Big Block Low Deck engine install in 68 Dart
Well, installed my 470 Low Deck for the final time in my 68 Dart and tried we tried a different approach. The engine was in the car before for mock up, but didn't have headers at the time. The engine went in pretty easy for mock up, but we decided to try bolting on the headers and transmission and dropping the car onto them for final assembly. (I should note the car has coil springs in the front instead of torsion bars, so we had a bit more room)
Learned a few things yesterday that might help someone in the future. I knew the clearances were tight, but adding the transmission to the motor added a lot of headache. The weight of the transmission was kind of a pain and created an angle on install that caused a number of things to hit including the oil pan on the k member. (Didn't have any problems with this when installing just the motor for mock up) From my experience yesterday, I would recommend installing the transmission after installing the motor and headers. I'm running 2" TTI headers with a manual steering box on a stock K member with the Schumacher motor mounts. We got everything to fit, but the TTI 2" headers are really tight.
One other point that would offer is that I had the engine put on the dyno to run it in. From the initial startup, there was a significant rear main seal leak that we were able to address before the engine was in the car. The money spent to put a new engine on a dyno or run stand is well worth it in my opinion. I forgot to take pictures yesterday, but here is one from when we had the engine in for mock up.
Well, installed my 470 Low Deck for the final time in my 68 Dart and tried we tried a different approach. The engine was in the car before for mock up, but didn't have headers at the time. The engine went in pretty easy for mock up, but we decided to try bolting on the headers and transmission and dropping the car onto them for final assembly. (I should note the car has coil springs in the front instead of torsion bars, so we had a bit more room)
Learned a few things yesterday that might help someone in the future. I knew the clearances were tight, but adding the transmission to the motor added a lot of headache. The weight of the transmission was kind of a pain and created an angle on install that caused a number of things to hit including the oil pan on the k member. (Didn't have any problems with this when installing just the motor for mock up) From my experience yesterday, I would recommend installing the transmission after installing the motor and headers. I'm running 2" TTI headers with a manual steering box on a stock K member with the Schumacher motor mounts. We got everything to fit, but the TTI 2" headers are really tight.
One other point that would offer is that I had the engine put on the dyno to run it in. From the initial startup, there was a significant rear main seal leak that we were able to address before the engine was in the car. The money spent to put a new engine on a dyno or run stand is well worth it in my opinion. I forgot to take pictures yesterday, but here is one from when we had the engine in for mock up.
