hemi/545 fre swap. need help!

[jeff73]

Okay, I have a 2007 5.7 hemi and 545-rfe from a 2007 p/u. I'm trying to put it in a 1973 Plymouth Satellite. I have the motor mounts from tti to make is sit on the factory K member. The problem is the transmission. I know that I'm going to have to do some pretty significant work to the transmission tunnel. I really have no idea exactly how to do this and was wondering if anyone here has done this or knows of a site where I could see specifically how its done. This is a bit over my head. I have a couple of mechanic buddies who are gonna be helping me, but it'd be nice if I knew exactly what needed to be done to make it work.

 

[Darius]

I did this in a 1970 GTX. I don't know the difference body wise between the years but this will give you some good ideas how to go about it along with pics of the tunnel modification.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?1121-B-Body-stiffening

 

[5.7 hemi]

With the trans bolted to the engine, placer a 1x3 wood plank on top of the trans using tape. I'll tell ya why in a bit. Mount the engine to the k frame and start jacking the trans up into the tunnel until it hits. Get out the cut off wheel, air saw or plasma cutter, and start cutting a line in the middle of the tunnel from inside the car. Start from the pinch weld and go until you come to the 2nd console bracket, assuming you have a console car, if not, go about 18 inches.

Now from that cut, go down on either side about 6 inches and make a cut. You now have 3 lines. From the pinch weld, at the top, connect that cut to either side and also at the other end. Now peel it open like an orange.

Start jacking the trans up, making the opening larger if needed as you go. You will need to probably cut some of the torsion crossmember, and redo it to make the trans fit, also make a new trans mount or modify your factory piece.

Now for the wood, lol! When you patch the tunnel back together, that wood piece gives you some clearance to feed wires, air movement over the trans, and some room for fingers.

I did this to my 64 Polara 500 and it worked perfectly. If you need more help, just ask.

 

[jeff73]

thanks darius and 5.7hemi. exactly what I needed to know.

 

[jeff73]

one other thing, how did you close it up? I saw one guy had used square pipe that had been miter cut and welded to build a frame for the tunnel.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Well since the t bar crossmember has to be cut out, the hump, ya have to fab a new piece and burn it in. Then get some sheet metal and start forming a new tunnel.

 

[Darius]

We had to cut the cross member anyway to fab a different mount for the transmission so we used the "arced" top part and welded some extensions on to support the floor/hump. I closed the gap by cutting a paper template the cutting a piece of 18ga steel to match and welded that in. It is hard to see in the pics on my thread buy it is there if you kook beyond my lousy welds

 

[jeff73]

lol. much better than I could do for sure.

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[jeff73]

since you guys are so helpful I'm gonna keep asking questions. parts I have from the 07 ram: engine, tranny, ecu, drive by wire pedal, drive shaft, gas tank, radiator and shield. what parts can I use? I know the drive shaft will have to be cut and have bastard u-joints put on. the radiator needs to have the inlet/oulet on the passenger side, can I use the one off the truck or will I have to get a new one? same with the gas tank, can I use it? will I need to get a different pump? also, the steering has always been pretty loose. any suggestions on upgrades? lastly suspension, I'm not sure the weight difference between the old 318 and the 5.7 will I need to upgrade anything with that. thanks for all the help.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Wow!! That's a mouth full.....so let's get started.

Use the yoke on the drive shaft, then have a new one made.
Ditch the tank and radiator, neither will fit and your better off get aftermarket stuff that will fit and function in harmony with your build. I suppose the fuel pump could be used, but again, aftermarket stuff will be better.
Rebuild the suspension with quality parts, upgrade the steering box to a Firm Feel stage 2, thick front sway bar, good shocks, disc brakes, torsion bars, and your golden.
There is a slight difference in the weight, the 5.7 is just a tad heavier, depending on who you talk to, just a tad lighter, again, depends who ya talk to.

 

[Darius]

Look close at my entire thread, I used the radiator from my "donor" car (not a truck). It fit just fine but I did have to fab up a "fill" container as the stock one would not fit due to it's configuration. I had a custom drive shaft made and it cost $275. The 2 piece shaft was not going to work no matter what. I used a stock gas tank but fit the internals from the donor car tank into it. Dean actually performed this brain/micro surgery so I cannot even begin to explain how that came about. I recall reading about engine weight and my 5.7 is appx 70lbs lighter t5han the 440 it replaced, don't know about 318's

 

[jeff73]

well, thanks again Hemi 5.7 and darius. that should be enough to keep me busy hunting for a while. now to just come up with the $$$$$. I'm sure I'll have some more questions for you soon lol.

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well, just kidding. hemi5.7 you said to get a thicker sway bar. would 1 1/8" be sufficient? I'm really not sure how big the old one is. also, you said to rebuild suspension with quality parts... would this
http://www.p-s-t.com/s.nl/it.A/id.169/.f?sc=12 be something worth getting. sorry, I really wish I knew more about this. just trying to eek it out.

 

[5.7 hemi]

PST is a vendor on the forum, talk with James and tell him your goals, he can advise on what ya need. A 1 1/8 sway will work just fine, but you need to match all your components to get the best ride fo the buck.

 

[jeff73]

awesome. thanks

 

[kb67mopar]

Jeff,
Depending on your budget you can do some gas tank mods and fit another style pump. I cut up my tank and ran the pump from a 98 Durango w 318. The stock truck pump is unfortunately too tall to make fit otherwise. But as 5.7 said, tanks inc is probably the easiest route. For a radiator, probably the cheapest option is a Northern brand. I put one of these I found used on craigslist for $50 but it doesn't have a trans cooler in it, so you may need an auxiliary which might be already there with the truck parts. You could try to make the truck radiator fit but you will have to hack off some of the bracketry and make your own mounts for it. I just replaced the radiator in my Ram 2 nights ago so I have a pretty good feel for how its set-up and you will have to get creative to mount it nicely.