Swapping a stroker Hemi into a Superbird: step by step with pictures!

[70Sbird]

Well... I began discussing this swap with the car's owner over a year ago now; the swap was done last fall so I finally should get off my arse and put some pictures up. I see Troy is getting pretty close to throwing wrenches around on his Daytona Hemi swap, they are predicting more cold and snow for this weekend which will likely keep me out of the garage, so here we go.....
I suppose the story actually starts a couple of years ago when I rebuilt the 440 in my Superbird and posted the progress pictures here on DC.com. The shop that built the Hemi was the same one that I got my stroker parts from (Hughes Engines) and kept a few of those pictures and showed them to the Limelight Superbird's owner. He wanted the swap done the same way (from the bottom) so he called me and asked if I would be interested in taking on the project. Somewhat hesitantly I accepted the challenge. I had never installed a Hemi into anything before, and this was a nice, painted, complete car that I also had to keep from denting or scratching in the process! I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but how hard could it really be? He had been buying parts for over a year, he wasn't in a hurry, wasn't afraid to buy the parts he needed and ended up being a great guy to work with!
Those of you that are my Facebook friends have already seen some of these, but if anyone has any questions or wants to see specific parts or pictures of the swap process just let me know, I have a TON of pictures
The first pic is of the car taken at Talladega in 2009. I took this pic out of my windshield on our parade lap. I knew the owner at that time, the car was local to me and another friend of mine put the car together after it was painted. This is exactly how the car looked when I started the swap. The next pic is of the original 440 before I started unhooking anything
The next two pictures are of the engine as I received it. One at the shop just as it was assembled, and the last one buttoned up, broken in on a run-in stand and sealed up. The carbs were on, the pan was full of oil and it was ready to final assemble and "drop in"....yeah right!

[70Sbird]

These next four pictures are of all of the parts he had accumulated for the swap, then  a big box from A&A transmission that contained a built up 727, convertor, flexplate, kickdown, linkage and all the necessary fasteners. I build my own engine "dolly" from some heavy duty casters and some scrap lumber, here the Hemi K frame is being trial fit, and finally the engine mocked up on it for the first time.

[BigBlockSam]

 

[hemi68charger]

    

[JB400]

 

[Daytona R/T SE]

 

[Mopar Nut]

Awesome!   

[FJ5WING]

Hey Scott,

Id love to see how you lifted the Birds with the noses still on. Do you have pictures you can post or forward?

I need to get this figured out before I have to decide whether or not to pull the nose or the hood.

[hemi68charger]

Hey Scott,

Id love to see how you lifted the Birds with the noses still on. Do you have pictures you can post or forward?

I need to get this figured out before I have to decide whether or not to pull the nose or the hood.

Me too.......... With my Buddy Dave and I, will think of something...... I am NOT going to take the nose off...   

[Ghoste]

Troy you must be close to that phase too.

[1974dodgecharger]

Sweet.....

[ACUDANUT]

You did not have to change K-Frames.  Very sweet looking engine. Can I have the 440 ? 

[hemi68charger]

Troy you must be close to that phase too.

Getting there. Next benchmark is getting the 727 rebuilt...... I want everything new......

[70Sbird]

Guys, Yes this was done with the nose and hood in place. and Troy I agree with everything new. This project went from an engine swap, then included the trans, full exhaust front suspension, rear springs, brakes...and the list grew and grew...
I'l put some pics up of the lifting setup I used. If it worked on a Superbird and a Hemi it will work on anything!
Ok, so I got the engine an transmission, plus a ton of parts. I began by fitting up the new steering box and mounts to the K frame. and trial fitting the accessories to the engine. Here are a couple more pics of that. The biggest problem with this whole swap was parts, wrong parts, bad parts, missing parts, and the fact that we wanted to have everything pretty much ready to swap once I got the car over here. It literally took months to get everything ready to do a couple days of work.
These pictures are trial fitting the intake heat tubes, coating the new trans with clear, fitting up the first (of 2)steering boxes and the Sector Shaft Support bearing from Firm Feel. more on that later....

[hemi68charger]

..., fitting up the first (of 2)steering boxes and the Sector Shaft Support bearing from Firm Feel. more on that later....

What is that bracket? Not familiar with that and its purpose....

[tan top]

..., fitting up the first (of 2)steering boxes and the Sector Shaft Support bearing from Firm Feel. more on that later....

What is that bracket? Not familiar with that and its purpose....

   

[70Sbird]

..., fitting up the first (of 2)steering boxes and the Sector Shaft Support bearing from Firm Feel. more on that later....

