I must be crazy or something but after a coffee with a friend and some prodding from another I am kicking around the idea of a "One Lap" run. AKA Cannonball run. Still not convinced I'll do it but I love the prep...

Since the goal would be to finish and just enjoy the show we are gonna use what we have on hand.

The old Durango RT clone. Not a typical Mopar but still Mopar..

So after a trip to the bone yard and some parts here is where I am:

1998 Magnum Block bored 030 over, decked squared and dropped some, align honed the mains, deburred
Scat 4.0 inch crank 9000 series
I beam Rods 7/16 ARP bolts
KB 745 Icon Pistons Forged 4.030
clevite H series bearing
ARP main studs
Pistons at zero yielding 10.2:1

She will be fuel injected with an M1 Mopar intake, full length headers and some other goodies..

Had the heads flowed after some work and got 275 intake at .55 and 192 exhaust .55

Crank, pistons and rods are in..

More to come..

Any and all ideas and advice are welcome? More the better.

 

Oil modifications to block and good pump drive.

 

i would not tackle a job like that, with out knowing some one that has done that, and getting as much info as you can. ideas 1. make a fill system as you drive, oil, coolant, wind shield fulid. 2. water / methanol spray into the radiator for extra cooling, 3. over size radiator. 4. a big cam may hurt in a long distance high speed run, to much heat. i sure my friends here have other good ideas. just some ideas

 

are u useing a 4wd all r/t durangos are 4wd. you will deff has power i would just focuse on the cooling and the tranny. electric fans also

 

Yep, big cooler on a T stat for oil, digital gauge running to logger and inside readout. I got all the mains to .0025 spot on for clearance and with the magnums improved oiling I should be ok but we will see. Other thoughts?

Got to talk to a couple former competitors and one winner. All super helpful. Not gonna be a big cam. Not at all. Going to shoot for flat as hell torgue curve that is all in before 5500rpm.


Using the 4wd version but have the case that disconnects so it will handle the power. She will make good power but last year had BMW X5M, SRT 8 and some other good power monsters. I have Mach 7 E fan with two speeds.

Good comments all. Thanks!

 

Thoughts. Easily adjustable ignition timing if you come into some low octane gas.

Would this type of trip need a differntial fluid cooler?

 

Good call on the timing. I can make two or three "tunes" and have the second one in the hand held to be loaded into ecm if ( when ) we get crap gas.

Diff cooler.. Hm... Good question. I could throw a sensor in there and monitor it and already welded up an over sized drain plug and top vent but I have not thought about heat in use?

 

Tranny mods to handle the constant power, super sized cooler, synthetic fluid too.

Running a cooler for the rear diff is a great idea. You could always run a pump and res for it. They do that in the four wheeling community when there are oiling issues due to the pinion angles being run.

Sounds like a great project though! Keep us up to date!

 

bump for updates

 

Cooler is better, make yourself a custom aluminum radiator to keep that 440 cool and highly responsive. I road race my 2006 SRT8 and had a buddy of mine make me a big *** radiator holding over 5 gallons.

Forgot to ask, will you be using the M1 MPI or going carbuerated?

 

She will be MPI tuned with an SCT and laptop. I will need to see some injector data to see where cycles are once it runs but I have a good break in tune loaded. The M1 is bored for standard injectors. They may have to be a F#rd injector though... ( Sorry).

The radiator is an excellent idea! I will send you a PM if you have a good contact for a custom radiator guy who can do "one offs".

Spent this week doing suspension, hellwig front and rear bars and mock up for panhard bar and need wheels.

The 6x114.3 bolt pattern is a pain in the !!

Was gonna do 18x10 viper fronts all the way around but the price is silly. I may have to convert the hubs to 5 lugs. Still thinking.. Might have to slide over to the DAK forums some and see what I can learn there..


Update: Short block disassembled because one ring was slightly torqued.. Totally fine to run. Just that slight drag that feels different. My ocd kicked in and I yanked it out. I know piston heat would have set it just fine but I need to sleep at night.

 

You may be able to swap in some Ram 1500 front end parts to convert the 6 lug to 5 lug and swap in a 1500 rear 9.25 axle. Just a thought, not sure if it would work though.

 

older dakota stuff will swap over there 5 lug with jeep axles i belive. how wide are the rt wheel i thought they were a 9 inch wheel? you can get anywheel that will fit a viper most dakota builders arent looking for a super light wheel and alot of dakota forums are dead. viper wheels would be the best bet but the iffset is wrong i belive

 

Offset is only 18mm instead of 25mm. But thats easy fix with hubcentric spacer but ebay list those wheels at 500 plus.....

The 17 inch wheels are 9 inch wide and fit my brake upgrades well. Problem is that I need a lower profile without looking down right goofy. I like the factory look.. SRT8 Jeep rim, 20 inch viper is beautiful. Im not concerned with unsprung weight that much. Just tire selection that can make it safe and keep it sticky.

 

they make the viper repop wheels foer the dakota durango. how much money are you looking to spend? i how low is the truck. 17 would look dumb if your stock hieght but its on a lowered one. pluse you save money on the tire prices alone

 

Major surgery completed. Motor is in and running nicely.

I need to figure out how to get pics in here.

Here is snap shot.

Motor went together without issue.

I used:
Short Block Parts
Scat 4" cast crank
Scat I beam rods
KB Icon 745 Forged Piston
Clevite H series Bearings
ARP Studs on the mains and ARP Rod Bolts.
Double row TC
Melling 72 oil pump
Cam : Custom roller from comp

NOTE: You cant use studs on main with pump. They will hit. You need bolts for that cap. They are the same bolt as a big block chevy head bolt and you can get them from arp for 6 bucks a bolt. Clearance pump body slightly but there is plenty of beef there. Studs fit under the durango / dakota pan with plenty of room.

---------

Machining:

I used a bone yard engine with 288K on the odometer. And she was running. Bearings were fine. Straight forward. No surprises.

During measurement: Deck was all over the place from factory. Taking the minimum off to square brought it to 9.58 which was theoretical "zero" for this build with my rod and piston. So we stopped there.

Bores: cleaned up to 4.030 easy.
Mains: Some will tell you the studs will walk the caps snd in some applications YES. Last SBF I did and it did distort some. But the Magnum has a beefy cap and this one did not move. They measured up nice and straight.
I deburred the block and paid attention to lifter valley some. There was a lot of slag in there so I smoothed it out.
Stroker crank needed "NO" Clearancing. Zip. Nada. Rod bolts had plenty of room.
Used brass freeze plugs
Victor Reinz off the shelf gaskets.
NOTE: there is a small plug that you can access from the rear of the block inside the motor directly above the rear cam gear that drives the distributer and the shaft to the oil pump. Have your machinist drill this for a small oiler hole in the plug. It will lube the gear and keep it cool under extended rpm use.

I will post my blue print data, ring gap, end play, rods and mains as well as bob weights etc.. if anyone wants that stuff.

more to come...

 

Neat idea on hat drive gear oiling, I have never thought of that.

What diameter of hole?

 

Cant take credit for that. Stolen from circle track guru. I want to say hole was 1/32. Very small. Kind of weird seeing it when priming her by hand. Forgot it was there and had a " O Sh$t" moment.