73 Duster

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More of hassle than its worth, 8.8 i can agree with but why? Drop a magnum and you'll be better off.
 
My brother stopped by my place last weekend. He was interested in the Duster.. Asked if I could put a 5.8L ford in it if he bought it....

If you want a ford powertrain.. buy a mustang...
 
well, first of, why not?
if you have the duster kicking around
and you have the sbf kicking around, go for it
make a few motor mounts and your pretty much done

only foreseeable issue would be the transmission but as long as you use a ford unit there, it should be easy enough
 
Uh, go for it? (but why)
well the 318 that is in it now is dear, the 727 trans in dead, and I have a 5.0 HO that I built for my 1990 Mustang that is already built, .030 over probe forged pistons crane 1.7 roller rockers, ford X303 cam. and a built AOD trans. all with less that 20K miles on them. so for a little something different, to be different, and use something that I already have in order to get the Duster on the road, then in the future maybe build the 318 and 727 and put back in. the 5.0 and the 318 are the same size engines and only thing I see is I will have to fab motor mounts and trans mounts. and as far as wiring goes, well already running a ford 130 alt on it, and GM HEI dist on it. also just finished installing a new Painless wiring harness so that is out of the way. and the 5.0 is carbed already. again just to be different. I don't think it will be any thing that can't be undone. just want to be able to drive and enjoy it as I enjoy driving my 2014 Challenger (Shaker #1408) 6 speed.
 
Or find a gen3 hemi and 6 speed later, imagine how much quicker it'd be without all that challenger weight!
 
More of hassle than its worth, 8.8 i can agree with but why? Drop a magnum and you'll be better off.
More of hassle than its worth, 8.8 i can agree with but why? Drop a magnum and you'll be better off.
well the 318 that is in it now is dear, the 727 trans in dead, and I have a 5.0 HO that I built for my 1990 Mustang that is already built, .030 over probe forged pistons crane 1.7 roller rockers, ford X303 cam. and a built AOD trans. all with less that 20K miles on them. so for a little something different, to be different, and use something that I already have in order to get the Duster on the road, then in the future maybe build the 318 and 727 and put back in. the 5.0 and the 318 are the same size engines and only thing I see is I will have to fab motor mounts and trans mounts. and as far as wiring goes, well already running a ford 130 alt on it, and GM HEI dist on it. also just finished installing a new Painless wiring harness so that is out of the way. and the 5.0 is carbed already. again just to be different. I don't think it will be any thing that can't be undone. just want to be able to drive and enjoy it as I enjoy driving my 2014 Challenger (Shaker #1408) 6 speed.
 
What happened to the mudstank?

Like I said...go for it

Once you do, go into "member restorations" and start a build thread
I would enjoy seeing this
 
What happened to the mudstank?

Like I said...go for it

Once you do, go into "member restorations" and start a build thread
I would enjoy seeing this
will do that, as for the 1990 mustang it got rear ended and totaled by insurance, but kept the car for the engine and trans. then put it into a 1995 mustang which it is still in but was getting rid of my mustang stuff, a 1966 mustang project and had the 95 for sale but everyone wand to only offer$1000 for it. I was only asking $2500 for it. so I figured I would keep it and use the engine and trans. was selling to get extra funds for the Duster.
 
The transmission could be the hard part. Not sure which AOD you've got, but tunnel and crossmember modifications would be necessary. Most of the ford AOD's are fairly small, so, tunnel mods would probably be fairly minor. But even small AOD's like the 200r4 still require modifying the original A-body upper crossmember, and of course a custom lower crossmember. There are conversion parts out there for the 200r4's now, but I haven't seen anything for a ford AOD.

Engine mounts by comparison are pretty easy. Other big issue would be headers, since once again you're on your own for this application.

