V8 into a 65 cuda ?

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Dart_Doctor

Dart_Doctor

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Ok my car was is a slanty as most of you know , But ive been tossing around the ideal of Putting a 360 in her and giving the slanty stuff away Btw its already taking by a member if i do v8 the car lol . Ok i know im going to need a center link and motor mounts and manafolds and a new trans and drive shaft . Is there any thing i have not got on my list?
 
Probably a new rear end, since I bet you currently have a 7 1/4 in the '65, and better front brakes (unless you've already done that?). The gas pedal is different in the '64...not sure about the '65.
 
you will want to get you a bigger radiator. get er done Asa. my 65 had a 360/904/7.25 and ran great. i miss that car.
 
64DartGTinAZ said:
The gas pedal is different in the '64...not sure about the '65.
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He's right; the /6 uses a rod type throttle linkage and the V8 uses a cable. Find a cable assembly to include peadal, bracket, and cable from a V8 64-66 A-body. I do remember seeing somebody on here used a pedal assembly from a 67 and later vehicle as well.
 
As for exhaust maniflds stock 273 manifolds choke up a 360. Headers are expensive, but you can find the spit fire shorty headers on fabo for not to much $$$..

You also have to watch what rad you run as the early V8 models water pumps exit on different sides compare to later models.
 
73AbodEE said:
you will want to get you a bigger radiator. get er done Asa. my 65 had a 360/904/7.25 and ran great. i miss that car.
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I know where there is a OEM V8 radiator out of a Barracuda that was in front of a beefed up 273 Formula S Barracuda. I think we discussed this before.
 
Dart_Doctor said:
Ok my car was is a slanty as most of you know , But ive been tossing around the ideal of Putting a 360 in her and giving the slanty stuff away Btw its already taking by a member if i do v8 the car lol . Ok i know im going to need a center link and motor mounts and manafolds and a new trans and drive shaft . Is there any thing i have not got on my list?
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Hopefully ambition is on the list. I swapped my /6 goldduster over to 360 power about 15yrs ago. Pretty similar swap to what you are doing. I found an original k-member to do my swap, shcumacher makes adapters which saves a fair amount of hassle swapping out a k-member. 360's have a different mount I think on the passenger side than other LA's. Just make sure if you get your core from a wrecking yard that it has the mounts on it. 73 and up are spool type mounts and will not fit 72 and earlier k-members.

As you already may know:

Automatic transmissions are not interchangeble, has to be a v/8 trans(assuming you have an automatic).
Radiators are different-A slant six fan shroud can be flipped upside down and used on the v/8 conversion(my 73 did anyway)
PAW makes a good cheap set of headers
both 904 transmissions are the same length so your driveshaft will not have to be modified until you swap out the rear end. 7-1/4 will hold up to mild 360 with auto trans if you don't drag race it.
A mild 360 will easily get you in trouble with drum brakes up front.
Building a 360 instead of /6 or a 318 is a smart move, costs about the same to do a build up on any of them and the bigger pump is gonna make more power on the same budget.
B body manifolds do not fit well on the driver side if you have power steering. Stock v/8 exhaust will not hook up to b body manifolds, at least on driver side if memory serves.
All A body exhaust manifolds do not flow well, headers are the hot ticket.
If possible find a complete doner vehicle, makes it a whole lot easier to do the swap and usually cheaper. Plus you can swap your /6 into the doner car and re-sell it.
It is a **** load of work but if you pull it off you will feel it was well worth the effort. A slant six is a reliable engine but once you have a torquer you will never look back, I never did.....
 
goldduster360 said:
Hopefully ambition is on the list. I swapped my /6 goldduster over to 360 power about 15yrs ago. Pretty similar swap to what you are doing. I found an original k-member to do my swap, shcumacher makes adapters which saves a fair amount of hassle swapping out a k-member. 360's have a different mount I think on the passenger side than other LA's. Just make sure if you get your core from a wrecking yard that it has the mounts on it. 73 and up are spool type mounts and will not fit 72 and earlier k-members.

