Somebody help me out here. I bought my son a 1965 Barracuda /6 3spd. that we are doing a ground up restoration on. Including a V8 swap and an automatic tranny. Keep this in mind, this will be my sons first car, (and we all remember our first car good or bad, and i want this kid to remember his first car proudly.) I want to keep the gas mileage reasonable, since he will eventually be driving it back and forth to college, and i don't need him calling me everyday for gas money, and it will be an daily driver, so gear ratio is an issue. I initially planned on a 318 buildup, but thought maybe 360. Will a 904, and a 81/4 hold up to a 400hp 360. Anybody got any suggestions. Anybody with a similar package, who can tell me how there drivability is. By the way reasonable mileage would be 10-12mpg
318 0r 360
- Thread starter JRT
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Lone Yankee
Well-Known Member
Congrats on landing the fish!
For what it is worth I have heard of very light 318's being set on a /6 set of mounts and suspension with some tinkering. With the 360 you would absolutly need a new K and suspension parts. "Stock" 318s are total dogmeat in the hotrod community but that is part of the reason they tend to run forever. That may be a selling point right there. Handing a 400 HP fish to a yung'un may not be the best idea for a daily driver.
As for milage and drivability, whay not keep the /6? It is one hell of a fine engine. He will not win any races but it uses MUCH less fuel than the average 8 and /6 A bodies handle very well and drive through snow like they are on rails. Also, you will get better milage with a 4-speed than you will with the auto.
Good luck with this project, it will be one to remember. Please post some pics of the fish!
My $0.02 -LY
For what it is worth I have heard of very light 318's being set on a /6 set of mounts and suspension with some tinkering. With the 360 you would absolutly need a new K and suspension parts. "Stock" 318s are total dogmeat in the hotrod community but that is part of the reason they tend to run forever. That may be a selling point right there. Handing a 400 HP fish to a yung'un may not be the best idea for a daily driver.
As for milage and drivability, whay not keep the /6? It is one hell of a fine engine. He will not win any races but it uses MUCH less fuel than the average 8 and /6 A bodies handle very well and drive through snow like they are on rails. Also, you will get better milage with a 4-speed than you will with the auto.
Good luck with this project, it will be one to remember. Please post some pics of the fish!
My $0.02 -LY
Good merning JRT,Wow a 400 hp in a 65 barracuda !!!.
Wish my first or last car was that strong. :thumbup:
That's is alot of motor and I am sure he will never forget it.
The rear end will be fine and as far as the gear go's 3:23 would be something I would use.But give some of the expert's here a chance to get to you.
,Just give them time and I am sure help is on the way. :toothy7:
You can get some sweet /6 power allso about 185 and sound's nice.
Wish my first or last car was that strong. :thumbup:
That's is alot of motor and I am sure he will never forget it.
The rear end will be fine and as far as the gear go's 3:23 would be something I would use.But give some of the expert's here a chance to get to you.
,Just give them time and I am sure help is on the way. :toothy7:
You can get some sweet /6 power allso about 185 and sound's nice.
Thanks, but he has driven cars with more power, than 400hp. 66 chevelle, 60 cadallac, turbo diesel dually, tractors, motorcycles, quads, dunebuggys. I beleive he is responsible enough and the car will not be complete for a couple more years. He can drive a car this will just be the first car that is his. He does not want a the /6, he wants sonething he can drive everyday, with just a little power, but i might want to borrow it every now and then. lol
The 400hp is just an estimate, i needed to know if the tranny and rear would hould up to that much power. I want it to be no more than 400, but no less than 300. This is why i am going back and forth with the 318 and the 360, i can probably acheive the lower end of the power with the 318, but i may have to spend more money, to get that power from the 318, than i would with the 360, again the issue of mileage is still in question. As you can tell i am very indecisive right now.
BJS racing
Not all there!
