I am in the process of slowly changing my 1965 more-doors dart 270 from a 3 speed manual to a 4 speed 833. Last week I dropped of the dismantled 273 parts at the machine shop to be measured to determine a course of action. My car's odometer says 32K miles, the machine shop owner says the internals of the engine look good / low mileage, but there was blue color on the head and block mounting surfaces indicating non-original Fel-Pro gaskets. Hmmmm.
This week I came across a claimed 100,000 miler 1998 360 Magnum from a pickup, that's been sitting for 4 years in a warehouse. Gonna look at it tomorrow. Would the exhaust manifolds from the 273 work, albeit not perfectly, on the 360? Sorry, I don't like headers.
Any foreseeable problems with the 833 gearbox and the 360? Guess I will need a new flywheel, as the 360 is currently bolted to an automatic.
I wanted to keep the car as original as possible, outside of the gearbox switch, but I don't mind better sealing engine gaskets and more cubes. I also like hydraulic lifters that don't need adjusting. Not planning on racing the car; just want a nice highway cruiser, that will be able to leave a traffic light with modern traffic. I had a 1968 Benz before that was unable to do either.
Suggestions? What would you do?
PS - the machine shop guy who is an old timer, also said the 273 has a good crank; they don't make the newer motors out of good metal anymore.