1952 New Yorker LeMons project
 

So we're making progress on our 24 Hours of LeMons project. Today we test fitted the Industrial 413 from a 1972 motorhome and it almost fits. Not sure if it was somewhere in this forum that someone said we'd run into problems with the steering box. Well, we did. Apparently we need to find the steering box from a late 53 to 54 New Yorker (or any Chrysler?) to get more room for the starter.

The motor mounts won't be a big deal. The side to side fit is near perfect and the distance between the engine and tranny mounts is within an inch of the mounts in the car! The tranny brake cable from the 727 has the same fitting so we can use the stock handle in from the car and the speedo cable looks like it will screw right in, although who knows if the ratio is the same, don't really care.

We are also going to have to get a rear sump oil pan from a truck (383/413/440) to clear the steering linkage so we can drop the engine into place.

Since we can't actually drop the engine into place tomorrow we'll mount the fenders, grill and hood back on the car and see how much room we have for the radiator. The one we have came out of the motorhome and it's huge, but will be perfect for racing, if it fits.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...5TWFB3eDQ/view

Dave

How tight is the starter?
Would you have room for smaller later style?

It's really the bell housing that the starter bolts to that is hitting the pitman arm right now. The engine still needs to drop 2-3 inches on that side. The starter does stick out further than the bell housing, but it's just in front of the arm, at least at the current position of the arm. Does the later steering box sit closer to the frame?

Here are a few pictures, but it's kind of hard to see in there.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...NPZGZjTWc/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...ZGRTMzUEk/view

Dave

Here's a better picture. It shows just the steering box without the engine. The yellow box is the steering box, the red box is the power steering part. The blue line is the shaft for the pitman arm and the green line is the pitman arm. What we figure now, is that if we can get a non-power steering box from a similar vintage Dodge or Plymouth, it would just be what's in the yellow box with the pitman arm snug up to the frame. This would buy us 3-4" inches of space for the engine, which will be enough. Not knowing what a non-power steering box looks like, does it sound close? Anyone have one they aren't using?? :-)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...JUWWlFZnc/view

Dave

Looks like we are going to swap the steering box out for a Chevy Astro/GMC Safari box. This will bring the pitman arm right up to the frame and give us the room we need for the engine. I dropped, cleaned, sealed and reinstalled the gas tank this past week. Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks we will be ready to install the engine.

Dave

Cool Beans.... :)

We made a little more progress this weekend. A mid sump oil pan now replaces the front sump pan (along with the proper pickup tube and new gasket). This gives us the clearance we need for the steering arms. We had installed the fenders, grill and front bumper, but discovered they all had to be removed in order to get the engine lift in proper position to drop the engine in. Bummer.

We did this for one last test fit of the engine with the new pan to see if we could kick it over to the passenger side enough to clear the original steering box. No go. The passenger side exhaust would have to go through the middle of the frame in order to get enough space on the driver's side. We will be sourcing a new steering box this week.

Dave

Sound like the fun is starting.... Keep us posted Dave.....

The 413 is mounted in the '52 now. We ended up going with solid mounts to get it as low as possible. The mid sump pan clears everything and the exhaust manifolds slide right between the frame rails. We though about using a '73 D300 steering box, but could not find one so fell back on our original plan of an Astro/Safari box. Of course now we need a longer pitman arm which is being sourced. We are also going to combine the '72 M300 (motorhome) steering column with bits from the '52 column so we will have a collapsible column. Also looks like we can use the original 52 driveshaft and add about 7 inches to the front along with the '72 yoke to attach to the 727 tranny. The tranny brake on the 727 connects right up to the parking brake lever on the 52 as does the speedo cable!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...NHb2hCY2s/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9v...NXbklvdW8/view

Dave

Time is ticking away, but we are making progress. Today we tackled the brakes. We have new hardware for all 4 corners. The pass front went together fine, drum is back on. The driver's side won't let us slide the drum on. We adjusted the shoes all the way in, but still no go. Are there any other adjustments that can be made on the dual cylinder brakes?

The steering is all set now. We used the Astro/Safari box, notched the frame so it sits low enough to use the stock pitman arm from that box. We pieced together the steering column out of pieces from a Chevy, the motorhome and the top part from the 52 so can use the stock wheel.