The rear end should hold up as long as he isn't just killing on it every time he starts the car. I used a 904 trans behind a well build 360 and as far as I know it is still going strong. Depending on what you have I would look at using a 318 just because there are so many more of them out there. There are 390 stroker kits for them if you wanted to pull more out of one. As far as the suspension goes I used the /6 torsion bars and stock suspension with the 360/904 set up that I had in my Duster. Worked great. I drove this car everyday. I don't see any problems with what you are looking at doing. Very realistic.
martin7170
Active Member
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I can vouch so far for the 8 1/4 holding up and I can see while a properly built 904 woun't hold up. There are small block 727's around even cores are sold on ebay "as is". I would check to see Schumaker makes mounts for the conversion from /6 if you can't find a k member. I used them on my /6 to 360 converion in my 73dart, definitely a thumbs up. a torsion bar upgrade and a brake upgrade are definitely recommended. I'd really research the 400 hp goal though. I primarily street driven vehicle would better be served by maximizing torque, which would be a faster car on the street. Most magazine builds nowadays focus more on building broad torque curves at lower rpm's verus mid to high rpm horsepower not used often with street gearing. Either way, build the car, and smile every time you drive it.
From Loan Yankee
I do not understand this part of the post. There both V-8's with a weight difference of very little between 2 and 4 bbl engines.
On a look of HP between the 2, the stock /6 suspension is equally at a disadvantage. The torsion bars could be a hair thicker for the car/engine combo. But it's not a must do. IMO, it would be nice to swap out for the next step up in thickness for better road control. The /6 bars are good for weight transfer. Next up is the stock bars and for a firmer ride, theres the big block bars. A good set of modern shocks and a set of thick sway bars round it out well.
On the 318 vs. 360 cid, the 360 has greater torque making abiltys while maintaning better street manors and drivabilty. 40 HP with some preped heads and a mild cam is easy. You would not need a cam of more than 230 @ .050 duration.
Headers are the real trick and the ones that fit right are not cheap.
I used to have a 360, stock with dual exhaust of the manifolds and a small Carter 4bbl (625) fired by a MSD getting 20 mpg's in a heavy '79 Dodge Magnum with 235/60/15's tires and a 2.76 geared rear.
I do not understand this part of the post. There both V-8's with a weight difference of very little between 2 and 4 bbl engines.
On a look of HP between the 2, the stock /6 suspension is equally at a disadvantage. The torsion bars could be a hair thicker for the car/engine combo. But it's not a must do. IMO, it would be nice to swap out for the next step up in thickness for better road control. The /6 bars are good for weight transfer. Next up is the stock bars and for a firmer ride, theres the big block bars. A good set of modern shocks and a set of thick sway bars round it out well.
On the 318 vs. 360 cid, the 360 has greater torque making abiltys while maintaning better street manors and drivabilty. 40 HP with some preped heads and a mild cam is easy. You would not need a cam of more than 230 @ .050 duration.
Headers are the real trick and the ones that fit right are not cheap.
I used to have a 360, stock with dual exhaust of the manifolds and a small Carter 4bbl (625) fired by a MSD getting 20 mpg's in a heavy '79 Dodge Magnum with 235/60/15's tires and a 2.76 geared rear.
'64 Cuda
Well-Known Member
As far as the T bars go, I'm pretty sure that my'64 V8 Barracuda came from the factory with /6 bars (as well as a /6 radiator, 9" drums, 7 1/4 rear, etc) :sad: . I can also tell you from experience that a bone stock 65 Barracuda (my Mothers') with a /6 & a 3 on the tree will chirp the tires going into 2nd gear. :toothy7: If you put an open element air cleaner on it it, it will even make a nice WAAAAAAAAAAA sound when you get on it. :blob:
grumpuscreature
Resident Curmudgeon
On the bright side, you won't have to change the K member since you have a 65 and all 63-66 A bodies used the same K for /6s and V-8s. You will need V-8 brackets and mounts for a 273 if you go with a 318. If you go with a 360 you will need brackets and mounts from Schumacher. As to engine choice, 350 hp is dirt simple with a 318 (Magnum heads, 750 4 barrel, 264 cam, headers) but for me the real dealbreaker was the headers for a V-8 in an early A body. About the only option you have is fenderwells and they are a royal PITA to live with on a daily basis, not to mention the price. Good luck finding the 273 exhaust manifolds. My son is getting a 63 Valiant 2 door post with a slant. You would be amazed what they will do with not a lot of work, and they are a real hoot with a 4 speed and 3.55 gears. Just my .02 worth.
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