thanks to you guys here on FABO the smallblock conversion in my 66 went much easier than it honestly should have. It was an original 225 hoppin half dozen, 904, 7.25 w/ 2.90s on wheel peel monster. it seems like theres a lot of people on here that have the mentality that theres only one way to do things. honestly it depends on what you want to do with the car. I built mine to be a cruiser, but dont forget, theres always room for improvement, and it does NOT have to all be done at once. for my swap i started with an 87 vin M 4-barrel gran fury. Zero decked 318 short block with 360 heads and intake, and this was factory. luckily this car came with a TF999 with lockup. other tidbits that came with the fury and were helpful was the oil filter adapter, mostly correct oil pan (ill explain later) three piece kickdown linkage, 8.25 posi diff, remote engine and trans coolers, and the more common aluminum water pump. I also got lucky that someone swapped a posi 3.23:1 7.25 in long before i got the car. (I flog that rear end regularly, and it hasnt given me a lick of trouble):burnout: One of the local junkyards here has two early barracudas. (65 273 2 barrel console auto and a 66 formula S) To my advantage they were v8 cars, so the drop drag link (unknown to me at the time my 66 already had one factory, its a late 66 build) and gas pedal assembly were easily located. I also snagged some alternator brackets and pulleys from a 70s pickup. Schumacher supplied the motor mounts wich worked 95% flawlessly (they make the engine sit approx 1 inch higher in the engine bay, making the transmission kickdown/governor lever eat the floorpan, requiring a BFH for floor mods in my case) and exhaust clearance becomes an issue. i used a 70s truck dizzy to work an "old" analog MSD 6A box (i ordered it from napa, where i work) since the original dizzy in 87 didnt have mechanical advance weights, it was designed for an ECM. the TF999 is dimentionally 100% the same as the original 904 and in 1966 dodge went to a splined yoke for the output, previous years used a ball and trunnion setup, not cool. I happened to get lucky. not all smallblock oil pans that claim they fit early a bodies will. some custom mods are required on most to clear the drag link on the drivers side, this is one thing no one seems to tell you, and a little time with a torch, a ball peen hammer, and some finess will solve this issue. or just make sure theres a dimple on the drivers side right behind the sump, if not, hammer time! that modification, if done right, will clear windage trays too. my engine being a cop setup had one factory. as for steering and exhaust, the flaming river coupler is too damn expensive, and is a joke in my opinion. me being mr. budget ordered a sweet mfg. 3/4 DD x 3/4-36 spline steering coupler from speedway motors (90 dollars), requiring some steering shaft mods as follows: cut approx 1 inch off the end of the sector, and using your tool or machine of choice, make your double D face, and the jamming bolt notch. tighten down the jamming bolt, i used threadlocker red since i have zero intention of ever taking this thing apart, and grond the head down to clear the manifold. now in my case i had to grind the bolt because i used a 1974 vintage 360 valiant drivers side manifold. Contrary to popular belief they WILL work, but ONLY with the coupler i used. the flaming river one is too big in diameter and will eat the manifold worse than the factory coupler did. for the pasenger side manifold i used the drivers side manifold from my old 73 D100 i used to have, that turned out to have a 74 monaco PI 360 in it. worked swell, and had zero clearance issues. most of the exhaust issues (manifold wise) were because of the 360 size ports in the head, otherwise i would have spent the dough to get a set of factory 273 mannies. factory setups would have choked the poor motor out so i figured the time i had invested finding something that would fit was well worth it. the radiator wasnt factory, it turned out to be from a 74-76 A body no a/c slant car. another common belief is the slant radiator cant be used. this is true to a point, with a cast iron water pump, no, aluminum, hell yea! use a factory lower radiator hose with a reducer, and an upper hose from a late 80s dakota with a 4 banger, and viola. works just fine for now. next on my list is a champion radiator CC2374, and itll actually run where i want it to temperature wise. right now she runs around 202-207, not horrible, but a smidge warmer than id like, but for my daily get to work rig, its working for now. Transmission cooling can be done however you want it to, i bent my own lines before i dropped the motor and trans in, and a magnum mini starter will be your best friend to help with clearance. i rigged up a remote cooler thats entirely overkill, but in this respect, you can never have enough transmission cooler-ness, especially in stop and go traffic. now for the brakes, i DO NOT full out race this thing, maybe a little stop light action on the weekends, but nothing too crazy, factory 9 inch drums work just fine. ive read countless posts where people seem like theyre saying "if you run 9 inch brakes your car will explode and eat the ditch doing mach 5" yeeeaaa.....i beg to differ. no problems, stops like a champ, new shocks and torsion bar adjustments, no problems, none at all. NADA!! Ive recently acquired a 73 swinger parts car for a front end disc and power brake swap, but like the radiator, thats going to be a winter project. 9 inch brakes wont kill you, just dont forget what you car is capable of. sorry i wrote a novel, im just trying to heap all my little tricks into one shpeel here, and once again, if it wasnt for FABO and the helpful tips, id probably still have a mopar lawn ornament.
