Quick Swap 318 to 383

My '67 Satellite 318 904 has very low compression in cylinder #1 with severe blow-by. Suspect stuck/broken rings from extended time not being started/run/driven. Other than that the car is almost a Survivor in untouched condition.
Because of it being disqualified as a Survivor, an engine swap is a good option. I would spend money and time to repair the 318 or spend about the same time and money to do a swap. With the end results of a swap being much more desirable, I chose swap.

Here it goes!

First thing was to pull the donor.
A '68 Newport 383 with a fresh 727 that my brother Henry (Model Maker) wasn't finding alot of interested buyers for became the Donor.

The engine ran excellent. Good compression and oil pressure. Disassembley goes much faster than assembly

its out

Time to take a closer look.

pull the heads just to make sure everything is OK

steel shim gaskets right from the factory! it seems to have never been apart!
check this out, you can see something interesting here?

Clean clean and clean some more!
New gasket set, timing chain and some Dupli Color engine paint ready to go!

I did use a fresh set of 906 heads I had and was unable to sell.

Now for the transplant patient

Drain fluids, pull the battery and off with hood.
Edit: Exhaust out and all linkages off and pull the driveshaft.Edit
Then drop the transmission and prop the engine pan on the steering link

Almost forgot
this is always nice to see!

now for the heart of the victim

Ready to pull

Thanks Henry!!!
Everything goes so much easier with good help

Out without a hitch.

Dirty and empty

you can still see the little block of wood used to prop the engine when pulling the transmission

Cleaner and still empty

on to the install

cool car. man its nice to get something that hasn't been messed with. keep the pictures coming.

its in
I will admit I was a bit nervous during the install but it went perfect!

Yes, it does help.
More pictures for those of us that don't like reading

On to the transmission, driveshaft (from a '67 Coronet 318 727) install and linkage

Edit: We used the trans crossmember from the '67 Satellite 904, just turned the mount around.Edit

No exhaust to install, I will have that done at a shop.
Back up top to finish the install.

I want to hear it run before I give up for the night

Its alive! burning fuel and making alot of noise for the neighbors
I was able to use the radiator and shroud from the '68 Newport with just a little modification to the mounting. The 318 904 transmission cooler lines worked as well with the 727.

I had to clean out the corrosion inside the carburetor caused by Ethanol in the fuel and I still need to strip the valve covers and paint. Should finish today.

I am jealous, The 383 runs beautifully and the car is really unmolested, it is a great match.
It will be a lot of fun to drive without the apprehension of all the other idiots on the road, a great cruiser with a good amount of oomph off the line.

Now maybe, I will have someone else to cruise around town with and hit the shows and Friday/Saturday night cruise-ins.

looks great

thanks for the flowers
Another Mopar soon to be on the road again thanks to your help bro

Valve covers painted and installed.
The Duralast cut to fit wire set #1600 (90* plug boots) and #1601 (straight boot) worked better than expected! $15.00 each set
Running nice. I have to get the exhaust system done, I will try and find a shop tomorrow AM if possible.

that #7 wire is a bit long!

loaded on the trailer on the way to get the exhaust installed

Not much competition of custom muffler shops in my area so im at the mercy of this one.
Around here, most shops do only modern car and truck from the cat back and if you ask them about an old car, they seem very uninterested.

A WOPPING $800. later OUCH!
I bet I could have ordered it from summit or jegs for half that.
Can you say "Bait and switch"?.
After loading everything up on a trailer and dropping it off, knowing I had to have it done today, or I wouldnt have taken it to a shop. I would have done it myself.

I had to change out the intake manifold and carb. That old 2 bbl was giving me too much trouble, hard to start, popping/coughing on acceleration, unstable idle etc....
Now it lights right off.
I have to modify the throttle cable and kick down bracket to work properly and I still have to work on the bog issue but that will be for another time.

give her a bath
looks better not covered with dust.

Looks Nice

just a TAD pricey. I've got a couple of shops around here, and none would have charged half that.
car looks great

Man you could have gone TTI for that kind of dough.

Cool though! I have a '67 Lite that was similar to yours when I got it. 383 is a great engine for a nice cruiser and driver. Nice car

I'm not very happy to say the least. He said it would run me $600 tops out the door. After loading it on the trailer and driving across town and dropping it off as agreed,
I get a call,
"its going to be a bit more, do you still want to get it done?"
Thats why I said "Bait and Switch" just the cost of going to pick it up without having it done and wasting the day too, I figured the $200 was worth not having to deal with finding another shop or having to install TTI's system a week or two later myself.
Some business are not being run like they were some years ago where your word meant something. The job was not done quite the way we agreed. It was supposed to be "serviceable" Un-bolt it to remove....NOT! some (not all) of the hangers have to be cut off
Lesson learned (I hope)

Nice job on the swap, it looks like it grew there. 318 cars are no fun to drive, the 383 makes it into a nice car.

Sheldon

Thanks Sheldon,
I need to figure out a steel fuel line to replace the temporary rubber hose I have running from the top of the fuel filter to the carb inlet. Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.
Idea is to have a short piece (3" or so)top of filter to a steel line and another short piece right at the carb inlet. I just cant imagine how I would bend one steel line from the filter and make it to the right rear of the carb and make it somewhat hidden?
Ricky

Quote:

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I had to change out the intake manifold and carb. That old 2 bbl was giving me too much trouble, hard to start, popping/coughing on acceleration, unstable idle etc....
Now it lights right off.
I have to modify the throttle cable and kick down bracket to work properly and I still have to work on the bog issue but that will be for another time.

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How does that edelbrock run on that 383. Looking into getting a new carb, don't want to rebuild that old one I have, want something new and fresh. Which one you get?