What is that bracket? Not familiar with that and its purpose....

Troy, that is a Sector Support Kit from Firm Feel Inc. Basically it attaches a bearing on a sleeve below the Pitman arm on the sector shaft of the steering box to prevent flex. The bearing is encased in a bracket that bolts through the lip of the K frame to prevent any movement in the steering from the K frame through the steering box and the Pitman arm.
Here is a link to the part:
http://www.firmfeel.com/ssk_b.html

Here is a link to a Mopar Action article on the kit:

http://www.firmfeel.com/img/Primesteer.pdf

On a Hemi K frame there is a gusset right where one of the holes for the support bracket needs to be drilled, so it can only be attached with one bolt. This K frame was perimeter welded and there are also plenty of gussets and supports around the steering box mounting pad due to design of the drivers side Hemi mount. IMO, the kit is overkill on this particular application, but on a 440 K frame it would mount better and likely provide some additional support as designed.
Here are some pics of the SSK, the last one is after everything was installed on the car and buttoned up

[70Sbird]

The Heat tubes....this was my first significant stumbling block with mixing Original (block, heads, intake) with reproduction parts – Manifolds, heat tubes, dipstick tube, choke hot air tubes, Exhaust "H" pipe etc....from at least 3 different suppliers.

I removed and blasted the manifolds then coated them with cast Iron heat paint, I  bolted them on and installed the Dipstick (another great PIA). I could then bolt up the two hot air tubes, neither one were even close to meeting their flange on the back of the intake , not to mention they interfered with the trans bell housing and a few other things...

So, out came the torch to carefully heat and twist/bend/tweak the tubes so that both flanges fit their mating surfaces and locations. All the while trying NOT to burn or overheat the back of the finished block, heads, valve covers and other pieces.

This took most of an afternoon "adjusting" a couple of parts that should have taken 15 minutes to install if the parts had been correct. Then add a few more hours to clean up the tubes,  paint and clear them appropriately and finally bolt them up.

[hemi68charger]

Here's my "fix" for the heat tubes......  

Great work there Scott............. 

[ACUDANUT]

Are heat tubes really necessary ?

[JB400]

Might help it warm up a little bit quicker, but I like a cooler intake.

[gymratt30]

Here's my "fix" for the heat tubes......  

Great work there Scott............. 

Troy, my Red Bird also has the blockoffs as you do. 

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

I've been watching this for a while.  And I talked to the owner at length up in Dubuque.  I can not wait for this to be out and about!

[Xenon]

Here's my "fix" for the heat tubes......  

Troy,
Why would you even bother to plug the holes in rear of intake if not using the tubes .....?

[70Sbird]

Here's my "fix" for the heat tubes......  

Great work there Scott.............  

Thanks Troy, the solution that you and Mike have certainly is one that I would choose. In fact on this car the heat riser is removed and I plugged the "return" hole in the exhaust pipe, so they are purely cosmetic.

The way they are designed to function is that when the engine is cold the heat riser diverts most of the exhaust from the passenger side manifold up through one of the tubes (the painted one in the pic above), it circulates through and warms the intake, then passes out the (unpainted) tube into the passenger exhaust pipe. When the heat riser warms up, the exhaust bypasses the tubes and manifold completely so the only time they are doing anything is shortly after start, even the choke is a separate circuit.
The choke is warmed via a separate pipe that passes through the same (passenger) exhaust manifold. there is a 1/4" stainless steel tube that connects the choke coil to the manifold, and another "inlet" tube connected to the other side of the internal Manifold "pipe". You can see these two smaller tubes in one of my pictures above, the "inlet" tube is open above the bellhousing, the air is sucked in there bu choke vacuum, is heated as is passes through the manifold, then is sucked past the bimodal spring in the choke housing that warm and then opens the choke.
The two sets of tubes and exhaust gasses/heat do work but IMO it would be simpler and MUCH better functioning to simply block off the intake ports and use an electric choke on a car that is not a concourse restoration. You would also eliminate a number of potential exhaust leaks.

[70Sbird]

I've been watching this for a while.  And I talked to the owner at length up in Dubuque.  I can not wait for this to be out and about!

Ryan,
This really is a great car, and the owner is a really nice guy!
Lots more pictures to come!

[moparstuart]

I've been watching this for a while.  And I talked to the owner at length up in Dubuque.  I can not wait for this to be out and about!

Ryan,
This really is a great car, and the owner is a really nice guy!
Lots more pictures to come!

[hemi68charger]

Here's my "fix" for the heat tubes......  