As you already may know:

Automatic transmissions are not interchangeble, has to be a v/8 trans(assuming you have an automatic).
Radiators are different-A slant six fan shroud can be flipped upside down and used on the v/8 conversion(my 73 did anyway)
PAW makes a good cheap set of headers
both 904 transmissions are the same length so your driveshaft will not have to be modified until you swap out the rear end. 7-1/4 will hold up to mild 360 with auto trans if you don't drag race it.
A mild 360 will easily get you in trouble with drum brakes up front.
Building a 360 instead of /6 or a 318 is a smart move, costs about the same to do a build up on any of them and the bigger pump is gonna make more power on the same budget.
B body manifolds do not fit well on the driver side if you have power steering. Stock v/8 exhaust will not hook up to b body manifolds, at least on driver side if memory serves.
All A body exhaust manifolds do not flow well, headers are the hot ticket.
If possible find a complete doner vehicle, makes it a whole lot easier to do the swap and usually cheaper. Plus you can swap your /6 into the doner car and re-sell it.
It is a **** load of work but if you pull it off you will feel it was well worth the effort. A slant six is a reliable engine but once you have a torquer you will never look back, I never did.....
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And all of this, except for of course the ambition part = $$....
 
with my headers, mounts and radiator , i had my 6 out in 2 hours and the V8 in and running in 4 hours. it was not a shitload of work . it was really easy and i did by myself , in the driveway. i am still to this day using all my original 6 suspension and i drive my car every single day. make sure you have the correct distributor for your ignition. heres a breakdown in cost for MY swap.

engine and trans 318/727 off CL 400.00
headers were summit long tubes 120.00
radiator/shroud out of an 86 lebaron at pull n pay 40.00
conversion mounts were 160.00 from shumacher
driveshaft shortened 4" because of the 727 65.00
pipe and mufflers 80.00
the rest was plug n play

in less than a days work it was done and running
 
1965 was the last year of the cable-shift transmissions, so to use your existing shifter you will need a 64 or 65 small block tranny. Your slant driveshaft will probably bolt up if you keep your rear-end. All 360 engines had the larger crankshaft pilot hole (68+ engines), so you need a $20 adapter ring (search) to mate to an earlier torque converter.
 
73AbodEE said:
with my headers, mounts and radiator , i had my 6 out in 2 hours and the V8 in and running in 4 hours. it was not a shitload of work . it was really easy and i did by myself , in the driveway. i am still to this day using all my original 6 suspension and i drive my car every single day. make sure you have the correct distributor for your ignition. heres a breakdown in cost for MY swap.

engine and trans 318/727 off CL 400.00
headers were summit long tubes 120.00
radiator/shroud out of an 86 lebaron at pull n pay 40.00
conversion mounts were 160.00 from shumacher
driveshaft shortened 4" because of the 727 65.00
pipe and mufflers 80.00
the rest was plug n play

in less than a days work it was done and running
Click to expand...

Much cheaper than I assumed.
 
If you have the V8 and matching trans, the only thing you NEED are motor mount brackets, 64-66 exhaust manifolds (even 67-7x work but not with power steering) and a drop center link and a lower radiator hose. You can use the old radiator, you need a newer passenger side water pump. The motor will drop in with new brackets, the biscuit mounts can even be used....66 headers are not $150 at summit...sure the original 273 logs will choke a 360 but only if you rev it past what a 273 would put out. figure its about 25% larger so 4500-5000 is about the limit of the 273 logs but that is street motor range so you might be ok with a RV grind. Super torque!! Rear end will survive a stock 360 if you dont put 12" tires on it and drag race it, sure people will tell you they broke a 7.25 with a 318 but I ran a 7.25 SG behind a 340 for 6 months with 10" tires and it survived everything but a neutral drop while I was rolling backwards out of a parking lot. Your cable shifter wont mate with a modern trans but your column shift might. Also the gas pedal linkage can be from a 64-66 /6 car with A/C, or anything else with a cable operated pedal. I would do a 318, 360 is almost overkill in these light cars, but I built a 408 so I cant say much.
 
younggun2.0 said:
there are alot more small costs. like gaskets, hardware, fluids etc. the little things add up quick.
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in my case the 18 was complete and a runner. the only thing i did was change the fluids. the only gaskets and crap you would need is if you buy an incomplete engine.
 
