every day and let it 'learn'.

LOTS of work yet to do, but...it appears...to be coming together. Oh also, I'd been looking for some sort of 'seal' to put between the exhaust manifold exit and the collector inlets for the two primary pipe(s) - this is the manifold exit -



...and the inlets to the primary pipes just slip over the manifold lip - metal-to-metal, but it isn't a perfect seal, and I wanted to try to get 'something' between them to help seal things up, and so I tried these Remflex gaskets, which juuuust barely fit over the manifold edge lip, and the pipes just capture/compress the gasket up onto the manifold.
Remflex #6006 (2-1/4" pipe flange, 2 hole, 3-1/2" bolt spacing), and after being torqued tight they haven't split out, and it's nice n quiet -



In the meantime, since it was actually out in the sun...took some semi-gratuitous pics -

...finally bolted up one of my favorite accessories





...then tossed the bed on and took a couple pics. Fender trimming voodoo is forthcoming, and after a bit of photoshopping with the rear fender I'm really diggin' how it looks -

here it is untouched -



and after some rear fender photo-trimming -



...and this is the truck that has been my inspiration, and I've just photo-moved the rear axle and rear wheel well back a bit to look like this -

Have you considered a short bed? The contour won't fit the cab, but you should get more storage space.
If your really lucky the wheel openings will be centered

matter of fact I have considered it and actually picked one up at the bone yard. You're right about the contour to the cab, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The reason there is a big gap between the cab and bed is because I'm placing a full-tilt roll cage main hoop right behind the cab and wanted to anchor it to the frame and still be able to put the topper on the bed.

Well the show got rained out - quick soggy pic from us waiting to get in - our silver dually with the Willys and Ben's blue 2500 with the Dak -



Meanwhile, as I'm waiting for the rain date to be determined, it's back in the shop for continued work. This morning I installed a just-sourced radiator from rockauto - found one with a 1.5" core (apparently for the V8 trucks), vs the 1.25" core I had in it apparently intended for a V6.

Filled it with coolant and checking for leaks now. Just this alone might be the sole reason it was running a bit warm, but a 1/4" thicker core is a lot, and I'll know for sure soon. I will be verifying I have the base timing dead nuts, and if that and/or the new bigger radiator don't resolve the running warm issue then I'll go with a stronger (or at least new) fan clutch, then a fan. I'm pretty confident tho that the bigger/thicker radiator might be 'it'.





Rockauto 1.5" rad # FVP RAD13337 - 'https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=13248469&pt=2172&jsn=1'

alright, had a real good day yesterday - after 4-1/2 years (4 yrs, 4 months, and 29 days to be exact) of being apart...and two engines...the Dakota 'went' someplace. We took the truck out to our local Ram Off Road Park and got the truck good n flexed out...and fully heat soaked.

Overall pretty good - couple teething problems but nothing massive. It was a hot day - about 80*, and after about an hour and a half of continuous running and mostly idling the engine never got above 190*!!, mostly hovered in the low 180's, and that was the huge . Had Tracy's Grand Cherokee out with us but didn't need it.

One of the main tasks was to confirm placement of the rear leaf shackles, and in order to get a good suspension test I loaded as much 'weight' as I could to try to simulate a 'full load', so I tossed on the topper, spare tire, tools, rear winch, and an extra battery in the bed box next to the service battery.

Issues:
1) D-side motor mount allows too much torque-flex (up) and the radiator fan was contacting something on the shroud, so I'll likely get a polyurethane version on the drivers side, maybe both.

2) Power steering pump and ram output lines are 'kinda' close to the exhaust manifold and the fluid got kinda hot and was making some noise so I have to do something about that (heat shields n such to shield the pump and ram lines from the exhaust, etc).

Flexes good - didn't get air under any tire, and everything else seemed to be 'good'.

so the engine is still a bit 'noisy' (or at least noisier than I'd like) - it has a very light but very noticeable 'chatter' going on while it's running, and after talking at length with Steve at ScramSpeed I have a set of .036 longer pushrods coming to 'tighten up' the valve train. If I heard right Steve started MagnumSwap.com (his Dart is on the home page), and he virtually guaranteed me that the CompCam I put in has a shorter base circle than the OE cam, which with factory length pushrods is allowing for too much slack, and thus making the noise. He explained that accurately measuring lifter preload without using a solid lifter is virtually impossible - complicated enough that there is no legit need to try to get a measurement, and that their .036-longer rods should do the trick. He also reassured me that having some slack in the valvetrain isn't really detrimental...but it's one of those things that once you hear it you can't unhear it, and I would like to have it right. And, if after putting in the longer rods it is still a bit too noisy for my liking then I'll up to a set of .050 rods, but I'll do these .036s first and hear how I like it.

https://www.scramspeed.com/products/magnum-pushrods-036-longer-than-stock.html

A set of Prothane motor mount bushings arrived today and will go in at the first opportunity.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00386Z1PM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Swapped out the flimsy OE motor mount bushings for a set of Prothane polyurethane units - these aught to cure the engine-shifting problem :thumbsup:

Smoothed out the outer 8-point corners of my rockwell hub nut socket which fit both the bushing edge and i.d. of the sleeve perfectly



Pressing the poly bushing into the sleeve proved to be pretty much impossible without it slipping every which way except straight in, so I cut the bushing in half which made 'installation' a bit easier...





