The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 51 panel v8 swap questions.

Hello. I have a 51 3100 panel that i have owned for 3 years now. And i have never gotten the 216 to run right. So now i am considering doing a v8 swap. I have the opportunity to buy a 77 malibu Classic to use the drivetrain from. But a quick question about transmissions. I could use the automatic trans Thats in the malibu. But i would love a manual trans. But They are hard to come by here in Norway and very expensive, so i was wondering if it was possible to swap the 216 out with a 305 or 350 v8 and still use the original 3 on the tree transmission and drivetrain? Have anyone here done it?

Hy Devilsix, the chassis of your truck was never designed to have any V8 engine as its power. There are major clearance issues with the steering box among other things. We have no idea what your fabrication skills are and what facilities you have to work in, but yes with a lot of time, money, parts and fabrication you could install a V8 engine in front of your trucks original transmission. It may be a better solution to find out why your existing engine is not running correctly and make whatever repairs are required to make it run correctly. Good luck whichever way you decide to proceed.

Thank you for your answer i am not good, But have some knowledge in fabrication. I have some other projects also that i have swapped out engines in and fabricated mounts etc:). I have a big workshop with needed tools 👍. I could always fix the 216 i have. But i do not have the motivation to fix it 😅 always wanted a v8 car, so i thought this was My opportunity. I know there is clearense issue with headers and steering box, and i guess the distributor also. That can be fixed.
Im not wanting more power. Just the sound of a v8. And more reliability then i have with the current 216. If a v8 would bolt on too My currently trans that would be awesome. Less work for me. If not i will swap out entire drivetrain

Hy Devilsix, I believe the moderators in this forum will move this to the HiPo forum shortly. You can give us a list of the parts that you already have to convert your donor engine to a standard transmission engine and we could tell you what other parts you will need to complete the installation. Good luck with your project!

Devilsix, for 13 years I owned a 52 Panel I spent 6 years restoring and 7 years driving it until I sold it last summer.

Seeing your determined to go V8 there are some good things out there to get it done. I used a motor mount kit from Classic Parts that I chose to bolt on and it worked very very well. Using the measurements that came with the kit I was able to put the re-man 305 engine in it and using a BIG distributor I sill had enough room to wrap my hand around it at the firewall.

With minimum fabricating skills you can do the rear tranny mount no problem.

To mount my alternator/AC I used the the mounts for them off an S-10 pickup with the V6 engine and this allowed me to run a serpentine belt. Simply set up if the heads have the holds to bolt it on and most are. This kept things up top and easy to get to. I did run an electric fan that covered the entire radiator and never had a heating problem.

You do have a steering box issue but don't make a big deal out of it. A double D shaft and a Saginaw rebuilt steering box for, say a '76 pickup, works great and there is a kit to mount it that is not to expensive from Classic as well.. I did have to cut a hole in the inner fender as the steering box mounts outside the frame toward the front. Instructions come with the small kit which also includes the steering arm. You can source an Idler arm from a Monte Carlo and from several other GM vehicles without paying the high vendor prices. I happened to have one from a 60 Buick Skylark. OH....my steering box was a power steering box and the power steering pump is available at a parts house...And yes, I used my straight axle. NO problems what so ever.
There are other ways to do the steering using a Toyota box and a few other ways but I found the above to be to my liking.

For headers, go ahead and bite the bullet and buy a set of ram horn headers unless you find a good used set. Don't waste your money on a set of headers either. Waste of money!

I drove my panel for 7 years and included trips to the Stovebolt Homecoming in Md. and also the K.C. reunion in Kansas City Mo. without any problems...........I would highly suggest sway bars both front and back since you'll be going a little faster with the V8. These panels can get a little top heavy. I started out with the original front sway bar but quickly found out I needed the rear one as well on a fast exit off an interstate ramp!!!

With the Malibu rear end you should be just fine. I used my original torque tube housing and used a later model "pumpkin" with a good gear ratio. (3.48) from Yukon gear.
*** I"d suggest running a 400R4 or a 700R4 Automatic if you have bad knees like me. I ran a 700R4, with overdrive, and the panel loved it. Cruise all day long at 70 and run smooth as a cat's purr. On this same note I will say a fellow gave me a steering column off a '68 pickup which I used since it was slender, had turn signals and the automatic gear selector. It was free to me and it bolted in with very very little problem. The linkage from the column to the tranny is available at most any decent hot rod shop and is not expensive and works like a champ.

