V8 swap options

[TylerW]

Hey guys..new to the board.

I'm working on a daily driver project and I have a couple questions:

The car in question is a '71 Valiant. I wanted to start with a Swinger/Scamp, but this one was clean, cheap and a nice color combo(Sno-white w black/grey upholstery.


This is a Slant car with power steering. The slant is dying from a rod knock so I'm going to drop in a good running 318/904 combo and drive the wheels off it.

My question is, my car has manual drum brakes like a lot of these did, and so if I swap in a V8 disc brake K-member, will I have to use a different master cylinder or anything else?

I thought about just using the existing K-member with a set of conversion mounts, disc brake swap and t-bar swap..but I'm not sure which is the better route to take.

Thanks!

 

[71DartGuy]

Welcome to the site. Transdapt mounts, 73 up a-body disk brake setup, and a set of .085 or .087 torsion bars. I would guess this would be the cheapest way to go. Should be able to find these parts easily. Oh, you'll have to change to a disk brake master cylinder. I got a reman from Advance auto for less that $30.00

 

[6T9 V-100]

Don't forget the proportioning valve-preferably from the car you get the discs' from.

 

[blasphemous]

Welcome to the site. Transdapt mounts, 73 up a-body disk brake setup, and a set of .085 or .087 torsion bars. I would guess this would be the cheapest way to go. Should be able to find these parts easily. Oh, you'll have to change to a disk brake master cylinder. I got a reman from Advance auto for less that $30.00

I'm fairly new to Mopars, but I have a 73 Scamp and I might be swapping out my slant 6 for a rod knock as well. With the transdapt mounts, will I need a V8 K-member as well or do the mounts negate needing that? My car already has front discs, manual brakes and power steering.

 

[RedFish]

Quarter bet that the rod knock is #5. People will tell you you'll need the master cylinder and perportion valve but it aint absolutely nessesary to change those. I have changed just the brakes at the wheels and it worked fine for years. You dont even have to change the torsion bars unless you just want to. A slant six dumps all its weight on 1 bar where a small V8 will shift the load to center giving those bars new positioning and life.
In other words you can do as much or as little as you want.

 

[rumblefish360]

TylerW, blasphemous, welcome to the board!

I have some of your answers here; http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=10508&page=1&pp=20

I used the schumacher conversion kit. http://www.engine-swaps.com/

For the exhaust, I went to Jegs for there exhaust system that is to be used with Hooker headers. The regular comp units. There are exhaust systems out there that go to the exhaust manifolds as well.

I also upgraded to a 8-1/4 rear and shortened the /6 drive shaft to fit. The rear is a good idea to do.

NOW, there are kits, like from SSBC for disk breaks on a drum spindle. There alittle pricey, but save the need for extra elbow grease work in swaping out the upper control arms and not to mention, hunting for these parts, cleaning them, painting them and then installing them.

I myself am going the OEM route.

blasphemous;
With the transdapt mounts, will I need a V8 K-member as well or do the mounts negate needing that?

The above links to the engine swap place will have you use the stock/6 K-member without a problem. The Trans-Dapt engine swap kit if for earlier (Sandwhich or Biscuit engine mounts, not the spool mount which you all ready have and will reuse on the passenger side.)

Any questions, we all will be here. Enjoy the thread.

 

[redfastback]

well rumble..............you said it all.

 

[AdamR]

I used the Trans Dapt mounts on my 71 scamp when swapping the slant 6 for a 340. No K frame change needed.

 

[blasphemous]

I just got my /6 bottom end taken apart. You were right, #5 was completely trashed. $6 wasn't too far behind, the bearings were horrible but the journal didn't feel scored or gouged. Actually, #5 didn't feel like it was all that bad either. #1 through #4 were in good shape on the cap side, but the rod side bearings were nasty looking. Appeared to have been ran out of oil, possibly the oil pump went out?

My plan was to just throw in some new rod bearings and drive in on until I get a V8 lined up and ready to drop in. I was looking at getting a D60 truck rear-end to put under the car. I have seen a couple locally for a couple hundred dollars. It'll probably require a 727 if I can find a big block, I'll keep the 904 if I end up w/ a small block though.

Thanks for the links, really good read and good information!