I am buying a new project of the Dodge brand and have thought about actually putting a dodge/ chry motor in it. easy way is to go and find a wrecked new Dodge and pull the Hemi/ OD ****** but I am not sure I want the high tech computer stuff.. The new project is a big ride so it needs a bigger motor, so maybe something like a 383, 440 or 392 (may have access to one of these if I can pry it out of my dad's hands).. what overdrive ****** options do I have. I want 4 sp auto.. so I can put some 373 gears under it. Its either that or go SBC or BBC. lots of motor and ****** options that route. Never owned a dodge product. what interchanges on the motors and ******s..
Small block 360 can be easily built with high horse/torque and more ****** options. The Magnum motors can be run carbed and OD ******s will bolt on.I forgot the years you will need on the OD thats not computer controlled. Gear Venders sales a kit as well.
How about 318s? They are eisier to find, not much vintage stuff in my local junkyards, plus I already have one!
talk to gierhead. He knows mopars. I'm glad your moving to the mopar camp. So what is it. car truck, what year. You can adapt the A518 to an older big block. As far as non OD trannies go with a 727 there are 2 different ones BB and SB. pretty easy. torque converter and flex plates and starter changed with different years but pretty easy to sort out. depend on how big the engine bay is is what I would use to decide BB or SB. you can get good power out of both, but there is no sub for cubes. For example to put the BB in my '47 I am recessing the firewall about 4-5 inches. I could move it forware a few inches and use a p8sh through electric fan but I an trying not to.
Dav, move the engine as far forward as you can and minimize the firewall set back. in the long run its a much nicer interior, more room.. This Mopar stuff ****s.. no for thought about interchangeability. What did 360's come in, is it a SB or a BB (383 are BB right?). maybe a BB will fit in this crate.
360's are small block motors and came in tons of cars and trucks. They were pretty much the utilitarian engines for the larger Mopar offerings. Came in Monacos, Fury, Gran Fury, Diplomats, trucks, etc and almost every cop car until they killed the Diplomat/5th Ave platform. There's lots of Mopar options for ****** set-ups but I'm not that well versed in the interchange details. That's all I got.
It doesn't ****, you just need to learn what you are doing. There are 3 basic engine families, for all intents and purposes. All come with their own mounts and bellhousings. G/RG- the sixes A/LA- the small eights B/RB- the big eights That's it. Granted, it isn't the slam dunk prom date easy stuff like Chevies are, but it's not hard either. BTW, A engines are actually the later Polyspheres, LA's are the 273/318/340/360 series. There are little idiosyncracies in the families (internal/external balance, etc.) but nothing that's "Rocket Science". If you post what you wanna do, I'm sure that the board can walk you thru it. Jay
Sixgunner, thanks for the quick lesson. Can you tell me which options, sizes may have 4 sp automatic ******s availble. what do they call them (a chevy is a 700R4... what is a dodge/ chry called)
I believe what you're looking for is the A518. It's a 4 speed auto based on the 727 Torqueflite, Chryslers bad dog auto. Where I hear to look is early to mid ninety's Dakotas. That stuff is too new for me, so IDK for sure. I know my 97 Ram has a 4 speed OD, but it's computer controlled and some alphabet soup name. Try the Dakota route, that should net ya what you need. BTW, the newer Magnum series stuff is good too, but more pricey! As if Chrysler stuff isn't expensive enough! Edit- all the smallblocks but the 360 are internal balanced, so if you get a ******/converter from a 318 Dakota but wanna use a 360, you'll have to get a B&M or other aftermarket flexplate and balanced converter. It's not really a big deal, I have one in a 300 I built. But you should know that 360s are external balanced, while 273-318-340's are internal Jay
The non-computer overdrive auto was a 1991 full sized truck (1/2 ton- 3/4 ton) They were all small block motor transmissions, as were all of the Mopar OD autos. The big block Mopars went away in 1978. The new Hemi is essentually a small block, as are the Viper and truck V10s. The new Magium motors are redesigned small blocks with roller rockers and much better flowing heads then the best older small blocks and even the 318 magium in factory trim can drag the 4800 lbs trucks around pretty good. What kind of old Dodge did you get? Gene
Go big block mopar don't worry about the lack of over drive ******. The horsepower and torque of big blocks you don't need to run a low gear. My big coupe has a 383 in it with a 727 and 3.23 gears. Its great on the highway and still does big smokey burnouts.
Dakota ****** needs a hot wire and a switch to make the od work and turn on and off. EDIT: There are some ext balanced late 73 and 74 340 engines as well. I am well versed in mopar grew up in it hand have worked at a dealer for 25 years I will send you my number Boones and if you are serious bout the mopar thing I will help guide you in the right direction.Might be able to even fix ya up with parts as well.I just sold my nhra legal S/Str Daytona with a factory crate shrt blk (la 360 based) and off the shelf parts which I had a total of 2200.00 and it would run 10.50's all day long.Made about 475 hp so that shows you that if you know what your lookin for it is no more exspensive to build a mopar vs chevy just gotta be informed on what works and what doesnt.You also can buy a adapter to put the dakota od behind a big block as well. I will pm you my number. Thanks Shoe
If you go with a 440, do not worry about the od ******. I'm running a 440 in a 51 Henry J with a 727, 250 gears and it has enough torque that it does not matter. It cruises at 70mph at 2000 rpm, and does real good burnouts through second gear.
big block mopars are the way to go. i've had a 383/727 combo for 5 years now. previously in a charger but soon in a 51. i cruised that thing to arkansas and back twice never had a problem. like the others said overdrive isn't needed, low gears mixed with hp/tq is good combo. plus the parts are getting easier to find but the price isn't easy to swallow. plus its fun to see peoples faces when they expect sbc and see big block mopar instead.
If you go SB or BB, and the engine needs to be rebuilt, it is cheap to stroke these engines. 360 = 408. 440 = 499 You can even get a 400 (cheap) and stroke it to a 451 (cheap) and tell everyone it's 'just' a 383!! Keep it all Mopar!!!! Dave
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