Yeah , it will be turned off in summer to help AC temps mainly was the idea. I was shocked at how much heat was reduced from the heater with the cold weather when it’s closed. Cabin controls still operate the “mix” with the blend door like factory. I really dislike the cable operated valves ones as well since they just add more junk under the hood. Yup that exhaust got me too. The brake lines I was able to move them over to clear and it actually was rubbing frame previously on the last motor mount position but has some clearance now. The previous pics show before it settled more. Of course I’m in a rush to get the truck backup and running so I put the old fans back on and got it up and running. Starter snapped off a post so had to get a new one. Setup my crazy shifter cable again and it must have dropped down and melted to the exhaust. Was having difficulties with shifting and couldn’t figure out why -then cable finally busted.

Busted shifter cable.

Replacement part.

Called lokar and got a replacement cable. Should have checked eBay since the whole kit (probably a copy) is half the price than just the cable. New one came in and I reworked the cable routing and set up the shifter again / also header wrapped the exhaust in that area to prevent any more melting. Shifting is really smooth now with positive clicks through P,N,D,1,2 . Finished up the AN lines for the trans too and they came out super nice.

6AN trans lines.
Also to add salt in the wound when heating up the motor and filling up fluids I noticed the trans not shifting. Sure enough topped off with fluid I had no forward gears . Reverse worked but nothing forward - called the trans builder and he made it sound like it could only be the valve body since he installed this extensive shift kit that he wasnt exactly sure about. I mean he said he followed the directions but it’s way more complicated than normal shift kits. I dunno but the curse strikes again and here I am debating what my next step is. He did say he will get a stock VB and swap it in and see if that does anything at least he’s working with me to get it going again. Below is the kit he used.

 

So to give the rebuilder some credit he believes the VB is the only likely culprit since the trans was pressure tested and the VB modifications for the shift kit were overly complex (in his words) and not one he has done for a 46re. He said he would get another (cleaned/unmodified) VB and swap it out. I pumped/drained the fluid and recovered it into containers since it was brand new and close to a hundred bucks worth. Also dropped the pan to make his job as easy as possible.

I checked out the trans but have no idea what I’m looking at and nothing obvious that would worry me about its failure. So first attempt at the fix was a fail - my trans is a 98 and he brought a 99 VB and one screw was off (go figure) so it wouldn’t bolt up correctly - my years maybe swapped but apparently there is a difference between the years. While this delayed the fix another week or so I reframed from trying to mess with it myself and make things worse. The next VB was the trick ! sure enough swapped it out and sealed everything thing back up / fluid top up and it moved into forward gear no worries. So I dont have a shift kit installed but until I drive it we will see how things go. I’m just excited to get this thing out the garage and on the road again.


While the trans debunkle was going on the shroud and fans came in. I ordered the pigtails separately with the fans which ended up being a waste of money for the cheap ugly connectors. They weren’t going to be water tight and I ended up hard wiring them into my existing old mopar caravan fan connector/wiring. This means it will be able to disconnected if I have to remove the unit. Also had to purchase my own hardware since champion didn’t supply any (do better champion) so had to use M8 on the shroud (has rivnuts already installed in radiator rails) and I picked up 1/4” nuts/bolts to secure the fans to the shroud. Figured I’d stick with the 80s dodge theme of mixed hardware. The top radiator hose was reused from the parts bin. It was from the old mag swap and had the needed rubber adapters to fit both ends up tight. Bottom hose was cut down a tad and reused.


The dual fans are lower profile than the single champion offers and from my calculations the wiring and relay could handle them. Below is a couple shots of the new trans lines and how I routed them.



The blasted shifter cable was laying on the exhaust and even with it wrapped it had started melting it again, at least not to the point of failure.

Ended up wrapping it in some starter heat shield from the parts bin and secured with a couple of metal zip ties on it since it obviously wants to live on the exhaust.

Frame is close but there is a gap to the manifold and from the brake lines. You can see where it was previously rubbing with the old motor position. So it is back on the road and does feel a lot better. The shifts are actually pretty similar to what is was before so no real change transmission wise(very soft and smooth altho at high rpm). Builder says he will still do a shift kit if I want which I do, but I am kinda torn on doing more work since it’s up and running well. I do feel like the weight transfer is noticeable. Feels more connected to the road and less nose heavy. So much fun having the truck back on the road and more dailyable if that’s a word. I even got into the tune and adjusted the fan temp limits so the fans actually turn off when driving at speed. The radiator/new coolant is so efficient now I can drive into town and back and the fans don’t even come on - truck keeps stock Thermostat temp at around 205 consistently. Should have done that a long time ago since the old settings made it run constantly once up to temp. Now I have one more thing that’s been really bugging me and I need a little outside help again 🤞🏻.

 

Something that has bothered me for the longest time was the sound in the cab. It’s not like drone but it is still very loud even with all the sound deadening I have done. Dumping the exhaust right behind the cab was always meant to be a temp situation anyways. First off tho I have a brake leak to deal with. Keep having to fill up the master cylinder and can now see clearly both rear wheel cylinders are leaking. No big deal easy swap right… until a brake line twists off like a twizzler. I ordered some line and fittings off Amazon and figured I would make a replacement easy enough.

I’ve never made brake lines before so wanted to give it a shot. Bent and flared using the correct size new fittings no problem but when attaching it to the truck I noticed I couldn’t tighten down the hose to the connection on the rear end. The new fittings didn’t have enough thread to clamp the hose so I cut the one end off and used the old fitting and re flared the end. Success except now the other end on the wheel cylinder (I thought was tight) is now leaking. I didn’t have enough hose to cut it again and use the other old fitting so went to plan B. Found a truck in a local yard and snagged its line to replace mine. Now no leaks and brakes are working I can get this exhaust sorted.


I got the exhaust extended up over the axel. The old hangers were ripping off the muffler so it was definitely a good call to fix it up and get better support. It’s still tucked up high and out of sight from the rear but it did exactly what I wanted in the cab. The sound is so much better in the cab, quieter and less rattle but in a good way. Definitely still sounds like a beast. Should have done that a long time ago.

 

When I re-did the exhaust on my 98, I asked for a 'quiet' muffler.... And boy did I get one. At idle, you can't even be sure the engine is running..... Cruising down the road? Nice and quiet. You can actually hold a conversation in a normal voice.