W350 Crew Cab - The ultimate first gen - Pics and history

[RSchwarzli]

So will it make to Carlisle this year?

That is my deadline, yes.

Wont drive it in as I likely wont have much shakedown time, but my plan is to drag it down there with the 90.

 

[Lynx0849]

That is my deadline, yes.

Wont drive it in as I likely wont have much shakedown time, but my plan is to drag it down there with the 90.

What is "Carlisle"?

 

[RSchwarzli]

What is "Carlisle"?

Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. The largest Mopar only show in the country, and held in Carlisle PA every July.

http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle-events/carlisle-chrysler-nationals/default.aspx

 

[ENafziger]

Thanks for taking the time to update us! This is looking great. And thanks for hanging in there...too many people (including myself) quickly lose interest on restorations that are drawn out longer than a couple years. I'm glad to see this one coming together!

And great decision on getting it going now with traditional brakes. Getting it on the road and sitting behind the wheel for awhile will renew your affection, and will give you a chance to figure out what is working well and what could use some fine tuning.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Thanks for taking the time to update us! This is looking great. And thanks for hanging in there...too many people (including myself) quickly lose interest on restorations that are drawn out longer than a couple years. I'm glad to see this one coming together!

And great decision on getting it going now with traditional brakes. Getting it on the road and sitting behind the wheel for awhile will renew your affection, and will give you a chance to figure out what is working well and what could use some fine tuning.

Yeah, some wheel time is needed to ensure I keep this enthusiasm going. Right now she is a real long term expensive date and I woudnt mind a drive to prove this is worth it. lol

 

[HHhuntitall]

It's a crime to have a incomplete historical monument sitting in a shop in pieces.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! :-laf I love you guys.......

Yeah, some wheel time is needed to ensure I keep this enthusiasm going. Right now she is a real long term expensive date and I woudnt mind a drive to prove this is worth it. lol

...... makes me think of right before I got married....

 

[RSchwarzli]

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! :-laf I love you guys.......





...... makes me think of right before I got married....

Dont encourage him! You know what happens when you encourage him! :-laf

No comment to the second line.

 

[RSchwarzli]

And to get back on track.... another update!

Small Things:




Back again to smaller items, next up was cowl install. After a wash from sitting and getting dusty, it was a quick paint of the plastic squirters and then to install:




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Also the rear window was painted, and prepped for tinting.




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Then to save the tint shop from having to climb over the tall backed SRT buckets once installed, I took the window to the tint shop to have it pre tinted. Sadly, the tint shop didn’t take good care of me even though I have run multiple vehicles through the shop over the years. They got dust under the tint, and then they damaged the fresh painting that I had done in the above photos. They told me I didn’t need a good tint job as it is “just an old truck and it doesn’t matter. Take the window and stop complaining”. They also accused me of lying to them and saying the window had not just been painted and the scratches were not theirs. Was a bit unfortunate of a situation. Thankfully the glass was not damaged so the tint was stripped off and it is now at another facility. Amazes me people can be so arrogant and they can still stay in business. This is what they gave me back:



Bubbles:



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More bubbles:




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Ooooh. How’s this for strait cutting?


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Took it to another shop, fast forward 3 weeks, old film removed, new film on, and it has been returned in good condition. Install is coming soon to a truck near you….



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Next up is the headlight switch panel. As I have a recall memory tach, I will need a place to put the switch that allows me to program and recall. So the location of the factory power mirror controls was decided on the right spot to be. So a CNC file was made to etch in the words that I needed:



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Then the setup and cutting began…


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And then after 2 hours of a tooth pick, some white model car paint, and a cramped neck from trying not to shake, this was the end result.




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[RSchwarzli]

Coolers:


Next up on my list was to get the diff and transmission coolers done. I had ordered two self priming Tilton pumps that are used on race cars to help keep my diff and 5600 cool when heaving towing in the hills. Last thing you want to do is let up because your diff is getting warm. So between the pump and a rad with fan, I can keep it around that 140F mark regardless of conditions.


