440 mopar dart engine swap

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mopar7172

mopar7172

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i put my all rebuilt 68 440 in my 1971 dart, it originally had a 318 in it. when i put it in there were some clearnace problems and have room at all.i also the transdepot conversion motormounts the converts small block member into a big kmeneber for abodies cars.to make it fit right, it doesn't fit right.i also have power steering to.first the oil pump and oil pan don't clear right.the oil dip stick is hittin the power steering box.the last two spark plugs are hittin the steering column&kinda the power steering box.the engine doesn't sit in there straight.i can't fit no exhausts or headers either.do i need to notch the k-member?if so how? where at?i have the non-spool type member.so everything clears and have room?really have never done before.any suggestions or pics would help.thanks
 
To start with, the location of the engine and trans start with the tramission mount.

Remove the steering column and possibly the master cylinder and heater box (for clearance at the blower motor). This will give you room to move things around.

With the engine raised up a little you will be able to see what the issues are. In some cases, with some oil pans you will need to notch for pan clearance and you might need to make clearance for the oil pump. If you do this with the suppension and steering removed (gear in place) you will be able to drop the k-member as necessary for cutting and welding.

It is normal for interference between the dipstick tube and steering gear. The tune can be tweaked a little for clearance.
 
Jim Lusk said:
To start with, the location of the engine and trans start with the tramission mount.

Remove the steering column and possibly the master cylinder and heater box (for clearance at the blower motor). This will give you room to move things around.

With the engine raised up a little you will be able to see what the issues are. In some cases, with some oil pans you will need to notch for pan clearance and you might need to make clearance for the oil pump. If you do this with the suppension and steering removed (gear in place) you will be able to drop the k-member as necessary for cutting and welding.

It is normal for interference between the dipstick tube and steering gear. The tune can be tweaked a little for clearance.
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do i have to cut&trim or file down the mounts to make the engine fit better to?
 
I'm not familiar with those mounts so I really don't know what you'll need to do, but if you do what I said you'll know.
 
You should of went with the Schumacher mounts for swapping in a big block. The kit comes with directions and all you have to do is cut for oil pump clearance. You are done. Alot less work than having to cut the old mounts out, relocate them, weld them in, and hope they are in the right place. You can do the Schumacher bigblock swap without even having a welder.
 
68dodge said:
You should of went with the Schumacher mounts for swapping in a big block. The kit comes with directions and all you have to do is cut for oil pump clearance. You are done. Alot less work than having to cut the old mounts out, relocate them, weld them in, and hope they are in the right place. You can do the Schumacher bigblock swap without even having a welder.
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May not have to have a welder, but have to open your wallet wide. The transdapt mounts came out well before Schumacher and were probably the pattern that Schumacher used for the 67-72 k-member. I've been building Direct Connection k-members for over 20 years now and it doesn't take much time (maybe an hour). No problem getting them in the right place, either.

The problem the OP is having has nothing to do with wrong selection of parts, perhaps wrong installation. The fact of the matter is that no matter which mount solution you use, you can run into problems and what I explained is the answer to problems with any of them.
 
thanks for all advice it really helps out.my friend has 71 duster with a 440 in it.i got a better idea on how it needs to be done.do i have to switch the oil pan to?
 
It depends on what oil pan you have.......and which center link you have (67-72 vs. 73-76)
 
Jim Lusk said:
May not have to have a welder, but have to open your wallet wide. The transdapt mounts came out well before Schumacher and were probably the pattern that Schumacher used for the 67-72 k-member. I've been building Direct Connection k-members for over 20 years now and it doesn't take much time (maybe an hour). No problem getting them in the right place, either.

The problem the OP is having has nothing to do with wrong selection of parts, perhaps wrong installation. The fact of the matter is that no matter which mount solution you use, you can run into problems and what I explained is the answer to problems with any of them.
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You can go ahead and keep welding yours, Schumacher is the best way to go for motor mounts that work. $175 is not bad at all. When you can set the motor in 30 minutes or less after you recieve your motor mounts.
 

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Again, it depends on the pan whether you can use it or not. There were several different pans. With the 67-72 centerlink you need the notched pan, which was on C-bodies. Original big block a-bodies also used a notched pan, but I believe it had baffles.
 
You can make any pan work if you want to do alot of cutting and fabricating. For the time you would have in the pan you got, you would be better off getting the right one I mentioned. Even on these pans you may have to modify a corner a little for the idler arm.
 
68dodge said:
You can make any pan work if you want to do alot of cutting and fabricating. For the time you would have in the pan you got, you would be better off getting the right one I mentioned. Even on these pans you may have to modify a corner a little for the idler arm.
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i heard all i have to is grind some metal off where the oil pump is for clearance and grind about 1 inch the driverside motor mount on the k-frame. then the engine will be push back to its stock location.which means that the oil pan won't be rubbin aganist the k-frame.
 
The reason the pan needs the notch with a 67-72 centerlink is that the stud on the idler arm will rub the pan. It does on some cars even with the "correct" pan.
 
mopar7172 said:
i heard all i have to is grind some metal off where the oil pump is for clearance and grind about 1 inch the driverside motor mount on the k-frame. then the engine will be push back to its stock location.which means that the oil pan won't be rubbin aganist the k-frame.
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If you are using the bigblock swap Schumacher mounts, you only have to cut the driverside motor mount alittle for oil pump clearance, now if you are using a high volume oil pump with Schumacher mounts, you will have to use the shims that come with the mounts, or trim the K-frame mount a little more. If you are using oil pan #187 or #699, the motor will drop in the K-frame with clearance. On these two oil pans, you may have to cut the oil pan on the Idler arm notch, on the corner farther back toward the back. On some cars for some reason, the idle arm itself will hit that corner when fullly turned,
 
68dodge said:
If you are using the bigblock swap Schumacher mounts, you only have to cut the driverside motor mount alittle for oil pump clearance, now if you are using a high volume oil pump with Schumacher mounts, you will have to use the shims that come with the mounts, or trim the K-frame mount a little more. If you are using oil pan #187 or #699, the motor will drop in the K-frame with clearance. On these two oil pans, you may have to cut the oil pan on the Idler arm notch, on the corner farther back toward the back. On some cars for some reason, the idle arm itself will hit that corner when fullly turned,
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i have the transdepot motor mounts.they are the same thing as Schumacher mounts.u have to cut about one inch off driverside mount on kmember?
 
If you go to www.engine-swaps.com there is a lInk you can fill out and they will e-mail you a copy of a step by step article with pics on how to do this swap. It is an article from a maganzine a few years backs. It was very informative for me.
 
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