K-Member Swap, Engine IN Car!

OK, so you're asking "why in the hell would you want to do something hair-brained like this?" This is part of the front end rebuild project I started, and I felt it was necessary because I am fairly sure that I have a broken weld on the LCA stud tube in the K-member. No point fixing the suspension if I left this part unfixed. The only other time I've had the K out was when I swapped in the 74 Dart suspension, and the engine was out of the way then. Well, if I woulda had an engine hoist this time, I probably would've done it that way again, but I don't, so I had to improvise. Ma Mopar uses a similar trick when swapping out the transmission or engine in any of the FWD cars, so I figured that I could make it work on this application, too. The trick is to overkill the hell out of everything, and next time, I'll go farther than I did. I think it worked well for me, but you could EASILY kill yourself doing this chore, so if you don't have some BIG jack stands and a BIG floor jack, DON'T TRY THIS!! There, you've been warned. I can't make you think, so you're on your own if you're stupid and you try this anyway...

With that in mind, here's your average 73-76 A-body V-8 K-member. Steering box mounts on the left, Pitman arm mounts on the right.

The LCA stud tubes can be seen on the lower legs of the K... they're the approx. 1" holes below the steering box mount, and to the right of the idler arm mount.

Front view. The larger 1.5" holes are for the strut rods and bushings. The LCA stud tubes are in the upper legs of the K here.

Here's a close up of the LCA stud tube, note the weld that attaches it to the body of the K. This is the weld that typically breaks over time. Check it before you install any K-member!

Here's the high-tech engine support I made to hold the engine while the K was out. As you can see, the parts list consists of a piece of 4"x4" lumber long enough to span the the distance betwen the fenders, two 12" pieces of 2"x4" lumber to act as feet and distribute the load out over the fenders, two lengths of 1/2" threaded steel rod, four 1/2" nuts, four large, thick 1/2" washers, a 12" piece of 2"x 1/8" angle iron, two 5/16" washers, and two of the carb mounting bolts used on the TQ and iron manifold. If your carb mounting bolts are something othre than grade 8, get some grade 8 bolts for this job. When push comes to shove, all that is keeping that chunk of gray iron off of your noggin is those two 5/16" bolts. Use good stuff and live to tell about it! I tried to keep the supporting rods as close to the intake bolts as I could to minimize any potential leverage, although I doubt it would be a problem. Again, just my guess. I'll try to do the math on this and post it to be torn apart by the real scientists and engineers out there...

Another view of the aparatus...

Under load... yup, that 4"x4" piece of quality lumber is deflecting over an inch in the middle due to the weight of the iron 318. Unless you use good parts, it WILL come down on you, and no time is a good time for that to happen!

Yet another view. Note the feet used under the 4x4 to distribute the load over the inner fenders. Also note Thanksgiving weekend in Texas, sunny and 70 degrees. Makes the frigging hot summers almost worth it...

There she is, the clapped-out K.

Further proof that it works. Not a view that you see very often. IMMEDIATELY after taking this shot, I ran my huge floor jack under the oil pan (with another piece of 2x4) and supported about half the weight of the engine from below. No reason to leave a full load on the support for an exdended period of time.

And here's the shiny new (repainted, anyway) K-member snug in place. Note the cool greaseable sway-bar bushings I installed, and the way-spiffy TTI stepped headers. This little 318 won't know what to do with herself when I fire her up again!

Good ideas for upgrades to this project:

Use an engine lift plate that bolts to all four carb mounting holes, cutting the load on each bolt in half. Keep using the good bolts, though!

Use a steel support instead of the 4x4. Duh.

Other ideas? Feel free to drop me a line!

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Updated 12-23-01