Early A body Slant/6 to 70's 360 swap

[aldert]

I have a 1965 Dodge Dart GT Convertible, i'm going to pull the slant/6 to a 74' 360 motor and transmission.Said to be out of a Warlock. Would like some advice on what to do with transmission set up. I now have automatic in the floor(cable driven) I'm wondering if there are any kits to change for the shifting on the 70's transmission? I've got a early A Body center link from a 273, the exhaust manifold, and gas pedal. What other things do I need to consider, as far as the engine/transmission go? ( I've ordered the motor mounts from Schumacher) Also have the power steering, alternator brackets. Any suggestions would be great. I'm planning on dong this this fall, and like to get my "ducks" in a row>

 

[66durgederp]

The 727 wont clear the pinch weld in the trans tunnel without some massaging. as for the trans, my 66 was column and now its cable/on the floor via B&M kit and a kilduff lightning rod shifter. the factory 273 manifolds will choke out the large port 360 heads something fierce on the drivers side, I used a 74 valiant 360 manifold, clears with a u-joint style coupler on the steering column. win-win - no more p.o.s. pot style coupler, and clearance! as for a driveshaft, I had mine built. It was less expensive and more timely than finding an O.E. unit. The oil pan will require some clearancing on the drivers side where the drag-link sits. it will hit the pan at full left lock. you will need a 90 degree oil filter adapter as well, either from a later A/F/M/J body to ease the pain of changing the oil, or, do a remote mount setup. the slant radiator will work ok, but Id recommend upgrading, too much cooling is better than not enough.

 

[aldert]

The 727 wont clear the pinch weld in the trans tunnel without some massaging. as for the trans, my 66 was column and now its cable/on the floor via B&M kit and a kilduff lightning rod shifter. the factory 273 manifolds will choke out the large port 360 heads something fierce on the drivers side, I used a 74 valiant 360 manifold, clears with a u-joint style coupler on the steering column. win-win - no more p.o.s. pot style coupler, and clearance! as for a driveshaft, I had mine built. It was less expensive and more timely than finding an O.E. unit. The oil pan will require some clearancing on the drivers side where the drag-link sits. it will hit the pan at full left lock. you will need a 90 degree oil filter adapter as well, either from a later A/F/M/J body to ease the pain of changing the oil, or, do a remote mount setup. the slant radiator will work ok, but Id recommend upgrading, too much cooling is better than not enough.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind when I start the project

 

[AJ/FormS]

A factory 360 as it is, will be fine with a SBM A904. But you will need to take care of the Throttle pressure/KD system, all the way to whatever carb you wish to run.I used a 273 tranny behind my 340. And I used the stock slanty driveshaft.
>I think Trebleg can help you with CI manifolds, which is all that stock 360 will need.
>Don't forget that the 360 timing marks may not be compatible with that early rad and P/S pump location. You may have to re-engineer the TDC indicator. Not a big deal.
>And of course, you will need to be nice to the 7.25 out back,especially if it does not have a SureGrip in it. It won't take peg-legging for long.
>Try not to take the easy way out with the exhaust pipes.If you terminate them under the car, the droning will be unbearable. They really need to go out to the rear bumper or a bit past; but not so far that people walking by will cut their shins on them,lol.An alternative is to run them out in front of the rear tires, but again terminating outside the body. I ran the pipes under the rear axle and out to 2 or 3 inches past the rear bumper and never had a problem; I was 22,lol.
>I did that swap with a 340 and used fenderwell headers. That was pretty slick, but it really limits your front wheel/tire choices, or just don't try turning sharp,lol. There was a lot of going around the block.But if you forget it's not a big deal; the tires just shine up the headerpipes,lol.
>I highly recommend bigger T-bars; my combo was a real barge.And HD springs.And HD shocks. I'm sorry I can't supply PNs for early A stuff.
>As a precaution, after it is up and running, you might to a fuel-supply test to make sure the factory line is still up to feeding the engine after all these years; I mean those lines plug up with rust,on the inside. Looking on the outside you'd never suspect it.
>I highly recommend to convert the charging system to a modern isolated field, and the ignition to electronic. You don't need anything fancy, just get rid of the points.
> the slanty rad is pretty small, but if it keeps her cool at idle with a direct-drive fan, then you are probably good to go.

