Putting 383 in 65 Dart

[my1965dartgt]

 I have a 65 Dart Gt with a 273 in it but the engine has real low compression. So i found a long block 383 for a real good price. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with putting a 383 in a 65 dart, or if anyone has any suggestions on what to look out for or any problems that could be? Is this to big of a hassle? Or even possible?Thanks, Tyler

[jyrki]

I have built several different early A-body combos. It's somewhat a hassle, but well worth it. The first problem is the trans tunnel, it was newer designed for a 727 trans and even less for a BB bellhousing, so you have to do some clearancing there. It would be a good idea to enlargen the whole trans tunnel, but hammering the bodyseam flat in there should give you just enough room for the trans. The engine mounts are pretty easy to build, and if I remember correctly, someone even sells conversion mounts for the BB early A-bodies. There is no ready headers for this combo, but with a B-block like in most 383's there is room for at least log style factory exhaust manifolds, may need to modify the drivers side a bit, and maybe even cut the steering shaft housing in the engine bay a bit to get more room. Add a good radiator, and a strong enough rear axle, and you will have fun for years to come. 

[Gunnar]

Schumacher Creative have the motor mounts:

www.engine-swaps.com

/Gunnar

[sweatybetty]

not that hard. this is a 66 cuda with a 383, hipo manifolds and a 4 spd.........

[attachment deleted by admin]

[farmer_joe252]

does anyone have anymore pics of an early A with a shortdeck BB? i havnt really seen a good pic of a bb in an early A

[64ragtop]

does anyone have anymore pics of an early A with a shortdeck BB? i havnt really seen a good pic of a bb in an early A

I would be pretty surprised if Sweatybetty didn't have, or couldn't easily get those pics for ya!
'Course I do get surprised often when I presume to speak for others!
But nobody's thrown any old MOPAR starters at me lately!  Looks from that one pic that the
hipo rear exit manifolds might solve the steering box clearanceissues that come up with a small
block V8 in the '630-'66 A body cars.  Of course there still is the issue of the extra hundred pounds
over the wrong wheels....

[lilcuda]

What brand of clutch master cylinder is that? I want a hydraulic clutch linkage for my 66 Barracuda, but the Keilser set up won't work with Doug's headers, which I would like to run on my 340. I don't know if th TTI's will work with it or not. It's a lot of money to throw down without knowing if it will work or not.

Thanks,
Lee

1966 Barracuda, 340, 4 speed

[sweatybetty]

What brand of clutch master cylinder is that? I want a hydraulic clutch linkage for my 66 Barracuda, but the Keilser set up won't work with Doug's headers, which I would like to run on my 340. I don't know if th TTI's will work with it or not. It's a lot of money to throw down without knowing if it will work or not.

Thanks,
Lee

1966 Barracuda, 340, 4 speed

Lee, its a willwood. heres the slave

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WIL%2D260%2D3378&N=115&autoview=sku

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sweatybetty]

does anyone have anymore pics of an early A with a shortdeck BB? i havnt really seen a good pic of a bb in an early A

heres a couple more

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sweatybetty]

does anyone have anymore pics of an early A with a shortdeck BB? i havnt really seen a good pic of a bb in an early A

more.....

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sweatybetty]

What brand of clutch master cylinder is that? I want a hydraulic clutch linkage for my 66 Barracuda, but the Keilser set up won't work with Doug's headers, which I would like to run on my 340. I don't know if th TTI's will work with it or not. It's a lot of money to throw down without knowing if it will work or not.

Thanks,
Lee

1966 Barracuda, 340, 4 speed

[attachment deleted by admin]

[lilcuda]

Thanks for the photos & info on the Wilwood master cylinder, sweatybetty! I may buy the Keisler setup and substitute the Wilwood master cylinder. The Keisler setup uses the trick throwout bearing which eliminates the throwout fork. Or I'll see if they will sell me just the parts I need.

Lee

[Jim_Lusk]

Lee, welcome. I knew it had to be you when I saw the user name.

Here's an OLD pic of Lee's car (circa 1984, three years BEFORE Lee bought it).

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sweatybetty]

Thanks for the photos & info on the Wilwood master cylinder, sweatybetty! I may buy the Keisler setup and substitute the Wilwood master cylinder. The Keisler setup uses the trick throwout bearing which eliminates the throwout fork. Or I'll see if they will sell me just the parts I need.

Lee

glad to be of some help   boy i wish i could afford that damned throwout bearing!! cant justify it right now. but its the trick sh#$ though isnt it? i do think that the set up im using will work good though.

[sweatybetty]

does anyone have anymore pics of an early A with a shortdeck BB? i havnt really seen a good pic of a bb in an early A

I would be pretty surprised if Sweatybetty didn't have, or couldn't easily get those pics for ya!
'Course I do get surprised often when I presume to speak for others!
But nobody's thrown any old MOPAR starters at me lately!  Looks from that one pic that the
hipo rear exit manifolds might solve the steering box clearanceissues that come up with a small
block V8 in the '630-'66 A body cars.  Of course there still is the issue of the extra hundred pounds
over the wrong wheels....

that extra hundred pounds just makes a bit more of a challenge to get the fronts off the ground

[Jim_Lusk]

Lee, Is the Keisler throwout bearing just the McLeod part? I've thought about that for Jeff's Dart. I also know that some Dakotas used a hydraulic setup.

[64ragtop]

Lee, Is the Keisler throwout bearing just the McLeod part? I've thought about that for Jeff's Dart. I also know that some Dakotas used a hydraulic setup.

