No need to buy another convertor,just get the one you have balanced by a compentant trans shop.I've bolted 'LA's to 'A' type 727 's doing this dozens of times. simple and easy engine swap.
Not really.....sure, a rebuilt 18 spline will cost ya.....but if ya get a mid 60's A-833 from a slant 6 car, it'll be just as stong as a 4 gear from a 383 RoadRunner, only with a lower first gear.....which can be a bonus. You could also swap out the ratios....no big deal... OR, find an early A-833 ('64-5) from a V-8 car with the flange on the back as most guys don't want 'em..... some 727 autos from pickups/vans have a bolt on yoke that'll fit right on in place of the funky ball and trunion joint. Then all that's needed is a slip driveline.....easy, peasy, weasy....
The bellhousing to block....not trans to bellhousing..... And I'm talking Iron trans....not the alum, od boxes... Here's all the info on A-833's.... http://www.slantsix.org/articles/4-speeds/ODA833fourspeed1.htm Hmmm...I must be thinkin' of some other trans.....
a couple of things I can add,early 273's had a different angle on the intake bolts,not sure about the years. The front cover can have either a drivers side timing mark or passenger side. Make sure the balancer is for the right cover. The easiest way to tell an RB(Raised block ) from a regular B motor is look for a 3" by 2" pad on the front of the block by where the valley pan rails bolt up . This is drivers side front. They may still have the size stamped ,maybe not a malteze cross stamped meant something inside was undersize from the factory (rods or mains most likely) Early 727 had a rear pump I think.maybe 62-or63.Early 727 had a different spline on the convertor also. A lot of later trans will say 993 or 998 on them .These were lockup convertors and had a lower first gear,the lower gears parts can be put into the older ones but the lock won't work without a new style case with the oil passages. Mopar trans are easy to calibrate the speedo also as they sell a bunch of different drive gears.
Don't think anybody mentioned it yet but if you get an old enough Torqueflite ('64 and back?) it may have some funky shift linkage to work with the pushbutton shifters. Don't really know if it's that big a deal to work around though. I think the around '72 and older TF's use to require full throttle to drop into passing gear from cruising speed. Direct Connection used to offer a kit years ago that added a couple pieces from the later trans to the valve body that would give you a part throttle downshift. It made a nice improvement in driveability especially in intown traffic. Lord knows if you can still buy the kit from Chrysler but some of the tranny shops may still have them. Also remember to get all the T/V linkage to hook it up to the carb, assuming that you're going to run it as a fully automatic trans. They can shift kind of erratically without it.
I have a 1973 340 engine that is externally balanced. The 340's went to a cast crank in the last two years of production ('72-'73) and were all externally balanced. The '68-'71 340's were steel crank motors with internal balancing.
OK, a few clearifications. A 360 is an LA small block. A 361 is a RB truck block. There is also a 400ci which is a "B" big block. The difference between a small block 727 case and a big block 727 is visable by the starter location. Both starters are located on the driver side of the trans, a big block 727 has the starter center hole located on the center line of the case. A small block 727 starter center hole is below the case centerline. The 6 cylinder 727's have the starter center hole above the case centerline. Chrysler offered a 2x4 intake for the poly "A" engine, for the "B" & "RB" engine and for the 426 Hemi, but not for the "LA" engine. They offered a long ram and a short ram intake for the "RB" They offered a 3x2 intake for the "LA" small blocks and for the "RB" big blocks. They also offered a 4bbl intake for all engine families and a 2bbl intake for everything except the "RB" (least I've never heard of a 2bbl "RB" intake). Gene
Front distributor: B/RB Rear distributor: everything else, but this includes 4 separate "small" block designs, ranked by bore center distance and not interchangeable: 1. Dodge 241, 270, 315, 325 1953-58 hemi and 241, 259, 270, 315, 325 poly 1955-58 2. DeSoto 276, 291, 330, 341, 345 hemi 1952-57 3. poly "A" 277, 301, 303, 313, 318, 326 1956-67; becomes LA 273, 318, 340, 360 1964, then 'hemi' 5.7, 6.1, 6.4L 4. Chrysler 331, 354, 392 1951-58 hemi & 301, 331, 354 poly 1955-58
They do make a 2X4 intake for the early 273 engines. I actually have one and am working to convert it to fit a 340 engine.Also availiable are 2X4 intakes for the LA 318,340,and 360. Tow of them just sold on ebay and they were edelbrocks. The 2X4 for the early 273 were offenhausers. I am working to build my own version of a smallblock crossram with the one I purchased. Mopars are certainly a BREED of there own. But they are SWEET!
The 360 is externally balanced so the flywheel needs extra weight added if you use an aftermarket zero balance (340) type flywheel or the factory 360 flywheel can be used also but stick shift 360's are a bit hard to find. If you've got deep pockets try Keisler Engineering for parts to use a late 5 speed. For the old school touch try D150 pick ups for the overdrive 883 four speed. They're an overdrive. If you find a 318 donor truck grab everything from the bell housing back. You can add weight to that flywheel by using a kit from Mopar Perfromance or source a 360 flywheel. The truck used the same extension housing shifter mounting as passenger cars so shifter mounting should be straight forward. Good Luck
If you had an Edlebrock STX12 intake you could bolt on several different tops to use a bunch of carb variations. They are cast of unobtainium though.
Let us 'clarify' the above............. The 361 is a B series, and started life in the '59 model year in the pass car. In '58 the very first B engine was a 350. In '59 we also had a 383 RB engine. Here is where an actual library, full of books, not a bunch of damned web sites, comes in handy. The web may have alot of good info, but it also has a mountain of useless crap that just gets passed around and pretty soon folks start actually believing it!!!!!!!!! .
There is a 361 and 413 truck motor that has different heads, waterpump and crank than regular b/rb motors to watch out for too. Seen a couple of 413 truck cranks at swap meets - the flange sticks out another 3/4" making it useless for a pass car engine. BTW a cast crank 318 is still internally balanced, only the cast crank 340's and the 360 has an external balance on LA motors. you can use a flexplate like this to bolt a 360 to a zero balance torque converter
i have a 273 in my valiant but i put a 318 edelbrock manifold on it. The only difference there was the angles of the bolts to mount the manifold. all of the ports lined up. i have heard though that the 318 heads do bolt up to the 273 block. the timing chain covers and water pumps are also interchangeable.
Yep 361's are B blocks as are 61 up 383's. Only 59 and 60 383's are raised B blocks. Perhaps the 413 and 426 wedges are RB's too, but I don't remember.
There are some good threads over at the WeCrash forum that can help you with all kinds of Mopar engine questions. http://srt.suddenlaunch.com/index.cgi?board=mopar "dm440c" is the man to talk to if you have specific questions http://srt.suddenlaunch.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile&username=dm440c
a833 had 18 and 23 spline versions i believe the 18 were tougher and behind the hemis, automatics require the proper throttle pressure switch otherwise youll destroy the tranny, mancini racing makes a cable operated one that works great and takes all the guess work outta the linkage, just installed oneand had no problems with it so far, they also have tons of other stuff for mopars
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