It is theoretically possible. If you mean to drive the car, you should plan on replacing the engine, transmission, driveshaft, rear axle, radiator, and complete front suspension first. And of course you will have to convert to 12 volts. This is WAY more work and expense than it is worth. If you really want a big block car it would be much easier and cheaper to start with a later model that is made for a big block. They were optional on the larger Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler cars from 1958 up. Any of those would be a bolt in deal, and all the heavy duty brakes, suspension etc are factory stock available.
WOW! I had to check to see if I was still on a hot rod board! The reality is, the 440 is probably close in weight to the original flathead 6, they were heavy motors. Installing a 440 won't be easy, but it can be done. Expect to swap in the entire drive train from the 440 car, none of the original drive train will match up, nor would it hold up. You will also want to upgrade the brakes to match the new drive train. Your probably going to loose the inner fenders, probably will loose the original heater assembly, and will probably need to set the motor towards the passenger side a couple inches. The exhaust will be an issue as well. Your not going to find any "kits" for this install, so I hope you have fabrication skills, or have a close friend with some. Your going to need those skills, because your probably going to have to build everything. Though I have not done a big block in one of these cars, i have done several small block Mopars in them to expect the big block wouldn't be much harder. There are a lot of guys that have installed Hemi's in these things, so a 440 is not a big stretch from those. Under the sheet metal, your 50 is not a lot different then the 46-48 Plymouth & Dodges, do a search on the HAMB, and i suspect you will find a lot of info. Gene
How, exactly, do YOU know how much 'it' is worth, especially to the owner......? As the other hotrodders indicated, yes, it will fit; yes, it will work just fine; no, it likely will not be a drop-in by any stretch of the imagination....but it could be one helluva ride... After careful consideration of ALL engines available to me, my 47 DeSoto is likely going to get a 5.7 Hemi and the effort to make it happen I'm sure will be 'worth' it. .
You didn't have to ask how to do it. IF you have the money, time, skills, tools, etc it is quite possible. I have helped install big block engines in prewar Mopars. It was not easy or cheap, and the results were wild . Do you guys seriously recommend this swap to a newbie with 1 post to his credit? In other words, do you think this is an easy cheap swap for somebody's first project?
I stuck a 383 B engine in my '57 Ford, and have helped swap a 318 into a '52 Plymouth before. So while I have no experience as to this exact swap, I have knowledge of the cars and engines independently. The biggest issue you will have with this swap, and frankly any V8 swap, is with the width of the new engine. Mopars, especially RB blocks like the 440 and 413, are REALLY wide. These Plymouth have 2 ribs in the firewall for strength that you will have to cut out to fit any V8. The inliner just goes right between them. The second width issue you'll have is with your exhaust pretty much exiting on top of your frame rails, or directly into your front suspension. I'm not surprised to see the fella on this thread that did in fact do this swap use fenderwell headers. That clears up the issue, but also fits the theme of his build. That may or may not be the case for you. It's also important to remember that B/RB Mopars have the starter on the driver side, so that could create steering box clearance issues if you use the enormous factory unit, but could possibly be alleviated by going with an aftermarket mini-starter, or one out of a 2000 Dakota with a 360 (it's a bolt in, you'll just need to trim the terminal). Furthmore, say good-bye to your trans tunnel, since the big block 727 is like 3x the size of the factory trans. All that said, if you are able to pull it off, these are incredible engines. Powerful, insanely durable, absolutely reliable, with reasonably priced parts on the aftermarket and even readily available at local stores, engineered with common-sense... they're a great choice for a hot rod/custom car. But as happy as I am with my Chrysler power now, it was a dirty whore to fit in my car and took a long time to engineer the bugs out. It also cost a small fortune and shit ton of time. Hindsight being 20/20, I may not have attempted it and chosen something a bit more appropriate.