Good luck. But remember, its your vehicle...do it the way you want it so you'll be happy when its finished.

Are you necessarily committed to running an American V8? The Range Rover, and others in that car line have a good-running V8 that is based on a small aluminum-block engine that Buick ran back in the 1960's. It's smaller, lighter weight, and probably more available on your side of the world than American iron, and it will have the V8 growl you're looking for without the size, weight, and fit problems that you will encounter with even a small block Chevy engine. I believe a manual transmission would be available for that engine, also.
Jerry

FWIW ... Hmmmm. Sound of a V8, eh? Then *obviously* you've not yet had the nirvana-esque experience of hearing a Chevrolet 235, 261 or (even better... ) a GMC 302 running dual exhaust on Fenton split manifolds and a dual carb set up...

Even better would be a 6BT Cummins ... but then we're back to excessive chopping and fabrication ...

And for sheer aural stimulation... how about a C-15 Cat with twin stacks on a 13-speed RoadRanger ...??? Ok, I'm getting carried away, there ...but it just shows that 6 in a row is just ... right. V engines are the creation of Beelzebub -- liking them leads nowhere good

Anyway, before you go chopping anything up, at least explore the world of performance inline sixes ... you may find a whole new world to your liking ... (and save yourself a lot of modification and fabrication.

I bet with all the WW2 vintage military equipment the Norwegians recently released not too long ago, a decent 302 (used in lots of military vehicles from the 1940's and '50's) might be relatively easy to find there?

Just offering alternatives ...

There is a new to the market power steering unit that bolts to the old mounting location using the 3 original bolts, look back a way, you should be able to use it as is. Classic parts might have it listed.

Ed

If you're interested in keeping an inline six onboard, there's always the Jaguar 4.2 Liter dual overhead cam engine and the matching 4 speed- - - - -plus the Laycock overdrive on 3rd. and 4th gear!

Jerry

Speaking of -- we had a forum participant a few years ago who was fitting a Jag engine to his truck ... did anyone ever hear back form him on how that went?

Is this the Jaguar drivetrain thread? (in a 1940 3/4 ton Chevrolet truck body)

He has not posted since 2016.

Thanks to everyone answering!:). Much appreciated. But im wondering. What does it take to mount a chevy 305 to My original 3speed transmission?

You would need a V8 bell housing from a 1955 2nd. series or newer truck, and the corresponding crossmember it bolts to, plus the standard shift flywheel and clutch for a Chevy V8 engine. Adapting the linkage from the original clutch pedal to the V8 bellhousing will probably be a challenge. It's possible you will encounter very difficult shift linkage issues as well. If you manage to get everything connected and working, you will have a transmission and rear end that is seriously under-capacity for the horsepower and torque of a 305 engine. Back in the early 1960's I worked for a man who adapted a 55 Chevy 265 engine to a 1940 Chevy coupe, using the original transmission and rear end. The first time he revved the engine up and popped the clutch, the transmission cluster gear went out of the bottom of the case. He was sitting at the starting line of Union Hill drag strip in Springfield Tennessee at the time! Major embarrassment!
Jerry

The guy doing the Jag conversion was using a V-12 engine, and all the associated running gear- - - -independent suspension rear end, etc. I was thinking about using the older dual overhead cam six, and the 4 speed- - -Laycock overdrive transmission setup. The Laycock unit had an electric shift OD available on 3rd. and 4th. gears, resulting in effectively 6 speeds.
Jerry

Being in Norway... How hard would it be to come by a Toyota Finline FJ drivetrain? Inline 6, manual trans, 6 lug rearend.

Devilsix Over 50 years ago I put my first SBC in a3100,older hot rod pals said can't do it-wont fit. Shimmed the steering box out 5/8 inch,centered the engine in the frame-- gave it a palm thickness of clearance at the firewall between the valve cover and firewall on the passenger side. Welded in my own side mounts,learned to use a 1966 big car (impala or bellair manifold) on the steering box side.Used a floor shift like Hurst,except made my own... ran the wheels off of it !! Then built others for friends. YOU can do it too use common 350 !

Ive got a Chevy 454BB w TH 400 trans in my 49 suburban. It sits on a 69 Nova front clip using BB motor mounts for a 396. I had to beef up cooling ,brakes, etc but been running for years now. passes everything on the highway but the gas stations:)