dart sport build
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Bulldozer
free ice cream sandwiches
drop a 360 in it
Palmetto
Well-Known Member
A V8 swap would be the simplest answer.
Swinger803
1973 Dart Swinger 225
Turbo! Check out Bills build thread... Great work. And Srixons turbo toad.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
being that this is your first car and most likely your new to the hobby i would suggest swapping in a small block v8. a 318 or a 360 can be had for less than $500. It is a very straight forward swap and will most definitely give you the sound and power your looking for. I would keep it all as simple as possible.
As much as I love turbos on slant sixes, for a first car effort, I have to agree that dropping a 360 in this car is probably the best idea for someone who doesn't have a lot of emechanical experience.
If he could be happy with a 15-second car, he could keep the engine he has and go the conventional, normally-aspirated hop-up route by adding a cam, headers, maybe a 500cfm Holley 2-barrel carb on a Super Six manifold, and adding an 8.75" rear end for an easy swap to some 3.90 or 4.10:1 gears.
I think along with a .100" head mill, that would drop that car into the 15's and you can have a lot of fun with a 15-second car...
Turbos are the way to go a lot faster, but they just require too much in the way of experience and know-how for a first-time effort.
At that point, I think there's simply too much to learn...
If there was a bolt-on turbo "KIT" it might be feasible, but there's not; you have to make everything...
My 2-cents...
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
/6 Matt
30 Degrees Crooked
Don't mill the head mill the block. It provides better quench. If you ever need another block, people give slants away for free.
EDIT: please cc your chambers first though and figure out DCR!
/6 Matt
30 Degrees Crooked
$500
For an sbm is apealing. Then you need a different tranny, different k-member, throttle cables and kickdown linkages and bigger torsion bars yadda yadda yadda....
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
you can get a trans for a couple hundred bucks. you could sell the running slant and trans for 100-200. you dont need a k-member. they make mounts. throttle cable will still work. kick down linkage can be found at most wrecking yards. most times the engine will come with it. slant and small block are nearly same weight. you can upgrade tortion bars if you want but not mandatory. I know everyone is gonna jump on me for that but guys run big blocks with slant bars and it handles like a shopping cart but they handle like **** to begin with.
/6 Matt
30 Degrees Crooked
Point taken. The only real "arguement" I have to this disscussion is that I wouldn' pay money fo a slant and slant trans unless it was just recently rebuilt.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
I think either way you go its going to cost money and your gonna have to roll your sleeves up. You can go alot faster, alot cheaper with a v8 swap. hell even a stock bottom end 318 with a cam and bolts on can run pretty good for very little money.
/6 Matt
30 Degrees Crooked
Agreed. I dunno about cheaper, I tend to think it averages out. But yes either way it will take money, work and research.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, if sound is a priority then go V8. A slant will only sound awesome to those who have slant fetishes like myself.
I suggested that he mill the head because you can do that without removing the engine from the car and disassembling it; a hell of a lot of work. If this can be done with the engine assembled and in the car, I am unaware of it.
Milling the block is the better way to go IF you have the time, patience and help to do the job. Milling the head is a whole lot quicker and easier, though not as good, overall.
Charrlie_S
Well-Known Member
I have run over 400 lbs of nitrous through a 170 slant six at 150 hp with no problems. At 175 shot, I have hurt some parts.
DusterKrazy
Well-Known Member
The first time I seen the cuda, you were thrashing that 7.25 pretty good! And it took it!!
Charrlie_S
Well-Known Member
The first time I seen the cuda, you were thrashing that 7.25 pretty good! And it took it!!
I put that 7 1/4 rear into my 66 Valiant, after we put a 8 3/4 in the Cuda. The 7 1/4 finally gave up the sure grip clutches last May at Mason-Dixon slant six race.
I had been running that same 7 1/4 rear (3.91 SG) since 1974 (5 different cars). Never hurt anything except the SG clutches. This is the second time for the clutches. I will install new clutches (on the shelf), and use it again.
Charrlie, that belongs in Ripley's Believe It Or Not!!!
