Friday, September 08, 2006
Junkyard finds
Today I went to Pull-A-Part. The two things I hoped most to find were connectors for the HEI module and an axle for the Nissan. While I found the former without too much trouble, they didn't have any new enough Pathfinders to have a suitable replacement axle.
While I was there, I scored a couple other interesting finds. I'd heard on the Grassroots Motorsports message board that one of the most popular cooling system upgrades out there is the fan from a Ford Taurus. It looks like the second generation models are the ones to get the fan from, as the fan these cars use is a pretty thin design, but powerful enough to cool a car that doesn't look like it gets that much airflow.
An unwritten rule of Pull-A-Part is that if you ever spot a front mounted intercooler, grab it. Even if you have to borrow a few tools (To the guy in the yellow shirt - thank you!) to remove it. This place charges less than $10 for an intercooler, so even if you don't need one, you can sell it on eBay. So when I found an MX-6 Turbo that still had its intercooler, I couldn't pass it up.
There were two other parts I had hoped to find but wasn't able to. One was a high output alternator with the right sort of pulley to fit the Dart's V-belt. While a lot of modern cars have high output alternators, most of them use serpentine belts, and I'm not sure what it takes to switch pulleys. The other was a lightweight starter. The Nippondenso starter used on later Mopar trucks will bolt right onto a slant six, weighs a lot less, and won't get so close to my turbo, either. But I couldn't find a suitable donor in the yard.
While I was there, I scored a couple other interesting finds. I'd heard on the Grassroots Motorsports message board that one of the most popular cooling system upgrades out there is the fan from a Ford Taurus. It looks like the second generation models are the ones to get the fan from, as the fan these cars use is a pretty thin design, but powerful enough to cool a car that doesn't look like it gets that much airflow.
An unwritten rule of Pull-A-Part is that if you ever spot a front mounted intercooler, grab it. Even if you have to borrow a few tools (To the guy in the yellow shirt - thank you!) to remove it. This place charges less than $10 for an intercooler, so even if you don't need one, you can sell it on eBay. So when I found an MX-6 Turbo that still had its intercooler, I couldn't pass it up.
There were two other parts I had hoped to find but wasn't able to. One was a high output alternator with the right sort of pulley to fit the Dart's V-belt. While a lot of modern cars have high output alternators, most of them use serpentine belts, and I'm not sure what it takes to switch pulleys. The other was a lightweight starter. The Nippondenso starter used on later Mopar trucks will bolt right onto a slant six, weighs a lot less, and won't get so close to my turbo, either. But I couldn't find a suitable donor in the yard.
