Will a 77 Charger 360 fit in a 65 Valiant Slant Six Painlessly?

-
Bossanova5

Bossanova5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2020
Messages
144
Reaction score
60
Location
Los Angeles
Hello All,
Looking to replace the Slant. Would like to put a 360 in it. I found a 77 charger with a 360 that is in a complete running car.
How much modifications am I looking at to make it work?
Will I need different motor mounts or will the engine line up? Probably will use the transmission from the Charger.
Will everything fit without cutting Sheetmetal or welding new mounts? I probably will need a different drive shaft too.
I realize the Charger is a B Body and I'm trying to put it in a A Body
Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
Conversion motor mounts, correct exhaust manifolds for the A body, or make Magnum manifolds work, and you will need the transmission from the charger. Larger radiator. A few wiring changes. Upgrade the differential and when you do, you'll need a shortened driveshaft.

That's the basics.
 
^^^ exhaust is the probably the most expensive and difficult part of the whole gambit.

track down early A V8 pieces, track down 340 pieces and cobble together head pipes, early magnum on the pass side and [question mark] on the driver's side and figure out from there, TTI, dougs, sanderson if you have an automatic; fenderwells if you want to cut. modify the x-member if you want true duals.

might need to beat the seam in the firewall flat to fit the trans.

you'll need to track down a V8 center link.

oil pan from B may or may not work.

early K's are the same 8 or 6 so you could hustle up some stock mounts in lieu of conversion mounts.

figure out trans linkage & kick down, if you have rod style throttle you'll need to scare up a pedal assembly.
 
junkyardhero said:
^^^ exhaust is the probably the most expensive and difficult part of the whole gambit.

track down early A V8 pieces, track down 340 pieces and cobble together head pipes, early magnum on the pass side and [question mark] on the driver's side and figure out from there, TTI, dougs, sanderson if you have an automatic; fenderwells if you want to cut. modify the x-member if you want true duals.

might need to beat the seam in the firewall flat to fit the trans.

you'll need to track down a V8 center link.

oil pan from B may or may not work.

early K's are the same 8 or 6 so you could hustle up some stock mounts in lieu of conversion mounts.

figure out trans linkage & kick down, if you have rod style throttle you'll need to scare up a pedal assembly.
Click to expand...

If the Charger trans is a 904, probably won't have to clearance the trans tunnel seam.

If I remember (???), the 65 center links are the same six or V8. Or is that 66 only??

Will almost surely need a bigger radiator. But the 65 opening is large enough to handle bigger, unlike the opening in my 63 Valiant, which never came with a V8. A radiator to fit a 71 Duster 340 will fit and will also have the lower hose outlet in the correct passenger side for a 77 360 (I ran one for a while in my 65 Barracuda).

A 64-66 V8 pedal assembly will fit and work perfectly, but might be hard to find these days. But a later A body swing pedal can easily be adapted to fit.

You'll need something stronger than the 7 1/4 rear behind that slant six. Used to be able to find inexpensive A body 8 3/4 rears in junk yards, but those days are gone. A body 8 1/4 will bolt in, but finding one with something other than 2.76 gears or worse is not so easy. There are other options, but none are strictly bolt in. And yes, your old driveshaft most likely won't fit, nor will the Charger shaft. But they can be shortened (or lengthened) or you can just have a new one made up.

Then there's the exhaust system, and the usual minor stuff - like engine compartment wiring length, etc.

It's certainly do-able; I don't know about painlessly. How mechanically skillful are you? This swap can be made to look like a factory install, but I've seen some cobbled-together hack jobs, too.
 
There's no way for anyone to answer that, because we don't know YOUR skill level. I've been workin on cars since 1974 and I find it safe to say that really nothing on a Mopar is painless. Will it fit? Yup. It's a bolt in swap. Can YOU do it? Chit if I know.
 
