02 Dakota QuadCab 4x360x40s

[Mad Max]

...it sure does! I fired it back up, it got to 180, and never went a degree higher 👍 , and the cooling system is not leaking! 👍 . Plus, the valve covers are not leaking!! 👍 . And, we think we know why the idle has been 'wonky' - it appears the gas tank vent system (which feeds into the air hat) may be the culprit; I'll discuss that with Ethan at Holley next week.

So, bottom line is...so long as nothing else decides to get wonky, the engine may finally be 'there'. And with that done, it is Beer-30! 🍺 .

 

[rattle_snake]

Congrats on the win man, you were due for things to go right. Some times it takes a longer more painful path to learn the nuances.


Now I won't have to suggest swapping to a Ford engine.

 

[350TacoZilla]

Congrats on figuring out the issue. I'll admit as someone who doesn't deal much with mopar's I would probably never have suspected that. I wonder how many of these end up in JY due to overheating issues stemming from that thermostat and water pump housing style.

 

[Mad Max]

yah there's been a few motorhome threads I've read about 'overheating 440s' and it could have simply been an incorrect thermostat. I've had the truck running a few times now and the temp gauge acts like there's a barrier at the 180* mark 👍

Meanwhile, when I went to swap the alternator out I discovered a bit of a design 'flaw' in the CVF serpentine setup - turns out the alternator cannot be removed without pulling the power steering pump - the ps pump pulley slightly 'covers' the lower bolt for the alternator. Now in the big scheme of things that isn't a show-stopper, but for this truck...well it needed to be a bit more 'field serviceable'. Since it was apart I went ahead and pulled the main bracket off and relocated the mount for the power steering pump 3/8 inch down and inside, at a 45* angle. I cut/cleaned it and glued it back together. Not only do I now have unrestricted access to the lower alternator bolt, but I also retained use the original belt - it's just the tiniest bit tighter to get the belt on but not so much that it can't be used. Worked awesome 👍

Also, I trimmed the fan blade again to provide more clearance to the idler arm, and now it doesn't hit.

 

[Mad Max]

well...it's been 3 years since I blew the truck apart to begin the 'big' part of the build - time sure flies!

Okay - all the info indicates I've been fighting both EMI-RFI and 'power' issues , and over the last month I've been re-wiring and 'shielding' my Sniper and Hyperspark wiring harnesses - just about everything is wrapped in faraday tape and recovered with protective loom, coiled up nicely and away from the plug wires, etc. Also got the battery mounted in the bed and all cables routed to it, and I'm pretty close to re-firing it all back up to see if the wonky issues stop. The smart people on the Holley Sniper forums pretty much agree the IAC issue I'm having is EMI/RFI-related, and I'm hoping that's solved. If it continues I'll build a EMI shield to go in front of the Sniper unit itself, between it and the big dizzy 9 inches away from it. I gotta believe the system 'will' run perfectly - just have to get the hardware squared away. At this point there's not much in the way of 'alternatives', so I'll just keep plugging away at it.

In case anyone is interested here's a link to the faraday tap I used - https://www.amazon.com/ANGKEEL-Cond...6cfd4a&pd_rd_wg=LSOzf&pd_rd_i=B097HC9HR7&th=1

Some pics of my shielding efforts -

Sniper wiring layered in faraday tape -

...tucked away from the spark plug wires - nice n neat -

...'shielded'/layered all the way to the very ends -

So what's the results? - I fired it up yesterday, and I'm happy to report that the EFI system did indeed seem to function "nominally" . Still have lots to do, but it appears my EMI/RFI shielding and wiring upgrades helped...if not cured...my Sniper issues. Will be running it every day just to put some hours on it and confirm the status...and I can finally - FINALLY - press on with other things the truck needs before heading out to its first trial run. So yayee

 

[rattle_snake]

Glad you got it solved. So how did the IAC issue from EMI manifest?

I designed my power distribution system to inherently minimize ignition noise from getting into ECU power and have not had any issues with sniper. MSD switching 500 V is noisy. I shielded only primary coil wiring.

Oh, I see your distributor is crooked, maybe that's why the electrons are not behaving.

 

[Mad Max]

Glad you got it solved. So how did the IAC issue from EMI manifest?

I designed my power distribution system to inherently minimize ignition noise from getting into ECU power and have not had any issues with sniper. MSD switching 500 V is noisy. I shielded only primary coil wiring.

Oh, I see your distributor is crooked, maybe that's why the electrons are not behaving.

Don't know what was making the IAC glitch, and while it didn't recur during this single test run I'll be confident it's actually resolved after several more hours of glitch-free run time.

Having the dizzy offset to the side like that was Mopar's way of perfecting the weight distribution...

