Is changing a / to a v8 worth it or is it better to just buy a v8 car?

-
plum crazy dart

plum crazy dart

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
2,825
Reaction score
188
Location
agawam, ma
So here's the scenario. Sons 74 dart has a slant and i know it's only a matter of time before he's seriously lookin for some tire smoking ability. He's jokingly remarked about stealing the 440 out of the gtx. We're not into the / for very much and it's a pretty solid car other than the front seat being shot to hell. I see a lot of cars for sale that say "originally a slant" and it seems a lot of people do it. These cars also seem to be more money than he's going to have available. If you go to sell i know you don't get what you put into a car but by the asking prices it would seem that a swap might be cheaper than buying a v8 car in the same cond. I understand that the whole drivetrain and some suspension parts would have to be swapped and a lot would depend on how much i had to spend on the replacement parts. I have access to a 383 that has been sitting for a few years but was running when pulled, might be able to get it for free. Some of the smaller 8's seem to sell reasonable in running cond. I know you can't put a $ number on the whole process because of the variables. On a side note he'd like to have a 4sp and his / is an auto, so another problem. Knowing our mechanical abilities and his adhd i'm inclined to think it's not worth it...and that's what i keep telling him....So i guess what i'm asking is... Have you done it...was it worth it...would you do it again....if you don't mind, about how much did it cost. Thanks
 
how old is your son? if he is a teenager i would not put him in a big block 4-speed abody. unless you want to be bailing him out of jail or worse. im in my 20's and my first car was a 318 duster. then i had a 68 cuda with a 340 and i tell you what.... i beat the living piss out of that car. there were so many times that i should have not drove away from what we were doing. if he wants the v8 sound and a taste of power i would put a 318 in it for him. you can make them run good and sound nice on a budget. get that going and then have him save his money and build his next engine. he will respect it alot more. that is just my opinion based on my experience. take it or leave it. doing the swap isnt that expensive. it would be a fun father son project.
 
The k frame or conversion mounts is all the frame modifications you will need if you stick with a small block with a 904 tranny. The biggest headache is getting the right pullies and brackets to set up the front of the engine. If you get a motor and tranny set up that has everything on it you will be way ahead. The radiator is the other thing that will likely requies a change. If you have a clean rust free body that is a great starting point and that is why so many people are doing the V8 swap.

A four speed change over will take a chunk of change in just gathering parts unless you get extremely lucky.
 
depends on who you ask. i will never regret yanking out my 6 and installing a V8. im in it for less than 1000 bucks total including the engine and trans.
 
X2 on the 318. Much easier than a big block swap. You can build a stout small block later. You could do a 318 swap for $500 if you shop around for good used parts.
 
Well, its better to start off with a V8 car, that's for sure. That said, you have to find one, and preferably one that's in at least as good condition as the car your already have, which may be the hard part.

The V8 cars don't sell for all that much more than the /6 cars really, so converting one isn't really a money making prospect. If you could find a V8 car, you'd be better off selling the '74 and buying it.

I swapped my '74 Duster over from a /6 to a V8. I didn't originally intend to, but the /6 in it was hammered :eek:ops:. I would have sold the car, but its the cleanest, rust free car I've seen, and selling it as a non-runner wouldn't have worked well.

I bought a running 318 for $250, and then used parts off of a '74 Dart that I bought for $300 and parted out. That's where I got the 904 and V8 K member. I bought a new Champion radiator ($250), and used a set of 1" Just Suspension torsion bars ($200). I also rebuilt the front end and seam welded and reinforced the K member, but those weren't because of the V8 (more money, but not included in my total). The exhaust was cobbled together with the parts car exhaust and some extra pieces I had around (free! :D )

At the moment, I probably have close to $1k into the conversion if you include the price of the parts car I used. I actually made money off that car so its not that bad for me, but you'd need a parts car to do it like that. But I also still have the 7 1/4 rear in it. Actual cost to me is closer to $700, so, $500 if you kick the torsion bars down the road.

Although you "should" upgrade a lot of parts, the bare minimum you're going to need is the engine, transmission (and all the linkage!), radiator, exhaust, and conversion mounts. Small block doesn't need a new driveshaft unless you change transmission types, if you stick with a 904 its the same. Big block would need a new one regardless. That would get you back on the road, but down the road you'd still need bigger torsion bars and probably a rear end. At least with a '74 you already have disk brakes! :D

If you're also going to convert to a 4 speed, you'll need another $2k. You'd almost be better off going on ePay and just buying a kit from the guy that always advertises on there. You can source all your own parts and do it for less, but the time commitment is a lot higher. I've collected parts to convert my Challenger and 2 of my A bodies to 4 speeds, and per conversion I think I'm still under that, but I've been working on it for several years too. :violent1:

Probably better off to just look for a running smallblock/auto combo, and kick the 4 speed conversion down the road for now.

