Posted by Mike Hernke [63.151.218.18] on Friday, April 19, 2013 at 10:07:47 :
In Reply to: Any one out there make a kit for a 4bt Swap? posted by Sterling From TX [99.98.76.231] on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 23:50:10 :
I don't want to be disagreeable here but I have a friend who is a mechanic but doesn't do any fabrication and doesn't own a welder who swapped a 360 into an m37 with no kits that I am aware of. I think this included custom motor mounts and it turned out fantastic. I really don't remeber anything about the 4bt swap that is more challenging than a v8 swap. I beleive my friend mocked up mounts and had a local welder make them for him, a little more effort sure but not out of the question. The one exception I remember is that I modified the oil pan fairly radically including cutting and relocating the pickup tube to try and keep the engine as low as possible. I am not sure if power wagons are as bad with respect to the oil pan and if you are willing to lift the truck slightly or mount the engine as high as possible you might get away without oil pan modification. Even better I saw a chevy van 4bt mounted in a M715 once and if you are not aware the chevy van 4bt was mounted at something like a 15 degree angle. This would angle the pan away from the front axle pumpkin and may achieve the best of all worlds without pan modification or suspension lift. This is just speculation as the chevy 4bts are pretty scarce around here and I used a ford 4bt.
I say try not to cut anything and get to know a local welder then go for it! Worst case a 4bt holds its value and if you didn't cut the mounts or anything you can always put the flat head back and sell the 4bt. With a few notable exceptions I have found that the hardest part of any project is getting started. I over think a lot of projects at least that is what my jeep driving friends tell me!
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