 

[Mad Max]

...meanwhile, I've been taking care of the many gremlins that have surfaced since firing the engine, such as:

1) Bad lifter - required pulling the throttle body, intake, valve covers, rockers and pushrods to replace all 16 lifters with new, then had to re-accomplish another stressful break-in
2) Exhaust too hot - required massive amounts of re-design and time to fabricate more heat shields/apply liberal amounts of heat reflective panels...and sending nearly the whole exhaust to Jet Hot to try to mitigate the radiant heat to begin with...
3) 3x valve cover leaks - finally resolved with lots of Copper RTV
4) Transmission leaking in 3 places - re-sealed when removed the Atlas t-case, because...
5) Atlas t-case leaking. Main case and inspection cover both leaking. Re-sealed on bench with care package from Atlas
6) Wrong sealant. Improper use of aviation sealant #3 to the fuel line NPT fittings resulting in fuel leaking from every single threaded joint - required complete disassembly and re-assembly with Teflon tape
7) Bad alternator. Wasn't charging - re-wired and replaced with another reman'd unit
8 ) Incompatible fittings. Use of brass fittings in an aluminum housing causing a potential for long-term corrosion and failed joints - required a complete tear-down and reassembly with steel fittings and Teflon tape
9) RFI/EMI. Ignition system allegedly creating Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)/Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) which severely jacket with the EFI systems - apparently resolved with liberal application of faraday tape, lots more grounds between the throttle body/intake/head/block, and connecting the EFI and ignition main power/ground wires directly to the battery with no 'alternate' connections - he results of which have been a perfectly running system...so far.
10) Brake system leaks. Despite two professional rebuilds the hydrobooster leaks a tiny amount of fluid even sitting still. Just purchased another fresh unit - awaiting results.
11) Malfunctioning master cylinder. Removed to RnR hydrobooster; re-bled it on the bench and found it to be potentially defective - returned for new...
12) Rear brakes. Not getting much power to the rear brakes/possible bad proportioning valve or master cylinder. Replaced 'OE-style' proportioning valve with a stand-alone Wilwood proportioning valve on rear brake line.

...so yeah - been lots of fun re-doing all of that; some was my fault, some not - all had to be done and so far so good...and that's 'the joy of owning a race car'...

 

[350TacoZilla]

Wow man that seems like a long list but I guess its not when compared to the entire build. Only thing I'm surprised about is how much trouble lifters have given you and maybe about the heat, I know its a big engine in a little engine compartment but that thing looks like it's ready to be a nasa tester for heat deflection.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Wow man that seems like a long list but

I mean there's 10lb of shit in a 5lb sack so....

 

[Mad Max]

...maybe 20 but who's counting...

 

[rattle_snake]

perhaps, yes.
Honestly sound similar to my project with all the fucking leaks and integration issues. Solvable but frustrating.
About to re-do my fuel system as exhaust boils the whole tank of fuel. and that leaking rear main, fuck....

 

[Mad Max]

...and that leaking rear main, fuck....

one of the very best things about running a Cummins is the superior sealing characteristics of the 4 and 6BTs - loved that part...and the torque was nice too...

 

[Mad Max]

...been working diligently on a nice clean way to get the truck 'quiet' while also not melting the spare tire, and this is how I did it. There's now another big 3" in/out Walker QuietFlow 20146 muffler under the spare tire well, with three nice strong and rust-proof 1/8" aluminum heat shields linked together to keep the heat under control...I hope. 3" downpipe from the center exhaust routes into the muffler, and I have a simple turn-down tacked in place until I get the bed on and fab up the actual tail pipe. Main shield bolts up to the spare tire crossmembers, and the muffler bolts up through slots in the shield to the same crossmembers. Measurements indicate the rear axle has a full 6 inches of compression before it will contact anything, and in my experience that is 'plenty'. Look under any pickup - there's lots of empty space under there, and I'm usin' all of it.

Is the shielding overkill? - maybe, but this aught to keep my spendy Toyo from wearing out due to heat. I got the muffler and shields as close to the chassis as I could without hitting under articulation - testing will confirm or deny if my calculations are correct. Pics -

the two connecting shields - one a 'wall' the other connecting to the main shield above the tire -

the three heat shields bolted together making a nice barrier between the 'heat' and the tire -

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice. Some brute force engineering there.

Was it just WOT that was too loud? cruise drone?

My exhaust is similar, 2-into-1 muffler. Sounded great except for WOT, which was shitty, blatty. So I added a 3" muff after like you did. It cleaned it up nicely, and was cheap and easy (I like them like that). Later on I did the math and I think 3" is ~20% area/flow of dual 2.5. And muffs in series don't help flow. But I would guess flow restriction doesn't happen until high rpm and I don't run it past 5k that often. But I do want to redo it all in dual 2.5 for some reason, some day.

 

[350TacoZilla]

speechless on the job your doing with this exhaust man!