Painlessly? Nope, but it depends on your tolerance for pain.
Is the Charger transmission a 904 or a 727? 904 will fit, 727 may need some tunnel massaging at the pinchweld, as already stated. '65 trans is cable/pushbutton shift, '77 is mechanical linkage, either column or floor shift- you'll have to come up with your own shift mechanism. The '65 has a ball and trunion output shaft, the '77 has U joint and a slip yoke. New driveshaft time, might be able to use the Charger shaft if you have it shortened. The speedometer drive is also different between the two. I'm pretty sure the Charger's kickdown linkage won't clear the firewall of an early A body, either.
Engine will fit easily enough, slightly modded 273 mount brackets from an early A will do the trick. You need to find the early V8 cable throttle linkage, your slant 6 linkage is a pivot rod system. You'll need a V8 centerlink to clear the steering.
Exhaust will depend on if you have power steering or not. Some manifolds and headers clear, some will not. The only thing that's a guaranteed fit is the early A 273 driver's side manifold, but you also need to be aware of exhaust manifold interference issues with later heads like those '77s.
Then there's radiator, rear end, brake and suspension upgrades that become necessary as others have already said, and most of that won't fit from the Charger.
Really, there's like a kazillion threads on this already, you need to fire up the search button, grab a six pack and settle in for a long night's worth of reading.
 
Last edited:
Ah - forgot the 65 trans took a ball and trunnion front joint. But, yeah.

There's also pulleys and brackets. Will the 77 360's pulleys and brackets fit in a 65 Valiant??? Don't know. May well not, especially if the 77 had A/C. Might need to scrounge around a bit to find what you need. And keep the original alternator unless you want to do some rewiring for the later alternator and voltage regulator.

Like RRR said, all this is basically bolt on stuff, but it's a LOT of different stuff to bolt in. Lots of little stuff changed from one year to the next. Fact that the donor car is a B body is not that big a deal, since a small block is a small block and a Torqueflite is either a 904 (or one of its variants) or a 727, and are the same length for A and B bodies (unlike 4-speeds). But the factory liked to change little stuff, like where the trans mounting pad is on the trans, kickdown linkage, shift linkage, throttle control mechanisms, locations of radiator outlets, etc. Doubt anyone can remember in advance everything that will need to be done in your case. I know when I put a 74 360/Torqueflite in my originally slant six 67 Barracuda, I was surprised at all the little things I had to figure out - like what power steering brackets I needed to bolt to a 74 engine sitting in a 67 chassis with a 69 K frame with 69 motor mount brackets (74 brackets didn't work). And I already had converted to V8 HD suspension, brakes and 8 3/4 rear, and had a V8 K frame ready to go (unlike 63-66, by 67, V8s and slant sixes used different K frames).

And we haven't talked yet about suspension and brakes. Factory slant six stuff will be kinda marginal for a 360. Count on upgrading that, too.

Anyway, I don't mean to discourage you. Just be prepared to do more and spend more than you originally planned.
 
What's otherwise wrong with the charger? Wrecked? Rotted? Varmint damage?
 
Thanks all for the input. No issue with mechanical aptitude. I can pretty much do everything (Transmission rebuild, floor board replacement, engine overhaul etc.)Being that parts cars are so ridiculously expensive now ( I should of done this 20 years ago when I was restoring the car) this Charger ( Which looks just like a Cordova) popped up and I thought it would be a good donar car.
 
Yup that is basically a Cordoba with a different grill and taillights. I had one of each for my 1st 2 cars.
Bad thing is those years were some of the worst, Lowest of low compression, lowest performance years....
 
Professor Fate said:
Painlessly? Nope, but it depends on your tolerance for pain.
Is the Charger transmission a 904 or a 727? 904 will fit, 727 may need some tunnel massaging at the pinchweld, as already stated. '65 trans is cable/pushbutton shift, '77 is mechanical linkage, either column or floor shift- you'll have to come up with your own shift mechanism. The '65 has a ball and trunion output shaft, the '77 has U joint and a slip yoke. New driveshaft time, might be able to use the Charger shaft if you have it shortened. The speedometer drive is also different between the two. I'm pretty sure the Charger's kickdown linkage won't clear the firewall of an early A body, either.
Engine will fit easily enough, slightly modded 273 mount brackets from an early A will do the trick. You need to find the early V8 cable throttle linkage, your slant 6 linkage is a pivot rod system. You'll need a V8 centerlink to clear the steering.
Exhaust will depend on if you have power steering or not. Some manifolds and headers clear, some will not. The only thing that's a guaranteed fit is the early A 273 driver's side manifold, but you also need to be aware of exhaust manifold interference issues with later heads like those '77s.
Then there's radiator, rear end, brake and suspension upgrades that become necessary as others have already said, and most of that won't fit from the Charger.
Really, there's like a kazillion threads on this already, you need to fire up the search button, grab a six pack and settle in for a long night's worth of reading.
Click to expand...
Wasn't '64 the last year for the push button shift?
 