Financially, its probably better to sell the /6 '74 and buy something with all this work already done, but that assumes you can find another car in the same condition as yours is now, and get a decent price on it.
 
Thanks, Yea i was thinking a 318, they're pretty hard to kill. If we go that way he'll just have to suck up the fact that it's an at. He's 19 and much better at takin stuff apart than putting it back together, i'm not going to do it for him and i'm afraid he might lose interest. I was kind of figuring a couple g's and even at that doubt we could get a v8 car in the shape of the slanty for 2k more than we have into it.
 
you could do the 5.9 magnum swap for about a grand. 300 for engine, 150 for intake (used) and 300 for new carb. then you need the pulleys and brackets from a junk yard 318/360. then you need manifolds from a junkyard motor. then need a trans. it could be swapped in a weekend. even a kid working at the burger joint could scrape that kind of cash together if he was motivated. i know i did when i was young.
 
The best parts about doing the swap from a 6 is that there is no collector value in /6 cars , and that your insurance company will see a /6 vin number , and it won't matter what you have under it . I have a 383 in my Dart , but it shows as a slant for the premiums .Whole lot cheaper . And its a good father/son project to get him interested . I finally got my kid away from spongebob that way years ago with his Dart .
 
id do it. my duster was a 198 and i swapped a 440 in it that ran mid 12's. drove the car that way on the street when i was 16 all summer . three years later and it runs mid 11's and is still driven countless miles in the summer. I wouldnt have done it any other way if i could redo it . but hed prob be happy with anything. i do like the idea of a carb'd magnum swap
 
younggun2.0 said:
you could do the 5.9 magnum swap for about a grand. 300 for engine, 150 for intake (used) and 300 for new carb. then you need the pulleys and brackets from a junk yard 318/360. then you need manifolds from a junkyard motor. then need a trans. it could be swapped in a weekend. even a kid working at the burger joint could scrape that kind of cash together if he was motivated. i know i did when i was young.
Click to expand...
ya i did a few v8/6 swaps back when i was a kid workin on....:banghead: chebbies... blow em' up and put another one in lol

jamesdaytona said:
The best parts about doing the swap from a 6 is that there is no collector value in /6 cars , and that your insurance company will see a /6 vin number , and it won't matter what you have under it . I have a 383 in my Dart , but it shows as a slant for the premiums .Whole lot cheaper . And its a good father/son project to get him interested . I finally got my kid away from spongebob that way years ago with his Dart .
Click to expand...
It's not about collector value at all, it's about the fun value. Having a built 440 i can relate. He's the one that wants to do it, i keep telling him that it would be better to just find a v8 car. Once it gets nice out i know i'll want to spend my spare time driving my car. :)
 
I'd say if you didn't have a car to start with then yes buy a car with the drive train you want already in you would be way ahead. But for the swap I'd go low mileage 318 with 600-650 carb on a performer with a Xe262-H cam and headers 250-275hp good enough to have fun with, 4 gear gonna add a lot of work and cost, trans tunnel needs to be heavily modified also don't forget about rear end needs swapping also, that sounds like about 5 grand to me so maybe car shopping might be in your future.
 
This thread is making me think waayyyyy to much about converting my own dart now :D
 
5.9 magnum with a 904 auto. it is pretty much the best bang for the buck. there are ALOT of cars on here with junk yard engines running hard for next to nothing. you cannot make the power of a 5.9 with a stock bottom end 318 even if you spent twice as much on the top end. you could be at 300hp for less than a grand. it dont get any easier.
 
It is cheaper to start with a good body and swap a drive train, than to start with a poor body and try to get the body in good shape. Old cars are a labor of love. It is best not to think of the money one has in it. Think of the car payments you won't be making. We bought a "73" 4 door Dart with 30K on it from a friend years ago. Try and buy that car from him. Won't happen. I did not start souping it up till he drove 2 or 3 years.

66Cuda001.jpg
 
I bought a big block GTS for 200 bucks and swaped everything over. I know you won't find a GTS for 200 bucks. But you. Might try to find a 4 dr car with a 318 in it at a decent price or buy motor mount swap kit? My 69 swinger is a /6 body and it was appraised 5 or 6 years a go for 25k. So we still have pretty good value in it. I would swap it over. We started with a 318 in mine until I could build a 360.
 
I was bagging grocerys when I did the swap in my dart. Its not expensive at all....building the motor is where you might run into problems. If his heart is set on a big block though I say go for it and just put some 2:73 gears in it at first just so he gets a feel for the power of the car then bump him up to something better. After I had my v8 in the dart I took it down to a local car show and I heard guys all over talking about how it was going to end up in a ditch...SUCKERS.
 
If he's the typical teenager - you can get the stuff (engine, trans, adaptor mounts, radiator) for about $1300 depending. Then there's the labor, and exhaust system. Personally I think if he's interested and demonstrates the capacity to finish jobs that aren't fun, then it's worth it. Otherwise I think it's a recipe for an eventual engineless car body sale.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top