 

[aldert]

A factory 360 as it is, will be fine with a SBM A904. But you will need to take care of the Throttle pressure/KD system, all the way to whatever carb you wish to run.I used a 273 tranny behind my 340. And I used the stock slanty driveshaft.
>I think Trebleg can help you with CI manifolds, which is all that stock 360 will need.
>Don't forget that the 360 timing marks may not be compatible with that early rad and P/S pump location. You may have to re-engineer the TDC indicator. Not a big deal.
>And of course, you will need to be nice to the 7.25 out back,especially if it does not have a SureGrip in it. It won't take peg-legging for long.
>Try not to take the easy way out with the exhaust pipes.If you terminate them under the car, the droning will be unbearable. They really need to go out to the rear bumper or a bit past; but not so far that people walking by will cut their shins on them,lol.An alternative is to run them out in front of the rear tires, but again terminating outside the body. I ran the pipes under the rear axle and out to 2 or 3 inches past the rear bumper and never had a problem; I was 22,lol.
>I did that swap with a 340 and used fenderwell headers. That was pretty slick, but it really limits your front wheel/tire choices, or just don't try turning sharp,lol. There was a lot of going around the block.But if you forget it's not a big deal; the tires just shine up the headerpipes,lol.
>I highly recommend bigger T-bars; my combo was a real barge.And HD springs.And HD shocks. I'm sorry I can't supply PNs for early A stuff.
>As a precaution, after it is up and running, you might to a fuel-supply test to make sure the factory line is still up to feeding the engine after all these years; I mean those lines plug up with rust,on the inside. Looking on the outside you'd never suspect it.
>I highly recommend to convert the charging system to a modern isolated field, and the ignition to electronic. You don't need anything fancy, just get rid of the points.
> the slanty rad is pretty small, but if it keeps her cool at idle with a direct-drive fan, then you are probably good to go.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind with all the other stuff

 

[aldert]

Another question. The 360 engine and transmission are a 1974 year, my question is on the newer 904 transmission is different than the 1965 slant six, my car is an automatic on the floor, what do you suggest for adapting shifting linkage for the tranny. Any adapter kits available?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[AJ/FormS]

The Floor-shift trans missions have a couple of bosses which are used to mount the bottom bracket for the shifter Z-bar. The 65 should have those bosses if it came out of a floor-shift car. It will swap over to the newer trans. then you can run all the 65 stuff. I think you will run into a snaffu with the parking mechanism, if you have a separate park lever, like the 64 push-buttons had. If you don't have that then you're good top go

 

[Rapid Robert]

A 727 may or may not clear (tolerance stackup is all over the place on early A's but they are my favs). I'm even seen one that barely touched the pinch weld & another that would not clear with the PW ground down but with that said I would HIGHLY suggest staying with a 904 (lighter/easier fit/less rotational mass). Just me I would get a '66 column shift steering column assy with the '66 rod linkage bellcrank assy etc & a '66 up rod linkage 904 that way you do not have to change/alter anything inside the car. just drill/tap a mounting hole in the subframe to support the end of the bellcrank assy & a notch in the frame next to the hole for the tang to set into (when you get the bellcrank assy you will see what you need to do & it is easy. For power or manual steering you can easily swap the inner shaft into your outer steering column housing to go either way. use the B&M 10239 flex plate to mate the externally balanced 360 to the neutral balanced 904 torque converter. 64-66 273 ex manifolds fit perfect but flow terrible (1&7/8 outlets!) & reportedly magnum ex manifolds fit with some milling & be sure to get the '92/early 93 ones with the ~1&5/16" outlets as opposed to the later ones with ~1&7/8 outlets. they flow pretty good. I would think an early 340 HP passenger ex manifold might fit (it is the best flowing one hands down) & I would mockeup a dr magnum to see if it can be made to fit (it being "the 1&5/16 one" which flows better than the drivers side 340 HP one). the later 340 manis are junk (see eBay for pics). there are 2 pass 360 pans that I am aware of, the "876" which has an ~8" long sump that starts 2" back from a vertical plumb line straight down from the very front pan lip and the "392" which its sump is ~8" long & starts 4" back. they take different pickups & you MAY need the "392". wait for replies or do carefull measureing. EDIT I would get a "champion" alum radiator with the bottom outlet on the pass side so you can keep your aluminum pump & see the dampener/tcover marks on the dr side for easier timing. EDIT meant to say ~2&5/16" outlets on the early mag ex manifolds