That is a good point about the low vehicle scooping. I doubt the cooling is much better either way.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

We did manage to get the exhaust system reworked over the weekend.
I am getting pretty good at retro-fitting a single exhaust system into a D. Duals with a Y-pipe... the Dacuda already had a new 2 1/4 head pipe, so we took a few measurements and added-on a piece of pipe to allow a "slip-in" connection point.




Then it was a matter of making a short section of pipe to connect the front Dutra exhaust manifold to the "y" point. We worked inward from both ends, a flange on one end, a short length of pipe sticking out of the slip-in socket... and met in the middle. One final weld and we had the remove-able front piece.



I have learned to keep the front section of pipe close to the rear manifold, almost touching... that gives you the shortest path and the most room & best clearance to the steering box.



Here is a different angle, you can also see the bottom of the clamp used at the slip connection. We also added a exhaust "dump-out" cap under the car, just past the trans cross member.



The system turned out nice but it took way too much time and I trashed my work bench in the process... need to do some tool "put-a-way" work and finish this install.



The final step, get the 2 BBL carb installed... where there was once a 1 BBL.
DD

Man that looks nice Doc. wish I could afford a set of the dutra duals but I am going to do a home made version, using the parts I have for now, with help from a good friend of mine.

_________________
Nothing beats a slant six
1987 D150

I made a set from two ex manifolds, i didn`t keep the stock heating pad, i just made two like dougs front one. The rear one exits in front of the starter.

I hope you are good with a hack saw and grinder!

Truth is... I still make a lot of "hand fabricated", custom exhaust manifolds. It's a lot of work but sometimes, it's the only way to get the set-up you need.

Good "core" manifold material, tight fitment, clean joint surfaces, correct pre-heating and slow cool down are all important for successful cast iron welding.
DD

yes careful prep work is needed and you can make it work, d.c. welder is a hole lot better with cast.

DOC- Check your PM's!!!!!!!!

I don't know if this will help, but here it goes.

When I was a kid, I raced Spanish motorcycles. The cylinder sleeve had a shoulder on it that made it stick up proud of the deck about 3/16 of an inch. The head had a coresponding groove in it. There was a regular head gasket and a ring of copper. Looked allot like a crush ring. The ring went into the groove in the head with the gasket on the deck of the barrel. I guess the ring was a crush washer of sorts, because if you didn't replace it every time, the head gasket would fail. Granted, this was a two stroke and air-cooled to boot. I was just thinking that a setup like that would seal and stabilize the sleeve in an aluminum /6. Just an idea.
Thanks for all the fun with Buster. You must be like that guy in "The Worlds Fastest Indian" So when do you start making your own pistons. LOL.
It has been a great pleasure to watch this.
Thanks
Don

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64 A100 PU 170 /6
Salisbury, NC

Yes, a crush ring in a receiver groove makes a nice seal but it is tipically used when there is a single cylinder and head. It would be hard to get even crush on all the rings, across a long, single piece cylinder head serving 6 different bores.

Thanks for the suggestion... it is alway good to hear different ideas. If we can figure-out a way to keep the aluminum block Slant's head gasket sealed at higher compression ratios, that would make it a better choice for high performance applications.
DD

We broke-out of our "funk", focused on getting a few more key things hooked-up, poured in some oil, water and gas, turned the key and Buster jumped to life.

The first 10 to 15 seconds seemed like 10 years... with no oil pressure, then the gauge jumped-up to mid-point and we have a running engine!

I feel much better... it's been 2 weeks since we started this engine swap and between work, life and a zillion little "details", I was getting to the point of asking myself: "will this engine ever run"?
Answer: YES!

We are not done yet...
There are a couple of "hard to get to" bell housing bolts that need to be installed, the kick-down linkage needs re-engineering, dipstick and tube have to go in, adjust the timing, adjust the valves, valve cover, air cleaner.... basically all that "finish it" stuff.

Here is a photo:
DD

Shoot, I bet the front suspension hardly even noticed when you dropped that featherweight in there...

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Well Doc, all in all whats buster weighing in at ? Time for a youtube video !!!

-Mike

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I am the Guardian, I hate helos, everything leaks.......

buster looks great doc

_________________
Nothing beats a slant six
1987 D150

We finished enough to take the car for a short test drive and it's still "all systems go".
Observations:
right now, the set-up is really "cold blooded", the engine does not want to idle on it's own until it get over 140 degrees or so. Some additional choke "fiddling" is needed.

At operating temp., the engine will idle at 800 RPM and is "crisp" sounding... and responsive to throttle opening, that is good. The test drive was short and I kept RPMs down but from idle to 3000 was smooth and pulled well with-out full throttle opening... basically, it feels pretty spunky.

We need to fit an air cleaner assembly to the engine before driving it more and yes, the front-end is way up in the air so a couple of turns out of the torsion bars will be needed.

As we say in the other thread, engine weight is 272 pounds.
I will get the Dacuda onto a scale to get a total car weight, in the next week or so.
DD

when your satisfied with the tune-up some video/audio would be nice