Has anyone put a 355 engine & tranny into a Mondial t?

Was driving the Mondial today, and although it's a pretty neat car, compared to the 430, it's terribly slow. The 430 is probably too fast, so I was thinking that a good combination would be a 355 engine and transmission into the Mondial. Anyone ever do that?


Art

 

ahhhh........Art, you do realize that a Mod T has 300Hp....while the 355 has only 375 hp ????

Im sure you can easily find a few options to increase hp more in the Mod t to bring in alittle more hp at a fraction of the cost.

Wouldnt this make more sense ?? I doubt anyone ever did this because the cost factor would be large

Just buy a 456 for the price of the switch

 

Probably could, but you'd lose reliability, maybe driveability, etc. I was thinking about now the 355 was a complete package, emissions worked, tranny worked, etc., and it's the same basic castings, so it should bolt in. And the electronics, at least on the later Mondials and the early 355s is the same: 2.7!!! Seems like an easy switch, and if you turb the motor, or pull it out and hotrod it, there is going to be trouble, and probably it won't drive as well. Just a thought. There are a lot of wrecked early 355s, so getting the parts shouldn't be a huge deal.

Art

 

Personally, the mod t is a perfect car....not sure i would see any advantage in throwing a 355 power plant in there unless you wanted to do it as a hobby (more than anything else)...a 355 engine and tranny is still some strong money....i would opt for a faster 4 seater and throw in a few bucks and do the 456....you can never have enough ferrari's

 

If anybody can do it, it's Mark E.

He just loves a challenge.

 

The 456. The car has looks...

 

Anybody made a convertible???? At a price that isn't tooo big? I'm thinking this could be done for about 30K, say 15 for parts, balance, labor, etc.

Art

 

I looked into it multiple times - still thinking of doing it. But all three mechanics I spoke with said the same thing: just buy a 355.

Would cost about $25-30k to do the motor swap inclusive of labor. I believe (IIRC) that the engine would bolt right in, and hook up to the existing tranny (although I'd swap with the 6 speed if possible).

 

Had a 355, neat car, but not the same as the Mondial. I have a modern car, a 430, so I'm not looking for another 2 seater. Do you have the names of the mechanics?

Art

 

There is a 348 with a 355 gear box in it, so I'd have to say the converse must also be true and the 355 engine will fit a 348 gear box.

My personal feeling it that the 348 is a more reliable engine and I would port the heads, and install 8 throttle bodies and you'll have 350-380 hp. Just a thought.

Edit - I will be making up manifolds to mount 46mm suzuki TBs to QV/328/348 heads in the next week or so, and I also have a set of flowed QV (same casting as the 3289/348) heads to go with the manifolds. If your want a set, let me know.

 

Actually you would have over 400hp. Andy put ITB's on his 348 and is making over 400hp with no mods to the head, running on stock injectors, and a stock bottom end. However he is running different ecu's with a custom tune and an 8,000rpm redline. But he is making over 400 ponies.

 

Did he ever actually dyno that thing??? I keep seeing that number and a couple others, but no dyno sheets???

 

Specifics?

Art

 

It's a very well done motor, but as to it's real output there is no accurate info that I've seen. The numbers are educated guesses. Not sure how he is ducting in cool or cleaning the air.

 

There a few TT 348s out there making well over 500 hp with no problems, so I would have to think it the trans would be just fine.

 

ok, just a wondering.