The real question is, why is this in the "early A" forum? A '73 Duster is definitely not an "early A". :D
 
The transmission could be the hard part. Not sure which AOD you've got, but tunnel and crossmember modifications would be necessary. Most of the ford AOD's are fairly small, so, tunnel mods would probably be fairly minor. But even small AOD's like the 200r4 still require modifying the original A-body upper crossmember, and of course a custom lower crossmember. There are conversion parts out there for the 200r4's now, but I haven't seen anything for a ford AOD.

Engine mounts by comparison are pretty easy. Other big issue would be headers, since once again you're on your own for this application.

The real question is, why is this in the "early A" forum? A '73 Duster is definitely not an "early A". :D
wasn't really sure where to post, I can fab a trans mount and motor mounts, as for headers, I have the ford shortie headers, and if they don't work I believe that the tri-y early mustang headers will work. or I can fab them also. and if there is a better section to post this let me know and I will switch it over. again new to this site.
 
wasn't really sure where to post, I can fab a trans mount and motor mounts, as for headers, I have the ford shortie headers, and if they don't work I believe that the tri-y early mustang headers will work. or I can fab them also. and if there is a better section to post this let me know and I will switch it over. again new to this site.
@RustyRatRod is one of the few on here you may want to help you. Early a bodies and leave are considered the 66 and older so this probably isn't the right section. Honestly I'm not quite sure what section putting a Ford motor in a Mopar to go too.. maybe Triple R can help you in the right direction... I'm helping a customer with his Ford tomorrow and I've worked on many of all the brands but personally have never worked on putting one in another.. Mopar to ya...
 
wasn't really sure where to post, I can fab a trans mount and motor mounts, as for headers, I have the ford shortie headers, and if they don't work I believe that the tri-y early mustang headers will work. or I can fab them also. and if there is a better section to post this let me know and I will switch it over. again new to this site.

Eh one of the mods will fix it, not like there's Ford small block into a Duster sub-forum.

Just don't trivialize the fabrication work that will have to be done. It all seems pretty easy until the transmission hits the tunnel, the drivetrain angle is wrong and the torsion bars hit the pipes. And no one has a solution because you're the first one to do it. Also, if you're used to other musclecar platforms remember that with the torsion bar suspension the transmission crossmember isn't just along for the ride, that upper crossmember section carries all the suspension load too. So you have to do a good job, not just take a hot wrench to it until it clears and call it good. That's a great way to turn your car into a pretzel with torsion bars.

There are a couple of pretty detailed threads on swapping in a 200r4, I would wager the Ford AOD swap would be similar. Just food for thought. US Cartool makes that crossmember too.

Will GM 200r4 work with factory floor shift location?

I'm not saying don't do it, but you can get running 318's for darn near nothing. Same for small block 904's. Heck I've got a small block 904 that I ran around for awhile, shifts decent and has a deep pan on it. Couldn't sell it for $100 at the swap meets. For the kind of time it will take to do the swap right, you can probably find a decent running 318/904 combo for less time and money.
 
And even if you're considered the 318 and buying a nother one obviously buying a 360 would be better for horsepower reasons obviously. Also something to take into a strong consideration is the readily available Magnum block that is in every Pick-n-Pull.. that 727 can be rebuilt for about $120 for a rebuild kit... I felt rebuilding a Mopar automatic was easier than falling out of my bed... And that was as a first-timer...
not discouraging from the Ford stuff but just saying that this route in my opinion would be one hell of a lot easier...
 
what about a small block ford in a 73 Duster? wiring is not an issue, maybe a ford 8.8 rear end as well.

Why the hell not? If you have the time and fabrication skills, plus a solid 5.0 sbf, go for it. I think it sounds like a cool idea. The 8.8 is already a fairly popular swap.
 
Why the hell not? If you have the time and fabrication skills, plus a solid 5.0 sbf, go for it. I think it sounds like a cool idea. The 8.8 is already a fairly popular swap.
I have all the time I need, I am retired and have quite a bit of fab skills as have been working/building different brand cars since the early 60's. I have been around for a while, and one thing I always think about is why do what everyone else is doing, doing something different is always a challenge and I enjoy the challenge.
 
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