I am desperate, stupid and out of time..so here's my idea.

I have 2 weeks before the Roundup.
I have a '49 ford sedan
I have a knocking flathead 6cyl
I have a completely rebuilt 327 w/ 3spd

Is it humanly possible to swap out my 6cyl for the 327 in 2 weeks? I dunno.

What is involved in the trans crossmember area?
What is the easiest engine mount kit? I have the front hurst saddle type already.

The real bitch of the whole thing..well besides the knock starting 3 weeks before roundup...is that the car will still have the 4.11 gears.

I thought about trying to throw some bearings in the 6cyl, but the engine has to be pulled to get the pan off and the bearings will cost me $80 just for the rods, mains are $150 and I don't even want the 6 cyl anyway.

I might have a lead on a flathead v8 which would be the easiest swap, but I have yet to find out if it is a runner.

 

Any other time Id say go for it-But IF you have to ask -I'd say NO.[not to be smart] It just aint that much time in hours........ Id say patch up the old six/Yank it and tear in to wheret you see condition of the crank-if good add bearings and oil pump and re install......its the fastest fix you could do.....

 

when I was 17 I pulled the 235 out of my pickup Friday morning, and drove it with the 396 Saturday night. About 30 hours, and I did get some sleep.

9 years ago I built my 55 from an empty shell to a driving, primered blown big block car in about 3 weeks. I had the running engine already, but I did tear it halfway apart and overhauled the tranny to boot.

It can be done, but I don't know how resourceful you are, how busy you are, or how many friends you have around, etc.

 

You should be able to swap engines over the weekend then back to the parts store on Monday to get the last things you need to drive away. A weekend plus a day is an ordinary timeframe.

 

I'm pretty much with Kenny on this one.
But look at it this way, if you get inthe 6 and find it totaly thrashed you can always change directions and go for the small block.

Here's some things you will need to think about.
#1 exhaust.
#2 shorter driveshaft.
#3 what tranny to use. If you use the hurst mount you will need side mounts on the hawgs head.
The rest is just a matter of finishin' up. Uh, do ya got any help?

 

As many SBC to early ford adapters there are around, it seems someone you know would have one you could use to get you going. It would suck to get the 6 apart and find the crank is boogered up when you could have been applying that time to adapting the small block. Good luck.

 

Dont forget those "lil detail devils" - like throttle linkage/ clutch linkage/ trans mount/ rewiring/change to 12 volts/radiator swap/ custom hoses/shift linkage/UJOINT SWAPS/ clearance issues of swap........see what I mean?2 weeks is a long time for swapping a V8 into a six if its ALL CHEVY-BUT its not a chevy so I say it will take more........but then Im a newbie .......

 

Not knowing much about Fords....would an Offy SBC to flathead tranny adapter (the ring type) work on that?

 

If all else fails you could always rent a GT40 from Enterprise rental for the weekend. They would probably send Dale Earnhardt Jr. to deliver the car.


Frank

 

something like that might work. I know there are some differences in the bellhousing area between the 48 and earlier and 49+ flatheads. I'm not sure what they were, but alot of parts listed have the cut-off date at 48.

 

..............you need to get Duane from Boyd's and Paul from OCC to help. Duane to bitch and the old man to "put his size 12 up your ass" if you don't get it done!

 

Am I wrong or do you have to pull that 6 anyway? I'd figure out what rod is knocking by pulling plug wires. then yank that puppy out, pop the pan, check out that rod. Back in the day we wouldn't even buy a new bearing. we'd shim the sucker up and it would last intill we could get the mony to rebuild it. I know it's the hatchet way to do it, but it kept our car on the road. Hell i had a buddy that used to use cereal box tops for shims. pogo

 

I swapped the 352/3spd combo out of my F100 and put a 355/350TH combo in its place a couple of years ago. It took about 8 hours to get everything except the driveshaft done.

I was able to use the Ford alternator by modifying the Brackets, '69 Chevy truck motor mounts let it set right down on the Ford mount towers, and I had a radiator already lined out for it. The only thing I really had to fabricate was a crossmember for the Tranny. And I was working in a well equipped Shop with a buddy helping me.

But....It ended up taking me over two weeks to get the driveshaft cut down because the only driveshaft man in my area was swamped. I ended up taking it to a local machine shop to get it cut down and welded it back up myself. Just one part could be enough to blow your two week schedule...

