OK, it's time....

[Revhendo]

Well kids, it's time. The old '73 Bird has been sitting long enough. I got her down to the shop and I am going to start the transplant. I'll post pics as best I can as I go. I am doing this in my spare time so be patient.

What I've learned so far on doing a 440/4spd conversion into a smallblock/auto iso-car.

I checked on this one. You can use 74 and later B car B engine spool mounts on a A engine car. From what I have been able to measure though, it would appear the motor will end up a bit tall in the chassis. It's a geometry thing, but I think it's about a half inch, or a touch more. (I was a bit drunk through that portion of high school.)

I'm living this one. On the stearn urging of my clutch buddy/friend, I bought the 11 inch clutch setup for this combo. Flywheel to T/O bearing. NOW that I have the engine/trans together, my advice would be not to go with this setup.
1. The parts are more expensive.
2. Finding a bellhousing for an 11 inch clutch is a pain. Most of the ones I found were close to 400 bucks and rattle can restored. There are very nice repop bells for the 10.5 clutches for just over 200 bucks.
3. The larger flywheel moves the starter out farther which limits starter choices and...........
4. Header selection for large flywheel clutch cars is very limited. I'm pretty sure the reason for this is the starter being just that much farther out.

I am going to go with the shifter for a non-console car. It's all I could come up with at a reasonable price. I could have gone with the Pistol Grip shifter, but, that would have raised the cost of the project by almost a thousand dollars.

Now that I am on the down side of the spending spree and into the personal labor side of it. I would have to say that moneywise, I probably would've been better off going with one of the TKO five speed conversions. It would've been a few bucks more, but not by a whole lot. And I would've had the OD gear.

The other thing I learned is that if it wasn't for my "friends" cutting me "deals", I would have beer money left.........

Rev.

 

[69 Runner]

Cool! Now all you lack is "finishin":HappyNewYear:

 

[daredevil]

I,ve felt the same way b4. Sometimes theres a reason the road is less travelled. Good luck with your project

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Good luck with the project and keep us updated.

 

[Revhendo]

Here's the root of all my evil....

 

[Revhendo]

Oh, and I made the dash a little more interesting, too.

 

[69 Runner]

sweet.

but ya oughta cote them headers

 

[Revhendo]

Naw, they're cheap *** headers. the cost of coating them is money best spent elsewhere or saved for better tubes. I was thinking about thermal wrapping them for giggles.

Rev.

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Nice gauge cluster!

 

[Revhendo]

So, here we are, a few days (?) later. Finally got the bird on the rack and the old mill out. One step closer to heaven.....

 

[Revhendo]

You can never have too much assistance, right?
One thing worth noting at this point. I had never done a swap on a Iso-Mope before. I've done a bunch of earlier cars by dropping the motor out the bottom complete. On the Iso-Mopes, it would appear that you have to remove both the upper control arms and the T-bar crossmember. 'Nother side note: I am putting solid bushings on the K member that I got from Cudazappa on the A body site. It looks like the T-bar mount can be solid mounted with some first gen Camaro body mounts. I'll be checking that out shortly......

 

[Revhendo]

OH, and also, if anyone can help. I am looking for a nascar rear spoiler for this car. Or, plans for the nascar spoiler. I just can't bring myself to put a factory wing on it.....

Rev.

 

[Jonno]

Thanks Revhendo, that all looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Revhendo]

It's finally in. Got some rack time down at the shop. I welded in the bracket. Changed out the fuel line to 3/8's and cut a small hole (?) in the trans tunnel.

 

[Revhendo]

I WANT HELP TOO!! Looking Good, I had thought about doing my guages in white, that really came out nice.

Thanks man. You know sometimes the least expensive things have the best results.

And I finally got a chance to fire her up. Nothing like a big block through uncapped headers. Now to finish the details, fix the brakes and test drive.

 

[magnum]

Rev your Runner is looking sweet! The semi flat black looks great on your cluster with the white face gauges. Keep up the good work:grin:!

 

[Revhendo]

Rev your Runner is looking sweet! The semi flat black looks great on your cluster with the white face gauges. Keep up the good work:grin:!

Thanks Magnum, I appreciate the compliment. I still gotta redo the dash pad portion on the passenger side. Eventually I will replace the cracked dash pad. When I do that, I will repaint the steel part of the dash. The main thing is to get her up and running....

 

[magnum]

What kind of wheels you going to run Rev? You going to keep her old school look with N-50's in the back or stock look?

 

[Revhendo]

I picked up a set of cop wheels a couple of years back and was thinking of using them. I had the idea of widening them to 8's in the front and 10's in the rear. Tires will be B.F.G's 255 on the nose and 275's in the rear. I am picking up a set of Rallye center caps for them also, to kinda give them the SuperCoupe look.

 

[magnum]

That would look really good:yes:. Third gens always look sweet with some meat under them.