Swapfest 2000


In the spring of 2000, my buddy Kenneth and I performed a pretty intense couple of days of wrenching. I had purchased a 1978 1 ton Dodge parts truck. It had a 1970 Magnum 440 engine (with less than 1,500 miles on it!). The automatic tranny "worked", but there was no reverse gear and the transfer case was in perfect condition. Also the truck had been sitting for four or five years. We did all of this wrenching in only SIX days!



The 1978 donor Dodge.

We started on a Thursday by stripping the front end of the '78 and dropping the tranny and transfer case out of the Dodge.




We spent Friday rebuilding the TF272HD automatic transmission. The rebuild involved replacing all seals, gaskets, and clutches. Also both the forward and reverse bands were replaced. We expected to finish the rebuild the same day. Unfortunately, the reason that the tranny had no reverse gear slowed us down. The rear band had wore out and had cut deep grooves in the reverse drum. We then spent half of Saturday tracking down a replacement. We ended up pulling a reverse drum from a 1980's Dodge van transmission.




After finishing the tranny rebuild, I rented an engine hoist and we plucked the "new" 440 from the '78 Dodge. Sunday morning, after pushing the truck out of the shop, we began working on the engine. Sure it had just barely been broken in since it's rebuild, but it had sat in one spot for 4 or 5 years. I opted to pull the engine apart and install fresh gaskets and seals. Besides, it gave me an excuse to look inside! We cleaned it up then put it back together and repainted it Chrysler Blue (the original color for a truck engine).




Before going to bed Sunday, we had to pull my truck into the shop, pull the motor, and set the new 440 in its place (I had to return the engine hoist Monday morning). After picking up my just barely delivered TransGo valve body reprogramming kit (a tranny shift kit) we spent most of Monday installing it in the transmission. Then the tranny and transfer case were mounted in the truck. Tuesday was spent cleaning and repainting brackets, bolts and other parts and reinstalling. Also, the carb was rebuilt and installed as were new plugs, wires, distributor, dist. cap, hoses, belts ect... The results are excellent, and well worth the work.






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