 

Go for it!! My 49 coupe doesn't even have a rearend in it yet, and I plan on being at the round up...Good luck...

 

Will you need a dropped tie rod with the chevy oil pan? Seems to me there is a clearance issue there. I might be wrong though. Lots of little things to think about and do. Don't know your skill level. I have assembled cars on a tight timeline, but I can do everything pretty much. If you need parts though that aren't easy to come by like a dropped tie rod, it can throw a wrench into your plans. Could alter the oil pan. An 8 inch from a late sixties mustang will bolt rite on the springs. Fordnutz.

 

Yep.
What he said.
Ya sure as hell can't make it any worse.
And while your at it, put the probably better bottom half of the rod bearing on top.

 

Get THEM out there to help! Offer beer and pizza. Always worked for me!
Seriously. If you can get most of it done I'd bet money that Tyler can figure out the fabrication needed on a weekend.

 

You need a dropped center link to clear the pan.

 

I'm going to go with Benno and Kenny on this one. It will seem like a straightforward swap at first but 'finishing the details' will cost you bucks and time you may not have.

As much as a I hate to encourage certain types of 'ingenuity', Pogo's right. No matter which way you go you have to pull the six, so pull it quick, give it a good checkin' out, and rig it a bit if you have to.

If any of you guys ever tell anyone you heard this from me, I'll come and paint your car easter egg blue and pink in the middle of the night but...pieces cut from the sides of aluminum cans make excellent bearing 'shims' and running a higher viscosity oil once the repair is done will help keep the oil pressure up if it is the main(s) that have gone south.

Good luck which ever way you go.

 

The 327 for the truck? Don't waste it man! I know you wanna drive the ford.....go get that flatty and make it run. Or fix the 6. But if you drop that small block into the ford, then sell the ford, you have no motor for the truck. Think ahead!

 

Give me a call, we can do it if you have most of the parts.

I hope this is not the Vette motor??
TZ

 

Its not like he's "stuck" with that motor once he puts it in. Put a SBC in and you can put ANY SBC in later and use the 327 for something else. Once all the mounting is there you can do an engine swap in about 2 hrs. I was starting to get really good at that for a while on the 57!

 

or a early 60's V8 nova oil pan & sump..

 

I do wish ya luck- get busy!!!!

 

Maybe I'm just too used to making chicken salad out of chicken shit in a short time, but I REALLY don't see the problem here. First off, if it was me, that boat-anchor of a six cylinder would have been gone already. Second, there's nothing really special about a 327. They're GREAT motors, don't get me wrong, but what I mean is they're not exactly hard to find. If you use it, you can always find another one. I just bought a '69 327 short block cleaned and wire wheeled for my wrecker for $150. Third, two weeks is WAY more than enough time to swap that motor out. The only things you have to consider are if you have a saw and a welder and if you can use them. If you've got that, you'll be driving it after the weekend. Reminds me of when we were working on my '49 Stude truck, and there was a show I heard about that Thursday at lunchtime. I got off of work at 5:00, and my buddy and I went to the garage and got to work on it. About 5:30 Friday morning, we went home. I took a shower, went to work, and whenI got home I got the truck and took it to the show.


That's it at 5:00 Thursday afternoon


That's it Friday after work at the show...after only 12 hours of working on it.

 

That's exactly the info I needed. Everything else looks possible, even modifying the original clutch linkage for use with chevy clutch fork, but the pan was bothering me. The steering link goes right under it. What does the nova pan look like?

Tyle I have almost everything for the 327. They did my brother's driveshaft shortening in 2 days so that's no problem. I'm gonna pull the lump out tonight and see what I have. I also have a 3day weekend comming up.

 

I think that while it is silly to work on an engine you dont want, it is the only way you'll be ready in 2 weeks.

 

All I can say is jump on it dude. No reason you couldn't have that swap done if you got the parts and the time. Yes you're going to run into those stupid little problems, but you'll run into those with any kind of swap. As long as you have decent skills and someone to get the funky stuff done (driveshaft, etc...) that should be pretty straight up. Fab your mounts and drop 'er in.

GOPHERIT!

 

alot like a ford 302 oil pan

..a hump in the front and a hump in the back,,but no hump in the center!

 

here's a pick of one...there are two on ebay right now,,but youll need the pick up tube also..

ive been told by dudes that this works ,but ive never done it myself,,novas had the same problem with the steering link running across in the same spot..

GOOD LUCK! you can dget to the round up it if you really want to!!