Dave

If the adjusters are all the way in and the wheel cylinder pistons are all the way in????? You might have to have the shoes re-arked to fit the drum....

:)

Got the adjusters freed up and the drums back on, thanks.

The cage is almost done, pictures later.

You going to put sway bars and a good wheel tire combo on the old girl to help her get thru the corners?

By the way I'm digging your effort, can't wait to see that old mopar dance!:clap:

Good Deal.... :)

Once I figure out how to copy links from Google drive into here on my tablet, I'll do that. The extent of our handling upgrades will be 4 new shocks from Autozone.... it already has sway bars front and back so we may get new bushings. Tires will be some flavor of 235/75x15, probably around 400 treadwear. Actually snow tires might give us better traction!

We had to cut the glove box door to allow it to open since the roll cage bar drops down right where the dash meets the door. It looks decent though. We also put the rear seat back in just for fun.

Now that the cage is 95% complete, the rest of the stuff is all mechanical, which is easy.

Dave

Here you go... Scroll down for the "How To's"

https://moparforums.com/forums/f4/po...pictures-2128/

Thought I replied here, but looks like it didn't stick. Long question short - what diam/pitch/length bolts are used to connect the rear driveshaft ujoint to the diff yoke? Hoping to get it to move under its own power this weekend.

Dave

More progress. I simply used bolts and lock nuts for the driveshaft, done. Ended up grinding off and drilling out the rivets holding the drums to the spindles to remove the drums. Will make future brake work much easier. We plan to install studs anyway so lining up the wheel bolt holes won't be a problem. Mounted a new under floor brake booster and cyl. Just need to connect the hard lines. Cage is all welded in. Still trying to source wheels without spending a lot of $$.

Pics are on my google drive if you can get there from the links in the earlier posts.

Dave

What is the bolt pattern and size? :)

15" diam, 5x5.5" bolt pattern, 3 7/8" center hole (huge) and 3.5" back spacing, which is very low offset. Stock ones are 6" wide, but we can go up to 8" for the 235/75x15 tires we plan on running. We may have found a set locally, but what do you have?

Dave

Well, we got the beast on track and had a blast! Read all about it here:

http://www.roadkill.com/new-england-...emons-winners/

and here:

http://www.roadkill.com/413-powered-...d-lemons-race/

Dave

Dave....you are my Hero. Sniff,tear oh someone get me a tissue please.:clap:

Please tell us your going to run the car again!!!

It is so just damn cool!

There has to be away to put a good set of disks on the front and the rad should not be a problem, looks like it could use a set of sway bars also.

great job :clap:

Sorry I'm Late to the party...... Dave.... That looks like it was a Hoot !!!!!!!
Hope you get to run it next time.... Awesome... Thanks for sharing.... Way cool build man, Congrats to you and the team !!!!!

We do plan to race this beast again, 2-3 races next year. NJ in May, CT in Aug and NH in October. Look at the 24 Hours of LeMons site for dates and details. We might need a few drivers.... Apparently there are kits to allow us to use Chevy disks up front and we figure a modern rear end with drums would be fine. Those upgrades and a normal firewall-mounted master cyl will make life much easier. The cooling system held together once we put in the new radiator and hoses. Not sure if we'll upgrade the sway bars, that will take all the fun out of it!

In spite of the lack of brakes, we did find the 413 has plenty of power, we just couldn't use it this time around.

Dave

Wish I was your neighbour Dave, I'd be on this like a dog on a dead salmon!

One of the drivers this year was from Florida. I'll keep you posted when we are getting a team together for next year.

We've made a few updates to the '52 NYer. We have a front brake kit that allows us to use Crown Vic front disks. We are also going to swap the rear end for one from a mid 90's Explorer, disks as well. We may install a tilt steering column, but I will find a way to keep the stock wheel! An electric adjustable seat base may be done too to help with the different size drivers. The NH race is late October.

The big jobs are the brakes (new pedals and firewall mounted booster) and swapping the rear end.

I'm checking with the 3 drivers we had last year, but if we need a new driver, I'll let you guys know.

Dave

Please keep us posted on the updates, pictures. I would like to see more pictures, myself I think your project is beyond cool.
Thanks,Tom

Best of luck!!!!!