Swap: 440 from a 74 New Yorker to a 318 73 Charger.

[Grim Jhaixus]

I'm new, but I'll not waste much time with the same story you've all told before and read 1000 times since. I was born, I found Mopar, the end. There is a little more though. I live in Mustang land, I can't sling around a dead cat without hitting a spotless '64 1/2 or pro-mod '70 (and don't get me started on the fox nerds) and Mopars are far and few between, I mean less than two dozen driving in the county. So in November 2009 at age 22 I finally land a '73 318 single barrel and I am ecstatic. On my third day of troubleshooting (it had been poorly neglected) I get it running so smooth I decide to take it for a ride to the home of a '70 440 Challenger, where after seeing my own love for Mopar the owner almost immediately sells me a running '74 New Yorker, 440 with a 727. I'll tell you now I prefer the '72-'74 Charger greatly over any other Charger. For me, the '72-'74 was the Charger, not Dom's or the Duke Boy's.

I'm here at this forum for information, I need to know what I can't get from the New Yorker I will need for this swap. What heads do this New Yorker come with? Will the front suspension carry over? Does the New Yorker have a different/preferable rear end? Should I put in a (don't hate, I put durability over pedigree every time) Ford 9"? Do I need to get an aftermarket wire harness? Will the seats fit? Any answers at all would be great.

I do know I will need the Magnum or Superbee style hood.

[RD]

I'm new...

WELCOME!!!!

I'll tell you now I prefer the '72-'74 Charger greatly over any other Charger. For me, the '72-'74 was the Charger, not Dom's or the Duke Boy's.

YOU ARE A VERY SMART MAN THAT WILL GO AND DO MANY GREAT THINGS IN THIS WORLD!!!

I'm here at this forum for information, I need to know what I can't get from the New Yorker I will need for this swap. What heads do this New Yorker come with? Will the front suspension carry over? Does the New Yorker have a different/preferable rear end? Should I put in a (don't hate, I put durability over pedigree every time) Ford 9"? Do I need to get an aftermarket wire harness? Will the seats fit? Any answers at all would be great.

I do know I will need the Magnum or Superbee style hood.

Well mate, here it be.  You can do a 1 for 1 swap of the 440 into your beast, but you will need a new driveshaft as the 727 is 4 1/8" longer than the 904 transmission.  You will need a BB shumacher swap kit as the k-member is different from a SB to a BB.  If  your charger came with a 8 3/4 rearend (highly unlikely) then you are fine.  If it has a 8 1/4, it will be okay if you DO NOT beat the hell out of it.  If you do, then you need an upgrade without any question.

The heads on your 73 440 are most likely going to be 346 heads which have semi-hardened valve seats.  I ran a pair of these heads on my 400 until 2003 while using unleaded fuel and when i got them rebuilt, no valves were sunk in, sooo.. they are durable.  But my usage and someone else's usage are two different things, so take that with a grain of salt.

Lastly, the hoods are awesome!!! but be prepared to spend a lot for them.

Welcome again.

[Grim Jhaixus]

This car will be a daily driver and while I am going to spoil it I'm also going to put my foot in it. My intentions are mild upgrades, keeping it naturally aspirated, at worst a high-middle camshaft with six-pack and wedge heads. I intend to keep it auto tranny. How do I identify the 8 3/4 or 8 1/4 rear ends? Is a Ford 9" considered superior to the 8 3/4?

[FLG]

This car will be a daily driver and while I am going to spoil it I'm also going to put my foot in it. My intentions are mild upgrades, keeping it naturally aspirated, at worst a high-middle camshaft with six-pack and wedge heads. I intend to keep it auto tranny. How do I identify the 8 3/4 or 8 1/4 rear ends? Is a Ford 9" considered superior to the 8 3/4?

Dont go putting ferd parts on a Mopar...were not cool with that.

IMO, the 8 3/4 and 9" each have their pros and cons. Bottom line, a 9" is for a Ford and we use 8 3/4's...keep it at that 

Id sell the rear out of the New Yorker or look for someone to trade you one for a 73 so you dont need to modify anything for it to work. You can go with a earlier rear like 71 or 72 and get rid of the leaf spring isolator crap.

If you search the site there is a picture of the different rears, im not sure where it is but im sure someone will post up or just do a little searching and you will find.

[Daytona R/T SE]

 

[greatwn73]

I've done this swap and its pretty straight forward as outlined, Schumacher mounts and shorten the driveshaft. I used the 318 wiring harness and modified some lengths (ie dist).For cooling I would use the C-body rad and have it recored and I simply mounted it in the smaller stock rad support with no problems. The 318 torsion bars were used and after the swap I adjusted them up to the proper alignment specs. The assy. brackets from the Chrysler likely won't fit and in order to draw the ps and alt closer in I used the brackets from a bb truck. The stock rear end was retained with no problems but would have eventually changed the gears from 276's,while enjoying good fuel mileage and seemly unlimited top end it was a bit of a dog off the line.

edit. You'll also need to change the oil pan (the c body almost fits) but a "971" pan will allow the engine to go all the way in.

edit. stock hood is no problem

[rav440]

This car will be a daily driver and while I am going to spoil it I'm also going to put my foot in it. My intentions are mild upgrades, keeping it naturally aspirated, at worst a high-middle camshaft with six-pack and wedge heads. I intend to keep it auto tranny. How do I identify the 8 3/4 or 8 1/4 rear ends? Is a Ford 9" considered superior to the 8 3/4?

what do you mean by WEDGE heads ?   the 73 440 may also have 213 heads , you be beter off finding a set of 452s or keeping the 346s if it has them

[greatwn73]

Stock heads(minor cleanup), mild cam, eddy intake, rebuilt carb, ho oil pump and fuel pump, new crank, forged pistons, fancy rockers and headers into 2 1/2 non restricted exhaust = cheap,strong, reliable and loud as hell.

[greatwn73]

back

[Cooter]

IMO, Running a 9" Ferd rear under ANYTHING other than something that woulda come with it is just as bad a running a 350 SBC in a street rod..

EVERTYBODY does it and they gain Nothing by doing it?? An 8 3/4 "489" housing will last afterall, the Ferd 9" is only 1/8 of an inch larger on each side of the ring gear...Why would someone be concerned about an 8 3/4 breaking, when the Ferd 8.8 has gone mid 8's in the 1/4 mile and is almost IDENTICLE to the 8 3/4 in size???

[Grim Jhaixus]

Thanks, I'll post again when I get stuck.