383 going in a dart

[j340swinger]

i found a 383 out of a 68 imperial with a 727 trans. im going to put it it a 1969 dodge dart 340 swinger i beleve the k member is a 73 or later big block thats in the car now is their any way to find out what it is is their any thing i can mesure to find out and i am told the heads on the 383 are six pack heads any way to find out. do you have to get special exahast manafoilds to make it fit.... lots of questions thanks any help is good help

 

[67valiant 100]

First off good luck with the swap.

Next thing I want to adress is that are you sure its a 383? Imperials came standard with 440's, not 383's. Next thing is that your K-frame isn't for a big block but you have the benifit of having a spool small block k-frame which you can convert into a big block one.
http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/dck.shtml
Also there is no difference between 6 pak and regular heads- their the same. The only 6 pak heads that are different are the T/A AAR 340 six pak blocks.

The exhaust is the hardest part to do for the swap. You can find factory A-body big block manifolds ($$$) or I think some C-body ones fit. Then theres the header option. Shumacker makes very nice headers for big block A-bodies.

Now in my opinion I would get a 340 to put back in because you car because its an original 340 Swinger. Just my $.02

 

[j340swinger]

i would love to go back with a 340 but icant find any that i can afford what ever this motor came out of its a great deal even if i dont put it in it i cant pass it up. i have a 4 sp already for a small block 4 bolt main and all the pedals, stearing,trans floor hump. i once saw this car with a 440 in it about 15 yr ago i belive they drove it about 20 miles and it blew up, they pulled it, took it apart and then it sat and just left in peaces for the last 10 yrs or so i just got it back about 3 or 4 weeks ago right now im just tryin to sort out what i got and get a parts list started

 

[rumblefish360]

I went to big block .com and looked into there tech section and read up on how to put regular "B" body headers into an "A" body. I had on hand Headman Elites which are the same as there standard header. Only a thicker flange and coated.

The instructions at BBD.com were good, but they did miss one thing.

I beileve it to be alot easier if you take out the steering column and trial fit it in with the engine fitted in and ready to be bolted down. But dont do it yet. Also remove the steering linkages. This makes header fitment alot faster into the body. From there, you jack the car up and onto jack stands (After steering column fitment is done.) as high as you can get for your own comfort and ease of hammer swing to fine tune the fitment of the tubes under the car when you reinstall the steering linkages.

Been there done that just 2 weeks ago.