Engine swap 392 out 304 in

BigEarl

New member
I am considering a Engine swap. 304 from a 64 bus going into a 73 loadstar 1700 that had a 392. Is this a direct swap, same bell housing, motor mounts, ect.? ? I would just fix my 392 but my son over revved it and dropped a valve head into the right rear cyl where it has been bouncing around for way too long. (5 min at low idle) The spark plug and everything else that I can see with a bore scope looks to be well peened. I am concerned about the cyl wall being scored up. Again Is this a direct swap same motor mounts,same bell housing ect. Where will i get into trouble what are the tricks to overcome the trouble
 
266-304-345-392 are all of the same small V-8 (SV8) engine family. The thing you'll want to make sure of is oil pan, pickup and pump agreement. In your case, they may well be identical between vehicles, but in the more commonplace swaps between different platforms, such as to/from a pickup/TA and a Scout or vice-versa, the oil pans, PU's and pumps are not the same and need to be swapped over to agree with the vehicle the engine is going into. The mounts may or may not be the same. You'll have to look that over. If they differ, that wouldn't be an issue provided the donor engine has the bosses drilled and tapped in the needed locations. These engines were installed in a variety of platforms, so they are usually easy to adapt. Best bet is not to swap external ring gear/flywheel from engine to engine as they are externally balanced. Doing so can cause vibration issues in some cases.
 
Thank you for your input. I had not given any thought to not keeping flywheels with their original engine but I may have been tempted if there was issues with the donor clutch. I am still in negotiation for the bus with the 304 It all depends on it's condition. Again thank you
 
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