383 in 68 Dodge Dart? new build

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Matt68dart

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Hi Everyone

I am new to A-Bodies and new to Mopar. I just fell in love with a 1968 Dart and have the dream of restoring it into a nice street ride. I am hoping to meet some fellow Dart owners and get some good advice on my build.

I will be posting pics soon

If I can ask a question to start. I just ran across what I believe is a nice 383 big block and two 727 transmissions that the guy is asking $650 for. (for a motor and two transmissions it seemed like a good deal)

Should I go this route or look for a 340 / 360? I would like to have around 400hp when its all said and done I want to be able to have fun on the street with some real power but not a drag car ifthat makes sense.

The car currently has a 318 but it is not the factory motor.

Again Thanks and I look forward to learning a lot from you guys

Matt
 
Go with the 360....makes all the power you will want for the street and will be a lot easier to find. Tons of parts available for it and exhaust shouldn't be to big of a problem.
 
Matt, I was in a similar situation to yours in 2005. I had just got a 68 Dart GT with a 273ci engine and wanted to swap it out and insert a 360 engine.

A buddy of mine had a newly prepped 383 long block and offered to sell me it for the same price as I would have paid for a 360.

So I went with the 383...(see my signature-pic below)

Well, in the process, I found out that I had to get a proper sized radiator (I got mine OEM for a 1973 Jeep Wagoneer 400ci engine), Transmission (BB 727), a rear end (8-3/4) that would handle the torque, resize the driveshaft (shorten), Schumacher motor mounts & Tri-Ys, Larger torsion bars, rear spring offset mounts, 1973 Duster front disk brakes; etc,etc..

All told about $7000 worth of upgrades and retrofits..not including "Engine Work"



Was it worth it..?



FOOK YAH..!!!



Especially when you see the faces of curious onlookers at any Muscle Car show when they see a BIG BLOCK stuffed inside an A-Body...:toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7: :toothy7:




YMMV and all that..



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Go big or go home I always say. With out of the box bolt ons (Manifold and carb etc.) that 383 will produce 400HP without even breathing hard.
 

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i like the idea of the big block for sure but $7,000 of upgrades might be out of my budget
anyway to make it happen a tighter budget or is that just what it takes to make it right?

Is there a good reference or go by for doing the work so i can really know what i might be getting into?

thanks again for all the help and advice
 
I haven't spent $7k yet to go big block, but oyu need to have a plan and stick to it. For starters, every upgrape you will need for a 400hp 383 is necessary for a 400hp 360, so the cost of suspension, brakes, cooling system, etc. are the SAME. The cost to build a small block and big block are also about the same. That leaves very little difference in the build......
 
Drive a Big Block up against a 360. You will see the difference. My original 67 383 Dart Auto ran 14.0 100 MPH with 3.23 gears. Amazing street car in the day.
 
Matt68dart said:
i like the idea of the big block for sure but $7,000 of upgrades might be out of my budget
anyway to make it happen a tighter budget or is that just what it takes to make it right?


Absolutely. You can do it a lot cheaper by taking your time picking up stuff at junkyards and doing a lot of the work yourself. I did about 70% of the work on my own (with friend's help). For example, we made and welded up the home-made Frame stiffeners in my garage..All of the work on this Dart was done in my home's 2-car garage except for the recent tranny rebuild and the bodywork/paint. But some things are just costly. An A-body 8.75 rear end is going to be around $500. The Gear-set, assuming a SureGrip 3.55, 3.73 or 3,91 in good shape, is going to run another $500, give or take. That's $1000 right there. Sure, you can probably get some of the same items cheaper somewhere, but if time is of the essence, sometimes you gotta bite the bullet. E-Bay has some deals...I got both my 3.23 and my 3.91 third members off of E-bay, as well as outside door handles, trim pieces and other assorted stuff. The rest I got at MOPAR junkyards and Swap Meets. My 902 heads and 727 transmission are such examples. The trans was $150.00, and after an oil and filter change, worked on my "Daily Driver" Dart till about 8 months ago. The 902 heads were $100, plus some custom work (porting, flowing, new seats..). My engine got mostly new parts. Block and steel forged crank were used, but all other rotating assembly parts were new as were the fuel, oil and water pumps.The Performer RPM manifold was used, as was the Pro Billet distributor. But the rest of my MSD kit was all new. Holley 750 was used but I had it rebuilt by SMI, Throttle/ Kickdown linkages and bracketry are new (Lokar). NOS Radiator was $175.00. Junkyard driveshafy, cut down and balanced was $50 plus $75 respectively..Cragar SS wheels, custom offset, were $100 each. Front Brake calipers (NOS) from a 1971 GTX were $30/ea.

I scrounged as much as I could. The build took me a year and a half.

But trust me, it all adds up...$20 here, $60 there...

As I said earlier, I'm in it for about 7 -8 K, Not counting any of the engine-work or paint & body...All told, including the price of the car ($2500) I'm in it for about $15K.

I have heard of others doing the same for a lot cheaper, and I am happy for them..but this is what it cost me.


Is there a good reference or go by for doing the work so i can really know what i might be getting into?


yes, go here (it was and still is an invaluable source of info for my build):

http://www.bigblockdart.com/
Click to expand...

