Any of you all have one of THESE setups?


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Posted by Tom in Indiana [107.226.155.229] on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 01:35:36 :

Okay, I've come to the conclusion that without Ray's help, I'm stuck where I'm at on my '50. My 360 is complete, minus the water pump, and my NP435 is sitting on the floor, minus yoke and flywheel spacer. I've been experimenting with water pumps, and am now at a (temporary) dead-end. Slant six, early iron LA, and Poly water pump shafts/impellers/seals/bearings are too small to swap into a shortened aluminum housing. I've tried them all, and nothing will work. So, I started surfing the net at work one night, and came across something interesting...

It seems that in 1991, and POSSIBLY early '92, Ma Mopar installed serpentine belt setups on Dodge Dakotas with the LA 5.2 (318), right before the introduction of the Magnum engines. Only Dakotas, though. I stopped into the local parts store and did a side-by-side comparison with an LA water pump and a Magnum. Without a tape measure handy, I can't say for sure the exact depth difference, but the Magnum pump is EASILY an inch shorter than the LA one. The only two big issues are that the Magnum spins in reverse of the LA and the bottom two mounting holes are spread farther apart, which means the Magnum pump will not bolt onto the earlier timing cover, no way, no how. But, it got me to thinking a bit.

The reverse rotation of the Magnum pump can easily be overcome- impeller swaps are cake, if you're careful. I'm going to try to find a junk pump and dissect it this weekend, to see what makes it tick.

I start my vacation on the 29th, and although I was hoping to get the engine and transmission in the '50 during it, I've come to the realization it's just not gonna happen. That doesn't mean I'm anywhere close to stopping trying! If any of you guys have access to a '91- early '92 Dakota, please let me know. If you don't wanna experiment with the swap, I'll be happy to buy the setup from you, if I can't find one through searching this week at a couple of local yards.



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