3.6 in A-body

[Gina Grahame]

If I was building an early a I would not go the gen 3 hemi route. It’s a great engine and can be bad *** but it sounds like with your current situation fab work needs to be paid for, and a hemi swap needs a bunch of fab, =$$$
I would do a traditional small block and for ease of install look at a 200-4r gm overdrive. They can be built to handle any power level, You can adapt them to a small block, and they are much smaller than a 46re. So floor mods are kept small, although maybe some hammering is necessary. I used a 46re behind my magnum and it’s a good trans but requires the ecu to run it. The 46rh can be used with some Hobbs switches and control is hydraulic, and they’re nice but still huge in comparison. So my early A would be a 9.5:1comp 360-2004r with exhaust manifolds and 2800-3000 converter with steep gears. That would be a fun car and you could drive it anywhere. If I got tired of it I’d add boost. But that’s just me. Happy hot rodding.

Really informative, thanks so much! I haven't updated my Dart in over 20 years, all this info is really helping me get up to speed. You guys rock! :-D

 

[ocdart]

I believe @ocdart has used that trans and a few other members as well. Hopefully he’ll chime in.

Yes, I had a reverse-pattern, manual-shift 200-4R built to go behind the 360 for my '69 Dart. With the .67 OD of the 200-4R my planned 4.30 rear gears will be like 2.88s when cruising the SoCal freeways.
Win/Win.
Unfortunately, my Dart is still not complete but there are lots of others on this forum that have used the 200-4R with very positive results.

 

[Kern Dog]

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