273 Build

[toolmanmike]

A 861 Power Pack option. That's what it is!
I have had a few of you ask me to keep up on my 273 build. I have butted in other peoples threads from time to time with comments and a photo or two. It's time start from the beginning with the story and photos. I am far from done at this point. The heads are near finished and I have lots of clean up and bead blasting to do. I hope to clean my garage this weekend and possibly begin work on the short block. (frost plugs, oil galley plugs, etc) Then comes the crank and pistons and rods as time allows. Oops, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Last fall I pulled the drive train and began disassembling and cleaning. I didn't know what a gungy mess everything was until it was out of the car in the daylight. A lot of scraping,engine degreaser and a trip to the car wash got the most of it. When I took things apart I was surprised to find 2 different casting #
heads. One was an original 66 head and the other was a 67 head and one of the rods had a 12/72 stamped bearing set. A little oops got fixed in 1973 apparently.

 

[toolmanmike]

From gunge to relatively clean. Look at all that NOS grease I removed! LOL

 

[toolmanmike]

I took the short block and components to Steve Weber at Dewar Machine.
A one man shop and very particular. He cleaned, checked and machined as
needed. A +.030 overbore, a hone with torque plates and a .010/.010 turn on the crank was needed. The decks were square and straight as was the line bore. I ordered Egge 10.5/1 pistons to replace the original pop ups. Steve called me one day and said "we need to balance this thing. Your new pistons are lighter than the originals" It was balanced because the +.030 Egge's were 68 grams lighter. Lighter is good!

 

[toolmanmike]

I sent my 833 to LaPorte Performance and Mike Schmitz checked it out. No hard parts were needed. Just a clean and a reseal. I wish I had some photos but I don't at this time. Mike is a long time friend/customer and a drag racer that really knows his way around a 4 speed. Hey I found a bad photo of my tranny. ( I believe Mike runs a 331 in his Camaro)

 

[toolmanmike]

The heads went to R&J Performance outside of Cedar Falls. Radar the owner
is all about Mopar. He has done work for Chrysler, the B1 and has built and repaired heads for John Force. Woody, a friend of mine, works for him and does a lot of the cast iron work. Here's a few poor quality photos of the rough work done so far. A basic port match, bowl blend, bronze guides, new valves and springs and nice seat work on the Serdi.

 

[65Vart]

Nice thread you have started here Mike. Like I said before there is somthing of a cool factor about these little motors. I'll always keep mine even if it ends up on a stand one day. I checked my casting codes and they are both the strange 65 varient, I thought they changed for 66 to the 3/8 intake bolt normal angle but maybe I am wrong. Ive had small blocks as well as a couple of BBlocks. These little high winders still get some respect . Especially the 10 1/2 :1 motors. A guy at one of the shows I go to told me they were Ford 289 killers back in the day.

 

[toolmanmike]

I bought a Isky E-4 cam which will stay with the solid lifters and stock adjustable rockers. MVRcorp here on Fabo has a E-4 in his 273. Here's a link .

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKlIiP43cVo&feature=related"]YouTube- 67 Dart[/ame]

At 3:25 on the second video is the engine running. Nice 67 there Jim!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-eN2xZi65g&feature=related"]YouTube- Jim's Car[/ame]

 

[intimidator]

Radar and Woody do some real nice work.

 

[toolmanmike]

It's fun to go to the shop. A couple weeks ago they finished up a blown 392 Hemi for a 41 Willys pro streeter. There's a B1B in there now. Lots of Mopar fun.

 

[mshred]

hey mike, the build is looking good! i have always had a thing for little motors screaming!!! keep us posted on this 273, sounds like its gonna be a blast!

 

[toolmanmike]

The heads should be done this weekend. Here's a couple of cell phone shots today after the milling. (.030 to make up for the compression loss of valve grind, different valves,and thicker head gasket I hope it runs as good as it looks. LOL)

 

[toolmanmike]

A few shots after they made it home. I need to gather up a few loose end parts and supplies and start assembly. Note the larger secondary holes in the intake. I had Woody machine them bigger in case I need to use a newer Edelbrock AFB. Also I unwrapped the block to take a peek.

 

[65Vart]

Very nice indeed.

 

[toolmanmike]

Hey, I just noticed something. The part number for the intake is for a 66 with CAP (Clean air package). I believe the car was ordered by a young man in the service stationed in the NW. (Washington/Oregon) but the car was made in
Hamtramck. Any ideas?

 

[Dfnsmn34]

liking this thread....

 

[dart4forte]

Did they flow the heads before and after? Why do you need to balance the motor?

 

[moper]

Can you post a pic of the pistons? Never heard or seen them before...

 

[toolmanmike]

Did they flow the heads before and after? Why do you need to balance the motor?

I wish I had some numbers. We didn't flow the heads. It was balanced because the +.030 Egge's were 68 grams lighter.

 

[Dfnsmn34]

Hey toolmanmike...I tried finding them on-line at Egge's... but no luck. I guess its a call them and talk story thing to find out pricing for the pistons???

aloha mike

 

[toolmanmike]

I think pistons, pins, and cast rings were around $400. They need to work on their website. You can find them if you download the catalog. I'll add a link to this post if I can find it.

I can't seem to link a single page from the catalog. Download the catalog (pdf) and go to page 110. Part numbers but no prices. You'll have to call. Ask for Sam and tell him you're another FABO member. Maybe
they will start offering us a discount. LOL Invite him to visit our site. Nice guy, great company.

 

[johnmucci]

They don't show the 273 Pistons on there now!! They did last month when Toolman gave me the same info... strange yes??? the piston kit was $340 and rings about 70 .. Toolman is the BOMB!!!!!

 

[toolmanmike]

They don't show the 273 Pistons on there now!! They did last month when Toolman gave me the same info... strange yes??? the piston kit was $340 and rings about 70 .. Toolman is the BOMB!!!!!

I hope that's a good thing. LOL

 

[chewy]

They don't show the 273 Pistons on there now!! They did last month when Toolman gave me the same info... strange yes??? the piston kit was $340 and rings about 70 .. Toolman is the BOMB!!!!!

Do a search for Part # L2222-8 they are still on there.

 

[poppys67toy]

nice thread will definitely be following since I am considering some mods to my 273 commando.thanks .

 

[toolmanmike]

I took today off and spent some quality time with my 273. I miked the crank and the rod and main bearings for oil clearance. It's the first time I've checked oil clearance with a calculator and not plastigauge. LOL I checked for crank straightness and it was within a half a thou also. I also miked the pistons and bore for proper fit. That was pretty easy because the Egge pistons were within .0005 and the bore/ hone job from the machine shop was within a half a thou also. All the piston to bore clearances were .003 with one hole @ .0035.
(what's a half a thou between friends) LOL I installed the crank and torqued down the mains except for #3 (the thrust) and pried the crank fore and aft to set the thrust then torqued #3. The crank spins with ease and has .0065 end play.(spec is .010) Perfect! I did screw up though. I was file fitting my rings with a new filer and the end gap went from .006 to .018 too quick. I ordered a new set of rings. Better to be safe than sorry. I will snap a photo if I get a chance. Mike