Troy,
Why would you even bother to plug the holes in rear of intake if not using the tubes .....?

Don't want rats/mice or any other foreign objects getting in there,,   

Plus it makes for a much cleaner-complete look. Otherwise, it'll be like "something's missing"......

[70Sbird]

The pulley's and belts were the next project that actually took over 3 months to resolve. The owner had already purchased a new P/S pump, bracket, pulley and belt (Saginaw) and pulleys for the crank and water pump (for a 440). A reman alternator and brackets also was in the parts mix. As you Hemi experts are aware, none of these parts would work with each other. Now add in an aftermarket damper on the crank and all bets were off. I could have used the Saginaw pump and a 440 pulley, along with the rest of the 440 style pulleys and used a readily available spacer if a damper of the same thickness as the RB one was used as opposed to the thicker Hemi one. However, the owner wanted the pulleys and P/S pump to "look correct" for a 70 Hemi Bird, so we started all over again with a Federal style pump, bracket, line, press on Hemi only pulley, reproduction Hemi only water pump and crank pulleys, then another alternator with a dual groove pulley that would line up with crank. Now we had compatible parts with each other but still would not line up due to the damper thickness. The solution was a custom made .681" spacer between the damper and crank pulley.  This was one of the most frustrating and lengthy time killers of the whole swap.
Here are some pics of the parts, measuring and the final assembly.

[Mopar John]

Scott,
I feel your pain on the pullies! I have run into that on the racecar. Every time you change something there is ALWAYS something that doesn't line up! Glad your past that!
MJ

[70Sbird]

By now the engine and parts had been in my garage for about five months and I had the engine pretty much dressed, bolted to the trans and K frame, ready for installation. Here are just a few more detail pics of dropping the engine onto the K for the last time, the new trans linkages, choke tube detail as previously discussed and a shot from the top with the rest of the pieces either on for good or mocked up.

[70Sbird]

Scott,
I feel your pain on the pulleys! I have run into that on the racecar. Every time you change something there is ALWAYS something that doesn't line up! Glad your past that!
MJ

John,
At one point I had six pulleys laying on the garage floor in front of the engine, and still could only get two pulleys to line up with each combination. All while using washers to get the crank pulley spacing right for each one, and still not getting it all "right" until he spent the $ for the re-pop crank and water pump pulleys, and I made it work from there....This was one of those problems that took much more time money and beer than I anticipated !

[ACUDANUT]

So how did you make this custom made .681" spacer between the damper and crank pulley ?

[70Sbird]

So how did you make this custom made .681" spacer between the damper and crank pulley ?

A friend who works in a machine shop with access to a Bridgeport mill and a lathe.
Between measuring, then spacing with washers I finally got to a spot where everything lined up. I let him borrow a crank pulley to transfer the six (pulley) bolt hole pattern on to the piece of Aluminum that he had turned to the OD size, center hole diameter and approximate thickness. He did a final cuts for thickness and parallelism on the faces of the spacer on the mill, then drilled the six holes.

[ACUDANUT]

 

[70Sbird]

July 29, The big green machine showed up at my house and it was time to get to work. I took the first picture out in my driveway that evening since the sight of 2 Superbirds in my driveway was WAY cool. (and gave my neighbors something to talk about for a while!)
The engine/trans/K frame/ removal was pretty straight forward, basically unhook everything attached between the engine and the rest of the car. All of the accessories, belts, fan, wiring, and such all stayed on the engine. We dropped the fluids out, driveshaft, exhaust and most of the suspension. We then lowered the car onto the rolling dolly but still supported by blocks/jackstands at the correct level to have the K frame engage the dolly, but not have the full weight of the car on it. I then slung my lifting straps to the car (more detail on that coming) and began to lift. The transmission tailshaft was supported by a jack and the cross member was removed. As soon as there was tension on the straps and saw the nose actually moving up I took out the 4 K frame bolts and lifted away!
When I took my engine out this way, I blocked the front of the car up in the air, disconnected the cherrypicker and rolled the dolly out the front (most clearance). With this one however we wer able to lift the front end high enough (it was really close) to slide the engine assembly out the side while the nose was suspended, then we simply lowered it onto the jackstands . We used a much better method when the Hemi went back in, but I'll cover that later.
So here you can see my buddy Shad working under the car and the growing pile of parts, then rolling the hoist in place getting ready to hook up and lift.

[70Sbird]

Once we had the engine assembly and K frame sitting on the dolly, the actual "removal" took about 15 minutes.
Here are the pics from the rest of the process:

[hemi68charger]

I was going to do the same thing with the cherry picker..... Soooooooooo, I'm interested to see what you used for a sling and what you attached it to....

