Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Readers Rides My '72 Corvette Dodge Van

Dang that does look really nice.

I'm so jealous.... you have a nicer small block chevy in your dodge than I have in my chevy hahaha. This van is awesome!! You really did things right, took your time and cleaned up everything it will be a pleasure to work on and keep clean.

Thanks for the awesome comments guys! I'm definitely going to try my best to get some footage of the beast firing up.

Anyways here's the update on the build, it's so close I can hear it!

One head leads to another:



Adjusting the roller rockers:


Manifold:



Fuel pressure regulator mounted:


I guess the thing fits:


Just barely:

Good things come in *big* packages, right? That really does just fit! Happy engine!



Ah, when you step on it the body's going to get out of the way by lifting up in a wheelstand anyway!

I'm still totally in love with that see-through thermostat housing! Any idea if they're available for other manifolds?

A question: I'm genuinely curious why you decided to mount the alternator in the low position? I more typically see those open-frame type alternators mounted in a higher location, like where you installed your fuel pressure regulator. Your alternator may get a lot of splashing if you drive through rain someday. Chrysler/Dodge installed a heavy rubberized splash shield across the wheel arch between the underbody and the frame extension adjacent to their alternators, even with the alternators mounted in the upper location, to reduce splashing and debris launched from the wheels. They wouldn't spend a penny if they didn't have to... Are you planning on installing such a shield? With the proportioning valve on the driver side frame extension, I'm thinking it may be a bit of an adventure if you do.

Please keep posting the great pictures, I'm really enjoying following your build!

Thanks! I’m sure this thing is definitely going to be able to spin this pigs fat back tires!

The coolviewthermostat is available for all cars! This thing just sits in-between the housing and the block. Then all you need to do is buy whichever thermostat housing works well for it, and find bolts of the appropriate length.

https://coolviewthermostat.com/

As for the alternator, there was definitely some serious thought behind why I ended up running it in the low mount position, and believe me when I say, I spent forever trying to find/figure out an alternator bracket system that would have been better suited for the job.

First off I am running a short water pump, as opposed to a long water pump due to clearance issues. This limits how many places I can actually mount the alternator. The majority of sbc’s run long water pumps which have extra bolt holes allowing for a lot more mounting positions.

Keeping everything aligned with the short water pump, I tried to mount the alternator on the heads, but it had to be so far back in order to work, that it actually had to stick out above or to the side of the heads. This would of made it so I could not have fit the engine in or the doghouse on.

Another minor reason, or excuse rather, was because the heater hoses had to come forwards towards the passenger side to connect to the heater box, unlike most Chevy’s, which go straight back. So, I figured it’d be best to keep the pulley system away from that whole passenger side area to be safe. This is definitely just an excuse, I’m sure I could have figured out away to tuck the hoses behind if I needed, but it helped in making my decision of where to mount my alternator.

We thought about it, and with spacers on the water pump and the lower pully, plus a custom bracket, we could of got the alternator to fit higher up in front of the heads, but it was going to be a lot of work for not a lot of gain.

Really my only other option, which I definitely plan on investing in someday in the far far future, was a super fancy short water pump serpentine system. Which is another reason we didn’t feel like spending too much time messing around with a custom alternator set up.



They’re beautiful and allow you to have AC and power steering, which I would eventually like to install, but right now the price is completely out of my price range. I’m not sure how they get all of it in such a small spot, but I’ve seen them in person and it would definitely shove in there.

Very cool! I see what you mean about the clearance issue, and I fully sympathize; I may be facing some of that soon myself! I'm going to install a 2nd alternator, and I intend to move my power steering pump from up to down, so the alternator can go in the upper position away from the splashing. I found brackets to adapt for this in a salvage yard, but in a related version of your situation, I'll be mounting a non-Dodge one-wire 140 amp alternator rather than another Dodge 100 amp alternator. Weeping and gnashing of teeth may be involved...

-Let the transplants continue!

Thanks for the info on the Cool View thermostat housing! I checked it out, and in a peculiar twist they state that these won't fit Mopar small block v-8s newer than 78?? How weird; I thought these thermostats were all the same clear up into the early 2000's. I wonder what's different? Their web site, even in the cautions about Mopars section isn't as specific on this as I'd like; this may require a phone call! I *really* like the idea of being able to see the thermostat and coolant...
And it looks so darn awesome on your engine!!

And you know you want an ultraviolet light under the hood... the coolant would fluoresce like mad!

Good luck with mounting the extra alternator! It'll definitely be a tight fit, but I'm sure you'll get it to work!

I was thinking the exact same thing about the dodge thermostat housing! I tried to look online, but I couldn't find all that much about it. The thermostat housings I could find, the dates they worked for varied from 1951/'58-1978/'91.

I personally think as long as it looks like it would work, it would; but, I'd call just to make sure... or at least check their return policy haha.

Man, I'm anxious to hear this thing run in a video. Keep up the killer work!

Soon!!!!!!!! I'm trying my hardest to finish it, but work just keeps on figuring out how to get in my way! I'm dying too!