Yes, the seats are low, although I do not recall seeing any evidence of welding in the floor pan areas, it may have been unobtrusively done so I will check and see.
Dave might have shortened the seats' pedestals?
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Yes, the seats are low, although I do not recall seeing any evidence of welding in the floor pan areas, it may have been unobtrusively done so I will check and see.
Dave might have shortened the seats' pedestals?
A few years ago, AJ of Turbo Mopar fame in Arizona, on one of his trips to CA, made a gift to me of a two speed radiator fan out of a Volvo that he favors for dealing with the Arizona heat.
I've held it out of use from other cars, intending that the Ramerati be its home. The Ramerati's fan is a Derale that I found for it but it has a partial/inadequate shroud. Further, that engine's intake manifold crowds the L body's upper core support. Stock radiators, of course, sit on the internal face of the core support, so the car came with a 2" thick custom radiator, that was fabricated by Dave for Charlie, and which fits inside of the 15" tall "window frame" of the upper and lower core supports. Even so, access to the distributor, the injector rail, to adjust fuel pressure, and to secure various vacuum hoses & fittings, is difficult. This is so especially since it is all underneath the intake manifold.
That Volvo fan shroud's extension, while almost perfect for for K and P bodies etc., was too wide for my 2 x 15 x 18 radiator's core. The fan itself, however, being 15 inches in diameter is a good fit to the radiator's core. So . . . I set to work on that shroud with the tape measure, tablesaw and die grinder and whittled the shroud down so that the whole thing fits perfectly right on top of the radiator's core and inside the end tanks.
The Volvo radiator, even after my whittling, is still thicker than my old fan. So, to make clearance, I have moved the radiator forward in the core support window frame by doing some trimming with the die grinder on the body to make room for the radiator's end tanks which were bumbing up against the sheet metal that is tack welded to the front of the lower core support.
Now I can slide the radiator forward so that it is now flush to that stamped steel vertical member that runs straight up from the lower to the upper support. Dave and Charlie probably didn't want to trim as much as me, and I wouldn't have either, it's just that I've worked on the car a lot, and I want that clearance to get at the distributor, AFR, and injectors.
Pics show: (1) flange at top of fan shroud that fits nicely under the core support, (2) new fan/shroud's fit to radiator, (3) two speed relay - check that 10 gauge wire - and the unit in place, (4) the Derale that came out set beside the new Volvo fan, and (5) re-work of the radiator's mounting method; I cut off the stock female radiused radiator mounting holes from the face of the core support so I could re-weld them into holes I drilled into the core support; this will replace the original steel L tab system with stock rubber mounts.
More pics showing the radiator in place, the old Derale fan in place, and the new Volvo fan in place. Still may have a conflict between the top of the new fan shroud (where the slinky wire loom is sticking up) and the intake manifold . . . . it will be close. But the Derale cleared, so . . . crossing fingers.
Very cool build!
Stock turbo?
Hi John,
I like what you've done with the Ramerati and I'm sure Dave is looking down from heaven with two thumbs up!
Charlie had a lot of fun with that car. I remember flying in and staying with Charlie for a couple of nights before heading out to SDAC with him. I rode shotgun the whole way there...the Ramerati ran flawlessly! He had asked me to fly in and fix the car for him (he was having some issues with it) and we then drove it out to SDAC for the show. Very cool car....glad you bought it and are enjoying it.
The bar you are referencing below is a bar that Dave made. I remember him calling me while he was welding/making it. He said he had created it in an attempt to stabilize the engine (i.e. keep it from rocking in the engine bay during launch and high HP/loads). I'm not sure if Johnny was making the poly mounts back then or not...but Dave said he felt it helped. I've never needed anything like that...I've always had good luck using Johnny's mounts.
As for the MAP sensor code...it's funny you should mention that. I do recall Charlie having that code pop up from time to time. Some/most of the factory Masi motors I have pulled apart actually *have* a "column" for lack of a better description protruding up out of the vac barb threaded into the intake...(the one that leads to the MAP) so it's funny you thought to do that. Basically, by doing so, you did exactly what the factory engineers did. My only guess for why yours didn't have that "column" in that particular fitting is because if I recall correctly that was a brand new service engine (brand new crate motor) from Chrysler/Maserati (I sold it to Dave). I remember it being a very early engine...so perhaps that engine was assembled before they (engineering) thought about that oil pooling possibility? Just make sure if you seriously actually used some JB weld that you ensure it doesn't get sucked into the intake at any point.
If you have any other questions about the Ramerati feel free to contact me and if I can help I certainly will.
Great job with the build John. It looks fantastic!
Rick D.
Dunno about you John but if I got some good answers in a well written post from a guy that only posts 3 times per year on average, I'd feel pretty privileged :o Hey Rick:wave1:
I only got to interact with Dave G. via phone a few times when we were trading some RT parts back and forth but he was knowledgeable and fun to talk with:) We lost a good one there:(
Hey guys Yes indeed thank you very much Rick for your input.
I am just now coming out of a hole following surgery on the 7th which funny enough relates to Alan's profession.
I had five level cervical stenosis, or spinal cord pinch. So to decompress my neck'sspinal cord I had a posterior multilevel laminoplasty. Out of commission for a while
Pics of the GLHS aluminum bumper with heat exchanger and Volvo oil cooler beneath as mocked up and then with minivan AC condenser. Rubber mounting brackets for radiator and AC condenser are in process, half done. Pics to follow.
Steel bumper weighs 28 pounds. Weight of aluminum bumper to follow.
Back in the day before kids and responsibilities I yarded A LOT! I musta grabbed 10 of those Al bumpers off early L bodies. Used a few, sold a few. Good old days when 80's Mopars were plentiful.
I sure like the way you have set up the air/water IC. Nice clean install. You have me re-thinking my project. I was already scheming to get rid of the brake booster to clean up the firewall, which frees up lots of room above the transmission.
Well, with the low flat top of the 520, and by my measurements (but not tested by install yet, the IC can be tight to the block/head, fit under the "power bulge" of the hood and still leave room for the master cylinder.
Thanks for your compliments.
I was kind of wondering about the height. Wasn't planning on using the power bulge hood, but I do have one.
Ill have to be patient and wait until you get it installed and see how it all fits.
Also Ill have to see if I can find an aluminum bumper support.
As you can see from the pics in posts 9 and 15, the top of the IC is not proud of the top of the Masi valve cover anyway, so I don't think the power bulge is necessary, at least with the little bit of extra clearance that the 520 allows. Also, the bottom of the IC is flush/tight to flat top of that transaxle.
The awic in my in my Lebaron didn't come up any higher than the valve cover (8v).
Thanks Rob, and yours is over a 568.
Looking at the big F4/R5 thread inspired me to post pics of my big degree wheel and finding centerlines for the intake and exhaust cams with the help of the two beautiful adjustable cam gears that Todd 4 L Bodies, with a great deal of effort, shepherded through a group buy.
I made this degree wheel 40 years ago out of a stop sign. The large diameter makes it more accurate, or at least easier to read. The flat black paint makes a good soapstone chalk board.
Pics - blank wheel, TDC finder threaded on inside, dial indicator set up on a plate of steel bolted to the head, Todd's cam gears, and the wheel showing the two cams as set - Exhaust at 113* and Intake at 112.5*
Time flies, two years ago and the engine is still on the stand. Embarrassing.