1968 RV 383 & 727 what mods to fit in a 67 Charger

[Burnout68]

My pops has a 67 charger he wants to drop in a RV 383 & 727 he picked up cheap
Charger currently has a 318.
pulled valve covers on the RV motor and has 906 heads.
From what i researched oil pans & exhaust manifolds and also he would like to change intake from 2 to 4 barrel
Would that be a simple change since they are 906 heads( read some rv motors have heads with extra cooling passages) I know tail shaft and out put shaft will need to be switched on the 727.
Anyone have any info or specs on the 1968 383 RV motor not much info in them mostly see upper 70’s rv’s getting stripped.thank you in advance!

 

[dvw]

Is the current trans a 727? Small or big block makes no difference. You can swap the parts. If not any 66 and up 727. Keep the front planet that comes with the output shaft as the spline angles can change. If it doesnt have a windage tray add that when you swap the pan. I'd add headers. Now is the perfect time to swap the cam as I'm sure its a turd.
Doug

 

[Burnout68]

Is the current trans a 727? Small or big block makes no difference. You can swap the parts. If not any 66 and up 727. Keep the front planet that comes with the output shaft as the spline angles can change. If it doesnt have a windage tray add that when you swap the pan. I'd add headers. Now is the perfect time to swap the cam as I'm sure its a turd.
Doug

I’m not sure what tranny but he does have a extra 727 he can use.thanks for the tip much appreciated on the planetary gear. Was curious on the Cam as I always heard of people saying I put a RV cam in my motor, so wonder how god the cam could be? Wish I could find some specs on it with out tearing down
Also motor is red or orange not the turquoise I would of thought for 383
Motor, it supposedly had low mileage
Turns good and starts

 

[440Coronet500]

Google is your friend when looking up engine specifications! I built a 440 HP based on the specifications listed. 440'

 

[Burnout68]

Google is your friend when looking up engine specifications! I built a 440 HP based on the specifications listed. 440'

Yeah definitely have tried just don’t find much on a specific 1968 RV 383 motor, I’m guessing it has a truck oil pan and exhaust manifolds trying to figure out if I need to do anything different to swap intake to 4 barrel just not sure if these are typical 906 heads since it came out of an RV or they might have extra cooling passages from what I read possibly
Do I need to swap to a standard water pump?

 

[451Mopar]

My pops has a 67 charger he wants to drop in a RV 383 & 727 he picked up cheap
Charger currently has a 318.
pulled valve covers on the RV motor and has 906 heads.
From what i researched oil pans & exhaust manifolds and also he would like to change intake from 2 to 4 barrel
Would that be a simple change since they are 906 heads( read some rv motors have heads with extra cooling passages) I know tail shaft and out put shaft will need to be switched on the 727.
Anyone have any info or specs on the 1968 383 RV motor not much info in them mostly see upper 70’s rv’s getting stripped.thank you in advance!

On the engine, I think oil pan and dipstick (and tube?). The motor mounts are likely for a truck, so might need car mounts and engine bracket. Check the water pump lower inlet side, it may be passenger side vs. cars passenger side, but really only matters for the radiator outlet side.

727 transmissions are pretty interchangeable, but some truck and RV applications have different tailshaft (and matching output shaft) assemblies.
The governor shift points may be a bit lower than a car.

 

[Burnout68]

On the engine, I think oil pan and dipstick (and tube?). The motor mounts are likely for a truck, so might need car mounts and engine bracket. Check the water pump lower inlet side, it may be passenger side vs. cars passenger side, but really only matters for the radiator outlet side.