So my first step after laying out the plans in my head, was to make the mounts for the pumps. These would be fairly easy. I started with a steel plate that would be chopped down, drilled, tapped, and ready for test fit on the rear suspension factory crossmember.




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The front pump was a bit easier riding on the top of the crossmember vs a vertical mount like the rear.




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Next was to get the coolers mounted. One will go above the rear pinion area, the other, will be towards the front of the box.



I started with some flat stock and some angle iron cut to size so I could create a shelf for the cooler mount tab to sit on. The other size would bolt to the top of the fuel tank crossmember so it was even easier consisting of a flat stock bar drilled.




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Mounted into the truck it looks like this:




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For the transmission cooler, that would get a mount between the frame rails of the box. Again I started with flat stock, only this time I formed them to match the box crossmember angle profile with the step in the bracket to hold the cooler up higher to clean the air tank.




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Basically looks like this mounted to the brackets:




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Mounted in the truck:




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And if you look closely, you can see both coolers mounted here:



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Fast forward a few weeks….parts are now back from paint:



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So with it time to actually install the pump, I first needed to clock the pump head so it would flow oil the proper direction. As the oil from the source will be hot, you always want to draw through the following cycle:


Diff/transmission --> Filter ---> Cooler ---> Pump ---> Diff/transmission


That order is used so it comes from source, filters the oil so nothing plugs the small oil lines, goes through the cooler then goes through the pump and returned. Why not go from the diff/transmission and push it through the system vs suck it through? By doing it the above way, the pump is always dealing with cool fluids through its seals. The cool fluid keeps the pump cool too. This ensures longer pump life.


So the cap was popped on both pumps and the heads were clocked 180 deg.


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Not much in there really in case you were curious too.


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Assembly began….




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[RSchwarzli]

Coolers Part 2:




Now for the transmission and diff to be able to pump fluid, we will need a suction and a return hose. This will allow hot fluid to be sucked out and cold fluid to return. So I will need to have two threaded hose barbs mounted into both the Mag Hytec diff cover and the transmission PTO cover.
So Andy started on the diff cover first.


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Pilot mark…




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Drilled:




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And then the hole was tapped with a 3/8 npt tap allowing the barb to thread in:




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For the PTO cover, that isn’t as simple as just being tapped as the material is too thin for a good hold. It will require a bung to be welded on to give more meat for the threads. So I started off making a few bungs out of a steel rod. I put them into the lathe for quick machining:




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That gave me these:




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Popped the pto cover off….




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Next I welded two on. The bottom is suction beside the transmission temp probe. The top is return.




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Paint and reinstall…. You can also see the in line magenefine transmission filter so collect any unwanted debris from the fluid.




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Back to the diff, the cover was installed, filter placed in line, and the hoses run between all the points:




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[RSchwarzli]

Coolers Part 3

Last step was filling. In order the get the correct amount of lube in the diff taking into account the empty hoses, cooler, pump, etc, the system is best primed direct from the container and the return goes into the diff/transmission and you keep an eye on it until it is full level mark. For the rear diff, I run 75W110 synthetic Mobil 1 as I plan to be putting some stress on this diff with towing. The transmission is filled with correct spec Pensoil Synchromesh.


So I stuck the hose into the bucket and let the pump suck it out, and start filling the diff!



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Same for transmission…


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And then once done, all was connected and done!


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[DVolk]

Incredible , are you going to have enough charging capacity to handle all the electronics ?

 

[RSchwarzli]

Incredible , are you going to have enough charging capacity to handle all the electronics ?

Should. Much of this doesnt run all the time nor all at the same time.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Headliner:


Next up was to finish the headliner repairs.


