Body swapping a "Cherry" 83 w150 lwb stepside on to a 91 w250 CTD frame.

Question is For those of you that have moved the electrical block on the firewall to accomadate the clutch/slave M/C. both trucks are std. so I have the 91 bracket that the M/C attaches to. The obvious is to just "move the E-block over" (cut/patch weld). not happy with this approach because of the effort for cosmetic repair of F/W to make Look OEM. Maybe I'm in denial w/ my head in sand wanting the prob. to go away

Thought of using GM clutch MC off 87 STD. as it is a little smaller just unsure if the displacment will stroke the dodge clutch.

Thought of moving/ drilling the MC hole lower on the F/W to clear E-block as there is plenty of room and no existing hole but this would require (Mod/Fab) a new bracket to hold it at the lower location on the inside.

Any body know what year dodge moved the E-block??? as I may leave cherry 83 alone and look for another doner cab. they are pretty plentiful and rust free here in So. Texas.


Thanks in advance Apache59

 

1987 was the first year for the hydro clutch and the firewall wiring block was moved at that time.

Personally, I'd just do the cutting and patching to move it over and do the best you could welding it all back nice.
It's a conversion, as such sometimes you need to make concessions.

The part I'd be more concerned about is mounting the clutch master bracket.
If you don't have a compact angle drill to drill the holes and the dash out of the vehicle, this can be a weld-in only deal.

With the dash out, patching the firewall around the wiring harness connector would be easier, too.

Swapping a cab seems a bit extreme to fix a seemingly insignificant and potential cosmetic issue.
Do a good job with the welder, a grinder, some paint and it'll likely never get noticed.

Mark.

 

have a look at my pictures in the 1982 dodge ctd 5spd thread. I cut a piece welded it in then drilled for the clutch. Looks pretty good I think

 

This may help a tiny bit. NOTE: The 1.420" measurement of the plug hole is wrong. Should be 2.312":

and the depth of the clutch master cylinder bracket face...

 

Do you have the fire-wall for the later truck ??

If so (or if not, get one at the junk-yard), cut the entire clutch-master/E-plug section from the later fire-wall and graft it into the older-vintage fire-wall.

Re-inforce the area around the clutch-master while you have it out where you can, as they can sometimes crack and cause loss of clutch travel.



As for that E-block, were it myself, I would ditch the whole block and replace it with a big terminal strip with ring-terminals on all the wires, big truck style.


The E-blocks are notorious for corroding and causing hard to find electrical problems.

 

You DO realize the the clutch master is NOT mounted to the firewall, but rather to the pedal support, by way of a bolt-on bracket?
Re-inforcing the firewall would not be necessary, as there is no load from the hydros in that area.

Mark.

 

Thanks for enlightening me.

I need to poke my head under the dash of some of these trucks sitting in the yard and better educate myself about this new wisdom.


Most every other make of truck has the master bolted to the firewall, hence the cracking and flexing.

 

Dodge has the hydro master bolted to the firewall in ONE year beween 1972 and 1993.
That year is 1987.
Apparently they learned quickly.

Mark.