:wack:
"I put that 7 1/4 rear into my 66 Valiant, after we put a 8 3/4 in the Cuda. The 7 1/4 finally gave up the sure grip clutches last May at Mason-Dixon slant six race.
I had been running that same 7 1/4 rear (3.91 SG) since 1974 (5 different cars). Never hurt anything except the SG clutches. This is the second time for the clutches. I will install new clutches (on the shelf), and use it again."
:wack:
"I put that 7 1/4 rear into my 66 Valiant, after we put a 8 3/4 in the Cuda. The 7 1/4 finally gave up the sure grip clutches last May at Mason-Dixon slant six race.
I had been running that same 7 1/4 rear (3.91 SG) since 1974 (5 different cars). Never hurt anything except the SG clutches. This is the second time for the clutches. I will install new clutches (on the shelf), and use it again."
Charrlie_S
Well-Known Member
How about this, you probably didn't even know they existed. I have a "A" body 7 1/4 rear with a 5.13 sure grip. Also have parts to assemble a 4.56 SG 7 1/4. Direct Connection had these parts available in the "old days", for stock eliminator, when you had to have the "correct" rear in the car. Gears available were 3.91 (could be ordered with the car), 4.10, 4.56, 4.88, 5.13 (these only DC parts).
You're right; I didn't know they existed!
ops:That pinion gear must be the size of a ball point pin in that 5:13...
Can't see it lasting very long with slicks...disgust
6pakattack
Well-Known Member
I am currently on /6 Dart #3 !I violated my most simplest rule of all, and that is "KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID" !! Shave the head .90,Offy 4bl Intake/390 carb, a small cam and a set of Hooker Headers and some Magna Flow mufflers and you should be happy for a while !! 'Till the bug hits you !!!
The cheapest thing to do to it to get more power, is learn how to tune what you have, since this is your first car.
Somewhere on this site is a factory service manual you can download.
Read the entire thing and understand how things work, motifications can come later....
Somewhere on this site is a factory service manual you can download.
Read the entire thing and understand how things work, motifications can come later....
65Vart
Well-Known Member
V8 swap, you will learn a lot, it will be more fun to drive and you will be ahead if you choose to sell the car at some point.
BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
It is the OP's first car. A V-8 swap is pretty ambitious, and likely to lead to an unfinished car that sits for years and frustrates the owner. I know some claim they can do a swap in an afternoon, but I would like to see that video. You are usually replacing the entire drivetrain, then brakes, suspension, ...
First define what you call "power". Most of the public define a "powerful engine" as one that pulls away strongly from a stop sign. That is not power, but torque, and a low-gear rear-end and small tires increases that. A racing cam and high-stall torque converter decreases that, unless you rev the engine with your foot on the brake like drag racers do, but that would look stupid in normal driving. Max power comes with the engine screaming at >4000 rpm, such as driving around in 1st gear. You could do that, but you'd look foolish and like you are trying too hard. A 225 is pretty good for torque if tuned well.
Sound is subjective. Most people here like a "lopey idle" from a high-lift, high overlap "racing cam" like the MegaThumper. Some are so bad, they can barely idle and give off clouds of noxious fumes, plus terrible gas mileage in daily driving. I think they sound like a defective engine with a bad muffler, but to each his own, as long as you don't pollute the air I breathe.
First define what you call "power". Most of the public define a "powerful engine" as one that pulls away strongly from a stop sign. That is not power, but torque, and a low-gear rear-end and small tires increases that. A racing cam and high-stall torque converter decreases that, unless you rev the engine with your foot on the brake like drag racers do, but that would look stupid in normal driving. Max power comes with the engine screaming at >4000 rpm, such as driving around in 1st gear. You could do that, but you'd look foolish and like you are trying too hard. A 225 is pretty good for torque if tuned well.
Sound is subjective. Most people here like a "lopey idle" from a high-lift, high overlap "racing cam" like the MegaThumper. Some are so bad, they can barely idle and give off clouds of noxious fumes, plus terrible gas mileage in daily driving. I think they sound like a defective engine with a bad muffler, but to each his own, as long as you don't pollute the air I breathe.
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