Edit: on the drone thing I just watched a Lawrence Tolman youtube vid where he added a dead end tube to exhaust to cure drone, anyone here have 1st hand experience with such a thing? In video he seemed pretty impressed with how much it helped.

 

[rattle_snake]

No and never seen the OEMs do stubs in exhaust for resonant cancellation. probably would hold water and rust out with no through flow. Plastic intake manifolds yes.
You could argue that a muffler (or cat, or even bends) does similar, changes section length and resonance freq(s) of system. Discontinuity in path, reflection. A longer pipe has a lower resonant (drone) freq that can be heard and is annoying.

 

[Mr. Mindless]

hard mounting exhaust components seems counterproductive to fighting drone and NVH in general. Doesn't seem good for longevity either

 

[Mad Max]

yah I thought about that too but I'm going to see how it sounds and go from there. I could incorporate rubber isolators easy enough...

 

[Gdogg]

Very impressive build! I really like the detail in your work.

 

[Mad Max]

our club had a UHF/VHR radio clinic at our place, and I took the opportunity to line up the hardware from tallest to smallest - some interesting comparisons

 

[Mad Max]

...been a while since I've posted any updates, and I got one now. After months of deliberation I made me a Command decision: The 440 is coming out, and my original low-mile 360 is going back in, where it belongs. Everything gets 'simpler', plus it'll be lighter, quieter, cooler (more 'room'), with plenty of power, and 88 less cubic inches to feed when crawling the trails. The 360 will be set up basically be the same as the 440 was - I'm bolting on an Edelbrock 7577 intake, and...and here's the main reason for the swap...a 2bbl 570 cfm Holley Sniper with HyperSpark ignition will top it off. The 2bbl Sniper will be SO much simpler, and for this truck that was a major part of the decision to swap engines.

I'm considering a cam upgrade while it's apart. While nice and smooth the cam in it now is 'tiny', and I'm looking at the following Hughes grinds to help it breath a bit better without sacrificing the nice smooth low end (probably #2 or 3) -

HUG SER9703ALN-14
SB HYD RLR CAM 197/203 -114ºLSA NEW CORE

HUG SER0814ALN-14
SB HYD RLR CAM 208/214 -114ºLSA NEW CORE

HUG SER1418ALN-14
SB HYD RLR CAM 214/218 -114ºLSA NEW CORE

HUG SER1822ALN-14
SB HYD RLR CAM 218/222 -114ºLSA NEW CORE

The 360 will be 'plenty' for this truck, especially with the 2bbl Sniper and HyperSpark ignition, and the 2bbl Sniper will easily handle a stroker kit if I choose to go there down the road. But since I'll have it literally down to the cam that's a perfect time to employ some natural gains there. I'm waiting to hear back from Hughes on recommendations, and welcome anyone else's too.

What about the 440? Well it's really a cool story - one of my best friends is buying it at cost, complete with the Sniper and HyperSpark ignition, just less the truck oil pan and manifolds, and even more perfect is it's goin' under the hood of a car he got from me a few years ago... - this car

So yah - it's a grand plan and it should work out good 👍

 

[Mad Max]

one of the inherent 'issues' with using a carbureted intake on a Magnum engine is whether or not the owner wants to retain the factory a/c and...more specifically...the big bracket the a/c compressor bolts to. There is a big aluminum bracket that houses the factory a/c compressor and alternator - nicely up out of the way, but the Edelbrock intake has what is presumably the heater port directly under the factory bracket...which...if you want to retain the factory bracket will require some custom work to either actually use the port for a heater hose, or use it for something else - I went with option 'B.

In my case I needed three ports - heater hose, EFI water temp sensor, and dash water temp sensor. The idea of using a 90* fitting under the a/c bracket for the heater hose would have worked, but I preferred not to snake the heater hose out and around. All said n done I ended up with three 3/8 npt ports. I drilled the two 1/8 npt ports open to 3/8 npt for the heater hose and EFI temp ports, and using an adapter used the port under the a/c bracket for my dash 1/8 npt port (via an adapter). Pics tell the rest of the story...

...original intake ports -

...and how mine ended up -

 

[Mad Max]

...heads are off and the rockers/rods/lifters are out, and far as I can tell all look good. A few of the rear-most lifters had some caked/waxy oil built up in the middle which made them a bit more difficult to remove, but they eventually came out. I'll be disassembling the lifters next to give them all a good cleaning and inspection, keeping them each labeled to their respective holes. As usual...pics, including my shop helper this morning helping me unbolt the rockers 🙂 -

and the cylinders looked great 👍 -

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice job re-working the coolant ports.

Decide on a cam? I wouldn't go past 212 intake for a truck application.
Upgrade springs, push rods? Rockers?

