73 charger 318 to 440 swap

[thudak]

Picked up a 73 charger SE a few months ago and am in the middle of an engine swap.
It had the stock 318, and i am putting in a 440 that i am not sure what it came out of...guy told me it was a 78 is all the info i have of it.

I am having troublefinding headers that are compatible with power steering. Suggestions on type and brand?

Also, i was able to get an axle from an 81 dodge truck equipped with sure grip. My question for the axle is what size wheels should i get to fill up the wheel well? I Know the axle is about 1 inch wider so what back spacing and width do i need? Dont want to go through the trouble of ordering then getting the wrong size and have to ship them back and wait longer.

 

[thudak]

Old axle

 

[thudak]

New axle

 

[thudak]

440

 

[WP29440SE]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hed-78030/overview/year/1974/make/dodge/model/charger

 

[1ol74charger4me]

BTW you are posting in the parts for sale forum.:icon_mrgreenersonally I would sell the truck rear and buy a 8 3/4 made for the car to go in it. Actually I would try to source a E body rear which is 1" narrower if you can. That truck rear is not any stronger and you will be buying a set of wheels anyways. Less headaches and there are plenty with motor swaps to go around. If you are dead set on running that rear, put it in and measure from the front of the drum to the first point inside the fenderwell that will contact the tire on the rim. Deduct 1/4" for crazy close or 1/2" for maximum safe and there is your offset. Or you can gamble with the accepted statement that a 73-4 Charger with stock rear will hold a 5" backspace and add 1" for your wider rear which will be one oddball rim with 6" backspace. Looks like you have a RV motor there which you will need to check oilpan clearance on and a potential bracket and pulley nightmare to get it to fit. Post the number on the pan here to see if it will fit.

 

[WP29440SE]

if you are going to use that rear end, you REALLY need to get it bolted up and functional before you go ordering any wheels. you really should be measuring everything after its in to get an accurate backspace ETC. I wouldn't dream of spending any money on wheels until you know exactly what you are dealing with. I will tell you now that I can fit a 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 backspace on my 74 with the factory rear end. judging by the distance of the perches from the backing plates, from one to another , you have some work to do. that truck rear appears to be wider than 1 " from the other one.

 

[thudak]

Having trouble with the motor mounts, the ones that came with the engine are made for an rv and make the block sit way too high in the engine bay... I need to know what I can do to mount it, because the mounts that they sell now are not compatible with my block...
I was thinking I could just cut and weld the big mounts to fit the car, just curious as to all your thoughts on the matter

 

[Bb70charger500]

Put a few pics up of the factory mounts and the k frame so I can see what style you have I may have an extra set of bisket mounts if that's what you have but in 73 I think it's spool style mounts

 

[Cranky]

And are you going to cut off the old spring pads for the truck setup and weld new ones on the bottom of the tubes for the car? Like mentioned before, hunt down an E body housing. Shouldn't be too hard to find one since so many pulled them out for a B body rear since they are 2" shorter than the E body axle.....

 

[thudak]

This is the original motor mounts for the 440, the mounts for the 318 are the same, only much shorter

 

[73RedRunner]

Having trouble with the motor mounts, the ones that came with the engine are made for an rv and make the block sit way too high in the engine bay... I need to know what I can do to mount it, because the mounts that they sell now are not compatible with my block...
I was thinking I could just cut and weld the big mounts to fit the car, just curious as to all your thoughts on the matter

Hello thudak,

Schumacher makes engine mounts for the small block to big block swap like you are doing. Check on the web, you can buy them from several sources.

 

[rusty70cuda]

to have a factory correct swap you would have to change the engine crossmember to a big block one as they are different. on a big block crossmember the mounts are further back on the crossmember. Then you need to find a 971 oil pan to match the bb crossmember. I have never used a Schumacher set of mounts before they are a good alternative to a factory install I would suspect.

 

[thudak]

Almost done!!! Just having trouble with the headers getting in the way where the trans shifter is supposed to connect to the car. I installed Hedman long tube headers if that matters with this issue

 

[Bb70charger500]

Just find a set of h.p. manifolds there just as good as headers and fit much better
And yeah spool mount your best bet if you haven't gotten it fix yet is the 318 to 440 conversion kit as stated above makes life easyer or just get the bb k frame good luck