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/6 to 360 swap 1980 truck

DodgeLad

DodgeLad

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Albuquerque NM
I have located a 2bbl LA 360 and A727 trans. What do I need to drop this combo into my truck? Concerns?

Forgive me I'm sure this question has been asked many times before. But any help is appreciated.
 
It sounds like you haven't gotten the 360 or the transmission yet . If it's coming out of another truck then make sure you get the motor mount brackets , all the accessories and brackets for the alternator , power steering and such . As well as the exhaust manifolds . Also your going to need a drive shaft for the 727 . I assume your current drivetrain is a 225 ( slant six ) with an automatic ( 904 ) ? Are both your truck and the truck that the motor and trans is coming out of the same size bed ? If so then the drive shaft out of the donor truck will work .
 
Also , you should grab the throttle linkage with the kick down for the transmission . Your probably going to need the radiator and shroud for the 360 as well .
 
Thank you a lot bear. Never considered all that. I need to look into this motor/trans more. My current drivetrain is 225/727
 
It's really not that bad of a swap . You just have to make sure you have everything for it before you start . Now would be the time to think about what if anything your going to change on the 360 . Like possibly running headers instead of manifolds and maybe swapping out the 2 bbl. to a 4 bbl. . Stuff like that . Is the donor motor and trans out of another truck ?
 
Did this swap a number of years ago taking everything from a doner vehicle that was going to salvage. Had everything needed except for new fluid's, belts and filters. Plus was able to make upgrades to other systems in the process. Strange thing is the truck keeps evolving every time I find another with newer parts.
 
Yeah , I've always preferred going with parts vehicles to . You never know what might find for your own ride that you either wanted or didn't think of . I think of it as hidden bonus's .
 
i wish i had a parts truck for my build i bought someones project that they partially disassembled and lost stuff for and replaced stuff with things that would of never worked with it like the wiring harness was from a chevy and I'm still trying to get interior parts and get the wiring straightened out completely along with replacing the hockey puck lift kit lol
 
What are you working on "ohiocowboy" ?
 
my 78 w200 I've had it for about 8 years now drove it off and on but been sitting a couple years now because I got tired of it not being being right . the previous owner started to tear it down then lost a bunch of stuff for it and lost interest so he put back together what he did still have for it and i bought it . I can't complain because the body is solid only has a small hole in the drivers side rocker panel but wow was the electrical a nightmare . still slowly gathering parts for it as i find them
 
ohiocowboy1277 said:
my 78 w200 I've had it for about 8 years now drove it off and on but been sitting a couple years now because I got tired of it not being being right . the previous owner started to tear it down then lost a bunch of stuff for it and lost interest so he put back together what he did still have for it and i bought it . I can't complain because the body is solid only has a small hole in the drivers side rocker panel but wow was the electrical a nightmare . still slowly gathering parts for it as i find them
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BOY , I can relate to all of what you've been going threw especially the electrical part . You wouldn't believe what I've found over the years . I'm going threw the electrical on my Warlock as we speak . I just got my instrument cluster back in yesterday after rewiring the alternator gauge . The gauge was burnt and there was a mess of but connectors and different gauge wires going to and from it . Then I started on the engine harness . So far I've found "more" butt connectors , spliced in and bare wires and some wires that aren't even supposed to be there . To give you an idea . He spliced into the wire that's supposed to be the input for the gauge and went right to the starter relay and left it exposed . The output wire that comes out of the gauge and is supposed to be the one that sends the charge to the battery is also cut and he added another piece of wire that's about three quarters the size of what it's supposed to be . Can you say " A fire waiting to happen " ? I'm hoping to get most of it done today . I've been doing these old Mopars for a while and I could give you a few more stories that would either make you laugh or say what the bleep . So if you find that you have any questions please feel free and post up any question you might have .
 
bear said:
BOY , I can relate to all of what you've been going threw especially the electrical part . You wouldn't believe what I've found over the years . I'm going threw the electrical on my Warlock as we speak . I just got my instrument cluster back in yesterday after rewiring the alternator gauge . The gauge was burnt and there was a mess of but connectors and different gauge wires going to and from it . Then I started on the engine harness . So far I've found "more" butt connectors , spliced in and bare wires and some wires that aren't even supposed to be there . To give you an idea . He spliced into the wire that's supposed to be the input for the gauge and went right to the starter relay and left it exposed . The output wire that comes out of the gauge and is supposed to be the one that sends the charge to the battery is also cut and he added another piece of wire that's about three quarters the size of what it's supposed to be . Can you say " A fire waiting to happen " ? I'm hoping to get most of it done today . I've been doing these old Mopars for a while and I could give you a few more stories that would either make you laugh or say what the bleep . So if you find that you have any questions please feel free and post up any question you might have .
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I know what you mean mine had a chevy harness complete with scotch locks and cut bare wires and not to mention the hockey puck lift and missing parts and telephone wire to power the tail lights but it will get sorted out atleast its solid
 
