Getting ready to swap a 5.7 into my 73 Dart Swinger

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ktowne1

ktowne1

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Hi all, I'm very new to the site, but wanted to rack as many brains as possible for some advice with this. I yanked out my old worn out 318 3 years ago and waited for a good deal that i could get the whole package from one car. I was able to get a 5.7 and the auto trans out of a 2013 Challenger with 23k miles. The guy also gave me the shifter, driveline, wiring harness, ECU, and gauge cluster from the car. I have ordered my new midsump pan, p/u tube, and gasket, along with the TTI motor mounts, oil filter block plate, and the oil filter relocation kit as well.

My questions are:

1) After I get the oil pan swapped, the filter relocation all set up and the motor mounts installed, everything should be ready for it to at least drop into place right?

2) I've read that the transmission should clear with either beating the floor pan with a hammer or cutting into it (I'm hoping I don't have to cut it, but will if I have to). Any other knowledge on this?

3) I'm keeping the stock front end with torsion bars. For now. Which will probably last another 15-20 years before I'm able to swap in the kit from Hotchkis or RMS. I'm keeping the stock manifolds on the motor, but from what I've seen so far, they should work with either suspension set up?

4) I'm sure I've forgot a few things, but just wanted to get the ball rolling to see what I've got myself into. Thanks in advance!
 
Try to set it up with your column shifter.
I bought a 2013 Charger ex police with column shift. Last week for fun drove a regular 2013 console car and the little nubbin on the console is beyond stupid.
  • The whole point of heavy mechanical detents was to make squinting at a display unnecessary.

Don't know where that bullet point thing came from and can't delete it...but OK.
Just don't let newness of the engine bay ruin the 1973ness of the interior.
 
The exhaust manifolds will not work. The LX platform ones dump the outlets right into the firewall and do not hug the block tight enough. The trans will not fit without major floor and torsion bar crossmember surgery. It will also require a custom built drive shaft. Trans needs wheel speed sensors in order to work. I believe Chris over at Hotwire was working on a kit to be able to use the nag in a retrofit application
 
Darthomas said:
Try to set it up with your column shifter.
I bought a 2013 Charger ex police with column shift. Last week for fun drove a regular 2013 console car and the little nubbin on the console is beyond stupid.
  • The whole point of heavy mechanical detents was to make squinting at a display unnecessary.

Don't know where that bullet point thing came from and can't delete it...but OK.
Just don't let newness of the engine bay ruin the 1973ness of the interior.
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Yes, my plan is to keep as much of the 1973ness of the car as possible. Just excited to be able to turn the key, and have a quick, reliable car
 
toplscuda said:
The exhaust manifolds will not work. The LX platform ones dump the outlets right into the firewall and do not hug the block tight enough. The trans will not fit without major floor and torsion bar crossmember surgery. It will also require a custom built drive shaft. Trans needs wheel speed sensors in order to work. I believe Chris over at Hotwire was working on a kit to be able to use the nag in a retrofit application
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As far as the manifolds go, I was reading an article from Hot Rod from 2009, and they say that if money or clearance is tight you could keep the stock manifolds. The TTI headers are a must evidently to make everything fit?

What about power steering? I keep seeing mixed reports on that as well. Some say you have to get a mechanical box, some say you can just get a smaller one.

It'll probably be about 3-4 weeks before I start this project, I still have to swap oil pans yet. But, I'm just trying to get as much information beforehand as possible. Thanks for the info!!
 
the truck 5.7 manifolds and the jeep I believe will fit tighter against the block and the outlets will point downward. The LX (car manifolds) stick out from the block further and dump the outlets directly at the firewall so they will not work unless you are going to run the exhaust into the car. Since I am running an RMS k frame I cannot say if any of them will give you issues with the torsion bars.
There are a couple running stock K frames and power steering with the borgeson power steering box and some slight modifications.
 
I am putting a 5.7 Hemi in a 70 Duster using a spool mount k frame from a 73 A body. There are lots of challenges, to say the least. The factory manifolds aren't going to work. I got TTI headers, and they fit pretty good with the torsion bars....but were too close for comfort. I ditched the torsion bars and installed a Hemi Denny coilover conversion kit for use with factory k frame and spindles. I had the NAG1 that came with my 6K mile motor, but quickly ditched that thing because it was going to be such a pain in the *** to make it work. I am using a 545RFE out of a 2007 2wd pickup. I had to chop the transmission cross member into, but that's no biggie. I am going to try a Borgeson PS box with my existing headers to see if it will fit. If it don't, I'll stick with a factory manual box. If you want AC, you will have to re-engineer the drivers side TTI motor mount. TTI told me right up front that their headers will not clear the AC pump in it's stock location on a 5.7 that came out of a car. With a lot of standing under the car and scratching my head....I made it work. There's a LOT of fab work, even with the supposedly drop it in parts, so don't get discouraged.

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Motor mount 001.JPG
 
toplscuda said:
the truck 5.7 manifolds and the jeep I believe will fit tighter against the block and the outlets will point downward. The LX (car manifolds) stick out from the block further and dump the outlets directly at the firewall so they will not work unless you are going to run the exhaust into the car. Since I am running an RMS k frame I cannot say if any of them will give you issues with the torsion bars.
There are a couple running stock K frames and power steering with the borgeson power steering box and some slight modifications.
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Thanks a lot for the info! I'm quickly realizing that there were a little more smoke and mirrors involved this swap than what I had anticipated lol. I am still set to start on this in about 3 weeks though. What about a driveline? Someone said earlier that you have to use a custom driveline? I still have mine and I have the one from the donor car. I was hoping one of these would work somehow.
 
