RE: IML: 1981 Imperial & Crate Engines???

["Rob P" <fristpenny@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Abe,

You're in Long Island?  I'm  in Brooklyn and I have a place out in Suffolk.  
I have a 300 hp crate in my '83.  Runs fine, but I really need to open up 
the exhaust.  All the tips you got are great.  You need a passenger motor 
mount, and you need to deal with the balance on the converter.  I went with 
a weighted flexplate so that I could use a neutral balance flywheel.   If 
you're getting a crate engine don't worry about swapping manifolds the M1 is 
pretty good piece, but you may have an issue with the single plane on the 
380 crate fitting under the hood.  Mine fits fine, but it's the dual plane 
300 hp.

A decent 904 will work and the 8 1/4 is fine, but you should be dumping 
those 2.24 gears.   My car already had a 360 with 4bbl, 727 and 2.94 sure 
grip.  Tell the truth I wish I had the low gearset of the 904 and I'm 
contemplating a 500 overdrive.

My biggest problem was the accessory drives.  I had to dump the a/c because 
the offset on the manifold is different and won't clear the compressor.  I 
may eventually go with a serpentine system off a magnum truck.  Without the 
a/c you'll need an idler pulley-hard to find, or you'll have to swap to the 
old style lower output alternator like me.


Good luck, feel free to e-mail me offlist if you need any more info.  I 
researched this swap pretty extensively.

Rob
Two Imperials
1982 stock efi
1983 not stock




> From: "Abe Mantell" <mantell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: IML: 1981 Imperial & Crate Engines???
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:00:12 -0700
>
> Hello Imperial Enthusiasts!
>
> I am on the verge of having a 360 ci 380 hp crate engine
> put in my 1981 Imperial.
>
> Does anyone have experience with this?  Any advice would be
> greatly appreciated!!!  The mechanic is not too sure about
> the clearance for the air cleaner filter cover, also he
> warned me about possible stalling due to the rear axle ratio
> and the increased HP of the motor (?)...anything else I should
> be aware of???
>
> BTW: I am planning to have Nick Losurdo, of Classic Concepts in West
> Babylon, Long Island, NY do the engine work...anyone know him?
>
> Many TIA!
>
> Abe Mantell




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