Have a good friend at work that just picked up a 68 Belvedere 6 cyl and is looking for information on motor swaps, K frames and the like. He is considering getting a 77 Grand Fury station wagon that has either a 400 or 440 in it that he would like to use as the donor for the drive train. Are there any websites or message boards that he can go to for the info he needs about the 68 and the motor from the 77? Any help or guidance is appreciated. Thanks, Mark
www.moparts.org Pretty simple swap. Might have to go with a Schumacher Kit to use the current K-member with the early style mounts to use with the later engine. The suspension won't swap. Different torsion bar set-up.
Just need the motor mounts for a 68 Road Runner with a 383 Magnum and the 400 or 440 should bolt right in. Have to use the 727B trans from the big block which is in the doner car. Then headers or good exhaust manifolds and some wiring mods. Also radiator, most of what you will need will be in the donor car. Dave Berry
Will make a huge difference whether it's a 400 or 440. The Chrysler 400 is a good boat anchor unless you do a stroker conversion. The pad beside the distributor should tell you either way. Unless you plan on spending mega-$$$ look for the 440.
Wellll, I was about 20 years old when the 400 came out and none of us Mopar guys liked them. They had problems with the heads because they were the new unleaded heads and went to a cast crank. The word was they wouldn't hold up to a lot of horsepower. Turns out they were good to 500 hp. Take the 400 shortblock and dress it in magnum stuff and it will run great. It's only a 383 with an overbore, the only advantage the 440 has is the obvious one, 40 cubes. Dave Berry
Thanks for the replies. He is still checking the donor car out and not sure if a 400 or 440. Probably will take it either way. The 68 is a fairly solid 2 door coupe (with posts) and plain bench seat interior. Dark green exteriour and a two tone beige interior. This will be a project car and possibly a Road Runner clone for his own personal use and not to resell. At the information gathering stage so far and looking at his options. Another question at this point is what size rear does a 6 cyl. Belvedere have? Not is ratio, but is size as 7.5", 8.5" or 8.75" and strength. Will the 77 Fury rear fit in the 68? Always more questions as one goes along. Again, thanks for all the info :TU: Mark
The rear in a Belvedere would be the 8 3/4 because it's a full size car. This was the standard rear found in all the big cars, even the Hemi cars with an auto and is plenty strong for his application. Probably no posi and not likely to be the gear he'll want. The rearends are not interchangable but the dropout center section is. Dave Berry
big block dart .com has about a 100 links at end we are doing 2 66 coranet hemi conversions,1 post/1 hardtop, lots of links there bob :grin:
not totally true , it MIGHT have an 8 3/4 but the std rear behind the leaning tower of power is the 7.25 . B body 8 3/4's are pretty easy to come by . also the downside to the 400 is its low compression , put a good set of pistons in it to up the compression and its a 17 cube larger 383 . 400's get no respect so that means they are cheaper to buy ...
The rear in the 68 appears to be the 7.5" one. The 77 car does have the 400 and he is getting it supposedly only has 64K on it. Body of the car is pretty decent and he only wants the drive train. Anyone interested in a full size 77 Fury wagon less motor/trans. o No: Mark
