I have been reading with great interest about swapping a v8 into an early Lancer or Valiant. I would like to clear up a couple of things.
I purchased the front "half" of a 67 Dart that had an altercation with a back of a truck and a barrow ditch. The drivetrain was a hipo (235 HP) 273, 4 speed and an 8 3/4 rear end. Hot Rod had come out with an article on the swap back in around 68 to 70 and the brief article said that it made a very good swap and made a fast car.
Being young and crazy back in 1969, I decided to try it on a 62 Valiant Signet. On the 273 and 318 engines of the era (non-polyspheric 318), you needed to purchase one engine mount. I do not remember whether it was the right one or the left one. The 340 and 360 currently have a different engine mount and the sources can be found on this thread. The rear trans bolted right up.
The dropped center link is key and was available, I believe, on the 64-65 A bodies. I just purchased on a couple of years ago and don't appear that difficult to find.
I converted the tranny to a four-speed from an original /6 automatic. The clutch/brake linkage came out of a manual trans valiant and bolted in. The transfer linkage to the throwout bearing on the clutch did have to be modified slightly by shortening the tube between the body and the clutch mounting. Otherwise, it worked perfectly.
The heater housing was not a problem and in the cold winters here I wanted heat! Therefore, I cut a hole in the heater housing, took paper mache' and made a mold and simply fiberglassed a hole for the distributor to fit in. I worked perfectly and allowed me to maintain the stock heater core.
The exhaust came out of a hi-po 64 Barracuda (I think I paid $20 for it at the time). The left-hand exhaust off of the 67 Dart hi-po engine was similar to the 340 in that it didn't drop below the torsion bar with a severe 90 degree turn. We simply connected a new pipe to this exhaust manifold and connected it to the 64 Barracuda exhaust. The right exhaust pipe bolted on. At the back of the car, I folded up part of the rear pan to accommodate the square exhaust pipe. That exhaust had a sound to behold when you stood on it!
The radiator mount was simple. Went to the junkyard, got a radiator out of a Dodge sedan, cut the mounts and re-welded the mounts forward so that the radiator sat forward a little bit. On hot days in the city, however, I wished I would have had a fan shroud as the engine would run hotter if I was stalled in traffic.
The 8 3/4 rear end bolted up without modification and I retained the original brakes. The driveshaft needed to be shortened slightly, not a problem for a good driveshaft shop.
Since the original Dart had a 4-speed with a Hurst floor shift, I had to modify the floor pan. I cut a hole in the floor and went to the junkyard to search for a floor pan for a 4-speed Chrysler car. I simply bent and cut until the 4 speed floor pan section went into place. No other trans tunnel mods were needed with the 273.
I kept the body stock, put on 14" 5 1/2" wide wheels with standard set-back, painted black. I then purchased some dog-dish hubcaps to complete the deception.
The result? What a sleeper! A car that in the late 60's could defeat Chevelle 396s, Ford 406s, etc. At the time, tire technology was pretty bad. Because the Valiant was so light, it would get off the line quickly while the competition was still trying to get traction. Once I was "on the cam - solid lifters" at above 3500 RPMs, I was moving! However, you could hear them catching up at the end of a quarter mile. It was a fun time.
Therefore, I have purchased a 62 Lancer hardtop to do the same. I plan on a 360/383 hp crate, modern 727 OD trans, 8 3/4 rear end narrowed for internal tubs. Anybody out there doing this? I know that the trans tunnel will be too small, but no problem with a welder, compressor and metal tools.