The number of posts the guy has on the HAMB has nothing to do with what his experience (or financial) level might be. I had many years of hands on experience before I ever knew anything about this place. As far as the cost of this possible project, there is nothing in this hobby that is cheap, just some things are less expensive then others. If the guy has everything laying around, and the experience to do the work, it might not cost as much as you think. 30 years ago, doing anything with a big block Mopar would have been cheaper for me then nearly anything else, because I had everything I would have needed for them laying around. The op didn't ask how hard it would be, or how expensive it would be, he asked if anyone had done one. You assumed the guy had no experience, no funds, and a wild ass dream, I assumed the guy had the drive train (or access to it) the car (or spotted one) some experience (but was unsure if he had enough) and was looking for pointers from someone that has done it. Either of us could be correct, or the reality is somewhere in the middle. If you and the other guy wouldn't have come off with the "its too hard, so buy something already equipped" I would have never commented, because I haven't done specifically what he was seeking info about. Hopefully he hung around lone enough to see someone has the info he was seeking. Gene
Wow, I never expected this much of a response. To clear up all the questions about myself, skills, experience, etc, I do have the 1950 wayfarer already. I have access to a freshly rebuilt 440 and 727 for a good price. This is my first post because I just recently discovered this forum. I have experience working on/fixing cars but have not undertaken a motor swap of this size before. I do however have several close friends who build street/strip cars who are more than willing to help. My goal for this car was to be a mean street hot-rod with no manners. It's not going to be my daily driver. It's going to be something to wake the neighbors up with on the weekend, humiliate unsuspecting tuners on the street, and have some fun with on the drag strip from time to time. It won't be a show car and I don't expect it to be a a problem free vehicle. Going into the project i fully expected to need to replace the rear end, drive shaft, brakes, suspension and everything else normally associated with a larger engine swap so I money should not be an issue, but again the plan for this vehicle is a budget built hot-rod. My original question was simply to find out if it had been done. If it had, what were the results? I have not bought a 440 yet, but I know the engine has an amazing reputation and certain "cool-factor". I also considered a well built 360 or possibly a stroked 360. At this point i just wanted to collect some more information on what others had accomplished.
Im a bit late on this but it can be done, it aint hard but its not easy either. Big blocks require you to recess the fire wall or in my case just replace it and you will need to make up engine and tranny mounts. I opted for a manual rack & pinion steering setup, its basically a 87 cavalier unit, the rest is not to hard at all but they will fit with an A body big block drivers manifold with the factory 50 dodge steering. The wieght of a stock B series Mopar engine is roughly 660lbs and a 230 Flatty is around 600lbs, the B series engine you can really lighten up with aluminum heads, intake, water pump and housing so in reality the big block Mopar engine is less than a stock Fatty if its on a diet.
I had 670lbs for the 440 and a Torque-flight adds another 161 lbs. Then you'd need to upgrade the suspension, steering and brakes. Do you need to really do, probably not; do you want to really do it, hell yeah. He's a R&P conversion (Similar to Cavalier) a friend did on his 46 Olds to retain OEM suspension with later discs. He only runs a small 308ci local V8 with auto and was able to get away with adding telescopic shocks and OEM coil springs. Things may need to be massaged to make oil pan fit.
A 50 Wayfarer 2 door sedan had a curb weight of 3200 lbs when it was new, a coupe was 150 lbs lighter. A 360 & 727 are lighter then the flathead 6 with a 3 speed by about 40 lbs. As far as having been done before, I believe a group of young fellas that called themselves "The Ramchargers" built a Plymouth version of the Wayfarer they called "the High and Mighty" back in the early 60s that was pretty fast. Might be a fun exercise googling them and seeing what they did. That would be a fun little car on the street. Don't know how many ricers you could fool into racing though. Gene
Man I was looking at this, thinking the steering wheel is going to be on the wrong side or that the negative was upside down, until I notice where the sender was from.
So this is the front rack mount, as far as engine weights are concerned I haven't had a problem and its been years and thousands of hard miles. I have done it, drove the coupe like I stole it. Im running a built 383 based big block in my 50 Coupe, its on a diet so the usual aluminum heads, water pump and housing, intake which lightened it up, full roller valve train and all that, built 727 with a ton of goodies. Build your Mopar as something you will be happy with bud! It can be easily done but like I said it will present some problems as far as fitment/ clearance issues that need to be resolved. by the way yes that is two different engines in my 50, what can I say I have a heavy foot and sometimes engines sound like a diesel and pop when I am hammering down on them........... to count I am on engine no three and have not looked back yet and the 50's chassis and suspension are still solid as all hell. and to note, the "High and Mighty" was a 49' Plymouth coupe with a 1st gen 354 Hemi with 392 heads that ran beginning in the late 50's and in 60' had a 392 installed.
It's been a while since I've posted but thank you for all the great info and support! Naysayers please keep it coming, it's nothing but fuel to my fire! A little update: The wayfarer is running great with the original flathead. Added some headers and a shaved cylinder head to bump compression. I recently managed to bend a rear drum and the only ones I can find are original 50s and going for $300+ so I'm in the process of swapping in a more modern rearend and 4-link. Still deciding on triangulated or parallel. The 440 is still on a stand in the garage but it's freshly rebuilt .30 over and I'm starting to collect the missing accessories. As soon as the rear is done I'll be working to drop her into the Wayfarer. I'm hearing a subframe makes the most sense and it would be nice not to have to find a disc brake conversion. As always, any info/opinions are greatly appreciated!
Mopar Rob, What radiator did you use for your Dodge above?... I put a Ford 351M 400 in mine and used a Mustang 4 row radiator but it's not cooling...
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