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From: Mike Patterson
Email: [email protected]
Date: January 03, 2001
I did a 440/727 swap into a 57 Coronet 2dr post a few years back. It was pretty straight foward. Use 58 up motor mounts (bolt on) and early oil pan from a 58-61 Dodge/Ply or 58-62 Chry (later Pans will not clear the drag link. The other option is to modify a later pan by trimming about 2 inches off the front (what I had to do). The Transmission I used was a 65 727. This works out nicely as it is the later trans with parts being a bit more available. It is also cable operated and let me retain the pushbuttons (a neat feature at car shows). I Had to build an extension for the trans mount off the crossmember, but that was pretty simple also.
I also swapped in a latter rear end. Late 60's C body axels are a bolt on. As the 65 Trans didn't have provisions for a parking brake, this allowed me to to use the parking brakes in the rearend. It also gave me bigger rear brakes, and I got away from the splined rear axels. Use of the latter trans and rear end also let me use a latter driveshaft so I could get away from the trunion joint. A few other little things to think about are a good cooling system, Exhaust (I used 69 hipo C body manifolds) and with the extra weight and power, disk brakes (couple of options on that). As far as your Start problem most times I have found that it's the switch in the pushbuttons. The way I solved mine was to use a switch assembly from a powerflite (2spd auto), which has a springloaded start position, and just start it with the key. One other thing, I do this for a living, when you start a project like this (if you've never done one before), it is pretty straight foward, but by the time you get the parts, farm out what you can't do yourself, it will be pretty labor intensive (the less you do yourself the more that equates into big dollars). The plus side is the car would be a ball to drive, and use of latter parts can sure ease your mind on long trips, both from a relyability, and availability standpoint. Good luck in whatever route you go with your project.
