'66 Imperial donor car questions

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dagocrazy

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There is a 1966 imperial at the metal scrap yard about a half mile from my house. I was thinking of making an offer on the drivetrain and building it gradually over the winter since it's got a 440/727/8 3/4 . It ran recently but not now and I'm sure the guy got it to scrap so he doesn't have but tow bill into it. When I was a kid we used these imperial and c body cars for donor cars and it usually worked out good and cheap. Times have changed tho and I'm sure it will just be a core parts car but around my area there are no other options. Minimum drive to wrecking yards are 2 hours + then parts are still hard to come by and cost a lot when found. I originally wanted to bb my 68 baracuda notch but my son talked me into buying a running 360 engine. So my questions are. .what would a good offer be? Would the rear end be a good candidate for narrowing? I've asked around about 8.8 explorer rears and my gf just about flipped. She said. No ford rear in our mopar...omg I laughed and laughed..any other thoughts on what parts I might need or issues or if it's even worth it as im on a small budget and this is how we used to go fast on the cheap.thanks
 
Well I'm defiantly going to talk with the guy tomorrow then because I think I can get it quite a bit cheaper seeing as he will still have the body . Is the 66 a good year rear end? I know it's the first year 440 and has a forged crank but 516 heads .
 
The last 440 I saw here for sale was 750 bucks. The C body 8 3/4 can be narrowed to A body specs and it might even be a sure grip. That would be a bonus.
 
The imperials of 66 carried a larger bolt pattern than the rest of Chrysler. Which will require you to either redrilll them or go a different route.I'm almost certain the tapered shaft press fit drums were gone by then. 63 or 64.
 
Thanks guys , I've always used later model engines at least 67 on for no other reason than that's what was available at the time. Those times are gone.now and I don't want to get something that will take one off parts or lots of special work to swap over .I've done a lot of b/rb engine b body swaps and even a few b/rb ebody swaps but never a rb into an a body. I've wanted to since reading the direct connection bible back in the 70s though and I think I can do this reasonably cheap.... I plan on grabbing as much off it as I can if I can get it . I drive by it many times a day it sits out front of an old lumber mill up the street. Also I read somewhere the driveshaft has the 1330 u joint too so that's a plus for the swap.
 
Dana said:
The imperials of 66 carried a larger bolt pattern than the rest of Chrysler. Which will require you to either redrilll them or go a different route.I'm almost certain the tapered shaft press fit drums were gone by then. 63 or 64.
Click to expand...

I think you're correct on the Imperial, was it 5x5" maybe.

Tapered shaft ended in 64, if I remember correctly.
 
Since Imperials were upscale, it may well have a Sure-Grip. You can swap that into any 8.75" housing. If so, the "pumpkin" alone is worth $400. The bolt pattern probably doesn't matter since you will likely use different axles (shorter). Narrowing the housing would mean cutting both sides (I think), to keep the diff in the proper location. I recall that people who narrowed an Explorer only had to cut one side. Tell your gf that Chrysler didn't make differentials, they just spec'ed them. Some cars had Dana rear-ends, as did GM/Ford so getting hung up on brand can be futile.

To use the 440 effectively, you must have free-flowing exhaust, meaning probably hacking thru the inner fenders, true even with the narrower 383. Many say a small-block can perform better in an A, but read the Big Block forum here.
 
I'll read the bb forum and see what's all involved. My son wants to go check out the car tomorrow and we plan on pulling the 318 from the barracuda tomorow as well. I never considered the rear might be sure grip.i like the 8.8 swap especially for the price and availability but the guy I talked to didn't seem too motivated to sell then the gf thing.. If the imperial doesn't work out I may just go see him again . I did see the sticky here on the swap and it looks do able. I've been looking at wheels as well and I guess I'll have to go 4.5 for rim choice. These are things I didn't consider when I purchaced the cuda, but I've always liked the 2nd gen notch body so I'm comitted ..thanks again everyone!
 
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