rumors from an old timer to a newbie

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theslo1

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I'm not new to cars, but new to mopar. I did some trading and ended up with a 73 dart 4 door 318 auto that is not a driver, but would make a great parts car. A friend of mine that i think knows his stuff said some strange things when I started talking about my plans for the A-body i want to get, I'm looking at a early 70's dart, and scamp. I want to go with a big block, and a 4 speed, I'd like to do a B but i already have an RB. That's when he said "a big block 4 speed in any A-body would twist the car and break the bellhousing, he's seen it happen". I've heard about vega v8 swaps(excuse me for comparing a mopar to a chevy) that twist the car so much the doors didn't fit right, but breaking the bellhousing because of the chassis is a new one to me. My first thought was something was wrong to start with, cracked BH from a wreck or other misuse, loose mounts, bad harmonics in the driveshaft. I'm planning on going with a 727 for now, the cars are all auto trans, and i have a good bb 727, but I'd love to have a 4 speed. On a seperate note i picked up a 74-440 from an rv, i know its not great, but it's a runner and was cheap. He said if i wanted it to have any power I'd have to swap out the heads for another set, he said some factory number I can't remember, and he would fix the distributer for me to get rid of the mechanical advance, because it would cause detonation. The last strange thing he said was "you should put the 318 and auto in it and work on that engine to make it faster" I find it strange because he is building a big block demon for a street and strip car, kinda makes me think he doesn't want his friends to have faster cars. Sorry for being long winded,I needed to vent some thoughts to people that know about these cars. thanks, and don't worry, I don't get offended easily, speak your mind.
 
Welcome to the site!! You will get plenty of information on Herr for anything you want to do. There are lots of guys here that have put big blocks in a-bodies. Adding sub frame connectors is a must and I'm sure somebody else here will chime in on what else is needed as far as structure goes. It does sound like your "friend" doesn't want any competition.
 
Find other friends, build your big block and go KICK HIS DEMONASS

Buddy was telling me of someone remaking bell housing in a vette with big block, never heard of it before that.

Hard part of big block 4 speed is Z Bar and linkage, but it has been done, even from the factory.

Good luck and have fun with it.
 
If you ever break a bell it has nothing to do with the body it's installed in, whether a Vega, a C barge, or a MiniCooper

The torque force an engine sees is rotational on the driveshaft, that force being transferred through the transmission, bell, and to the engine, which acts against the mounts on the sides of the engine. The transmission is held only by the relatively weak rear mount, which has absolutely no torsional control.

The only possible situation I could think of might be something like a massive wheelie landing which twists and shocks the body/ engine/ transmission enough to break the bell. Otherwise, it was probably an aluminum bell that had already been damaged in some way.
 
As far as the heads already on your '74 vintage engine, they will flow as much or more as any other factory head. The pistons in that engine are the cause of the lower compression rating.

While it is true a few casting number heads have smaller combustion chambers and will raise your compression some, they may not flow the same amount of air as the heads you already have, basically making it a wash. I've seen some pretty strong builds based off these lower compression engines.

I do believe a '74 vintage 440 will be a cast crank, externally balanced engine which you will need to keep in mind when picking converters, balancers, etc. Have fun.
 
All depends on how you build the motor. I ran a stock 440 with a 727 in my 73 duster and I did nothing frame wise. If you build it a bunch then yea I'd add subframe connectors but that's not hard to do
 
Welcome to FABO.Your friend seems to be abit out of date.You can put any motor you want in your A-body,BB,SB,SL6,4cyl,Turbo,SuperCharged.It comes down to wether you have the place,tools,funds and knowhow to do it.If going BB with 4 speed,you,ll definetly want to add torque boxes,frame connectors,also a well built 8 3/4 or Dana60.Searching and asking for needed parts around here,will save you alot of money other than buying new.Good luck and remember,you can also get big HP numbers from 318,340,360 small blocks also.:D
 
I think your buddy feels like he is getting his toe,s stepped on,with you doing a BB A body.First off,you do what you feel you want to do,do not let others tell you what you can or can not do,at that point,change friends.I have done dozens of BB A body swaps starting with my own back in 1975,that,s right,you where not a twinkle in your daddy,s eye then.If done right and assembled correctly so you can cut down on your time to do this,it can be done in 2-3 days,as I have done this.You should **** down and talk to some one who has done this and get all the good and bad points of doing it.This way you can keep the down time to a very little amount,by prepping the car for the swap.If you need help in how to organize your self for this,email me and we can talk about the whole swap,mrmopartech
 
First off, welcome to FABO, the best site in all of webdom!! Now, sounds like you have some friends that need to join up and read some stuff here also.

Make yourself a thread here and get the straight scoop on your intended swap, or better yet take up Mrmopartech on his offer to chat about his experience. Get the straight scoop from someone who has done it and knows all the details, not guesses and conjecture!!

As for the heads, your engine provider has no clue as to what he is speaking too, as the heads on a 74 motor are the exact configuration as almost all 68 and later bigblock heads. The only difference is that they will already have the hardened exhaust seats installed, saving you time and $$ to have that done!! Yes, as mentioned above, there are other earlier heads with closed chambers that will raise compression, but they will do little or no good unless used with a comprehensive package of other upgrades, staring with the above mentioned piston change!!

Get your buddies to sign up here too and we can all get on the same page here, if they're willing to listen and learn that is!! Good luck with your new project, Geof
 
Thanks for all the welcomes, and advise. One thing I learned years ago, I will never again let a friend tell me the correct way to build a car, bad mistakes were made and a lot of money was wasted. I believe my friend IS behind the times, not long ago i asked him how long he's had one of his cars, he said "oh, about 12 years, i got it back in 83",lol he has a lot of knowledge, its mostly for restoration not performance, I just have to sort through what he says and ignore the junk. I am doing lots of research both here and on bigblockdart.com, and I'm going to remember Mrmopartech for when i have a question, because things hardly ever work perfect.
 
Too much torque will twist a car up. Mine was raced before i got it. Doors didn't fit right do to twisting also rear driver axle was hammered to where the seal wouldn't hold. Frame connectors are the way to go. On 318's good little engine, especialy if you get an early one. a friend of mine has a 68 Cuda S . was a 340 car ,blew it up racing. The owner put a 318 in it . years ago when he sold it to my friend ,He said that it was bored 60 over and had about 330 HP. We took it in to have it gone through last week. To my friends surprise He was told its a standard bore. All these years he thought he had a little fire breather, so don't underestimate the 318.
yes it sounds like your buddy dosen't want anyone to out shine Him. Do what you want its youre build. Theres alot of good info on this site. good thing about this site is you see what people have done wrong and right and what to stay clear of use it to your advantage.
 
There are lots of ways to break stuff. Using one or two bolts to draw parts together is a common mistake made. From that a tiny stress fracture becomes a crack/break.
As for where OEM shortfalls were... The bisquit type motor mounts caused all sorts of problems when they failed. Motor and transmission moved but shifter or other attached linkage parts bolted to the car did not.
 
The shop that did the cage/sub-frame connectors for me has done a crap load of a-bodies. Jim told me that "if" you got enough traction, even with a cage/sub-frame connectors, that sooner or later the car may develop some cracks in the body, he has seen them develop at both ends of the roof near the pillars on several cars that he has built. He did tell me that it takes a boat load of traction, quite a bit of power and years of drag strip launching.....
 
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