I've got a '68 Dart GT with the original 318, 904 auto, and a 7-1/4 rear end. I am getting ready to repair the front left frame rail and thought it would be a good time to freshen the engine and transmission.
First the engine. Like I said, its the original 318 but at some point during it's life had an Edelbrock Performer manifold and a Holley 4160 600 CFM carb put on it. It's also got some aftermarket plug wires so I don't know if anything has been done regarding the ignition system. My plan is to keep things as cheap as possible but I do want it to be a reliable fun car to drive. There's probably a million 318 Build threads here but I was just wondering from some of the experts here what might be an affordable plan. I was thinking about reusing the existing crank and rods, probably some sort of minimal overbore just to clean things up (assuming the machine shop says that's all I need to do), new pistons and rings, new bearings, upgrade the cam a little bit, and reuse the Edelbrock intake and the Holley. As for the heads, I'd like to find a set of old 302 swirl port heads if that's still possible and upgrade to an electronic ignition. I do have a set of old Headman A-body small block headers that some guy bought years ago and never installed, they were cheap so that fits in the plan.
As for the transmission, I was planning to stick with the 904, get a street rebuild kit from Cope Racing Transmissions, and maybe upgrade the torque converter if I can find one that works with a 904 trans without a real high stall. The floor shifter feels a bit sloppy so I'll need to do something about that.
For the rear end, I would love to find an 8-1/4 A-body unit that I could just bolt in, would really love it if it had a Sure Grip in it.
When I bought the car about a year ago, I had visions of a 340 4-speed swap with an 8-3/4 rear end. Pricing those parts brought me back to reality.
Any thoughts or suggestions on my new plan would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
K.C.
