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HemiDoba

Night Runner

Well-Known Member
Local time
10:24 AM
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Dec 30, 2010
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Location
Texas
So I have officially done a hemi swap into the Doba. Pretty straight forward process, worst part is the trans tunnel. I am not 100% happy with that part, but I have brand new carpet and in order to use the 545rfe and get it exactly where I want it would require me to cut the whole tunnel and raise it about 2 inches or so. This would make the cuts in the carpet wrong and i would have to make my own mold to have it fit correctly. It is in and the angle of the motor is just fine, the trans pinion is a little bit off of where I would like it, but still far within drivable specs. I have seen lifted and lowered trucks with way worse angles. The TTI mounts are a direct swap but you have to use their oil filter blockoff plate and mount a remote oil filter. I was able to use the original shifter linkage, just made a new rod to the trans bracket due to length compared to the 904 trans.
I used a 06 truck motor and in its stock form it clears the hood and looks great in the car. I was able to retain the factory manifolds, though the passenger side manifold points straight back, there is just enough clearance to get a pipe in there. I used the Hotwireauto harness and the guys there are awesome to work with. You can have them make it however you want it and they are always available to help with tech questions.

I will post pics later as I am not on my personal PC. I have one short vid of it when I first fired the motor with no exhaust. I actually had trouble getting it to fire the first time. The harness acted like it wasnt grounding the coils or injectors, but after a couple good shots of starting fluid it came to life and will start and idle like a champ. I also replaced all the dash gauges with autometer antique beige series gauges and they look pretty good to me. I am curious to see if my fuel gauge shows full now, since it didnt before and i think it was the guage not the sending unit.

Pics to come later today.
 
Congrts, Did you happen do a swap thread for the hemi you put in?
 
What size hemi did you put in there? It seems like you are running it on fuel injection, saw one in before but it was running on carb. How much work do you still have to do to the tunnel, and you will want to leave a bit of clearance there as well. Nice Job, look forward to seeing pics.
 
Okay, answers, here we go.

I didnt really have to modify the tunnel too much, unless I wanted to raise the entire section, it didnt really seem productive. I had to remove the pinch weld area where the firewall and floor are welded together from the factory. I also had to relieve a little space for the sensors and shifter onthe drivers side. All of which cna be done with a little man power and a hammer. When it is installed it would just tough the floor pan so I did cut the floor a little but in retrospec I could have done the same with a little force.
I did keep the EFI, as this is the main reason for the swap. The truck motor puts the TB on top of the motor but there is about 1.5" from the underside of the hood, which is plenty.
I installed a stock 06 5.7 truck motor, no build thread. Sorry

Here arepics as promised. The filter is temporary, as I am waiting on all the parts to come in to fab something up. I plan to run a single 4" tube to the passenger wheel well where the evap canister once was. As of now I plan to cut ahole through the flat section of the inner fender right behind the radiator core support and let the filter mount under the car. I have a half cover for the filter to keep it dry. I also dont drive the car in rain or bad weather so I sholdt have to worry much about water and road debris.

I also installed all new autometer gauges. Most of the factory gauges didnt work well or at all and since the speedo needs a cable to drive it I would have to swap that anyways. I used factory bezels and tapped the dash wires for the fuel gauge, lights, and turn signals. The oil and temp are in the new harness as wellas the speed output signal. I useda dakota digital tach adapter for the tach since the autometer adapter requires that you cut the ground wire for each coil pack. I paid 1k for this harness and didnt have any plans or hacking on it. The dakota digital only requires that I tap one coil pack ground.

LMK what you think.

- - - Updated - - -

The box hanging from the dash in the 1st pic is the tach adapter. I was in the process of installing when I stopped for pics.

Also had to install a different high beams indicator since mine never worked and I removed all of the original black pastic behind the dash. I bought a small black powder coated aluminum housing LED from oznium.com andmounted it straight down from under the dash pad just to the left of the speedo. You can see it in the last pic a little. I didnt want a light glaring at me when I drive so the glow is enough to know the highs are on but not melting my eyes at the same time.
 

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is it the pic angle or does that engine really lean back? is that going to be ok for oil delivery? gotta love the removable wheel well houses. the gauges look great
 
Gauges look real good,but doesn't the front of the engine sit high?
 
its the angle of the pic, and the front of the car is on jack stands right now. I took out the torsion bars to install coil overs but the way the factory did the suspension it isnt a simple swap. I am going to fab up a upper control arm mount and use the magnum force k member and arms. When I re-installed the torsion bars I set them a key off I guess because when I let it down it lays out. Its was a pita and I do not look forward to doing it again. Its strange because I didnt really move anything when I pulled it all out, just loosened the torsion bolt enough to release pressure and slide it out.

As far as oiling goes, I dont think it will have any effect. I placed the remote oil filter right behind the pass. headlight and the cooler is in behind the grill. I mounted the pressure gauge there and it reads normal, and when I was priming the motor it was moving some oil pretty quick.
 
very cool josh , nice to see something completely different. take pics of your front end work would ya ? lol
 
its the angle of the pic, and the front of the car is on jack stands right now. I took out the torsion bars to install coil overs but the way the factory did the suspension it isnt a simple swap. I am going to fab up a upper control arm mount and use the magnum force k member and arms. When I re-installed the torsion bars I set them a key off I guess because when I let it down it lays out. Its was a pita and I do not look forward to doing it again. Its strange because I didnt really move anything when I pulled it all out, just loosened the torsion bolt enough to release pressure and slide it out.

As far as oiling goes, I dont think it will have any effect. I placed the remote oil filter right behind the pass. headlight and the cooler is in behind the grill. I mounted the pressure gauge there and it reads normal, and when I was priming the motor it was moving some oil pretty quick.


How good do you thing the magnum force k member will be? Also will the coil over conversion help with the handling? I was planning on welding up my k member and using some FFI parts and Hotchis parts to help in the handling dept. How about the iso clamp springs any mods to it to help handling? On your Hemi swap did you have a donor car or buy it separately? I know I am a bundle of questions. My wife wants me to pro touring on my Doba and I think it's a great idea.
 
How good do you thing the magnum force k member will be? Also will the coil over conversion help with the handling? I was planning on welding up my k member and using some FFI parts and Hotchis parts to help in the handling dept. How about the iso clamp springs any mods to it to help handling? On your Hemi swap did you have a donor car or buy it separately? I know I am a bundle of questions. My wife wants me to pro touring on my Doba and I think it's a great idea.

what happen to the low rider? man , you change directions like underwear lmao
 
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