73AbodEE said:
with my headers, mounts and radiator , i had my 6 out in 2 hours and the V8 in and running in 4 hours. it was not a shitload of work . it was really easy and i did by myself , in the driveway. i am still to this day using all my original 6 suspension and i drive my car every single day. make sure you have the correct distributor for your ignition. heres a breakdown in cost for MY swap.

engine and trans 318/727 off CL 400.00
headers were summit long tubes 120.00
radiator/shroud out of an 86 lebaron at pull n pay 40.00
conversion mounts were 160.00 from shumacher
driveshaft shortened 4" because of the 727 65.00
pipe and mufflers 80.00
the rest was plug n play

in less than a days work it was done and running
Click to expand...
Fluids, filters, belts etc.? This is assuming you find a complete running gig, other wise tack on a starter/alt. etc. Not to mention he is talking an early a....120 on headers, don't think so.....Reminds me of when one of the mags built a 500 hp sb for 2k, of course you had to be paying attention to the previous issues where they "found" a fully machined block in some ones shop, and the also "found" a complete set of machined/ported heads in another guys shop.....
 
inkjunkie said:
Fluids, filters, belts etc.? This is assuming you find a complete running gig, other wise tack on a starter/alt. etc. Not to mention he is talking an early a....120 on headers, don't think so.....Reminds me of when one of the mags built a 500 hp sb for 2k, of course you had to be paying attention to the previous issues where they "found" a fully machined block in some ones shop, and the also "found" a complete set of machined/ported heads in another guys shop.....
Click to expand...
the slant starter and alternator can be used. like i stated above, that was my swap used as an example. i know the 65's are a tad different exhaust wise. but in all reality , this swap can be done for reasonably cheap.
 
i am gearing up for the same exact swap but with a 360. its not going to be cheap. its hard to know until you get into it but if you keep ALL your receipts and add them up at the end you will be surprised.
 
younggun2.0 said:
i am gearing up for the same exact swap but with a 360. its not going to be cheap. its hard to know until you get into it but if you keep ALL your receipts and add them up at the end you will be surprised.
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well, i know exactly what i have in mine and it was cheap. if you are trying to piece together an engine and trans , then yes it can get pricy. thats why i just bought a complete running 318 and trans. theres really nothing to the actual swap. when you start upgrading the suspension and building an engine from the ground up its starts getting pricy.
 
73AbodEE said:
well, i know exactly what i have in mine and it was cheap. if you are trying to piece together an engine and trans , then yes it can get pricy. thats why i just bought a complete running 318 and trans. theres really nothing to the actual swap. when you start upgrading the suspension and building an engine from the ground up its starts getting pricy.
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valid point. if you had a complete donor car that would make things alot easier. I personally cannot leave **** alone. ha ha ha well if the engine is out i might as well paint the engine bay and if im swapping to a v8 i should put on a 4-barrell and then it snow balls from there. lol
 
younggun2.0 said:
valid point. if you had a complete donor car that would make things alot easier. I personally cannot leave **** alone. ha ha ha well if the engine is out i might as well paint the engine bay and if im swapping to a v8 i should put on a 4-barrell and then it snow balls from there. lol
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i hear you there. i wanted to paint the bay and i would have if it wasnt my daily driver and had to have it running in a very short time. i have since added a new intake, ignition , carb ,etc etc. i did at least scrub the bay while i was in there.
 
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