Big blocks in 59-68 Dodge trucks, what I have learned.


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Posted by Eric B. on Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 4:55PM :

Guys,

In trying to get a BB bell for a guy on this forum, I have found a few things out, and I thought I would share them with the whole forum.

Both to save other people from some of the same mistakes I was going to make, and to see if there was any more information I am missing.

Here is what I found out doing a bit of research.

The BB Bell is the same for all the hydraulic clutch trucks, and almost any bell from a BB truck up to 68 will bolt right up to a 59-68 Dodge truck.

The flywheel is the problem, and here is what I found out.

A 440 has a 6 bolt crank, this is only used in 383s, 400s, and 440s(maybe 426s as well?).

The crank on a 361-413 has 8 bolt holes, and sticks out of the back of the block further then on a 383-440.

This means that you need a flywheel that has a large taper on the back to bring it far enough away from the bell to allow it to turn.

This flywheel is only used on trucks with 383 V8s, and that only gives you two years of production to work with, 67 and 68. It is a 12" clutch, where the 361-413 flywheels are 13" or 14".

Basically to put a 383-400-440 BB in a 60-68 Dodge truck you have three options if you want a stick.

1. Get a flywheel from a 67-68 light duty Dodge truck that came with a 383 BB and a stick. Then you can use a bell from a 60-68 BB big truck with no problem.

2. Get a complete 361-413 setup out of a 60-68 Dodge truck, and drop the whole thing right in.

3. If you wish to try to use a 440 with a car (or 70s truck) flywheel, you could make up a spacer so the car flywheel you have sits further back, or you could try and cut the correct bell a bit to allow clearance.

This is the best information I could gather, does anyone else have any information to add to this?

Eric




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