318 to 360 Swap 74 Satellite

[racedodge]

why does the inlet have to be on the passenger side ??? Im in the middle off the 318 to 440 swap now and just switched it to the drivers side so it will match my aluminum radiator..is there some issues im not for seeing ?? Thanks

rog, didnt mean for any confusion, it does not "have" to be on the passenger side, but I was stating that just so rusty (owns a 74 b body) would be able to make sure that the water pump housing inlet matched the outlet side on is current OE radiator in his car. I stated the above to ensure that he had the appropriate housing so it would be a direct fit to his current radiator.

 

[rog_allen]

rog, didnt mean for any confusion, it does not "have" to be on the passenger side, but i was stating that just so rusty (owns a 74 b body) would be able to make sure that the water pump housing inlet matched the outlet side on is current oe radiator in his car. I stated the above to ensure that he had the appropriate housing so it would be a direct fit to his current radiator.

ok thanks..had me scared for a bit ... Thought there was something i was over looking..

 

[rustycopcar]

could be worse. this is why i tell people not to just throw in junk yard motors. looks like im adding all new valves to the list. o well. Im not just throwing money at it im having fun with it. spent hours sand blasting all the random external parts that are going back on but im not sure what color scheme im going with. so the block is going to be cleaned and magged. balance everything. heads will be ported and once i decide on my intake setup and what not i will have everything matched. im also looking at roller everything.

 

[rustycopcar]

The new mounting hardware for the 318 to 440 swap. Schumacher Swap kit

 

[racedodge]

if you plan on porting the stock cast iron heads, you may want to fork out a little extra and just get aluminum heads that will flow better OTB, save weight, and allow for a higher compression piston while still using pump gas. just a thought.

 

[Altered64]

Cuz on the smallblock radiator he is using the inlet is on the pass side.

If its a motorhome engine the pump should have it on that side already!

Also i dont think u will be happy with that compression ratio they are pigs!
I swapped in one of those motors drove the car once and took it out the next day to put pistons in it.

 

[rustycopcar]

Status update. The 440 is still in the machine shop and will be at least 3-5 more weeks as this is off season and everybody and their brother is getting work done to their race engines. so im limping along with the 318 for now. i said screw it to the old ignition system after finding that the previous owner should have never touched the wiring on it. after 5 hours of stripping away black tape and undoing the mess not to mention the pos connectiors that dont have heat shrink to seal them. i rebuilt the alternator for $11 and had it tested 4 times to make sure it was good. i also replaced my voltage regulater to get the best i can out of it. next i got rid of that crap ballast resistor and made two jumper wires inplace of it. i rebuilt the carb its a measly 2barrel carter which is not the easiest to tune. I have a 6AL msd ignition and blaster 2 coil on the way. Also an edelbrock preformer intake which i plan on using for now and then selling once i get the new motor in. the carb i got for the new motor is an edlbrock 750 which i will have to majorly tune down to get it to work on the 318.
SO thats my story.
does anyone have any experience using such a hefty carb on a small block?
Jet sizes and metering?
Problems to avoid?
MSD setup problems or pointers? (it just looks to easy on the distructions)
Last but not least supsension pointers from the 318 to 440? I d like to get it done now so its ready to go when i put it in.

 

[rustycopcar]

as with many older copcars from what i have heard from many old cops you dont want to shut it off once its running. just keep it running and itll run forever provided u put gas in it. well that seems very true of this rusty old cop car. i have 3 ballast resistors that i have thrown in the glove box because i have two jumpers in place of them. i also replaced the starter relay due to the minnesota road cancer and utter failure. next in line of issues i have gone through an interstate battery from runing it down repeatedly. the battery i replaced that one with didnt like the cold here and bulged out like a baloon. so i got a napa battery and it has taken quite the same beating. after rebuilding the alternator and replacing the voltage regulator the charging system is great. back to the issue of hard starting once its warmed up. we figured that the carb needed some love so i rebuilt it for the heck of it. wasnt anything out of the ordinary and after tuning it fresh the car can lay down rubber again even with a tiny two barrel. i was shocked. i needed to get it home so i did. shut it down and immediatly try to start it no sir. wouldnt pump it with gas still no go. so i took off the air cleaner and verifyed that it was squirting gas into the intake. it was. hmmm... i checked the spark and something intersting happens. it only sparks once off the coil wire each time you turn the key. now thats weird. i was exhaused and fed up so i went to bed. next morning. gave it the regular 2 pumps cause its like 15 degrees out and vroom vroom it starts right up. it lags a little on acceleration around the block. i let it warm up for thirty min or so putting around scratching my head. take it home shut it down. try to start it. check fuel...its good still. check spark only one again IM GOING FREAKING CRAZY TONIGHT!!! let it cool replaced the ignition controll unit/module whatever the brand decided to call it. started right up like normal when cold. warmed it up 30min or so drove it around crossed my fingers got home shut it down sighed. tried to start it and NOPE! So i check for fuel. its good i could flood it if i pumped it enugh. check for spark. only one again. so i pop off the distributer cap look around. cap and roter are 3-4 mos new. went through the book again and it says to check out the magnetic pickup coil. im pretty sure thats my issue cause while looking at it the line or rust where it should do magnetic pickup doesnt look to reasurring. if this doesnt work im tearing all of it out busting out the beowulf and blasting 50cal holes through all of it. im so annoyed with it. anyone else have pickup issues or did i get lucky with a rusty one after 35+years?