[FJ5WING]

I was going to do the same thing with the cherry picker..... Soooooooooo, I'm interested to see what you used for a sling and what you attached it to....

Ive been waiting to see that too! I'll need to use it in a few months. 

[ACUDANUT]

 Your not picking up the car by the radiator support are you ?

[70Sbird]

Your not picking up the car by the radiator support are you ?

Yes I am ACUDANUT, that is one of my secret shortcut restoration tips, OK maybe exaggerating a little bit, I really just "hooked" the upper core support or whatever else was convienient !
I've been busy at work and a few home projects this week so I haven't re-sized the lifting pics yet, maybe tomorrow.
For now, here is the last of the 440 pics, the complete engine/trans in front of the 'Bird. I only pulled the fan and the intake vacuum fitting off of it, everything else stayed intact. I fogged the motor before it was shut off, and sprayed a bunch more fogging oil in the cylinders (and anywhere else I could), then sealed it up to keep as much moisture and critters out of it as possible.

I have some mixed feelings about this picture, there is a nice Superbird and it's stamped, great running, matching numbers engine and transmission that I have just separated from the chassis and watched it being loaded into a truck a few minutes later. I have wondered a few times since then when and if they will be reunited at some time in the future.....I would love to find out what happened to my original engine and transmission. I've now just become "one of those guys" that have a hand in scattering original components away from original cars. I just have to keep telling myself that it's not my car and the guy can do what he wants, Still kinda bothers me though

[70Sbird]

Just a few random pics from the time between engines: here was the stripped clean engine compartment including the master Cylinder assembly and brake lines.
He bought a complete Hemi master cylinder/booster/offset brackets, etc. setup from "The Ram Man" This was one of the easiest parts of the swap. All the parts were correct, it went together flawlessly. I ended up only needing to adjust the pushrod between the booster and master cylinder a few turns when it was all done. Great parts from this supplier!
Also replaced the headlight vacuum and wiring harness to cure a few issues with taped up and soldered connections on the old one, and finally here is the Hemi, all dressed up and ready to go!

[70Sbird]

The Lift:
I have been asked now more than a few times how did I do this, so here is my setup. As you can see, this Superbird had already been painted and finished once. I did not want to take off the hood or nose. I have done that plenty of times on my own car, and the nose is a real PIA! Especially with limited help.
A couple of must haves: Two lifting straps of your choice of design. I used motorcycle tie down straps on my car and they worked well too. I guess the only requirement would be a good hook on the end to secure against the channel bolted to the front "bumper" support. Next would be an engine hoist capable of lifting the front of the car. I have a "two ton" hoist that is plenty big for the job. When I did my car I actually was using a smaller one and it worked, but was probably on the edge of being sufficient.
One thing I did not do in prior swaps like this was elevate the rear of the car. This time I set the back of the car up on car ramps (after having to borrow a set of wheels and tires that fit the ramps), it turns out that 255 series tires were wider than my ramps!
So the process was:
Jack up the back of the car, swap tires, place on the ramps.
I used two Kevlar/nylon lifting straps with large cast hooks on the ends. The hooks were much larger than I needed but worked fine. I passed the hooks down through the area in front of the core support (latch tray removed), through the "hole" where the radiator would be, then down along the front framerails hooking the "bumper brackets" from below with the hooks. – See pictures. By passing the lifting straps through the core support it traps them on either side of it and keeps the straps tight against the support so there is no chance of the hooks sliding and the car moving around once it is lifted. I have since done this on a few more cars (without beaks) and it has worked very well each time.
Here are the pictures of the lifting setup. If anyone needs further clarification, details or pictures let me know. BTW I did not hook the hoist around the lifting straps by the tie wrap; the hook on the hoist went through both loops of the straps. The tie wrap was just to keep them together and centered.
Even with my hoist backed off to the 1 ton setting, I had enough clearance to get the front of the car up in the air without hitting the boom of the hoist with the top of the nose, and still allowing enough room to slide the fully assembled Hemi in (just removed the air cleaner) from the side. Then we centered up the engine assembly and lowered the car onto it.

[66FBCharger]

 

[ACUDANUT]

 

[FJ5WING]

Hey Scott that's AWESOME!!!!!

Do you think this can be accomplished without removing the latch tray? I may attempt it with the tray in place.

Did you not any flexing of the nose to fender gaps? this is my only real concern since we spent so much time/energy to make a close to perfect alignment between the two.

