69 Charger 5.7 swap

[darkgeneral]

OK, ladies and Gentelmen I am sure this question has been asked a million times already, but I am new to this site and Mopar cars altogether. ( I played with Chevy before this. ) Anyway. I recently purchased a rough 69 Charger with a locked 440 and questionable 727. I went ahead a bought a 5.7 with harness, no computer out of a 06 Chrysler 300 unsure of what transmission is behind it. It is an automatic and has 1 electrical plug on the RH side. I have a lot of questions begining with what is the transmission and can it be used in the Charger. I believe it is a 5 speed? With no VSS, I am going to assume that I would have to swap in a Ram rear end that has a VSS for signal? Then change to a digital instrument cluster to read the electrical speed? What can I do with the harness I have? It is the main engine and transmission with nothing else. Would I be better off with an aftermarket harness and computer or find a junkyard computer and try to find a way to "trick" it? I know TTI has mounts and I will have to change radiators plus have a drive shaft made. any dirrection would be helpful. I am trying not to have this car cost more than my house as I like sleeping in my house:icon_lol:!

 

[WAYNES WORLD]

It would help if you posted a few pictures of what you have so we could tell what trans you have. There are ways to convert the VSS signal to drive a mech speedo but it's not cheap. You need to find out the year of your motor as not all years take the same harness or computor. FABO the sister site to this form has a lot of the GenIII hemi swap stuff posted and most of the information regarding the running of the motor and trans is the same for the B body too.
Wayne

 

[5.7 hemi]

The "truck" trans has an electronic vss, no need to swap the rear end. Any small block trans will bolt up to the hemi. The trans currently hooked to the hemi from the 300c is a nag1 and there is a stand alone controller for it now, but pricey. Easiest way to go is to call hotwireauto.com, talk to Chris, he can set you up with a harness, but will need to know what trans (nag1, 545rfe truck, 904, 727, or manual) and he can reflash your computer also. The harness alone is 1k so be prepared.

 

[lxmodguy]

The standalone for the nag1 is over 2k. I have to tell you though. They generally hold up to about 700 flywheel horsepower in stock form. They are one of the best transmissions out there.....period. They can be built to be damn near unbreakable

 

[Modern Muscle]

OK, ladies and Gentelmen I am sure this question has been asked a million times already, but I am new to this site and Mopar cars altogether. ( I played with Chevy before this. ) Anyway. I recently purchased a rough 69 Charger with a locked 440 and questionable 727. I went ahead a bought a 5.7 with harness, no computer out of a 06 Chrysler 300 unsure of what transmission is behind it. It is an automatic and has 1 electrical plug on the RH side. I have a lot of questions begining with what is the transmission and can it be used in the Charger. I believe it is a 5 speed? With no VSS, I am going to assume that I would have to swap in a Ram rear end that has a VSS for signal? Then change to a digital instrument cluster to read the electrical speed? What can I do with the harness I have? It is the main engine and transmission with nothing else. Would I be better off with an aftermarket harness and computer or find a junkyard computer and try to find a way to "trick" it? I know TTI has mounts and I will have to change radiators plus have a drive shaft made. any dirrection would be helpful. I am trying not to have this car cost more than my house as I like sleeping in my house:icon_lol:!

Give us a call and we can help point you in the right direction and or get you what you need.

 

[darkgeneral]

I would like to stay with a more modern transmission to help fuel milage and not run an old 727 3 speed. It sounds to me that I sould ditch the nag1 and find a truck transmission then. If I have the factory harness why can't I get a stand alone computer that will look only for what it is told instead of buying a whole new harness and computer for 2k? Any ideas on what a nag1 one is worth?

 

[Darius]

I have a 5.7 driving a Nag1 in my 70 GTX. I used the factory harness for everything BUT the transmission. I bought the stand alone TCM that lxmodguy is talking about. So far it is working out, just getting through the inevitable tweaks . If you go this route and keep an 8 3/4 rear you will need to have a drive shaft with a slip yoke made (cost me $270). You will have to turn a mount plate for the slip yoke AND the tone ring you get with the stand alone TCM as the tone ring mounts to the tail end out of the transmission. I will have pics of this later today perhaps. At this point the car runs and drives, we just have to dial in a few parameters and retune the engine through the Trinity tuner to delete the aft o2 sensors and ABS inputs. It is pricey but it is a good solution.
Talk to lxmodguy!

