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69 521 Build


earlyvws

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Mr. BigTanker has gone the Champion route twice that I know of, in the red truckle and his green truck. If you have to abandon that radiator, you might want to consider the custom built radiator he had made in SoCal that is now in his green truck. CBR, I think? I have a $700 Ron Davis aluminum radiator in my KA-powered roadster and it is awesome, and runs rock solid cool even with the KA and A/C in the Central Valley, where temps are often 105-plus for months in the summer. After looking at both, I really think Ray's CBR is at least as well made as my custom Ron Davis radiator.

 

If you go this way, you would also get to custom design and spec that radiator to fit exactly as you want it. Ray's red  KA 521 is stuffed tight under the hood. You are the one that has to do all the work here, but compared to everything else you've done so far, I would remove the battery tray, and modify the core support any way you want to. I think you will be very glad you took the time to do this later on. I think you will need every inch of rad/engine clearance you can get under that hood, and will appreciate all the clearance you can make in the front every time you change a fan belt or adjust the tension.

 

Radiator choice and placement, in my opinion, is what defines the quality of most engine swaps. Your truck is like Ray's green one, every little thing is well thought out, and sometimes redone as the builder's thoughts evolve. I think you will later regret not doing this the way you really want to the first time if you compromise now.

 

Whatever you decide, it will be almost a shame to close the hood on this thing and hide all that custom work.

 

Is your engine done yet?

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Also not to beat a dead horse but Optima's blow. I would look at the Odessy batteries they can be used that are alot of smaller with better cold cranking amps.Optimas are not bad batteries but they are hit and miss with them.

I put an Odessy AGM in my Lotus Elan and never regretted it. The last thing I wanted in that car was to worry about battery acid sloshing and I was able to greatly reduce the battery size. IF you had an Oddessy in your 521 sized to fit that custom battery box you could drive across town using just the starter….

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Oh boy, u guys are adding more work. No more change orders please!

 

I guess I will do all the suggestions, but I don't see a solution for the wires where I made my cool wire tube that is not appreciated!

Just so you know i love you man and love what your doing,Its just i hate to see you regret it later.

 

 

 

And NO your pipe is not cool.

 

The only power is to the headlights. So go around each side more wires or longer for that matter but it will look good.

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Drilled a big ass hole to bring wires on the outside. Ran down to turn signal cover and up thru the factory bumps for wire. Then went across the front sheet metal and up the other turn signal cover. Need to lengthen the headlight wires on both. Will get straps to secure and hide wire harness in front and in wheel well.

 

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Picked up a late model bug glove box and trimmed it to fit. Only really bad spot is lower left corner. The driver side is a little too tall to make the correct contour there. Radio is a little loose but will figure out something to strengthen it up.

 

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I hope you are pleased with yourselves. This kind of work sucks on my list. Going back and redoing finished parts of a project. Thanks to you guys this went from an $8000 truck to $40,000. I'm charging a premium for this extra work!

 

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Ok MrBig, I need an address where to send invoices. Here is documentation of the work performed. Payment due on receipt. Thanks for your business!

 

Making filler pieces,

 

38CABC79-1698-4139-93F2-AF2333826271.jpg

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Welded

56CEB9D5-904E-45FB-92DC-B5602F5FB472.jpg

21CFAEF2-DD8B-4EAA-A053-62E5C8813A83.jpg

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Resanded again and primed

9EB316AA-08B1-41BC-92ED-D1554CB00858.jpg

 

And finally got the straps I wanted for the wiring in front.

 

No see wire!!!!

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Strap

4CFDB532-AEA2-4A57-BA5C-044B69AC4AF2.jpg

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Not yet. I got to pay for the machine shop and chrome first. I will try the CBR radiator after I pay for these things.

 

CBR is worth it. We recently ordered a radiator for a LSX Jeep project we were working on. We simply gave them dimensions and specified where the outlets need to be and the filler location.

 

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Perfect fit.

 

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Ok MrBig, I need an address where to send invoices. Here is documentation of the work performed. Payment due on receipt. Thanks for your business!

 

Making filler pieces,

 

38CABC79-1698-4139-93F2-AF2333826271.jpg

8171F0D3-A2F4-482B-A9B6-CF68B43C9E3F.jpg

F26C8D7B-58AE-42B2-BB13-C1D7EEBD1647.jpg

 

Welded

56CEB9D5-904E-45FB-92DC-B5602F5FB472.jpg

21CFAEF2-DD8B-4EAA-A053-62E5C8813A83.jpg

1947F962-F0BE-4BC5-B805-8D2F116EFA06.jpg

B100C541-DA47-4B4F-95FD-B9A2BD052DBC.jpg

 

Resanded again and primed

9EB316AA-08B1-41BC-92ED-D1554CB00858.jpg

 

And finally got the straps I wanted for the wiring in front.

 

No see wire!!!!

F17DF760-7366-4546-8EE5-D403B13F7A4A.jpg

Strap

4CFDB532-AEA2-4A57-BA5C-044B69AC4AF2.jpg

It is your truck, do what you want to it, just giving advice considering i had my truck for a while now. I will say i must be right for you to do this work again, but when its all done no need for a thank you, just remember it was all your ideas.

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I'm just poking fun at you. This is why I did this build thread, cuz I don't know what all the cool kids are doing. I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel at every stage. So everyone's input is making this better. I just know VWs back words and forward I can do it in my sleep. Know almost every trick, what works, what can be deleted rerouted, improved etc...

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