1956 plymouth savoy engine swap help

a good friend of mine just got his first old beater (free) 1956 plymouth savoy its not in bad shape at all but it needs an engine..

he needs help with either swapping one or replacing it.will any mopar engine fit(im a chevy guy!!!) or would it be easier to swap in a SBC im just trying to help him out so he doesnt lose interest,hes talking straight axle down the road,but for now just make it RUN

any help would be awesome to help get another younggun in the lifestyle hes has a computer i told him to join but he cant feed the hampster running the damn thing fast enough the site shut his computer off almost lol

thanks CB

 

how about the 227 poly i posted for sale FROM a 56 plymouth lol

 

Th 277 is a sweet motor. I would put that motor in.

Whats in your friends 56 Plymouth now. Flatheads 6?

 

well i mean will any mopar engine work or what?? is it like a chevy they all interchange to any model basically...

does he need a specific mopar motor or would it be easier to swap in a sbc

thanks cb

 

im not sure what he has in it not i think its one of the v8s they came with but its locked up

 

I don't know where you come up with the idea that the SBC is somehow a "universal fit" engine...you will have to do the SAME amount of work to put that belly-****on SBC in versus a SB Mopar engine and trans. You still have to fab up engine and trans mounts, wiring, throttle linkage, and other parts, either way. Keep that car Mopar and keep it interesting.

A 318 or 360 will go in fairly easily - yes, you have to make a few things. Nothing is a "drop-in" swap on a '55 or a '56, but the SBM is as close as it gets, since the SBM is related to the Poly-head engines - NOT the same, but related.

The main PHYSICAL difference in SBM engines will be whether the donor engine came from a truck, van, or car, since the pan sumps differ to the application. If you are running an automatic with either the 318 or 360, ensure you are using the right converter - 318 is internally balanced, where a 360 is externally balanced - so the 360 will have weights welded to the side of the converter facing the engine.

Far as automatics go, for the application, the 727A and the 904a are internally nearly identical. The 904 is slightly smaller externally

 

There are still alot of 318 out there that would work. I would keep it Chrysler myself.

 

the 277 is sitting on a stand ready for a rebuild.... i could have it in the back of your pickup truck in less than 5 minutes..... lol ill even let you drink some beers while i put it on your truck. 100 dollars and its yours. it should bolt right in there.

did i mention its been hot tanked and magnifluxed? oh, and the heads have been redone at a machine shop.

 

The 318/904 combo is a fairly easy swap in a 1940 - 1956 Plymouth. Do a search an you'll get lots of input on this swap. Been done many times.

Good luck!

 

I had one back in the early 1960's. My dad and I put a 331 hemi bored to 354 in it. It required a ton of work to adapt it to the three on the tree. My dad had training as a mechanical engineer and designed the adaptor and had the trans pilot shaft turned to fit the application. The closer you stick to the old mopar poly motors with rear sump pans the easier it will be to adapt.

 

ID is the key here. Is it a flat 6, a 270 hemi based Poly or the 277 "A" Poly? Or a newer LA small block? If it's the original V8 any hemi, hemi based poly or any "A" Poly (277,318) up to 62 will bolt right up. If some put a 63 or newer SBM V8 in it any 63 & up SBM will bolt up.

 

I agree with staying SBC (small block Chrysler!). Aluminum torqueflites should bolt to most Chrysler mills. You might even be able to use the push****ons on the Plymouth for transmission control. A good running 340 might be interesting. Hell even the old 273 was a good mill. But 318's are out there to be had.

 

thanks for all the help ill let him know his options,so he can start looking

johnny bondo,that sounds killer what all does it need to be running,pistons valves bearings..he will want to know so he can weight out his options

thanks CB

 

Very interesting !! I installed a 354 hemi in my 56 Plymouth which was a flat 6 with 3 on the tree. I installed mine in one day. I used a bell housing and flywheel from a Dodge poly and bought a pilot bushing and just bolted it up. I drove it down the street to a weld shop to have the front mounts finish welded, which he did while I waited. My dad drank a beer and watched. Almost forgot this was January 1969 in Michigan - 3 foot of snow and coooold

 

Any swap will require modifications, there is no quick drop in solution. Personally, I'd keep it Mopar like most of the guys here have suggested. There are quite a few guys here that have done this swap. Read their threads for all the info. Good luck.

 

Yeah, would have been a lot easier if I could have afforded an newer block. It was 1962 and just out of high school, so the block I did buy was a old 331 with the cast on bell housing. We also got a pair of front coil springs from a early 50's Chrysler to compensate for the weight difference.

