Well here we are on the first thread of the new Tech Talk of the Month forum. We really hope that this helps out everyone new to the forum as well as those who have been here for some time.

This month we will be discussing small block motor swaps. It seems that a lot of people want to pull out the slant 6 or 318 motor they have and drop in a 340 or 360 but are not sure what will fit, what will not fit and what else they need to look at.

Post up any pics that you have if you have done this, any links of what is envolved, links to product that may be helpful in making hte job easier.

 

Granted it has only been a day but nobody has ANY info that they would like to share?

Some decent/basic knowledge - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LA_engine
Couple of books worth getting if your going to be rebuilding your LA motor and either want to keep it stock or build it up -
How to Rebuild Small-Block Mopar Engines by Don Taylor and Larry Hofer -

How to Hot Rod Small-Block Mopar Engines by Larry Shepard -

 

A couple things off the top of my head...

273/318 to 340/360 A body motor mounts are different on the Drivers side, IIRC.

The 360 is externaly balanced, and will require a matching Harmonic Balancer, and flex plate/flywheel.

340/360 heads have larger ports than 273/318 heads.

I'd be interested to know what all entails in a magnum engine swap myself

j

 

i just recently swapped out my 318 to a 360 in my dart everything was pretty much the same excecpt my 360 was from a ramcharger so i need a car oil pan also the driver side motor mount was different but i had a extra 340/360 mount i also needed a flex plate i got a B&M flexplate 10239 p/n thats for a 89 360 and 904 trans also once it was down in there i needed a new fan spacer it seemed that the waterpump was a littlebit longer than my 318 one i could have swapped them out but everything on the 360 was new you'll also need to plug the little exhaust ports under the actual ports on newer L/A motors what i did on that was made sure the normal port was plugged with a rag reall good and with my hand i used a 1/4" drill bit to clean it out of carbon and what nots then i used a 1/4" 20 tap and tapped these holes about a half inch in then i had a similar size set screw but it was metric and put alittle loc-tite on them but with the holes being standard and the screws being metric they binded up quite nicely other than that the swap was pretty easy
Terry

 

My small block swap was in a tube chassis 68 Barracuda. Took out a 340 and put in a 400 BB... Car had a glass from end so that makes it much easier to get to everything... Also had both a motor plate and a mid-plate... This also makes it much easier... But had to get custom headers done and re-wire it all... Went very smoothly just took some time....... Oh, about to forget the 340 was a 4-speed and put a 727 behind the BB....... Sold the 340 adn 4-speed set up to a guy in New Zealand... Built a big crate and strapped it all in there and put it on a boat to New Zeland.... Two months later got an e-mail that it had arrived and he was happy.... And we think our shipping talk a long time.....

 

I have a 66 sat w/ a 273. K- member has been changed to '70, droppin' a bad boy 340 (just so I can run till get my 440 six pak, ported head monster built, I may sell the 340 and the 727 w/ a b@m shift kit to get the grand or so I need for final assembly). On the Passenger side,the lugs on the block are flip-flopped, from a 340. Meaning I have a motor mount bracket issue, as the original one won't bolt up to the 340. The 340 has 2 stacked vertical lugs on the front, the 273 the twins are in the rear. The driver side is no issue (just a small spacer) I have a bracket w/ 4 holes, but its for an A-body. Anybody wanna trade? Or have a B or E body, 340 or 360 passenger mt. brkt. to sell? This has me bent