Out of many, there is one....
Yeah, it's taken 4 different Chrysler/Cummins fan shrouds to come up with something that works in the tight confines of the van's engine compartment. There's a certain amount of despair that comes over you when you first pull a brand new part out of the box, cut it to pieces in an attempt to get it to work and then realize that it just won't fit right. It's even worse doing it to the 4th part you've ordered in as many weeks. But hey, they're only $65-$85 shrouds that are now only good for lining the bottom of a garbage can...
With pieces of the first and 4th part, I was able to make up a shroud that fits the radiator (once I cut off and relocate the mounting bosses) AND lines up and seals against the big rubber fan shroud on the engine side. Of course this required cutting down the side tank and all of the mounts that came with this perfectly good (and expensive) Mishimoto radiator. Warranties?! Who needs warranties?
So now I can
FINALLY move forward. It might surprise you how many things on the to-do list are dependent on the positioning of the radiator.
With all that radiator stuff sorted out, I started playing around with the intercooler. Don't have much choice of where to put this thing...it's kinda big and it dictates its own positioning.
The passenger side intercooler piping is child's play. The driver side, not so much. The poor radiator needs more cutting so I can slip a 3.5" diameter tube past it. I'm going to replace the lower body brace with a laser cut and welded assembly that doubles as the radiator and intercooler mount. I got it all measured out today, hope to have a CAD model done and drawings sent off before end of day tomorrow.
Even with as big as that intercooler is, the grill support only needs a tiny bit of trimming to fit around it. The next big challenge is the top core support brace and the location of the hood latch. Yep, the intercooler interferes with it at the moment. It looks as though I can move the latch back about an inch and make it work out nicely.
Not many "challenges" left before the front end is fully assembled...
Tan Hot Dog
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