New here — anyone running a Gen 3 HEMI with an 8HP in a B-Body?

[8hpswaps]

Hey guys,

New to the forum—been spending more time around the older Mopar builds lately and wanted to jump in and see what everyone’s doing when it comes to transmission choices behind Gen 3 HEMIs.

I’ve seen a lot of great builds running the usual setups—727s, 518s, even some manual conversions—but I haven’t seen as much discussion around the newer ZF 8HP transmissions in these cars.

In the newer Challengers/Chargers, the 8HP paired with a Gen 3 HEMI is hard to beat. The shift quality, drivability, and overall refinement are on a completely different level compared to most older setups.

The question I’ve been thinking about is how well that translates into the older B-body world.

I’m involved with a shop called Bruiser Conversions, We’ve traditionally spent a lot of time working with LS/LT platforms and 8HP swaps, but lately we’ve been shifting more focus toward the Gen 3 HEMI side as well—especially since that combination already works so well from the factory. A big part of that has been trying to retain the OEM behavior of the transmission rather than just making it “work.”

Not here to sell anything, just genuinely curious:

• Has anyone here run (or considered running) an 8HP behind a Gen 3 HEMI in a classic Mopar?
• What are you guys using for control when stepping outside of factory platforms?
• Do you think something like an 8-speed even fits the character of a B-body build, or does it take away from it?

I know part of the appeal with these cars is keeping things period-correct, but at the same time, modern drivability is hard to ignore—especially if the goal is to actually drive them.

Would be interested to hear what direction people are going and why

 

[PLUM72]

Over on You Tube, look up Luke's Garage. He has a series of videos where he adds a 392/8HP70 into a 69 Charger. The series is well done and gives you a good idea of what's involved. There are a number of ways and different products that can be used to do the swap. He seemed to have good results. I am doing a 392/8HP70 in an e-body. Its a little different but I used alot of the same products used in the Luke's Garge videos. I am not quite finished, but real close and so far so good. I used the Mopar crate wiring and controller. For the 8HP70, the Sound German Automotive controller.

 

[8hpswaps]

Sounds like you’re on a similar path with the Mopar crate setup and the Sound German controller, and that seems to be a pretty common route right now. Glad to hear it’s coming together well for you.

That’s actually what got us digging into this a bit deeper—the fact that there are a lot of ways to make the 8HP work, but they all tend to involve layering controllers or adapting things to talk to each other.

We’ve developed a system that runs on the factory controller without needing the ABS, stereo, dash cluster or BCM information to make it function. The goal was to keep true OEM-style control and drivability without relying on extra modules or unnecessary factory components that usually complicate these swaps.


Definitely interested to hear how yours feels once it’s fully sorted, especially in normal driving. That seems to be where the biggest differences show up between the different approaches

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Welcome to FBBO!

 

[ckessel]

Welcome from the central coast of Ca.

 

[Budnicks]

Welcome to FBBO from NorCal Sierras

maybe look over in the "New Hemi Engine Swap' forum here,
in the classic MoPar Tech section, it is probably covered there already

good luck

 

[erickson]

It’s in I still have a lot of work to do

 

[69Bee]

Welcome from Az...

 

[polywideblock]

G, day from Australia

 

[68sprtsat383]

Welcome

 

[Photon440]

 

[Dennis H]

Yep. Welcome. A hole the size of the rock in post 5.

 

[chargervert]

If you are only looking to achieve 8 hp,that should be attainable, lol Welcome to the site!

 

[8hpswaps]

Quick shop update on our ’68 Charger build.

This one is getting a Hellcat engine paired with a ZF 8HP90 transmission, all running on our OEM-style harness controlled through the GPEC2A ECU.

Up front, we’re adding a QA1 front cradle, Wilwood brakes, and Viking springs and shocks to bring the chassis, suspension, and stopping power up to match the modern drivetrain.

The focus is clean factory integration proper communication, OEM-style transmission control, torque management, and drivability without needing a standalone transmission controller.

Classic Mopar body, modern Hellcat power, 8-speed performance, upgraded suspension and braking, all tied together with factory-based control.

More to come as we dive deeper into this build and start bringing all the pieces together.