225 to 318 or 360 LA

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JayMoney65

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Just looking for information on swapping my 1965 dodge dart /6 to either a LA 318 or LA 360 any advice or build threads would help thanks
 
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Here's a 318, dressed like a 273, in My 65 Valiant. It has a 904 trans, 8-1/4" rear, and 73+ disc brakes. - The 318 has a 600 Holley, and a mild cam. - This set-up makes a nice driver. - Not a race car. -- I bought it this way, so I don't know the details of the build. ---
 
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360..your starting with 42 more c.i. it's a no-brainer a few upgrades and you'll have that light car flying..
 
360, i spent thousands to make my 318 scream, but was never satisfied, 360 in there now, its the only way to go!
 
Ok I have my pick either 318 w/904 or 360 w/727 i totally want the 360 obviously go big or go home. just looking for what else I would need for the swap. this will be my first time doing a swap
I have the 7-1/4 will be upgrading to either 8-1/4 or 8-3/4 just looking for some help going forward.
 
You will have a hard time making a rod type passing gear kickdown linkage work with that trans in that body. 727 fits tight. Summit racing sells a cable type passing gear kickdown linkage that will work great with any intake manifold/carb combo you use on the 360, and no worries about the body interfering with its operation.

Also some adaptor motor mounts to swap the V8 in place of the six, or a V8 k frame. Remember the motor mount ears on the drivers side of the engine block on a 273/318 are positioned different than on a 340/360. Aft ear is closer to the fwd ear on the 340/360 by approx 1/2" than on the 273/318. If getting a motor mount swap kit be sure its for a 360 if you want it exact. If you get one cheap for a 318 , you can just add a spacer to make up the difference on the aft ear on the drivers side.

8&1/4 is good, and the added benefit that a limited slip can be pulled from late model grand cherokees or dodge dakotas with an 8&1/4 and they fit. Lots of the cherokees had 3.55s and 3.73s and an LSD. Plus they have disc brakes on some of em.

If you cant find an A body 8&1/4 try a ford exploder sport trak 8.8 these have 3.73s with a LSD and rear discs, and are same bolt pattern as mopar large pass car. Will set you back complete for about $200 at pick n pull yards.
 
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JayMoney65 said:
Ok I have my pick either 318 w/904 or 360 w/727 i totally want the 360 obviously go big or go home. just looking for what else I would need for the swap. this will be my first time doing a swap
I have the 7-1/4 will be upgrading to either 8-1/4 or 8-3/4 just looking for some help going forward.
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go with the 360 but with a 904. 904 fits the early abody alot better...

the 360 is an easy swap.. gotta figure out what you want to do exhaust wise though..
 
abodyjoe said:
go with the 360 but with a 904. 904 fits the early abody alot better...

the 360 is an easy swap.. gotta figure out what you want to do exhaust wise though..
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I agree w joe on that one. The A904 can be made pretty tough with some mods and a rebuild, plus it will hold up in a light car like yours. I'd still go with a cable actuated kickdown. Summits i think is around $27 and is worth not messing with rod linkages.
 
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8&3/4 is great if you have one, or are able to swap n trade your way into pieces to build up one, otherwise these can be pricey
 
Wait, is this a trick question?.

First things first; what are you gonna do for traction? You can't put much tire back there in the stock wells. The 360 will want some serious rubber and traction aider, the 340 a lil less, and the teener will get away with the least.
So if you just like buying skinny tires, the 360/904 is way to go, and if you don't put slicks in there , the 7.25 with an LSD will do pretty good. But if you tub it and manage to install 295s, well then the 360/904 will want at least an 8.25SG.
But if you are gonna leave those wheelwells stock, what would be the point of the 360, except to really, really, really annihilate the tires.