The beefy center sleeve came with a 1/2" hole, but the OE's (and my main bolts) were 9/16, so a buddy opened them up to 9/16 for me -



Way more awesomer



Power steering heat shield is in work, and pushrods are in the mail. 'Forward Progress'

been doing some minor fender voodoo to 'expand' the edges of the front/rear wheel wells...

before -


after -




cutting from the blue bed to fill in what was strategically removed from the green bed. Drivers-side was the first try - got it right on the pass-side -relocated the green portion 'back' then filled the gap with a chunk from the blue bed -



...then it occurred to me that I can avoid the 'gap' by being smart about where I'm cutting; took this section from the blue bed...



...and inserted it 'here' -



worked great -



Wheel wells are being deleted completely, which will add a ton more room in the bed.

Took it out for more testing and the new polyurethane motor mounts work awesome. But, even after installing a heat shield the power steering is still getting too hot, and the reason (presumably) is a combination of proximity of the pump/plumbing to the manifold and...my #1 suspect...a cooler that apparently is useless. Here are the space constraints I'm dealing with, and this is all OE spacing...

before -




Plus the ram assist lines are 'closeish' to the exhaust...so I made a heat shield, had it powder coated, lined it with the same reflective lining I used under the cab, and while it helped after a while the steering was still getting too hot and 'groaning', so I'm getting a bigger cooler. Meantime, pics -

after with the heat shield -




installed -

what would happen if you put a piece of the insulating material on the other side of your heat shield ? [both sides]
it couldn't hurt.

can't imagine it would have any negative effects...but also can't imagine it would 'help' much either? I dunno. I think tho the biggest culprit is a less-than-adequate steering fluid cooler, and I've got plans in work to fix that, big time

One thing I haven't talked about is the small but critical verification to ensure the timing is correct. Before confirming the timing, the engine/EFI ran 'pretty good' - sometimes a little curious nature to it and stumbling on acceleration etc, but I figured that would just sort itself out as it 'learned'...which was not an accurate assumption.
I was talking with the folks at EFI Systems Pro (who I bought the 2bbl Sniper system from), and Scott recommended I confirm the 'static timing', and I have to say that ever since doing that the engine is and has been running 'right'.

Bottom line is the engine was 15* advanced - I retarding the timing, confirmed the timing in the handheld ECU, and it has been running/feeling like an OE setup ever since.

I simply missed this step (checking static timing), but it is an 'essential step' once running.

Static timing check is pg. 45 of the 2bbl manual,

[URL unfurl="true"]https://documents.holley.com/199r11321.pdf[/URL]

...and pg. 6 (steps 16 and 17) in the HyperSpark manual -

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.efisystempro.com/image/...ibutor-installation-instructions4-20.pdf[/URL]

In the meantime, I am chipping away on all the small stuff to get the truck fully 'up'. The power steering is still getting hot so a bigger/better cooler is going in, shocks, bed mods, LOTS of small stuff, and so far it's going well. Assuming it's 'ready' I'm taking it down to Caballo Lake, New Mexico in October for a week-long off-road gig known as Chili Challenge where I'll play around with a bunch of other machines on some great trails. Tick tick tick...

ok - I think I have the power steering cooling problem under control. First, I talked with PSC and they informed me that the vertical dual-pass cooler bolted to the back of the fan shroud I was using wasn't doing me any favors, so I eliminated it, and instead got a much bigger cooler which is now bolted up in front of the radiator, using the engine fan to provide airflow. I don't think the old/original fan clutch had much schlitz left in it so I also installed a fresh one of those - not the severe-duty version but just a new HD unit (Hayden 2781). I can 'hear' it but it isn't 'jet engine' loud - just normal loud.

Initially the PS pump was moaning but it apparently sucked in some air and has since burped it all out, and is now totally silent and by all accounts is functioning nominally. The fluid/system is remaining nice and cool, and I 'think' I have that problem solved 👍 .

Cooler. I got another new replacement Dakota tranny cooler that I re-purposed as a PS cooler, which seems to be working great. I used Russell o-ring power steering adapter fittings (648030) which fit the cooler perfectly, and Allstar 90* hose ends (ALL48273) to connect the hoses.

