Slant 6 swap

[68swep]

I have a 68 with a slant 6. Im determined to use it as a work truck, I have a pest control company. I definitely need AC in it and would love power steering. I know I can throw in a vintage air for $900 or so, but my thoughts are maybe I can just pull an engine, trans, and ac from something else. Questions are:
what donor options do I have?
Is there a ton of work involved, mounts, cross member, wire harness, etc.

There is a local shop that can build me a custom front end so im guessing they can build it for a different engine as well. Upgraded electrical would be nice to. If I can get this done for 5-6k that would be great but 10k+ is put of my range. Any thoughts?

[Jim100]

You should describe all the details of your trucks current setup. Easier for people to comment on difficulty. That said anything you want can be done especially if you are willing to spend some money. A straight engine swap to a small block is not that big of a deal.

[68swep]

Makes sense. So I have a 225 stock slant six, 3 in the tree. Everything is stock in it. I want AC, power steering, and would love 4 on the floor. Im taking my truck to a shop next week to get some rust repaired and they also build custom front suspensions. Im going to see what that costs. I know I can throw in the ac, swap tranny, etc, but if I can get everything, or almost everything from a donor car that would be great. I do like to keep cars/trucks as stock as I can but its so tough to find parts for the d100, a modern or widely supported engine would help out a bit.

[Jim100]

I know nothing about the independent front suspension bit. I never felt there was /is anything bad about the solid front axle.
A sound 318 or LA 360 and a NP-435 and you are in business! Motor mounts, bell house, clutch, trans.
Its currently a mechanical clutch?
Soon there will be other guys who will post that know more.

[Jim100]

A search will also provide a huge amount of info.

[64D100Poly]

You would probably be best off to try to find a donor truck that has a LA small block like a 318, they are pretty common and you can grab all your brackets and what not. Only thing you might have to buy is the bell housing. I wanted the torque-flight transmission for my 65', which has a Poly 318. trying to source everything separately was difficult and very expensive, found a 63 locally that was crushed by a tree and sitting for the past decade and by chance it had the auto with the push button, the owner said take the whole truck or anything you want for $200, I completly stripped that thing to a bare cab and frame lol The dash got hit so hard to wrapped itself around the transmission so I used a sawzall to cut out the center of the dash and firewall.. anyways my point is your most likely best off to try to find a donor


Best of luck - LB

[PwrWgnDrvr]

You will need to find a donor truck 68 or older. There is no car transmission/bell housing that will work from any yr. No truck setup will work from any yr other than 61-68. (other than with massive mods) PS is also rather complicated, whether its a mod or rebuild of an original system. AC is purely a mod as there was no factory AC in that yr.

[Kaegi]

or maybe consider building the slant 6 for more power? with p[rice of fuel might help costs. higher compression, big cam and 4 barrel

[sledgehammer]

I got a ‘68 that was a slant, automatic. Sold engine and tranny back in the fall. I’d bought an ‘85 Chrysler 5th ave a year ago for the 318. Odometer read 12,000 as it is only five digit odo. The ole fella said it was 112,000 so I got it for $650. My truck had a 727 auto and the car had a 904. Thought I could put it in but realized that the 904 is four inches shorter. I still haven’t got the 318 in as I need to do some things to it. I also kept the heater box, heater control panel, and all the brackets. Hopefully I’ll have it done by summer ( I’ve never pulled an engine before or done anything this extensive). Still not sure if it’ll all work out but I’m pretty much at the point of no return.

[sledgehammer]

Box is a tight fit and getting all the vents plumbed is gonna take some work.

[sledgehammer]

Kinda hard to see the box in the lighting.

[sledgehammer]

Under the hood.

[68swep]

Ill keep a look out for a donor truck. Honestly, I could get a little more power from my slant and be happy. Im looking at swapping my trans for an np435 4 speed. Does that require a new clutch or will that bolt up to what I have? A lot of work in that swap?

Other then that Im looking to get power steering, or assist, and AC. From there im good.

[Kngolly]

Too bad you aren't on the west coast! I have a 66 318 poly or a 67 383 that I wouldn't mind swapping for a slant 6 for my 67 D200. Love those inlines! Mine are both 727 automatics though