SBC in early 50's Plymouth?

I just bought a 1953 Plymouth cambridge two door with a locked tore down flathead. Seriously wanting to put a 350Sbc in it. Does anyone have any pictures and info on doing this? really wondering about the steering box issuses, etc. Ive built several suspensions, but done very little motor work, and never done an engine swap. Basically im stupid when it comes to this stuff. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

A little Hemi will smarten you up nicely.

 

360 mopar fits just as well, even easier. Grab one from a van or pickup with the overdrive a-518.

Just saying.

 

I shoved one in a '46 dodge, assuming the frame is same, a hurst front mount and a left hand '57 style front dump exhaust will make it work. I relocated the new radiator to the front of the original rad mount and use an elec. fan.

 

You won't have any trouble making it fit outside of taking care of the exhaust interference issue.

The 360 mopar engine and matching transmission swap would make the keep it all one brand boys a bit happier but would probably cost a bit more in the long run than the sbc swap.

I've got one of each in my ot rigs out here. they are about equal when it comes to being easy to work on but parts for the 350 are a bit easier to get and a bit less expensive most but not all of the time.

If you are used to working on Chev small blocks and have a stash of sbc piece laying on the shelf or in the shed screw the whiners and run one. Run what you know and things will work a lot better than trying to run something you don't know to please others who don't really count anyhow.

 

Remember that the search button is your friend. This has been hashed out "a few" times before...

Read this thread... It shows BOTH a SBC & a SBM in an early 50's Mopar...

My dad has a 50 Coronet Convertible that we are still undecided on which V8 to use... Early RedRam, 350 Chevy or 318-360 Mopar...

Good luck with whichever you choose and remember you can't please everyone. Just build it for yourself & you will be happy

 

Why not put a 440/727 in it! not much more trouble than the sbc but the ride is a lot more fun!

 

you better be planning on stubbin it or swapping out the steering box, cuase it will be in the way

 

I subframed mine w/a fatman stub then a smallblock rides great,But you can get a rack kit for it and not subframe it from plydo[if still open]had them that will be cheaper and help w/clearance

 

mine has a 350, had to switch to electric fan in front of the radiator. engine sits really close to the radiator.

 

help buddy,s who did both swaps both a 360 mopar and a 350 chevy great motor,s but please put what you like in it it,s your car if you like sbc,s then that.s the right choice and if you a mopar guy then that it but please dodn,t be one of the boreing one,s that have to have a mopar in a mopar or a ford in a ford or a sbc in a chevy so it,s all one make if you feel that way just do it stock just my 2 cents i get bored hearing that same make in same make bull i always use what i like but what ever your chioce enjoy it

 

Please sell it to someone who'll put a real engine in it and get a '50's something Chevy.

 

I put a 350 in my 54 Belvedere, but I have an s-10 front clip...although the power stering setup makes me have to use Block huggers.

 

thanks for all your input guys. Im not a mopar man, im not a chevy guy, and im no ford man. Ive owned a little bit of everything. Im a whatever gets me where im going man. haha I havent worked on eny of em, but my buddies have all worked on sbc and have parts and experience with em. plus they are cheap. thanks alot, and anymore info is greatly appreciated.

 

I realize your question was about using a SBC. I decided to do all MoPar I have a 318/904 in my '51 Suburban and it worked out great. Stock frame and steering, relocated shocks on the front. For more info on the swap take a look at the PDF attached or PM me.

 

been thinking of going smc in mine because i can get 350/400 for probably free from my grandfather,just having too many issues with the old six,i'm going to convert to 12 volt this winter and see if that helps, i'd love a 360/727 but $ is pretty tight right now.

 

My apologies, the previous post was only 1 page of three. Due to file size upload limitation here is the info on the 318 swap as 3 files.

 

Many thanks to proartguy for a great story ! This is how it should be done, sweet and simple.


.

 

proartguy thank you so much. this is one of the best most informative articles ive found to date. im probably gonna refer to it at least 1000 more times. thanks again

 

Proartguy - Dang... where were you a few months ago when I embarked on my voyage of discovery? I have saved your .pdf files for reference this winter as I pull my old flathead-6 out of the 49 and stuff in a 55 Hyfire. See here for reference....
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360864&showall=1

On a similar note, my inspiration for the upgrade to Big Blue was this:
http://shadowmtkustomz.blogspot.com/

SMK is on the HAMB and has popped up from time to time on my build thread... he showed me it could be done!

 

A SBC will drop right into that car. Use the front-dump left side exhaust manifold as others have already noted. The stock radiator will cool that motor no problem. An early Camaro rear bolts in, as do many others.

I put a 67 283 into a 50 Plymouth when I was 16. Super T-10 and a 67 Camaro rear.

 

Putting a sbc in it is far more "boring" than keeping it Mopar, everyone seems to have a sbc in something these days . As easy as the 318/340/360 swap is why mess with a SBC? Ok, so the sbc is probably a little cheaper to build if you're going for a full rebuild. I've seen running 318's go for under $300 though, its hard to give 318's away. 360's are more desirable (and more expensive), but a 318 will do just as well or better as the large majority of sbc's.

Hell, put a small block ford in it, anything other than a sbc. A hemi would really be the way to go, probably go in fairly easy too as the Dodge/Chrysler counterparts had them. Not cheap though, an old hemi build would make a small block mopar build look like pocket change.

And I'm not anti mixing of makes. Everything should have a mopar engine in it!

 

Can we get a pic of your car?

 

here she is. not much to look at, but i like it.

 

I have a 350 in my 53 but I also used an s 10 clip everything was good till the exhaust but a set of new $60.00 fleamarket V8 S10 headers and a bit of modification took care of that

 

I'm a firm believer in a Mopar in a Mopar. Doing the SBC deal seems to be the cheap and boring way. You have all the info needed to make it work. Instead of looking for just an engine/trans, try to find a donor vehicle. You will want A body (Dart, Duster, Valiant) exhaust manifolds, but a truck oil pan and pickup. Try to find a van or truck as a donor and source the exhaust separately.
something like this
http://clarksville.craigslist.org/cto/1422514886.html

BTW, thanks proartguy very much for the info!

 

do whatever you have to make it useable.

 

I subframed (front and rear) mine and it rides sweet (thank the General for Camaros). The 400/400 combo works well and fits my bill. Heres the two versions (carbed and a TPI) of the SBC 400 in my 53 Cranbrook.

 

as i said before do what you want or have just don,t get boreing with it must be a mopar in a mopar only do that if your a mopar man and need to spent the time and $$$$$

 

heres my 54 you can see one pic with motor in and the other u see the motor mounts low and tight i used 55 chevy manifolds cleared my sterring box