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Engine Swap Tips

Bruzilla

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I finally got the 440/727 into my 74 Roadrunner this past weekend, and man... Mrs. Bruzilla's little boy is hurting today! That's definitely a job for the younger crowd and I'm glad my son was there to help me. :)

The car was originally a 318/904 car, and I used the Schumacher Engineering A73B8 engine swap kit. I followed the instructions provided, and the modification of the small block K member is pretty straightforward and not very hard to do. The rest of the process does require some advance warning. :)

1. The Schumacher Engineering website mentions a lot of different oil pans. For 71-74 cars, the site "recommends" the use of the 971 oil pan. To me, "recommends" means we think this is best, but there are alternatives, like the 699 pan that was on the engine I was using. I wanted to verify if a 699 pan would work, so I checked with Schumacher and a guy named Mike told me a 971 pan is the only pan that will work without modifying it. Mike told me their website was pretty clear on this, and I told him "we recommend..." is a long ways from "this is the only pan that will work...". :) So bottom line, get yourself a 971 pan.

2. I had the engine fully mocked up before the install to see what needed to be removed prior to installation. We ended up having to remove the valve covers, driver's side header, and power steering pump. The passenger-side header and alternator were no issues.

3. Invest in a good engine lift. You need quite a bit of range to get the engine all the way in, and I was glad I had a very large lift to get it where it needed to go. I bought mine on Craigslist for $100, and I'm sure I'll be able to sell it to someone else once all this craziness is over.

4. I started this effort by myself, so I tied a length of rope to the end of the transmission. The rope went through the crossmember that holds the torsion bars and then back out to the front of the car, under the suspension and back to me. This rope allowed me to pull the end of the transmission upwards and get it into the crossmember without needing any second set of hands.

5. I went out and bought a new Grade 8 bolt for the passenger side mount. The one that comes with the kit fits, but when you're lowering the mount to the K member there isn't much room to fit the K member between the washers. Using a bolt that is an inch longer gave me a little wiggle room to get the mount into position correctly the first time.

All in all, this effort took about three hours to complete.
 
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The way the engine was going in, the driver's side valve cover was hitting the brake booster and the left was hanging up on a valve for the air conditioning on the firewall. The valve covers fit fine once the engine was dropped down into the mounts.
 
Three hours with headers. That's a good time. With the K member out I raised the car and installed the drive train and suspension from underneath, took longer than 3 hours. Congrats.
 
The way the engine was going in, the driver's side valve cover was hitting the brake booster and the left was hanging up on a valve for the air conditioning on the firewall. The valve covers fit fine once the engine was dropped down into the mounts.
Hum, must be a 73-4 thing.
3 hours is pretty good for someone that doesn't do this much. Which pan did you end up using? Aren't the 699 and the 971 pretty much the same size and shape?
 
BTW, they were the Mopar Performance black valve covers, which are taller than the stock ones.

Looking at the 699 pan compared to the 971, they are dang near the same, but the guy at Schumacher said the 971 is the only pan that will work without modifications, so I got a 971 off ebay.

Spent some time today getting the driver's side header on. I had to remove the mounting studs, dip stick, and starter and bring it up from the bottom. I also had to alter the Hedman design a bit with a hammer to get some extra clearance due to the steering box. :)
 
"Alter with a hammer" - sounds like many of my early (teenage years) attempts at auto repair...I have the Schumacher kit to drop a 440/727 into my '69 318/904 Sport Satellite - did this once before with a 400/727 - stock exhaust though.

At my age, any car repair that is done in three hours is a step in the right direction!
 
Bruzilla, any pictures?
 
"Alter with a hammer" - sounds like many of my early (teenage years) attempts at auto repair...I have the Schumacher kit to drop a 440/727 into my '69 318/904 Sport Satellite - did this once before with a 400/727 - stock exhaust though.

At my age, any car repair that is done in three hours is a step in the right direction!

Brother... I hear ya! There's something to be said for being the guy laying under the car muscling the engine into place... you at least get to lay down through most of the process. :)

And I gotta say... being able to treat this car as a driver, and not a resto or show car, is sooooooo liberating. :) It does feel like it's back to the early 80s. :) Instead of "well, I'm going to have to cut this header, fab a new piece of tube, weld it in, grind it, and then repaint it to get an extra 1/4" of clearance" it's "Chris, hand me that hammer!" :)
 
I wonder what "modifications" are necessary to other oil pans, especially one that looks visually identical to the "recommended" one.

Lots of big blocks also have the venerable 402 pan.

I understand the 971 pan is desired for BB A body applications.


How did the passenger side inner fender come in to play?

I've been interested for quite a while on this topic.

Do headers (and if so which specific brand and model) negate the need to cut the sheet metal like the factory did for big block exhaust clearance.
 
I used the Hedman 78070, these guys...

hed-78070_xl.jpg


That are made for the 71-74 B bodies. There was zero problems on the passenger side, and with the engine bolted in there's about a 1/4", maybe a little more, gap between the headers and the inner fender.
 
I always pull the Torsion Bar Crossmember on 73 - 74 B's . Makes it easier at least to me .
 
Yeah, it's presence did make the process a bit more tedious as you need someone under the car lifting the trans tail to get it over the crossmember as someone else is pushing and lowering the engine. :(
 
pics?
 
I'll get some this weekend. I'm too busy doing stuff to photograph stuff. :)
 
Mr. "B", when you installed the K member, did you use the rubber insulators? If so, on the rear ones, did you use shims to correct for the proper height and how many for what thickness? I changed my rubber out for poly and did not know about the shims that were to be used on the back until today. In my manual, page 2-27, it says I need them.
 
I feel your pain cause I just did the same thing in my 73 roadrunner and had a heck of a time and pulled the motor back out multiple times before I got everything figured out
 
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