Big Block Dart is a very good site for references and technical info on doing a Big Block retrofit onto a Dart. The people there and their information proved to be an invaluable resource to me during my build.

Our Dart is a Daily Driver, which we built as a family project for our son's Senior Year of High School. It was well worth it. He drove it to his summer job every day ( he was a lifeguard at Knotts Berry Farm) and once school started, the Dart was his transportation all Senior year....


Just for incentive purposes:



The Dart and our son Josh in 2005

4578870e.jpg





Josh and Dart in 2007

DartGT010107015-1.jpg



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guizzimike thank you for all the valuable advice I appreciate you taking the time to do that.

I will check out Bigblockdart

and your dart looks great!
 
you can definitely do the swap pretty cheap, but you have to do your homework. i just did my 3rd bb a body and this one was done on a very strict budget. for whatever reason, i actually find it easier to come across a big block than a 360, nevermind a 340.
 
Mr Hemi said:
Drive a Big Block up against a 360. You will see the difference. My original 67 383 Dart Auto ran 14.0 100 MPH with 3.23 gears. Amazing street car in the day.
Click to expand...

Just for comparison, my '69 340 Swinger ran 14.28 @ 98+MPH with an open (no SureGrip) 3.23 geared rearend at OCIR in 1970 running G/Pure Stock class.
One thing no one has mentioned yet is the impact the extra big block weight on the front end will have on handling. Maybe just me, but I much prefer the weight balance of a smallblock A-body on SoCal freeway transition roads.
It's also more fun to pick on other big block cars, beat them, and then see the looks on the drivers face when he finds out he just lost to a smallblock.
 
the wieght thing is a never ending argument. its really not a big enough difference to worry about it. a simple torsion bar swap to the proper size bars will take care of it. i ran my bigblock dart for years on the street with slant six bars. they make torsion bars way bigger than necessary for the street reguardless of engine size. there are some pretty big sway bars available too. my big block car handles really well and was done on a tight budget.
 
Handling....... with a big block? Sure, and this was BEFORE major upgrades (I think this was when the car still had stock big block front suspension).

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajBllTF3574"]YouTube - ‪Alan autocross 8_25_2002 run 3.mpg‬‏[/ame]
 
Go with a Big Block Here is pictures of my 68 Dart GTS/383 with a 440 with a 200 shot NOS. I still have the matching numbers 383 and 727. Your only real problem will be header clearance tight fit.
 

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this is a 440 in my demon with tti headers but for your first time bigblocking i'd recommend either a 383 or 400 as they are a much better fit.
 

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I guess this maybe a dumb question but can you still fit A/C in there? It looks awful tight?

Sorry to be a sissy but sometime I still like the modern comforts
 
there are a lot of guys running a/c on big block a bodies.
 
I'm going 383 4 speed in my 68. I traded a smallblock bellhousing for a BB. I have a stash of A body 4 speeds. 2 - 8 3/4 A body rears, TTI headers, and a few autos, should I get tired of shifting gears.
You already found a 383 and 2 transes, so you already have a headstart. You can use B body headers with your autos. You can get away with an A body 8 1/4 rear, or even go with a B body rear. You would need to change offset on rear rims, and move spring pearches. The radiator out of a 6 cylinder Gremlin will work and have the bottom hose connect on the driver side, unless you are looking at the 71 2BBL cast crank 383 (water pump outlet on the pass side.).

Having a 318 in a 68 makes me think you may already have an 8 3/8. Do the gears slide out the front or back of the rearend? If the gears slide out the front, stroke a small block, and it will bolt right in with pretty close to no mods. You may need to beef the trans a little if it's a 904.
 
I may be going about this all wrong but I will put in my two cents just the same. I just acquired a 71 Dart with a 383 under the hood. I got this car in a package deal of four cars for a total of $2500.00. The other three are a 70 Duster 340 4 spd. Said to be matching numbers but stuffed in the nose (rebuildable), a 74 Duster /6, and a 66 Dart 318 4 door. The Dart was a slant six car originally and I'm not sure yet what the previous owner did to make the conversion other than he put in a big block K-frame. It still has the small bolt wheels and drum brakes all around. The car sits level as it is. The motor has a slight knock in the bottom end. I am planning on a stock rebuild of the 383 and the transmission. I plan on putting in a set of flow masters and also disc brakes on the front. I'm not going to race it, so other than an occasional burn out it should make a nice cruiser with no other mods. I am hoping that the rear end will tolerate that. I'm going to spend my money on restoring the interior and body which are acceptable for a driver but not a cruiser. Gregg
 
small blocks and stroker small blocks are great.. but there is nothing and i mean nothing like a big block abody..:)


64valiant025.jpg


Demonmotor.jpg
 
Well let me add my 2 cents, I have a 360 in a 70 dart, I love my car and will never get rid of it and won't go through the expense of swapping to a big block. But I wanted a car nearly done when I bought it and found one with nice paint job and color I wanted and a very good newly rebuilt 360. Having a big block was not a high desire back then or now. But I do look at them big blocks every now and then and think "man be nice to have a big block in my Dart." But if I had wanted a big block back then and passed the chance to have it, I would be kicking myself, especially if I had done it the way you plan to. You will probably never look at that 383 big block that you built for that car and think, "wish I had a 360."
 
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