Due to the nature of the material I used, it was very obvious that there was an mating seam under the headliner material. So at the suggestion of multiple people and upholstery shops, I did a second layer, with a different material, on top. Although I had my reservations, it worked amazingly well.
You can see here the headliner as it was with layer 1:

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So we laid the new material out


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Sprayed with 3M…


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And this was the results:


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Install:


Now before we could install it, we had to change the overhead console wires AGAIN. Due to the length, and the power requirements to run a relay coil for the switches, the 28 GA wire was deemed too thin. So this time I ordered constant motion silicone jacketed multi strand multi conductor cable. This will eliminate the worry of flex over time, as well as making it a cleaner install. A single ¾” diameter cable has 36 conductors within the tightly wound jacket. Being multi strand, it allows me to heavily flex the cable without cracking the wires. Only issue is, I needed more space for the cables to now come through as it is two single cables vs a bunch of small ones. So Andy got the job of cutting the roof, mostly as that part of the roof and I are still not on communicating terms since the screw incident.



This is the cable:


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This is what Andy started with:


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Made into this:


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And then the sharp edges were dealt with and then the cables pulled through:


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Then the headliner was stuffed in:


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And this was the result. World, meet a real gen 1 crew cab headliner.



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[RSchwarzli]

Thats all for now. Lunch break over.....back to getting more wiring done.

Robert

 

[RVTRKN]

On my trany cooler, I installed the return oil line on the opposite side PTO cover below the oil level so the oil couldn't drain out of the cooler when not running, causing a higher oil level. Have you compensated for this? I also run it when the oil temp gets to 180*, is this too warm?

The heat exchanger is actually an automatic trans cooler that bolts right up to the radiator, the radiator is the same part number for manual or auto equipped trucks, in 03 through 09 MY's. Also it has the bypass when the oil is cold to let the auto trans warm up, although I don't run it until 180*.

 

[RVTRKN]

Another look at the mounting plate

 

[RSchwarzli]

Nice looking setup! Love the AN fittings and SS hose. Also love the separate spin on filter.

In regards tot he questions:

1- For the drain back issue....it is based on the height of the cooler. In my case, it is higher than transmission and diff. So regardless, the fluid will drain back. Not much one can do about it either. The pump does have a check valve so only so much will bleed backwards, but either way, there is no way to stop it. Same for yours. If the cooler is higher than your transmission line, it will drain back. If it is lower, then having your lines higher up the PTO would have actually been a help.

In regards to temp, you have to go by MFG specs for fluid temp. For me, I dont like my gear oils over 160-170. They are warm enough for low viscosity at 140-150 and then it helps keep the components cooler. So that is why I prefer cooler than 180. But thats just me.

 

[RVTRKN]

The oil does not drain back, because it can't if both the inlet and outlet lines are below the oil level. If you think about it, when/if the oil moves through the lines it will pull oil from the sump if it tries to drain from the heat exchanger, which ever way it tries to move. The only way it can drain, is if there is a leak in the heat exchanger, when it sucks air into the heat exchanger from leaving fluid causing a vacuum. I put a lot of research into this, looking for built in check valves with oil filters and inline check valves. I tested this theory at a later time after checking the level with the pump running and oil at norm temperatures, then allowing it to sit for a week, then checking oil level.

 

[RSchwarzli]

The oil does not drain back, because it can't if both the inlet and outlet lines are below the oil level. If you think about it, when/if the oil moves through the lines it will pull oil from the sump if it tries to drain from the heat exchanger, which ever way it tries to move. The only way it can drain, is if there is a leak in the heat exchanger, when it sucks air into the heat exchanger from leaving fluid causing a vacuum. I put a lot of research into this, looking for built in check valves with oil filters and inline check valves. I tested this theory at a later time after checking the level with the pump running and oil at norm temperatures, then allowing it to sit for a week, then checking oil level.

Yeah, I guess it makes sense. I just really have to think that one through. Fluid always levels itself. Regardless of if it is in two different chambers or not, just as long as they are connected. Yet I can see the vacuum side.... now you have my brain questioning my what I thought was good logic. lol I agree with the vacuum part. But not sure the hose being at the bottom matters.....