The PS cooler bolts up to custom mounts which allow it to 'hover' a few inches above the tranny cooler, which fits nicely between the grille and A/C condenser.

















Meanwhile...I have been really frustrated with how much 'noise' the engine is making - just seems to have excessive 'chatter'...and I know the oil pressure hot idling was around 20 psi - not really awesome but it isn't a new engine - the bearings still have ~125k miles on them. So...in a bout of frustration...over the weekend I had the thought about draining out the 10W30 and just dumping in something thicker - I figured what do I have to lose? - it'll either like it or blow up...and at this point I'm fine with either because one version means 'better' and the other means 'will be better'...and since we're (hoping to) keep this truck we'll put whatever investment into it that's required...within reason of course. So...I went to O'rielly and just looked over the oils sitting on the shelfs there...and after a few moments of surfing one in particular just looked 'right', and after pouring it in seems to be just what the engine needed, because after putting it in the engine is now noticeably quieter and has double the oil pressure hot at idle - it now idles at about 40-45 psi hot...and maybe 15-20 psi more cold (maxes out at about 75 psi). This'll be the oil the 360 uses from now on 👍



I'm figuring the low oil pressure was simply allowing too much 'slack' in the lifters, and the higher viscosity enables the system oil pressure to remain high(er)...which by the sound of things seems to be just what it wanted. It still makes some noise but it's now more of a general 'engine running' sound...like a sewing machine, but it sure seems to have much less 'chatter', and hey if it's this easy and will get me by until I do a full rebuild (if ever) then horray . I know I didn't 'need' the extra ZDDP but I figure it can't hurt, and VR1 sure has a very good reputation, so there it is.

There are two columns for projects like this: Needed, and Wanted. Needs include things like engine, transmission, axles, steering, brakes - the things that make it 'go and woah' and cannot be forsaken. Wants are everything else including gauges, two gas tanks, ram-assist, on-board air - I can now FINALLY start to work on those . And finally, the best part is...I think the truck is now 'good' - I think the overall core machine is now where it needs to be...and where I've been wanting it to be since first fire...and now I can finally start jammin' on my 'wants'! Booyah

- Sam

...so also appearing on the long list of 'needs' was a way to fill up the gas tanks (x2)...but there isn't a lot of real estate on the bedside so I had (wanted...ok "needed") to devise a way to easily fill (and vent) two tanks with one filler neck, whilst also incorporating a way to flow fuel from one tank into the other via the fancy filler neck...and this is how I'm intending to do it; keyword = "valves".

Here's the land mass I have to work with...and it ain't a lot -


I picked up a pair of manual fuel-proof valves, IIRC with Viton seals and stainless hardware, that with a simple flip of a lever will allow me to close off one filler hose and open the other...and vice versa. I really wanted to utilize the fuel fill neck in the stock location (no need to turn the truck around to fill the other tank), but needed two outputs, so I grafted another OE output tube onto the original, then added the valve ends so they bolt on; then added a fresh 3/4" port for the main vent and an NPT port for the eventual aux fuel fill inlet. Close the auxiliary (upper) valve and fuel flows into the main (lower) tank...then when the tank(s) fill up the nozzle should (hopefully/presumably) shut itself off, then I'll close the main valve and open the aux, then hit the nozzle again and fuel will fill up the lower neck and then 'should' flow into the auxiliary tank. When both are full I'll close the aux valve, open the main valve (or I suppose I could leave it closed to prevent fuel from flowing out off-roading)...and motor on - at least that's what I'm hoping will happen 👍

For comparison, here's what the original looks like-


Here's the overall main filler neck - Kinda reminds me of something out of a KC-135...and hey I'm retired Air Force so extra kewl points -




Installed; naturally I'll have a flexible 'shield' to keep debris/mud/rain from impacting the plumbing -


Filling the main tank: main valve open (lever in-line)/aux valve closed (90*)-


...and the opposite to fill the aux tank -


Will prolly haul the truck (or clandestinely drive it) to the nearest gas station to test it all out...

speaking of multiple gas tanks....I wanted to be able to maintain both gas tanks and respective plumbing without having to remove the entire bed, so I cut a big hole and using the leftovers from the spare tire trap door made a big access panel to allow me easy access under there -



access to the main tank...


and the aux tank...


bolted up -


Spare tire cover/trap door is in work now...

...got the big hole in the bed covered up -


...and taking maximum advantage of every cubic inch of available space under the bed...this is what it covers...leaving the entire bed open for gear/sleeping/whatever -


Look close - there's an inflated 40x13.5 Toyo in there - the tire edge 'is' the support for the big access door - works awesome -

Nice work, but I think your gonna find that many fasteners will be a royal pain in the ass. Especially on the side of a trail.
btw, good call on that HF parts cleaner. That little sucker has cleaned everything I've thrown at it. Thanks