Hello everyone ! I just recently was able to purchase a steel 3 window that has been sitting for a couple years, but was nicely built a couple decades ago with a fantastic body and a well built aftermarket deuce chassis of unknown origin. It is a bit too 80's looking for me, and besides instantly changing the tires and wheels, and looking into re-building the seat for more comfort, it's a pretty neat car. It currently has a big block chevy with a tunnel ram and dual 4's, attatched to a 4 speed. I would like to run a full stock 4 piece hood on the car, and with what I need to change (intake, carburation, linkage, full exhaust, etc.) I think this would be the perfect time to convert the car to a mild-ish small block. I live in the middle of nowhere and everything is a long drive with corners, so removing a couple hundred pounds over the front end plus making something get better fuel mileage, handle better, cool better, and fit under a full hood better makes sense. My question is this: Will a small block Chevy just bolt in place of a big block Chevy as far as the engine mounts are concerned ? I know the block-to-bellhousing pattern should be the same, can I use the same bellhousing, flywheel and clutch ? Does the distributor sit lower ? if so, how much ? I feel like I should be able to sell the complete decked out big block for more than enough to order a new crate SBC and end up with a more balanced useable car. What else am I not thinking of? also thought about going from the 4 speed to a 5 speed at the same time........
With the Motor mounts in your pictures It will bolt right in . You will have a lot more clearance between the radiator & the engine . The Big block is about 3 inches longer & its all from the motor mounts forward .
If it's a 454 it will have a balance weight built into the flywheel, if it's a 396 or 427 it won't. You can see the weight on the backside of the flywheel. The small blocks, through 1986, used a flywheel without a weight, except for the 400. The later small blocks used a different flywheel bolt pattern. So...without knowing what you have, can't answer you completely. Bellhousing, clutch, etc should fit. The mounts on the side of the block are in the same position on small and big blocks, relative to the bellhousing, so that's a bolt in. The distributor will be in a slightly different position on a small block, should not really affect anything. The brackets and water pump and stuff are all different.
Distributor is interchangeable between small block and big block. Assuming cam gear compatibility. As said the motor mounts will bolt up. Bellhousing is same bolt pattern. Most of your clutch should work, except for flywheel is basically engine specific. Overall a pretty easy swap, especially since you're going down in size.
You could put a crate 383 in it and give up very little torque to the 402. The lighter weight will help and performance might not suffer at all. This is all sort of OT but I like the 5 speed idea as well. Keep us posted.
or you could put a blown 427 (big block) in it, and have some real fun. It'll bolt right in. Well...almost...
Sell those big block valve covers on Ebay...theyre worth a pretty penny. Might be Larson or Induction Engineering/Moroso. I think they're weird...but might be worth about a thousand bucks give or take.
^^^ Like Black panther said , Yes definitely 80s, & like others said , My choice over a 383 would be a mild pump gas 377 10:1. 7,000 - 7,500 RPMS or 400 , 406 6,000 RPMs all 3 with 200 heads ,480 -550 hp , with Holly strip or Vic jr intake . if you go blown sbc 355 , 8-10spi 190-200 heads . With sbc you be around 45 % on front axle & 55 on rear . & if you want Mileage how about 262 or Iron duke?!! Only say that ,my 32 8ish mpg & would like a Lenco .will not fit thoe.
A good plan. The car will be all the better for it! You might want to establish the rear end ratio as this might require changing in your quest for a milder car, and is all relevant with the tire size change, 5 speed trans, engine spec consideration etc. Chris
Nice car. Like has been mentioned. a 406, 355, 383 would all be nice and relatively a simple swap. Enjoy your new project.
I agree....but I'll whisper it quietly though.. But, being in the UK, with gas prices now the wrong side of 8 bucks a gallon, putting in a 5-speed was my one concession to full traditional.
Thanks for all the replies ! I'm thinking maybe just a mild aluminum headed Blueprint crate engine with a single 4 barrel in the 350-375 hp range? Paint it all black with some old cal custom valve covers, and maybe a Tremec TKX ? I have a ZZ4 and a TKO600 in my roadster and it seems like a good combo. I'm not sure what rear end ratio it is yet, it's got a Ford 8" in it. I do happen to have a 4.10 gear set for an 8", so that could happen if I need lower gears than it has. The valve covers are not really my style, but they are very cool. The guy I bought the car from made his own patterns out of wood, had the valve covers cast, and machined them. They are two piece and huge !
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