I might have everything you need to do an SBM transplant, including a low-compression 360/318 engine, the correct B&T 904, and a rear end, all cores.
Also have a KH disc brake system off a 67/8/9 Barracuda, or a set off a 73 Dart with the bigger bolt pattern. Could supply an 8.25 with the bigger bolt pattern as well. Or a narrowed 8.75 that came out of 70 Swinger, narrowed to fit into it's framerails. It was set up with 11" drums tho.
I have done that swap. And like said, the hardest part was the exhaust; for which I just installed Hooker Fenderwells. Today, we have better header options.
With a V-8 you really have to address the brakes, cuz you can be doing 60 mph in under 6 seconds. And it only takes 1 or 2 seconds to get crossed up. Those 9" brakes and 13" tires are borderline dangerous at 50 mph never mind top of Second gear.

The catch is this; I know that I have this stuff, but I have three storage places, so have no real idea where exactly it all is. and Therefore, it would take me a while to get it all gathered up and onto pallets.
Plus, you know, I'm like three or four days worth of shipping, away from you.
Well, I do know exactly where the drivetrain is, lol. Just not all the bits you are gonna need.
BTW
I also have A 340 Short, torn down and a set of 360 heads, with a cast-iron 4bbl and an AVS, plus a set of early exhaust manifolds, and all the bits to put it together. All rebuildable cores.
The one thing that I know I don't have is the V8 Centerlink, and not sure if I can scare up the right convertor........... but maybe, lol.
And if you like 273s, I got a torn-down core of one of those as well.
If Early A's have the same size T-bars as the 67 ups, then I got at least one set of every size Mopar made for those.
I even have a few 4-speed kits.
The rear spring-packs are different from slanty to V8 as well; IDK, I might have a set. Shocks, you'll want to buy new.

I'm almost yur one-stop shopping center
 
How about a little levity here? :lol:

fitness.jpg
 
Bossanova5 said:
Hello All,
Looking to replace the Slant. Would like to put a 360 in it. I found a 77 charger with a 360 that is in a complete running car.
How much modifications am I looking at to make it work?
Will I need different motor mounts or will the engine line up? Probably will use the transmission from the Charger.
Will everything fit without cutting Sheetmetal or welding new mounts? I probably will need a different drive shaft too.
I realize the Charger is a B Body and I'm trying to put it in a A Body
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
There's a '65 A-body V8 car for sale in Los Angeles area (Canoga Park) for only $2k. Do yourself a favor and get that for a conversion donor rather than the '77 Charger, unless you really want the later 360 drivetrain. A '65 273 car will have all the parts you need to do a much less painful conversion.
 
cudamark said:
There's a '65 A-body V8 car for sale in Los Angeles area (Canoga Park) for only $2k. Do yourself a favor and get that for a conversion donor rather than the '77 Charger, unless you really want the later 360 drivetrain. A '65 273 car will have all the parts you need to do a much less painful conversion.
Click to expand...
Do you have any more information on the car? Link to the ad? phone number?
Thanks
 
junkyardhero said:
on A body, yes.

the B&T drive shaft continued thru 65. the shifter moved to the column with mechanical (cable) linkage or the floor with cables. splined output came in 66
Click to expand...
Not sure about early A bodies, but B and C cars received the splined output / slip yoke in 65. In those cars, 65 is a one year only trans, being slip yoke and cable shift.
 
Bossanova5 said:
Do you have any more information on the car? Link to the ad? phone number?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Looks like it's actually a '64, but, same V8 changeover parts will work. I can't seem to link it for some reason. Just look up Los Angeles Craig's list and enter '64 Valiant in the search box.
 
Who cares if it has all your conversion parts. You don't need the body, just the drivetrain and misc other stuff.
 
You will need to consider what vintage radiator you are going to run and set up the front of the engine for that...

The early bodies had the lower radiator outlet on the driver's side, the later bodies (70 and later) had the lower radiator outlet on the passenger side... You will want to use the period correct timing chain and water pump set-up to match the vintage radiator that you plan to use... They moved the timing marks 90° when they moved the lower radiator hose outlet on the water pumps... The early style used the cast iron water pump, the later style used the aluminum water pump with the outlets on the opposite sides from one style to the other...

It's not hard to do, you just need to know which way to go to make things easier to match up...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top