 

[Ron 73]

Running with jumpers your constantly sending 12 volts to everything, they are there (ballast resister) to give you 12 volts to start the car and once started it takes it down to about 7 volts, Im mentioning this cause its possible the full 12 volts going to it might be over heating things. Could be that the pick up module is bad, If you replace that, i would replace the reluctor to, Make sure you put the new one in exactly like the old one is, you'll notice two slots for the pin in reluctor, one way is for a BB the other is for a SB,, I would check the coil as well once its shut down, see just how hot it is, just a couple things to check. Hope this helps some.

 

[rustycopcar]

its a new coil on there now and it wasnt too hot even after an hour driving. i will be sure to replace the reluctor along with the pickup these are parts that must be working in order for me to move forward. my msd ignition box and blaster 2 coil should arriving tomorrow so i will be tinkering with it in a few hours agian. ill update yall later.

 

[rustycopcar]

Heres a fun fact. and a hard lesson learned

:angryfire:
A faulty pickup coil and/or reluctor can cause difficult hot/warm starting or no start.

The old ones were probably original that said they were rusty dirty and had metal shavings on them from where over the years the rotor and distributer caps had been replaced and the pickup was probably not even looked at and the reluctor seemed fine so it was left. i have had hot starting/warm starting problems since i got the car. so i did what most of us on here would do. replace plugs, wires dist cap, coil, and rotor. still had issues. ive got 3 ballast resistors that once they get hot and im cranking forever id swap them out so they wouldnt get ruined from abuse. then i had charging issues that were a breeze to fix after peeling away a pound of tape. i still had hot start problems though. so i rebuilt the carb. tuned it and still had hot start issues. when it was running we set the timing. so i knew it was the right timing and i could visually see that it was getting fuel. i had already replaced everyghing...except the pickup coil and reluctor.

so when i took it apart this is what i got.


After installing the new coil pickup and reluctor and setting the gap with a brass feeler to the recommended setting. I could feel the difference in how it spins compared to the free spin of the old one.

 

[Ron 73]

I learned a lesson on these myself, i had the front of the engine tore down checking the timing, because someone said it jumped time, bought a new carb (needed it anyway), and it was these two devices all the time. At first i just put the module in and hit the key and away it went, then it wouldn't, thats when i took the distributor out and replaced the reluctor to, been working ever since.. A lot of folks don't think the reluctor gos bad, i learned they do and have talked to others, if they loose there magnetic property's, they may work one time and not the next, Got a good education though! I just wanted to mention the ballast resister, will get hot.. Glad your up and running again..

 

[Bruzilla]

well this is sad but i have learned about 360's a bit. the engine i was going to get is a no go. but i found a 440 and transmission from an old motorhome. Who wants to take a stab at what i would need to get that done?

I did the 318 to 440 swap in a 1973 Roadrunner back a few years ago, and there are some issues outside the basic install process. I had to have a muffler shop fabricate some custom connections to mate the manifolds to the 318's exhaust system. The shop that did the engine swap also had a driveshaft that fit as the original 318/727 shaft didn't work with the 440/727 combo.

The single biggest problem I had was cooling. With the 318 radiator, you're going to think your water pump failed because you'll see your temp guage climbing up like a rocket. I pulled a radiator out of a 383-equipped station wagon, and still had problems with overheating. I would suggest talking to a radiator specialist because you're going to need one.

Lastly, you're also going to need to redo your front suspension since the 440 is heavier than the 318. The car will be driveable, but handling on my car sucked until I upgraded the suspension up front.