 

[darkgeneral]

Did you switch to a digital dash to read speedometer or VSS. That is GREAT and very uplifting!!!!:headbang:

 

[Darius]

I used the entire dash including the instrument panel from the Charger.
Here is a link to the entire build right here on FBBO
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?1121-B-Body-stiffening

 

[darkgeneral]

I am almost done with the body prep work and getting ready to try dropping the Hemi in. If I move foward with the NAG1 will it clear the transmission tunnel or will I have to modify it also? What are you using for the transmission crossmember?

 

[kb67mopar]

I don't believe the transmission fits. Almost nothing fits easily under that tunnel that is a modern transmission. Darius probably has plenty of pics in his build thread (forgive me darius, its been a while since I traversed the whole thing). If you want easy and cheap you may be in the wrong car brand :iamwithstupid: But there are solutions out there. The NAG1 is not cheap but is a very good transmission. If you go with the Ram trans its cheaper to get up and running but also requires cutting up the tunnel, the purchase price of the trans etc. All of these will require you to do some fabrication, floor, cross member, driveshaft for your application.

Another option is the manual transmission route and pick one of the modern 5 speeds but those are going to cost you too. If you want a modern transmission then you will be paying to make it work and fit.

 

[Darius]

Yes, my thread has several pics of the tunnel and cross member modification. The hump was easy. Dean did the cross member and new transmission mount. i cannot remember which page of the build thread it is on though try page 5 as a starting point. I have some others if you need some just PM me.

- - - Updated - - -

Did you switch to a digital dash to read speedometer or VSS. That is GREAT and very uplifting!!!!:headbang:

You need to revisit my thread and see where this thing has gone.

 

[darkgeneral]

Damn I was hoping not to cut up the tunnel. I really don't like the idea of a 727 and three speeds. At this point I may just stay with a good ol 440/727 and live with 8 mpg. The Hemi sounds nice, but I don't think I can swing the cash side of it.:icon_sad:

 

[5.7 hemi]

Stay with the 727, and put a gear vendors on, now you have a 6 speed auto.

 

[kb67mopar]

Damn I was hoping not to cut up the tunnel. I really don't like the idea of a 727 and three speeds. At this point I may just stay with a good ol 440/727 and live with 8 mpg. The Hemi sounds nice, but I don't think I can swing the cash side of it.:icon_sad:

If you were going to stick with a 440 and 727 why not run the 5.7 and 727? Then you could get better mpg and not cut the tunnel? Just run a carb to keep the kick down setup easy.

 

[darkgeneral]

I wasn't sure what the PMG would be with the 727 and I HATE carberators. That was my main goal MPG and relabilaty. I did see that Classic Industries is offering a 4L60 or 4L80 don't remember with an adaptor which would give me 4 speeds, but will be cross breading and still think they are also too big to set in the tunnel.

 

[lxmodguy]

I ran a 4l80 in my car with an adapter. You can run the holley EFI and control everything with one computer.

 

[kb67mopar]

I wasn't sure what the PMG would be with the 727 and I HATE carberators. That was my main goal MPG and relabilaty. I did see that Classic Industries is offering a 4L60 or 4L80 don't remember with an adaptor which would give me 4 speeds, but will be cross breading and still think they are also too big to set in the tunnel.

I don't know off hand but I know guys have said that even with the 727 they are getting much better fuel economy than a big block or even small block. It would help not to be spinning it at 3500 rpm though. In my Ram pulling my Coronet with it running 2000 rpm at 70 mph I get 12 mpg....so I have to imagine with less than half the weight at 2000-2500 rpm you'd still pull mid teens easy.

I'm hoping for low to mid 20's with the Coronet when its finished but I am running a manual transmission from a Dodge Dakota behind it and a 2.94 rear end