Ok, before you all chastize me and duct tape me up and throw me in a locker, hear me out, please. I have a chance to get a 1970 dart swinger with a non-running slant-six. I'm thinking of putting my 88 tbird's 3.8 mpfi into it with Aod. It's only temporary til I get the right engine for it. So, since the 3.8 is the same as a 302, is there any engine swap companies that allow this? Particularly engine mounts? I know all about the EFI swap process. I'm hoping to find a bolt in mount, so I can convert it back down the road. I've been searching the net for a few hours now, with no luck.

 

Just a simple question.... WHY??? You could get a running 318 for a song, change the motor mounts only, and be road-ready.... for less hassle, and probably less money, than what you are proposing. Seems like a no-brainer to me....

 

gas mileage. it'd be a daily driver commuting 83 miles everyday. I already have the 3.8 with low miles, and the tbird is in need of a rest. And a very limited budget. I agree with the 318, but I don't have one.

 

A 3.8 L is not a 302. A 3.8 L is around 228 cubic inches. A 302 is a 5.0 L. There are no mounts made for a 3.8 L into a Dart. There are very few mount adapters made for Darts. You would have to fabricate the mounts as well as many other parts. A well built 318 could get 20 mpg or more on the highway. It's your choice but it's not going to be easy to fabricate those mounts and it will turn out to be much more of a pain than you think. Plus, whether it's right or not,you'll be criticized for doing it. Plus, you'll be wasting alot of money and time doing one engine just temporarily until you can do another. Just do the 318 now. Give it a good rebuild and set it up nicely and use moderate gears and you should get good power and fuel mileage. My 318 is a 116 K mile, oil leaking hog and I can still get 15 mpg on the highway.

 

Why not sell the T-Bird and get another /6.

 

I agree. Hit craigslist.com and find a used slant 6 or the 318 somewhere. Id suggest a slant 6 considering the transmissions usually dont mate from what i'm told. Those things are bullet proof.

 

The /6 904 will not mate to the small block v8. If you do the v8 swap, you need the motor, trans, driveshaft, and front K-frame, Possibly the trans mount too, I don't recall as the last swap I did was in '93.