Mark,
Being the owner of a 1973 Valiant daily driver with a 318, I just measured.
The outer head to head width of the engine is 20-1/2". Using the narrowest
of exhaust manifolds that Chrysler offered you need a minimum of 2-1/2" per
side (5" total). Thus, the grand toal minimum width would have been 25-1/2"
and that is not accounting for any clearance.
Sorry I can't give the 260/Tiger specs., but the hood is burried under
alternative projects #2 thru #99 around here. I would venture to say that
the 260 with stock exhaust manifolds is about 3"-4" narrower. And, we all
know how tight that fit is. The Chrysler small block was one of the wider
small blocks from the big three. Even in the A-bodies (Dart, early Cuda,
Valiant) Chrysler offset the engine (at least visually) and used a wide,
driver side exhaust that swept over the steering box to make it fit.
Tom Witt
> On the subject of Chrysler and not having an engine to fit the Tiger....I
> wonder how much problem it would have been to cut back the bulkhead some,
to fit
> the distributor. Was the Chrysler 273cu wider than the Ford? It
definitely
> had a fan that stuck out about 8" in front which would have to be changed.
In
> other words, I wonder how hard Chrysler tried. I had a 273 Commando in a
> Barracuda that put out about 240hp at the crank. Now that would have made
a
> decent Tiger engine.
> Mark L.
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