That's what I was hoping you'd say - can't wait to see how it's coming along.

 

Found some time to finish up the lines for my evap canister. It's less complicated than the old '89 setup, and I now have a complete '92 emissions system to match the '92 motor. Ready for inspection now, finally.

 

Looks fantastic!!!!

 

Need to get rid of that yellowed overflow tank ...seriously nice set up and I'm envious....you've set the gold standard for restoration.

 

Agreed. Particularly the engine bay, you can really see the attention to detail. Really makes me want to refresh mine, but that's unfortunately got to wait until my engine swap...which was going to be a 318 but I'm playing with other options. Exemplary restoration ragged.

 

Damn, thought I cropped that out...

I gave it a good try, but man, it's difficult to minimize that factory EFI harness to get a cleaner engine bay. If I had the time I could've remade the harness, but you have to weigh things like that. Time is a precious thing, and I've passed on a few improvements in the interest of time.

Other options eh? Don't keep us in suspense.

 

Wow, that is one of the nicest looking resto-mod Dakota engine bays I've ever seen, Ragged. You're telling me you didn't mess with the factory harness? The wrapping and tubing around the wiring harness all looks deep black, neat, tidy, and new.

The mechanic that swapped my engine did a ****ty job with my harness, it looks horrible. I want to redo it but I'd like to avoid electrical tape and fragile corrugated plastic tubing that gets brittle. Been pondering what the alternatives are.

 

Oh I messed with it, or maybe it messed with me. I removed the original wrapping then re-wrapped the '94 harness with friction tape and (some) electrical tape in areas where I wanted extra hold. Most of the tubing is new - and yes, the old stuff was falling apart in some places. I did use electrical tape, but not very much. Most of the electrical tape I find now is terrible -it's gooey, and if you need to go back into a section of the harness it leaves a nasty black residue. You can do a lot with just the friction tape though. I like the stuff that Home Depot sells.

Because I added a PDC box to my '89 truck, I had to do a U-turn with the harness on the driver's side (to bring it back toward the firewall) and then extend some circuits, like those for the horn and washer bottle. I also hung the harness lower on the firewall, because I thought it looked cleaner that way. If I had taken the time to make my own harness I would have avoided the loop around the intake manifold, and eliminated some wires I don't need.

 

Hey Ragged,

If you dont mind,I have a few questions for you. Mainly concerning your radiator.

1. Are you using the 89 model radiator?
2. if so, are you using the 22.5 width or 26.25 width?
3. The early dakotas use a 1.25 inlet, and a 1.5 outlet.
The 93 magnums used a 1.5 inlet, and a 1.75 outlet.
My question is, what hoses did you use, and did you have to do anything to adapt them.

I purchased an intrepid fan that I want to try and sandwich between the condenser and radiator. But I am concerned that it is too thick. At the same time I would like to replace the radiator with the 26in version. Mine has started to leak a little. Just dont want to buy a radiator twice!!

If the fan does not work out, I have some other thoughts on that topic as well, that I would like to run by you.
Thanks for your help.

 

I have the 22.5" radiator that came with an AC equipped V6. A new '89/V6 upper radiator hose fit perfectly on the Magnum motor and of course, on the radiator. For the lower hose to work I had to purchase a Magnum hose and adapt it to fit the lower radiator fitting. You could probably find a hose adapter for this, but I actually stretched a small inner tube over the radiator fitting then back over itself, so it was double thickness. The new hose went over the fitting a little tight but is working well.

Someone (was it you?) sent me a link to an article about relocating the AC condenser into a void under the bed and using an efan to cool it. It happened to be a 2nd gen Dakota this was done to. If you want, I can try and locate the link.