wayfarer

All of the EarlyHemi engines, except for the 51-53 331, have the same block bolt pattern. If you have the complete package from a 55 Dodge (270 ) then it will all bolt up to the 315.

...bolt-up....no...... Which v-6? MaMopar has made plenty of them in the last 20 years. Anything is possible if you choose to invest in the time and machine work.

...and don't ignore the location of the splines on the input shaft.....Mounting the trans on the bell is only half of the battle. Modifying the registration is pretty straight forward but usually involves a mill or lathe, drilling new holes to match the trans is fabrication 101, and the pilot bushing may, or may not be in need of 'help'...back to the lathe.

Ya know, I had to ponder this for awhile and try to figure out 'where you came from'. I don't know what years you were starting your automotive journey nor do I know your location. Very important details were we look around to see what was going on. Magazines coverage of 'cool cars' is essentially what vehicle or which shop was close to the writer unless he had folks working for him in various places.....all of this long before Al Gore's internet came along, so magazines are not the be-all, end-all unless you are picking particular articles to support your position. That reminds me of a "engine swap manual" that had a really odd-ball 392Hemi swap in to a 1960 Lark. Perhaps we should we consider that to be the standard of the day. Back in the early-mid sixties my buddies and I managed a fair number of swaps and amazing enough is that none were shiverlays, unless it was back into a shiverlay. We had a 389 Pontiac go into a 39 Ply, a Nailhead into a 57 Hillman Husky, a 390 Cad into a 55 shiverlay pickup ( my God that thing was scary fast) a Packard 352 into a 40 Ford sedan and so on and so forth...but no sbc swaps. I suppose that they were as available as any other junkyard engine but we were after cubic inches and the little sbc was sorely lacking. When you have a carburetor on top then cubic inches are King. There is a reason why Mopar settled on the 440 for so many hi-perf applications. Fast forward to today. You can buy shiverlay parts at the local 7-11. Does that make them 'better' than something else? Some folks might opine that the sbc parts supply is huge just to keep them running... So the engine that you prefer is likely just that, your choice. I kinda like the new Hellcat engine, 707 hp in a crate! Swap that sucker into anything you like, but 40 years from now it may, or may not, be considered the engine of choice 'back in the day'....

....wow.....not something I see on many Mopar related sites very often...... Why, exactly, would a shiverlay be more 'period correct' than a same year Hemi? Some sorta time-warp at the local bone yard in 1960? And, I have never heard of anyone that would be 'bothered ' if they had a Hemi to drive....must be something in the water up there. Least desirable? I actually see more traffic for DeSotos than for the 315-325 Dodge and about the same for the 241-270 Dodge. Yes, some DeSoto parts are difficult to fine, specifically the intake, but all else is very little different than for a Chrysler engine. As far as cost, the EarlyHemi is on par with Nailheads, Flatheads, Olds and Cad for rebuilds....none are cheap.

...Excellent way to label alot of less-than-hot... rods, or trucks. To the OP, check out Dan Babbs' truck with the Hemi install. Very stock looking and very nicely done.

...me thinks that Inspector Calhoun said it best, "...a man has to know his limitations..."

http://rustyhope.com/site/ Charlie should have something for you.

...perhaps my old eyes are just not seeing exactly what that piece is....it is a seperate piece from the flywheel, right? This what it should look like: (the center bushing and bearing are not oem)

...it wasn't that big of a diversion....

Great re-cap Greg! As to the OP's question, being that it is a fluid coupler, there will likely never be an L6 that produces enough HP/TQ to ever cause any damage to the unit. I am unsure what the upper rpm limit might be but it would be tied to the type of fluid, balance, heat, etc.

Adam, no, not much meat there and I always tell folks that cutting the seat is a good way to ruin a head. There are usually enough springs to choose from, that actually fit, that cutting should not be needed. Appologies to the OP for this slight diversion...now back to the IFS question.

Holy crap!!! is there any way to re-size photos?

...yes I am a computer tard.... Just drag and drop the attachments at the bottom of the post... I repied with this post so that I could 'see' the 'bottom of the post' ...The 'choose files' should work for me. Thanks !! Allow me to try this.......

...instructions please...

IFS is a dirty word to some folks...well, ok three words.... The oem suspension was top-notch for its time but, that time was 60 years ago. As we, well some of us, get older we like an 'easier path' and driving old trucks is sometimes like herding cats when all we want is a decent ride and the ability to park the damn thing. There are plenty of various front IFS swaps on the web and the quality of the finished job is always a function of the ability of the fabricator and the fitment of the shop. And like many aspects in life, we always hear about the bad stuff before we hear about the good jobs. I am a fan of the Gen I Dakota since the frame widths are similar at the firewall, it has excellent parts supply, the bolt pattern is the same and the ride height is set at the install.

Yeah, I think that you need to take another look at the parts and how they go together. It may be that a previous owner did something goofy but you don't need to follw suite. The flywheel should have a shoulder about .1" deep against which the clipped head of the bolt sits and then cannot rotate. The nuts and washers then go on from the engine side of the flange...yes. it is a PITA. If you look back through Don's engine build you can see how he used 'normal' bolts and nuts if you have fat fingers or little patience. Perhaps you can post photos of the trans side of the flywheel and the bolts that you have.

Not being a techie, is that reasonable ? Why would anyone have/maintain such a huge forum not backup on a regular (hourly??) basis? Like I say, I am not a tech-guy so maybe I am missing something.

I agree, it would appear that the SS threads are 'soft' enough to move around under pressure and try to meld together. I use Never-sieze on just about everything and I like to use Everdur nuts on SS bolts.

Hamb is back up...kinda...alot of threads that seem to have 'lost' several days worth of posts. Time will tell .....

Charlie is a good guy and has sold a multitude of his kits for a good reason, they work. That said, there is, somewhere, a link to a thread with a sketch for the front brackets that, as I recall, uses Explorer bits and pieces. Cannot recall if it is for car or truck. Maybe someone has it parked in a folder.

I agree! good stuff right there.

3 or 4 years ago I went to a car show where the owner had used the front dakota frame with motor, cut the P15 frame overlapped them and welded them together. Kept the look stock, used the column shift to shift the automatic. The Gen I Dakota swap is popular for many reasons and none of them will appease those who don't like hot-rods of any sort. Some of you guys like to brag about all of your engine and trans modifications but scoff at a frame clip. Whats the deal? What makes a dual carb swap ok but not disc brakes? Seriously, I gotta know so that I can try to figure out the logic (assuming that some exists). We are blessed with modern suspension, brakes and the ease of installing a newer engine (that some of us prefer) so whats not to like?

...and once again I'll mention Rober Horne's swap using the Ranger 5-spd swap that can be done easily and no doubt for less money than the t5.

The OP says that he just want to add a few comfort features. In my world that would include enough power to keep up with any/all freeway traffic if the need arise. Adding something like an a/c pump to an L6 will just suck up hp that is already in short supply. The OP wants to install a small block so a late 360 Magnum is a good choice...in my little world I could easily stretch the definition of "small-block" since the EarlyHemi is closely related so maybe a healthy 392 is in order? On a more practical side, there are plenty of rusted/wrecked Ram 1500 in the bone yards and as Plymouthy Adams suggests, some of the late v-6 are plenty stout if the electronics don't scare you off.