V8 in a 63

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
FABO Gold Member
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Does anyone have a picture of a LA small block V8 in a 63 A- body??

I keep hearing that 63 is different than later years and there is something with the firewall

no idea what I am looking at that makes the difference ???

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The red circle is the issue it may just be the part right under the wiper motor.That part im still trying to figure out.

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Also the pinch weld on the trans tunnel where it meets the firewall needs to be flattened.
 
Here's a picture of my 66. 64-66 should be similar if not the same. I believe the indentation is for distributor clearance. Hope this helps.
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tmm
 
The OP did say it was a 63. I heard the same thing, that something at the fire wall caused an interference.
 
The 63-66 cars BEG for rear wheelwells like in that wagon!
 
someone put an 8 1/4 in it and those are some BBP wheels of some sort and the front is still drum with 13 inch wheels
 
1963dartgt said:
The red circle is the issue it may just be the part right under the wiper motor.That part im still trying to figure out.

View attachment 1715016314
Click to expand...
This is my first post and I am going to be putting a LA in my 63 gt also. The circled part of the firewall is the problem. It not only kicks out towards the engine but the horseshoe looking bracket in the circled part is the mount for the windshield wiper motor, I believe. I'm researching the best way to relocate the wiper motor and flatten the firewall like the picture of Toolmanmike's 66 firewall.
 
Rani,
That is where the wiper mounts and is bulged out in the engine compartment where a small block distributor is....
Excuse the bad pictures,it is dark here and I opened the hood and took a couple of pictures...
First picture look for the semi circle of metal with head studs that hold the wiper motor inside below the hood springs.
Second picture is straight down ,against firewall,notice hood springs again and the bulge.
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Go big block and I like the straight axle idea. ...
Contact 63 MorePar he is your state and he done the small block swap in his 63.
 
Stephen Mulkey said:
This is my first post and I am going to be putting a LA in my 63 gt also. The circled part of the firewall is the problem. It not only kicks out towards the engine but the horseshoe looking bracket in the circled part is the mount for the windshield wiper motor, I believe. I'm researching the best way to relocate the wiper motor and flatten the firewall like the picture of Toolmanmike's 66 firewall.
Click to expand...
My mistake, I looked at the pictured firewall and thought of my 63 Dart firewall, they look the same. The 63 Valiant and the 63 Dart have the same firewall? I may have learned something, that's great.
 
I thought about the big block and straight axle added the cost of that and the cost of the pending divorce that would follow and i dont have enough. I think a small block is plenty to throw in these roller skates.
 
Put a 383 in it and you don't have to cut the firewall.
 
I never thought about getting the linkage and motor from a later model.
 
The 68-69 big block HP manifolds fit with little modification.
 
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Just for reference, this is how we did the "humpectomy" on jasons car. The wiper motor mounts to the bottom side of the dash on a triangular bracket if I remember right. The bracket slipped in between the pinch weld on the firewall. Make sure to get the entire wiper assy in case there's differences.

From my experience the pinch weld only needs to be removed if your installing a 727. A 904 fits fine.

Hope this helps. Eric and Jason.
 
Well that looks fantastic,but im not a welder by any means so a BFH might be my only option. I live in california so i could just do away with my wipers altogether. If i do that though im sure we would get the longest rain spell here ever.
 
just check out a thread called mini dizzy for your firewall issues , just about shows you whats what .
 
Nice car!
I put a 340 in a 63 wagon back in 1978. I cut out that wiper hump and welded in a piece of sheet metal from a Pontiac trunk lid. I got the wiper assy from a 65 Barracuda and used it. I also robbed the motor mounts, water pump and pulleys, exhaust manifolds, bell housing/ clutch linkage, throttle pedal/cable assy, radiator and a few other goodies from the 65. Those parts made the swap relatively simple.
I also replaced the rear side glass with some more of the Pontiac sheet metal and it became a panel wagon. Sold it to some guy from Denver before I completed the interior work though.
Was your car originally an automatic or a stick?
 
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