318 to 440 swap 1966

[DaveWrex]

Just wondering how hard it would be to swap my 318 engine for a 440?
The car is a 1966 dodge polara 440 (model)
318 engine canadian car.
I thought it would be cool to have a 440 engine seeing as it's a 440 model and it says 440 on the dashboard.
Does the engine just swap in or do i need to upgrade some things? (K member? Torsion bar set up?.. obviously a disc brake set up)

 

[SportFury70]

We plan to also do a 318 to 440 swap this winter on our ‘67 Fury wagon. I plan to post what we will do and how its done when we plan to do it if you would like to follow it. There is no k member in a c-body. Torsion bars are fine from a 318 but you may want to add a sway bar since 318s did not come with one and it will handle better. As far as I know you have to swap out the core support if you want to put in a bigger radiator, the transmission, the engine mounts, the power steering pump from a big block or at least the pulley and brackets to use on a small block one, and an alternator. Hope this helps.

 

[Badvert65]

Well, for one thing, the transmission behind the 318 will not bolt up to a 440 block. Radiator inlet/outlet may be different, you'll have to check what you have against a big block (outlet is usually on driver side). I am uncertain about the engine mounts as I have a 65 and the big block mounts differ from the small block mounts but I believe the front stub frame is the same (I could be wrong).

 

[Davea Lux]

We plan to also do a 318 to 440 swap this winter on our ‘67 Fury wagon. I plan to post what we will do and how its done when we plan to do it if you would like to follow it. There is no k member in a c-body. Torsion bars are fine from a 318 but you may want to add a sway bar since 318s did not come with one and it will handle better. As far as I know you have to swap out the core support if you want to put in a bigger radiator, the transmission, the engine mounts, the power steering pump from a big block or at least the pulley and brackets to use on a small block one, and an alternator. Hope this helps.

As noted, you will also need to replace the transmission as the small block and the big block have a different bolt pattern. Also a good idea to rep;ace the driveline with the big block unit as the u-joints on the 318 are smaller. You can use the convertor u-joints to avoid having to replace the differential yoke.

Dave

 

[volksworld]

even some small stuff like transmission kickdown linkage needs to be sourced...the 440 block is taller than a 383 so just cause something came off a big block doesn't mean it fits a 440...and manifolds and engine pipes are not the same big to small block

 

[CBODY67]

I know the allure of having a RB block is eye candy to some (as sights of giant smokey burnouts drift between their brain cells), BUT there is a episode of "Nick's Garage" where he proves a stroker LA can make 426HEMI rated power on his dyno.

Doing the stroker route would take a LOT of the noted issues off the table and can ease the situation a bit. For best output, though, a set of AFR or TrickFlow aluminum cyl heads can be needed, though, which ups the cost. As would a beefed 904 TF.

Either way . . . HAVE FUN!
CBODY67

 

[bronze turbine]

I think your best bet would be to find a big-block donor car and buy the whole car so you can easily see the differences and you'd mostly have all the parts you need, especially if it's a 440. I don't think it would need to be a Polara, probably any 1966 c-body would do.