Modern Drivetrain Swap into '65 Valiant
It just doesn’t make sense to swap the motor and stay with 3 gears.
back from the dead, but;
I put a 340 in a 65, back in the mid 70s, using a 65 A904 from a 273. It was a drop in. The only hiccups were the exhaust and the gas pedal. I installed some Hooker fenderwell headers, and a later cable pedal system, and that was that. Great swap. I would do it again. But with a torquey 360/or a Magnum, and a LU A999, and probably 2.94 gears or something.
With the V8 torque, in the lightweight Early-A, three gears is all you'll ever need. With 26.5 tall tires. 2.94s will get you
;
65= about 2400rpm in Lock-up, and
60= close to 4000 in Second gear, so you can leave the factory cam in whatever small block engine you happen to chose. This will be a lot of fun. And bonus, you can even leave the 2bbl on it, and even a lo-po exhaust system.You could even install 318 heads on a 360, I did it onto a 340, and it was still a gangbusters lil street combo.
If you are wondering how this can be;
Consider that the 225, if you had one, might make 180 ftlbs torque at 1800 stall. Thru the 904 and out the 3.23s in the back; this would be
180 x 2.45 x 3.23=
1424 ftlbs into the rear axles.
But say you installed a 318Magnum with a 2400TC, and suppose it made 260ftlbs at 2400 , thru the 2.74 low gear ratio of the A999, and out the 2.94s in the back, that would be;
260 x 2.74 x 2.94 =
2094 ftlbs into the rear axles.
That's nearly 700ftlbs/nearly 50% more torque, than with the slanty. As far as engine swaps go this is about as easy as it gets; you can do it in about a weekend; including a complete rear swap; (not just gears). If I had a long roof with a great body, this is what I would do. (well except I would install my 367HO into it, with the Hooker 5208 (IIRC) headers
I used to do this swap twice a year, in my 68 Barracuda DD; from a 360 4-speed with 3.55s, to a 318 A904 and a different rear chunk. Once in October, and back again in May; no big deal.
Whatever you decide;
Happy HotRodding.
