here are some questions that i have been thinking up the past couple of days wondering if yall could shed some light on them they are in no particular order. is the engine bay of novas and chevelles tall enough and long enough to handle the 4bt cummins. i checked the weight and there is only a 150 pound difference between the 4bt and the 454 so that shouldnt be a problem. is the unibody design of the chevelle and nova strong enough to handle the torque? what beefing up could you do to the frame of these cars to handle this motor? if it seems cost efficient and i go through with this swap what kind of mileage could i expect. i know the motor would last forever and get alot better fuel mileage far more than a 454 gas motor that gets 10 miles to the gallon. on the diesel depot website they list a 4bt mated to a th400 trans for 2750 bucks is this a resonable price? i know where i can get a 72 nova that the body is in near perfect shape for 2500 bucks and with the 2750 for the motor and trans id be looking at 5250 overall that isnt to terribly bad would it? overall would this be a terribly hard swap to perform? would there be alot of welding and fabricating of brackets and cross members? has anyone ever put one of these engines into a muscle car? sorry for all the questions thanks for all of the answers.

 

Chevelle for sure would be tall enough, Nova should be also, they put 6 cylinders in there as well.

The Chevelle frame would be enough for a 4BT, Nova used to twist up with a decent 350 without subframe connectors.

2750 isn't bad if the combo is complete, especially if they also have the mounts, that would make it a virtual bolt in, as the 4BT/TH400 combos were retrofits for 350 gasser engines. I would also watch Ebay, there are usually several on there as well.

Look at Youtube for the 70 Monte with a 6BT, pretty impressive.
You may also want to haunt 4BTswaps forum, lots of good onfo over there.

That's a sweet price for the Nova body!

 

Reality check time. Have you ever driven a big block Chevelle? I had a 68 GTO in my younger days which has about the same weight distribution front to rear. If I washed it in the yard I had to have it pointed in a direction that I could drive off into. It would not back up grade on wet grass. A snow covered road was a nightmare, wet roads with less than 50% tread on the tires was not much better. Now toss more weight on the front and you will end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 70% front to 30% rear weight distribution. Yes you can probably get it to fit but in reality driving it on anything but a dry road may be hazardous to your health. And yes I have seen the Monte Carlo with the 6BT on Youtube. What I haven't seen is that Monte Carlo on a hilly curvy snow covered road.

 

I dunno, he is in Georgia, so I doubt snow is too much of an issue.

 

same issue with a 2wd pickup too