I think that the 63 was not friendly towards a V8. Found a nice 63(not a rust bucket and easy to be street worthy). I think the /6 is toast or close to it. Have a 273 on the engine stand. Will it fit? Fit with headers? Is there something with the heater core or wiper motor that's an issue?
'63 DART V8
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I think you need to modify the firewall for the distributor. They never had a 273 so the firewall is different than the 64-66's.
You are correct, the firewall and wiper area interferes with that small block and the dist. If you do a search here I bet you will find some conversation about it all. People have gone to a different style wiper motor, some do a little surgery on firewall, some even say a B motor will work better.
If you want OEM correct stay slant, If you want a fun hot rod, go for it!!
Had the same thought but ended up with a mild build for torque. I am having more fun with this than my hot rodded small blocks in other cars. Won't blow the door off anything but it is a hoot with the sound of a swarm of angry bees!
That's a slick drop top and a great dual carb look. Nice!
Oversized valves
Dutra Book level porting (not much can be done with the machine when doing the oversized valves)
Deck Blocked to get ~9:1 (0.60 in my case)
Dutra Duals with the "Y" connected behind the transmission cross brace for maximum torque under 2500 RPM
Oregon Cams 2106 (between the Dutra RV10 and RV15)
Offenhauser Dual one barrels for visual interest at shows
It is not a slouch and fun.
Article in Hot Rod Magazine back in the day, swapping a small block V8 into a 63 Dart, reprinted in the Complete Book of Engine Swapping, copyright 1968. I've deleted a couple of irrelevant pictures.
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Love that hokey looking aluminum firewall plate. Not sure how they mounted the windshield wiper motor without that reinforcement piece. I've heard of people making clearance on the firewall hump with a BFH - if you try that, better unbolt the windshield wiper motor first; I've heard they can break from the hammer blows if you don't.
On the throttle cable setup, looks like they ran it through where the electrical firewall junction box formerly was, then moved the box to where? I've got a better way, I believe, here, post #4 and #5: 1963 Dart swap to cable throttle?
I will say that, like Jim, I decided to keep a slant six in my 63 Valiant convertible (it helped my decision that I have two Barracudas, a 65 with a 340 and a 67 with a 360).
On the throttle cable setup, looks like they ran it through where the electrical firewall junction box formerly was, then moved the box to where? I've got a better way, I believe, here, post #4 and #5: 1963 Dart swap to cable throttle?
I will say that, like Jim, I decided to keep a slant six in my 63 Valiant convertible (it helped my decision that I have two Barracudas, a 65 with a 340 and a 67 with a 360).
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