JDMopar said:
I am putting a 5.7 Hemi in a 70 Duster using a spool mount k frame from a 73 A body. There are lots of challenges, to say the least. The factory manifolds aren't going to work. I got TTI headers, and they fit pretty good with the torsion bars....but were too close for comfort. I ditched the torsion bars and installed a Hemi Denny coilover conversion kit for use with factory k frame and spindles. I had the NAG1 that came with my 6K mile motor, but quickly ditched that thing because it was going to be such a pain in the *** to make it work. I am using a 545RFE out of a 2007 2wd pickup. I had to chop the transmission cross member into, but that's no biggie. I am going to try a Borgeson PS box with my existing headers to see if it will fit. If it don't, I'll stick with a factory manual box. If you want AC, you will have to re-engineer the drivers side TTI motor mount. TTI told me right up front that their headers will not clear the AC pump in it's stock location on a 5.7 that came out of a car. With a lot of standing under the car and scratching my head....I made it work. There's a LOT of fab work, even with the supposedly drop it in parts, so don't get discouraged.

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Hey thanks a lot for all the advice. Looks like things are coming right along for your project. Looks good. My car never had AC. I may put it in, but that'll be years down the road. I gotta get it running again, and make that be one of the last things on the list. I actually just sent my order off today to TTI to get my mounts, so the initial round of parts is starting to trickle in. Can't wait to get this project started.
 
ktowne1 said:
Thanks a lot for the info! I'm quickly realizing that there were a little more smoke and mirrors involved this swap than what I had anticipated lol. I am still set to start on this in about 3 weeks though. What about a driveline? Someone said earlier that you have to use a custom driveline? I still have mine and I have the one from the donor car. I was hoping one of these would work somehow.
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The small block transmission will bolt up to the hemi. There will be one bolt hole that is not used (the top if I remember correctly.) You will need to dig through the posts here to see what you need as far a flex plate and such as I do not remember since I am not using the mopar tranny. The rear end will hold up for bit if it is a 7 1/4 but no telling for how long. 8.25 or 8 3/4 will hold up fine.
 
Spider gears in 7 1/4 will not live long unless the power is only unleashed in straight line driving.

Even then, the day will come that you want an eentsy bit more torque than that rear was planning on.

So mentally prepare for it somehow.
 
toplscuda said:
The small block transmission will bolt up to the hemi. There will be one bolt hole that is not used (the top if I remember correctly.) You will need to dig through the posts here to see what you need as far a flex plate and such as I do not remember since I am not using the mopar tranny. The rear end will hold up for bit if it is a 7 1/4 but no telling for how long. 8.25 or 8 3/4 will hold up fine.
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I don't have the original TF-904 that was in the car with the 318. I got rid of them as a package deal a few years ago to get the car/pocket book ready for this swap. So, I'll be going with the new transmission. I do have the little 7 1/4 rear end that I will run for awhile (probably until it breaks, which shouldn't take long) and then I'll be swapping that out later as well.
 
Its been a few months and no updates - can you share some of your findings on this swap??? I also have a 73 Swinger that I am planning a Newer Hemi swap.
 
Well, my findings with this swap are that free time is a must haha! What was once going to be a start date in a couple weeks has now turned into a year later...It had been a long time since I had got on here, and now that I'm going to start on it this weekend, I figured I'd look to see if there were any new updates. I'm sure I'll have some kind of news/findings by the end of the weekend.
 
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Here are some pictures of the installation I did a few weeks ago. I don’t have the harness hooked up yet as you can see it draped off to the side. I had to cut out my transmission tunnel for the NAG-1 to fit, but I haven’t built a new transmission mount yet. For some of you following along I found out there are no cutting corners. We had to remove the exhaust manifolds (for installation and for good. I’ll have to replace them) as well as the intake and the steering column to drop the motor in. I’m at a standstill for awhile until I get more parts to get this beast fired up
 
prican_2000 said:
Its been a few months and no updates - can you share some of your findings on this swap??? I also have a 73 Swinger that I am planning a Newer Hemi swap.
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It's been quite awhile since I've been on here, and I haven't done anything else since I dropped my motor in. I was just checking in to see if you had started your project like this, and what your findings were? I will be looking into getting more parts probably after the first of the year - steering, exhaust, figure out the wiring harness, etc. - and I was seeing what you went with and what worked for you.
 
SLC Duster Dude said:
And I am planning on the 5.7 swap as well. Following along.
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It's been quite awhile since I've been on here, and I haven't done anything else since I dropped my motor in. I was just checking in to see if you had started your project like this, and what your findings were? I will be looking into getting more parts probably after the first of the year - steering, exhaust, figure out the wiring harness, etc. - and I was seeing what you went with and what worked for you.
 
Check out my thread in the New Hemi Swap section, 73 Scamp 5.7 Swap.
 
ktowne1
This is g50 with my 73 "Tetanus". How'a your swap going?
 
I have a 73 dart swinger going to 5.7swap it as well. Engine bay just got the 440 cleared out. And I have a 5.7 I'm ready to buy. I'm hoping the progress is being made with your swap slowly but surely. I'm not worried about the transmission as I just had to handle that same issue swapping ls3 and tranny into a 55 c10 for a customer.
 
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