lol ! I "wish" I could say I was surprised but I've seen all that and more in some of the cars and trucks I've worked on . Funny story . A guy came in to my yard one day driving a bright yellow 70 coronet with a 440 in it . He said that he had been asking around who could he send his car to , to make it go fast and do any other work that he wanted done and pretty much everybody said to send it over to me . So here he was . So I asked him about the car and found out he had just bought it about three months ago and it's pretty fast but he's going to want to race it as well as show it . But the first thing that he wanted to change was to put all the factory switch's back in . I hadn't walked over to the car yet so I just kind of looked at him oddly and asked , what's in there now ? He said all toggles . I went over to look at the car and sure enough every switch had been replace with toggles and even the ignition switch was a push button . I slid under the dash to have a look and when I came out I asked him to lift off the glass hood so I can have a look there as well . So we did and what I found was that every single wire in the car from front to rear was yellow to match the body . The only two wires that wasn't yellow was the Pos. and the Neg. coming off the battery . They were both black with yellow covers . Sound like a fun job ? lol
 
Ive got an 85 ramcharger w/ 318 a904 that I want to put a slantsix in instead. what do you plan to do with yours? is it running? and I would need p/s and a/c brackets and motor mounts if you were interested in selling the motor and tranny let me know.
 
bear said:
lol ! I "wish" I could say I was surprised but I've seen all that and more in some of the cars and trucks I've worked on . Funny story . A guy came in to my yard one day driving a bright yellow 70 coronet with a 440 in it . He said that he had been asking around who could he send his car to , to make it go fast and do any other work that he wanted done and pretty much everybody said to send it over to me . So here he was . So I asked him about the car and found out he had just bought it about three months ago and it's pretty fast but he's going to want to race it as well as show it . But the first thing that he wanted to change was to put all the factory switch's back in . I hadn't walked over to the car yet so I just kind of looked at him oddly and asked , what's in there now ? He said all toggles . I went over to look at the car and sure enough every switch had been replace with toggles and even the ignition switch was a push button . I slid under the dash to have a look and when I came out I asked him to lift off the glass hood so I can have a look there as well . So we did and what I found was that every single wire in the car from front to rear was yellow to match the body . The only two wires that wasn't yellow was the Pos. and the Neg. coming off the battery . They were both black with yellow covers . Sound like a fun job ? lol
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I've been there unfortunately lol I've done some work on semis before and freightliner likes using yellow or white wire only in the dash imagine one that had a fire in the center behind the radio and you have yellow wires in harnesses about 3in in diameter . thousands of yellow wires with little printed codes on the insulation to tell you where they go i had a headache for a week figuring that one out
 
Nothing I hate worse than when people repair or "improve" something by hacking it to pieces or taking a cutting torch to it. I've make scads of changes to my bikes to make them better suit my personal needs, but seldom is the time when it can't all be reversed to its original state. And I never toss anything I take off. Better yet is the ones that have everything all tore apart, parts chopped up, welded, torched and bent, and then they either run out of money or lose interest when it didn't all come together quickly enough. And the worst one then scrap the vehicle in question, taking one that was restorable and instead sending it to the crusher.
 
it happens way too much with the old stuff unfortunately . i have a few projects in the works and was having money issues so had to stop with them but I'm not one for crazy modifications either so if i was ever to sell them anything I've done could easily be undone and much like you i have the stuff to put it back to original with the exception of my w200 which was missing parts from the beginning. I basically built the wiring harness under the hood for it to get it running but it looks nice not hacked up everywhere it fits better than factory and is routed so it won't rub through on anything ever . I like looking everything over and seeing what needs fixed or improved 1st for safety and reliability, things like electrical brakes steering and suspension are always tops for me then once i have those done right and able to handle what my ultimate goal is i move on to the drivetrain then the bodywork and paint is last. Im borderline ocd and i will do something over and over a hundred times if needed untill I'm satisfied with it . It takes me a while sometimes because of that but i like the end results and when someone compliments it i can tell them i built it
 
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