 

[Mad Max]

Decide on a cam? I wouldn't go past 212 intake for a truck application.
Upgrade springs, push rods? Rockers?

at Comp Cam's recommendation I'm installing their 20-745-9: 212-218 (264/270), .480/.480, on a 114* LSA. The next cam down was their 20-744-9, which is a 206/212 (258/264) also .480.480, but on a 112*, and with my intended use he indicated the 114* of the taller cam would make my idle a bit better while still giving a real nice mid-range and upper end, and that sounded good to me. Also installing a set of their matching springs, seals and keepers.

Hughes recommended a 210/216, on a 110*, and both Howards and Bullet had similar recommendations...but none were available at either place and no end in sight for backorders, so Comp Cams it was.

OBTW, I think the stock/OE cam is 184/194, .410/.410, 112*... = tiny!

https://www.compcams.com/xtreme-ene...hydraulic-roller-cam-for-chrysler-magnum.html

I've been restoring the lifters and all look to be in good condition. I've been using an ultrasonic cleaner (Harbor Freight) which has been a rock star. Got most of the lifters disassembled - wow were they stuck - no 'springiness' to the plunger. Got off some of the buildup and cleaned them out a bit, worked them loose. Filled the tub with a 50/50 mix of purple power and water, dropped in all the bits, gave them a final hose down with brake cleaner, and reassembly with fresh oil, and I have the last 4 to go.

before above, after below -

disassembling/cleaning/reassembling lifters is not a fast process, and this has been my early morning 'office' for the past couple weeks -

oh and hey - these are the very best latex gloves you'll ever find - for sure the very best I've ever used...by a wide margin - 13mil, very thick, very strong, cleanable and re-usable - the absolute VERY best I've ever used (y) (y)

https://www.amazon.com/GLOVEWORKS-D...ocphy=9051600&hvtargid=pla-305438590240&psc=1

here's a good example of the utility of an ultrasonic cleaner - bottom line = worth every penny ($80 from Harbor Freight). Plug it in, I filled it with 1/2 purple power and 1/2 water, turn on the heater and let it get all nice n happy, drop in a set of 125k-mile untouched rockers and hardware and push rods right off the engine, and here's a few pics of just how well the thing works 👍

another example is the dizzy drive shaft - took it right out of the engine and dropped it in the tub - the difference and 'cleaning' capability is truly impressive - wish I'd discovered the utility of these things years ago. Before -

after -

Oil pan is off, timing chain and cam are next, then I'll pull each main and check the bearings, and roll in a new rear main seal, and I think that'll be about as far 'down' as I'm planning to take the engine.

 

[Mad Max]

Tanked the rear main cap, oil pump and pickup. Rolled in a fresh rear main seal, and bolted it all back up - can definitely see the difference from the others. Oil pump looks brand new - the internal tolerances were all right in spec, reassembled it with fresh oil and bolted it back on with new G8 bolts and blue locktite.

Meanwhile, cleaned the decks, removed the grunge off the pistons (noticed there is barely any ridge wall), and am now chasing the head bolt threads. Should be installing the cam in a couple days, then bolting on all the fresh hardware 👍

Before -

After -

 

[rattle_snake]

I think you will be happy with cam choice. What is the static comp ratio?

Is there value in pulling one piston at a time and inspecting/clean ring groove? in Ultrasonic.

 

[Mad Max]

not sure on the comp ratio, but it's all 'stock' and IIRC it's right at 9-1. And yah there might have been goodness to be had by pulling the pistons and cleaning everything, but it didn't smoke at all last time it ran and I didn't want to dig that deep into it. Plus, the cam and rear main bearing(s) all looked real good so I didn't inspect the other mains or rods.

This morning's update -

Cool - since magnum heads are apparently notorious for developing cracks I had my machine shop check 'em out, and horray! - no cracks!, and the guides were good too! - double woot!! 👍 . While they had them they gave them a thorough cleaning, light re-surfacing, installed the new valve seals, and the new Comp Cams springs.

Note - being a magnum ya haveta drop in the lifters before bolting on the heads...a rather important step I completely neglected to remember .

But...in the process of sourcing another head gasket ( ) I discovered that Fel-Pro has a 'Severe Duty' version of their magnum 360 head gasket, pn# 519SD (as opposed to the standard duty # 9898PT), so I opted for the SD gaskets for my engine. Chased all the threads, cleaned everything spotless, lubed the bolts with a light brush of assembly grease, sprayed the cylinder walls with a light coating of Amsoil Engine Fogging oil (to make sure the rings remain 'happy'), and bolted on the heads and valve train this morning. About 1-1/2 turns to secure the rockers and everything's looking good 👍.

Note #2- the Fel-Pro severe-duty magnum 318 head gasket is pn# 540SD

 

[rattle_snake]

I think dual TB EFIs on a tall tunnel ram poking through the hood would really give this truck some personality.
And up facing open headers like a mud or pulling truck. Then no packaging concerns.