But then there is OptionB. The 360 in your application can be set up very mildly, and then run 2.94s for really great gas mileage. The mild engine will have more than enough oomph to motorvate one of these lightweights, on a par with a hopped up 318.
A small cammed 360 with;2.94s, a 2.45 low/904, and say 26.5" tires, will do 65@2460rpm, and first gear will do 60@5566rpm. And a 2200stall will get things moving in a hurry.That TC might be the stock one.If you choose the right parts you can have a heck of a combo; doing both performance and economy.
And then there is OptionC. I recall, in 84, Chevy came out with a 305 pick-up.What a gutless wonder that thing was. But the thing I really remember about that beast was, with a bit of weight in the box,with a cap, and three-abreast in the cab; If you floored it,the TC would jump up to around 2400(going by ear, and memory), and then it would kindof just hang there all the way to September. Kindof like a computer-controlled CVT. I always thought that was cool. Ok so now imagine a 273 with a tiny 2bbl hi-compression and headers with a pair of cherry bombs, and shot-gun pipes out the back. And the absolute tightest TC you can find;like 1800.And say 2.76s.Then program the governor to shift bam-bam-bam; Into hi real early. Now floor it. TC flashes to 1800, car "blasts" off, TC settles down to a little less, and bam into second it goes. And a second or two later,bam, into hi gear. So now you are at 50mph@2000rpm and so begins the long march to 65@2280rpm. Yeah,ok, that's a bit slow for me too. But cool non-the-less. Ok so do it with a 360 and and a small TQ carb,less compression, a semi-auto shift VB and a 2200TC, 2.94s again, and wind up the secondary air-door a little on the tight side. Same deal, but now, when you're in a hurry you just hold it in gear a lil longer.
And then there is OptionD. or E,F G etc.
What are you thinking?
I'm thinking;360 or nothing.But don't be chasing a horsepower number; your car will be already near well under 3000 pounds, so even a dog360 will have no trouble motorvating that! but if you pump it up, it will be big-fun. And then begin the upgrades for safety sake; suspension,steering,and brakes.
But I just gotta stress one thing easy on the cam selection.
 
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73Swinger18 said:
318 Engine Build - A Parts Book 400HP 318 - Mopar Muscle Magazine
Read the second paragraph. Be different.
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yea? says exactly what everyone here is already saying. the 360 will have more tq. and the only reason to go with the 318 is to be different and possibly get one for free. being different is a pretty stupid reason since they pretty much look exactly the same once installed. as for point 2 of theres, you can get a 360 for 150 all day long so cost really isn't much of a difference either. give me more free tq for a street car everyday of the week.
 
I wouldn't waste 10 cents on a "boat anchor" 318..as for that super duper Hot Rod build they blew that thing up when they put a 150 shot of nitrous on it..ya' real reliable..do the 360!!
 
Why not hold out for a magnum ?

I know they lack the coolness factor of an LA UT can be dressed up to look like one, and the roller cam makes up for its looks
(Plus, now you can consider efi)
 
That's a great Idea.I mean using a 360 of course!
With the rollers, You can put a dynomite fast-rate of lift cam in there, and a higher lift. A conservative ICA with a fast/hi-lift lobes will make BB torque. Well BB-like torque. Well torque like a stock BB. Ok tire-frying torque.
But if you are stuck with an old LA/FT teener,the best thing to do with it is to bore it out to 4.00 and put a long-arm in it. How 'bout a 3.79crank. That makes a 381cuber.
4.00 you say? Well I heard those old FT blocks will take that all day long. That's what I heard.
Anyway;
it still looks like a teener on the outside!

Yeah when it comes to spending money on a teener, why?
That's a total forfeiture of a lotta cubes;and especially torque. And that is exactly what a 4-gear or less,streeter needs. You can gear the snot out of your teener, and make it go pretty nicely to the speed limit, and then what? Buzzing down the hiway at over 3000rpm gets real old; for me at least.You can have the same performance with a 360 and about 88% as much gear. And the 360 will have so much more off-the-line grunt.
What did "stroked340" say above? "I wouldn't waste 10 cents on a 318". To that I would add; " OR a 340,even if I had 5 of them them stacked up in the shed,which I do". But "stroked340" has the right idea.
I've driven stock/near stock 340s most of my life, but the first time I ever drove a 360DartSport, I was hooked on 360torque.(See a 360 is basically a stroked 340, allbeit only a little stroked,about 8%)
'Course 440torque is better, but that's a lot more than a street-A really needs, or can handle. I mean you can get a 360 into the low8s/high7s in the 1/8mile pretty easy. With a little traction science, mid7s, to possibly low7s are doable; and if you don't already know it,for a streeter,that's really Quick!
 
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JayMoney65 said:
Just looking for information on swapping my 1965 dodge dart /6 to either a LA 318 or LA 360 any advice or build threads would help thanks
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To go back to advice on how to do the swap, when i swapped in my 318, I used the Schumacher adapter mounts, ( '63-66 A-Body Products ), took me, my dad and my brother less than a day to get the 225 out and the v8 in. I would go with these unless you can find a v8 kmember that you really want, and have a lift to drop the engine and k member out the bottom. Just in your driveway with an engine hoist, these mounts are the way to go.
 
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