Vote for The Forward Look Network on the Mopar Top 100 Sites 
 


1956 Plymouth Plaza, can 60s or 70s V8 motors go in?

From: Joe Vahabzadeh
email: king_v@nj.paradyne.com
Date: January 17, 2000
Time: 13:01:00

Comments

Hi,

Ok, first off, my apologies. I am a newbie to this board, and frankly, I know nothing about vehicles prior to the late 60s. I am asking this on behalf of a friend with no net access.

Anyway, he is looking into buying a 1956 Plymouth Plaza . . needs work, but everything is there, the body and interior are good, and it has a flathead 6 cylinder of some sort . . current owner says the car runs and drives.

However, as designs of engines that came in the 60s to 70s are more efficient and powerful than what was available in the 50s, he wants to put in a late 60s or early 70s V8, either a 318 2bbl or a 383 2-bbl

The questions though, which I should guess be answered separately for both engines are:

1) Spacewise, is there sufficient room underhood? It *looks* like it, at least for the 318, but then again, the straight 6 flathead is quite narrow, which may be giving us the illusion that there is more room widthwise than there really is.

2) Bolting it in: is it easy to do, with maybe simple adapters needed, or is this a really convoluted job, requiring a lot of work. To wit, what is necessary to accomplish such a swap.

3) I guess trannys will bolt in differently as well . . or so I'd assume, unless they actually match the more recent 727 and 904 transmissions, in terms of attaching to the underside of the car? Any guidelines here would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

- Joe Vahabzadeh

 


Last changed: March 03, 2024