Thanks again for running this thread and especially for including the pictures and text about the lifting.

[hemi68charger]

Very cool Scott...... Very simple yet strong it appears...... 

[70Sbird]

Hey Scott that's AWESOME!!!!!

Do you think this can be accomplished without removing the latch tray? I may attempt it with the tray in place.

Did you not any flexing of the nose to fender gaps? this is my only real concern since we spent so much time/energy to make a close to perfect alignment between the two.

Thanks again for running this thread and especially for including the pictures and text about the lifting.

You could probably hang the nose of the car without removing the latch tray, just be sure to keep the lifting straps forward - right by the core support and you will probably be fine. I just liked having it run through the front of the core support and hooked on the back side of it to add some front to rear stability. I noticed no flexing of the body, no change in nose to fender, or fender to door gaps. But, to be honest I never really looked too hard, or tried to open/shut a door while the car was hanging. Since you are lifting from both of the front "framerails" though I wouldn't expect much deformation of the unibody. 

[Charger-Bodie]

Hey Scott that's AWESOME!!!!!

Do you think this can be accomplished without removing the latch tray? I may attempt it with the tray in place.

Did you not any flexing of the nose to fender gaps? this is my only real concern since we spent so much time/energy to make a close to perfect alignment between the two.

Thanks again for running this thread and especially for including the pictures and text about the lifting.

You could probably hang the nose of the car without removing the latch tray, just be sure to keep the lifting straps forward - right by the core support and you will probably be fine. I just liked having it run through the front of the core support and hooked on the back side of it to add some front to rear stability. I noticed no flexing of the body, no change in nose to fender, or fender to door gaps. But, to be honest I never really looked too hard, or tried to open/shut a door while the car was hanging. Since you are lifting from both of the front "framerails" though I wouldn't expect much deformation of the unibody. 

The only thing I would suggest with this method,is to make sure the side rail ( bumper bracket) bolts are very tight. It would suck to all of a sudden have it slip and crunch the cone into a fender.

Excellent way to go though.

[70Sbird]

I finally got all the small pieces swapped over to the new assembly, cleaned and put a fresh coat of wax on the engine compartment and called a couple of friends over for extra hands and eyes for the "drop" or playing with a very large version of "Hungry Hungry Hippo" for those who remember that game! The process war very straightforward, we lifted the car as described above, slid the dolly holding the engine/trans/K-frame  under the lifted car, and carefully lowered the body onto it.

[70Sbird]

The whole process of lifting, bolting and dropping took about an hour, only because we were going very slowly and eased, wiggled and shoehorned the engine in place. The good news is that a fully assembled Hemi can be be installed from the bottom without taking the car or engine back apart. 
Some patience and a couple of extra hands also help!

[ACUDANUT]

You do nice careful work. The owner should be pleased.

[70Sbird]

You do nice careful work. The owner should be pleased.

Thank You!

[70Sbird]

I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous about this stage of the swap and it was definitely a time of celebration when we got the 4 K frame bolts and trans crossmember bolts in place and unhooked the hoist!

[ACUDANUT]

You do great work. 

[moparstuart]

You do great work. 

I hear he plays a great hemi Delivery boy 

[70Sbird]

 I hear he plays a great hemi Delivery boy  
[/quote]

That yellow lifting strap looks familiar...The delivery guy looks kinda sketchy though

[70Sbird]

With the engine now sitting in the car all that really needed to be done was to hook everything up and finish the suspension. The steering box is a Firm Feel stage II box and he also opted for heavier Torsion bars and HD rear leaf springs. Here are just a couple of shots of the installed t-bars and installing the rear leafs.

The last picture is the reproduction "H" pipe. Here you can see another frustration I had with reproduction part quality. There was no way to hook mufflers to this pipe as it was cocked so far to the passenger side. I had reproduction mufflers, tailpipes with resonators and clamps, all sitting right next to the car ready to go, but with the front of the system being so far out of whack and the tips being backordered for an eternity, I never put the full exhaust on. The plan was for me to deliver the car as turn-key back to the owner, this issue killed that plan. But....I did drive it to the alignment shop like this and take it out for a couple of "test and tune" rides...My neighbors were again impressed!

[ACUDANUT]

Did have jack stands in the rear ? I sure hope so.

[70Sbird]

Did have jack stands in the rear ? I sure hope so.

yes, I dont trust floor jacks!
The body was supported by jackstands, the floor jack was just holding up the side of the axle where we had pulled off the leaf spring

[ernie]

ive done that

[pettybird]

yeah but that car's a lot shorter