727 transmissions are pretty interchangeable, but some truck and RV applications have different tailshaft (and matching output shaft) assemblies.
The governor shift points may be a bit lower than a car.

it definitely had different motor mounts , and tranny has big drumb brake on tail shaft, oh yeah do remember now that you said that someone did mention the governor thanks much

 

[Kern Dog]

Many RV and motor home transmissions are similar inside but have external parts that don't work in cars. The drum brake setup won't clear the transmission tunnel. Some have a fixed yoke instead of the slip yoke. That requires a drive shaft that has what is called a "slip & spline" design like the front shafts in 4wd trucks have.
727s are easy to find. I'd search for a regular 727 instead of trying to make a weird RV transmission work.
The RV engines also usually have really low compression compared to car and truck engines. The pistons sit really low in the cylinder. Yeah, it is a 383 but you lose power at all rpm ranges with a 7 to 1 ratio when the Road Runner 383 made 10.5 to 1.

 

[Paul Secoy]

I'd almost bet in 68 it has basically the same engine my Newport has; a 906 headed, 9.2/1 compression (factory rated), 2bbl motor. Rated at 290 HP. I'm not sure of the cam specs on the 68 2bbl engines, but the earlier ones had a whopping .390 lift. Remember this is the lift based on a 1.5/1 ratio rocker arm, which I understand was usually a bit less, meaning the cam was even smaller, lol.

If it's healthy, I would do a small cam, intake and headers, and burn some rubber.

 

[451Mopar]

it definitely had different motor mounts , and tranny has big drumb brake on tail shaft, oh yeah do remember now that you said that someone did mention the governor thanks much

I think the drum brake is a parking brake. The engine likely has exhaust valve rotators (rotating valve spring retainers.)

 

[dvw]

Find a burned up 727 donor. Easy swap. The governor is already on the output shaft. Most are low rpm anyway. If you get that far I can show you how to modify the governor for higher shift.
Doug

 

[Burnout68]

I'd almost bet in 68 it has basically the same engine my Newport has; a 906 headed, 9.2/1 compression (factory rated), 2bbl motor. Rated at 290 HP. I'm not sure of the cam specs on the 68 2bbl engines, but the earlier ones had a whopping .390 lift. Remember this is the lift based on a 1.5/1 ratio rocker arm, which I understand was usually a bit less, meaning the cam was even smaller, lol.

If it's healthy, I would do a small cam, intake and headers, and burn some rubber.

That was the best I could come up with also for specs as far as compression & horsepower, thanks for the info will look into the cam some more planning on the other stuff also!

I think the drum brake is a parking brake. The engine likely has exhaust valve rotators (rotating valve spring retainers.)

What are rotating valve retainers will that be an issue? Didn’t see anything different when pulled cover but didn’t really look that good just got casting number

Find a burned up 727 donor. Easy swap. The governor is already on the output shaft. Most are low rpm anyway. If you get that far I can show you how to modify the governor for higher shift.
Doug

that’s the plan so far and definitely will take you up on that governor lesson when we get to that point much appreciated!

 

[dvw]

Rotators are thick retainers to cause the exhaust valves. There fine unless you make a cam swap. Then it's time for springs and retainers.
Doug

 

[mopar 3 B]

RV engine is kind of a broad term. RV's come in all kinds of sizes, shapes and are not created equal.

 

[Kern Dog]

Kind of makes a guy wonder how an "RV cam" would get it's name...

 

[mopar 3 B]

Especially when sum manufactures were known to install what ever they could get their hands on and make it fit.

 

[wyrmrider]

B = 1.932 compression height "theoretical" to achieve 0.00 piston to deck clearance with a true blue print 9.98" B/ crank centerline to deck height with the ROD LENGTH B = 6.358 B rods.
squared the block for a height of 9.963"


The compression height for 68-69 10:1 piston is 1.932 or 1.934 depending on who is measuring. They had a positive deck height Those are no longer available except from Ross Diamond etc NHRA Blueprint spec of .021" above the deck
.0025-.003 in the hole... stock 10:1 piston Most 383s need a serious decking to get to blueprint deck height.
Today's rebuilder piston is 1.848
kb hyper 1.908
Speed Pro L2315F pistons come with a 1.920" piston compression height
Most likely you have the stock low compression 383 piston
but you could also have an even lower truck/ industrial/ marine piston
so post up the compression test
no matter what you are going to have to run a really short duration cam