My '91 Dakota uses a similar hydraulic clutch setup!   

[lilcuda]

Lee, welcome. I knew it had to be you when I saw the user name.

Here's an OLD pic of Lee's car (circa 1984, three years BEFORE Lee bought it).

Thanks, Jim. Glad to have that old pic of the car. One of these days, I'll get a newer photo of it posted here. It's changed a bit since 1984, but miraculously, the paint still looks OK for a driver. It's now stored inside, so at least it won't deteriorate as fast. We had an extra wide and deep detached two car garage built last year (26 x 35). It shares the space with my '96 Z28. (Am I allowed to mention that here?)

Lee

[lilcuda]

Lee, Is the Keisler throwout bearing just the McLeod part? I've thought about that for Jeff's Dart. I also know that some Dakotas used a hydraulic setup.

I think it's different. The early Keisler setup had 2 lines going to it, one for pressure and one for bleeding. I think that was the McLeod part. The new one just has one line for pressure. My friend has it on his '64 Cuda. I don't have a photo of it on this computer, but here's a small photo from the Keisler website.

Lee

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Jim_Lusk]

Lee, around here it's always ok to mention brand-X or even an e-body as long as the members get to make fun of you for it............


(Sorry, I just had to, ya know the smartass in me........)

[lilcuda]

Lee, around here it's always ok to mention brand-X or even an e-body as long as the members get to make fun of you for it............


(Sorry, I just had to, ya know the smartass in me........)

That sounds fair enough. 

Lee

[lilcuda]

Thanks for the photos & info on the Wilwood master cylinder, sweatybetty! I may buy the Keisler setup and substitute the Wilwood master cylinder. The Keisler setup uses the trick throwout bearing which eliminates the throwout fork. Or I'll see if they will sell me just the parts I need.

Lee

glad to be of some help   boy i wish i could afford that damned throwout bearing!! cant justify it right now. but its the trick sh#$ though isnt it? i do think that the set up im using will work good though.

Hey sweatybetty, I've got another question for ya. I see that you used the existing spedometer cable hole in the firewall to mount your clutch master cyl. That hole is offset to the drivers side by about 3/4" compared to the original location of the clutch pushrod hole. How are you connecting the master cyl to the clutch pedal? Got a photo?

The reason I'm asking all these questions is because I'm trying to figure out an alternative to the Keisler master cylinder since the Doug's headers I want to buy will fry the Keisler setup. The header tubes are just too close. The Keisler setup mounts in the exact place that the clutch pushrod goes through the firewall.

Thanks for your help!

Lee

[sweatybetty]

Thanks for the photos & info on the Wilwood master cylinder, sweatybetty! I may buy the Keisler setup and substitute the Wilwood master cylinder. The Keisler setup uses the trick throwout bearing which eliminates the throwout fork. Or I'll see if they will sell me just the parts I need.

Lee

glad to be of some help   boy i wish i could afford that damned throwout bearing!! cant justify it right now. but its the trick sh#$ though isnt it? i do think that the set up im using will work good though.

Hey sweatybetty, I've got another question for ya. I see that you used the existing spedometer cable hole in the firewall to mount your clutch master cyl. That hole is offset to the drivers side by about 3/4" compared to the original location of the clutch pushrod hole. How are you connecting the master cyl to the clutch pedal? Got a photo?

The reason I'm asking all these questions is because I'm trying to figure out an alternative to the Keisler master cylinder since the Doug's headers I want to buy will fry the Keisler setup. The header tubes are just too close. The Keisler setup mounts in the exact place that the clutch pushrod goes through the firewall.

Thanks for your help!




Lee

Lee heres a pic of something i made but im not sure if its the final version. it will take the pressure allright but its not too pretty

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Jim_Lusk]

Looks great to me. You'll never see it with the dash together.

[lilcuda]

Yeah, it's not the prettiest, but it looks like it will work fine and you won't see it. It looks like you used part of the original clutch pushrod to attach to the pedal. Am I correct?

I have a friend who has a fab shop who's help I will enlist to make this all work. I also intend to have him do subframe connectors. His work is top-notch.

Thanks for all the photos, sweatybetty. They are worth at least a thousand words!

Lee

[sweatybetty]

  guys. if you need any more pics let me know.

[Charles]

Lee, its a willwood. heres the slave
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WIL%2D260%2D3378&N=115&autoview=sku

I'm also planning a hydraulic clutch setup with hyd. throwout bearing. I'm wondering why you elected to use the 1" bore MC instead of the 0.75"? From looking at the various Wilwood cylinders available I had the impression that the smaller one is intended for hydraulic clutches. The bigger bore will have considerably more pedal effort, and over a shorter travel (quicker engagement). Also couldn't it potentially destroy the throwout bearing seals from too much fluid movement overextending it?
 
thanks for any info
-Charles

[lilcuda]

Lee, its a willwood. heres the slave
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WIL%2D260%2D3378&N=115&autoview=sku

I'm also planning a hydraulic clutch setup with hyd. throwout bearing. I'm wondering why you elected to use the 1" bore MC instead of the 0.75"? From looking at the various Wilwood cylinders available I had the impression that the smaller one is intended for hydraulic clutches. The bigger bore will have considerably more pedal effort, and over a shorter travel (quicker engagement). Also couldn't it potentially destroy the throwout bearing seals from too much fluid movement overextending it?
 
thanks for any info
-Charles

This one has a 3/4" bore.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WIL%2D260%2D3374&N=400196+304660+115&autoview=sku

It's the same bore size as the Keisler MC, so it should work with their TO bearing.

Lee