 

I've got a 340/727 in mine, fits nice with very little modification (only motor/****** mounts) so basically any 273, 318, or 360 would work.. You would have problems w/ firewall mtd heater ***y if you went big block mopar or any other brand w/ a taller block design though.. Truck exhaust manifolds or block hugger headers work fine and have plenty of clearance. Hope this helps!

 

Yes any V8 Mopar will fit I just put a 360 727 combo in my 56 with very little trouble.
Also an E body 8 3/4 is same width eh within 1/8 inch over all I would recomend using
late truck magnum exaust manifolds especialy in driver side they allow exaust pipe to
come out to rear of engine where there is plenty of room!

 

Young gun , I have a non-hamb friendly mopar here in WV that would be perfect for your friends application ,it is an ex-police car , it has a police interceptor v-8 , auto ****** , a posi-rear , the wide cop car wheels , all the goodies , tell him to leave me a message , he can own it on the cheap , and have all the stuff to cram in that Savoy, so it will be all mopar , and be real quick also !!

 

I was going to suggest getting a complete and running doner car like Ratroddude offered up. One advantage is that you can sort the engine and trans out before you pull them out of the doner car and don't have to play the wtf game with an unknown engine/trans. Plus you get a lot of other pieces that you will have to go out and buy otherwise. things like starter, alternator, relays Rear end (if it fits) and can have the shell hauled off when you are done. A 318 or 360 would make that car humm down the road and be pretty damned reliable for long hauls.

 

He'll probably need the rear sump pan, oil pump pick up, dipstick & tube from a van or pick up, unless it's a mid sump.

 

An E-body rear axle is considerably WIDER than the stock rear!!!

My '56 Plymouth wagon had a '66 B-body rear in it, which was a true bolt-in swap. The E-body rear is a couple of INCHES or so wider than that!!!

 

Check out www.forwardlook.net

 

hhi, I may be inteested in what u have. My name is Gene Carpenter and i have a 56 ply savoy with 6 cyl would liketo change to 8. 256-431-4489.





Hi, i have a 56 ply savoy 6 that i would like to change over to 8.Pls let me know what u have. 256-431-4489. Email: genecarpenter@knology.net







e

 

Hey Guys, I may be interested in a 56 poly eng that i can exchange out of my 56 without modifications. 256-431-4489

 

Not trying to bust your chops TOO hard, but why is it that everyone ***umes that dropping in a small block Chevy engine in their car will be SOOO much easier than dropping in a Chrysler engine??? You still have to fab up motor mounts, experiment with exhaust manifolds to clear the steering and crossmember, run a couple of wires to the coil and alternator, figure out radiator hoses... I don't get it.

Someone else pointed to the "forward look" websites, and there are a LOT of Mopar club websites where there are a LOT of reasonably savvy people like me that would love to offer their help and advice. Sign up with some of those and ask away in their TECH pages. I'm not going to offer any specific advice because I've never done one of these myself, but if I can help, by all means please PM me.

 

in some ways the small block mopar is more compact than the chevy. When you go to change spark plugs you will appreciate their nice high location in the combustion chamber for one.
Stone Axe reliable 318 and 360s are cheap and easy to come by - the achilles heel is the ****ty timing chains they were for the most part ***embled with. Throw in a double roller when you put a better cam in there and you don't have any worries for a long, long time.
if you get a car motor, no problem, Summit has the rear sump pan kit for under $100.00

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-5249062/

You can get a good timing chain set for about $40.00 there as well

http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=small block mopar timing chain&dds=1

Enough about how cheap a small block chevy is already!

 

Go Guys, MoPar or Car!!! No No To Chevy in A MoPar Thats almost as bad as a Ford in a MoPar!!!

As big as those 270 s and 277 s were in those cars even a 383 will fit.
Thats what I'm going to put in my 56 Dodge. I know other guys who have the 383 or 440 in theirs.

 

I'm presently stuffing a warmed-up 440 in my '56 Dodge-really does not matter much which non Poly-based engine you are stuffing into a '55-'56 Dodge or Plymouth, they all are going to require some creative solutions as there is little aftermarket support for these cars, and that is exactly the way I like it. I don't want to do a swap or drive a car that you will see 10x at any get together. This place does offer a few goodies: www.butchscoolstuff.com/
Mopar in a Mopar is the only way to go for me.

 

I think a "B" or "RB" engine will go in reasonably easy as well. When we were in California a guy had a '55 Savoy with a 423 in it and a torqueflite. Ran well and was reliable. Don't know the issues of his installation, however..
Good luck!