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wassup guys,,,i just bought a 66 dart from a local guy,,,,im new to american muscle (im an import guy .... '94 supra tt) the car has got the slant six engine and auto tranny,,,my goal for the car is about 350hp to whls,,,ive been doin some research the past couple weeks and im not sure on a couple things,,,

-i was thinkin about goin with the 360 small block,,,what other v-8 motors would be a good choice to swap in that might not be as pricey as the 360??? (318 maybe???)

- would i be able to take any mopar sml block/manual tranny combo from a mopar car(plymouth/dodge/etc) and swap it into my car???

ve any of you heard of/completed a tranny swap from auto to manual??? if so, how hard and what would i need,,,i know thata company (cant remember the name right now) sells a complete kit,,,wondering if you guys have used it or not

lemme know guys
thanksmuch



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honestly, a 360 is probably your cheapest and best choice. i know this because ive been looking for a block for my demon, and the 360 is the cheaper way to go, just because there were SO MANY vehicles sold with them. many of the basic performance parts for the mopar small blocks are interchangable, so things like heads, headers, intakes, etc...are the same, for the most part. items such as the crank, oil pan, etc. cannot be swapped without some machining.

you most certainly CAN swap from the auto to a manual, and you have two basic options.

1. you can buy all of the needed parts to swap to an 833 mopar trans, and i looked into this for the demon and it is more money than i wanted to spend.

2. you can buy a modern 5-speed trans, and i believe that these come as complete packages, but i do not know how good or bad the kits are, and how much. i bet that it isnt cheap.

i am currently running a 340 in one of my cars, and i am making around 350-370 whp. i say "from" because im going based on calculators, not a dyno. figure a 3700lb car running 12.40s, trapping around 105-108...makes around 365 or so. i am running a low compression 340 (around 9 to 1) with 1.88/1.60 heads, decent headers, airgap, proform carb, very mild ported 360 heads.

 

A modern 5-speed is definately worth it. I picked one up from Keisler transmissions for about $5k (ok so like Strat said, it wasn't cheap) butfor the headaches it saves with assembly (It's almost completely assembled right out of the box), it is worth it. HP ratings on them are pretty good, and the overdrive helps with the gas crunch, even when you are pushing 300+ HP.There weren't any compatibility issues with my360, whichI have also been happy with. I know you can work the heck out of a 318 and make it put up some pretty solid numbers as well, but with the cost of doing that, you could just buy a crate 360 that is somewhat worked and be looking at300-400 HP. Of course, before you even try to switch over, make sure you can find the pedals and linkages for the car (not always as easy as it sounds- they are very specific to the car) Good luck and welcome to good old fashioned american muscle.

 

What evilmonkey said. Keisler sells pedal assemblies for some Mopars (at least they did) hydraulic clutch kits, even origional looking shifter handles. Check Schumaker Creative Services for bullet proof conversion motor mount kits, pricey but they come complete. There is a seller on Ebay that custom builds 8 3/4 axle housings to any width. He does a lot of A body sizes. The housing was $250 plus shipping. He will supply axles or you can buy your own aftermarket. Next on the list will be a shortened drive shaft, heavier torsion bars and rear springs. Check Summit Racing as they carry the Mopar Performance line of parts. Last some sort of disc brake conversion. I'm not sure if you can get the 1973 A-body disc brake spindles to fit on a 1966 and older. Oh, don't skimp on the headers if you are going that route look at TTI for a decent set and mandrel bent exhaust.