Engine Decode?

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55Redneck

55Redneck

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If it were a small block Chevy I'd know tons of places online to decode it but being a Mopar newbie I don't know of any. Can anyone give me a link or help me out with these numbers?

I know it's a 318 but other than that, it could have come out of anything from any year.

The stamp on the drivers side of the block says, 6 5M318 and further down it says, C (but the C is stamped backwards) 9030298. The casting number on the heads are 3769973. The valve sizes on the heads are approx 1.88 intake and 1.62 exhaust. I only had a tape measure to check them with so I'm sure the real size will be a bit different. Thanks in advance for any help I can get in figuring out some of the details on this 318.

Regards
Red
 
Looks like a '75 318. The 973 casting head should have come with 1.78" intakes and 1.50" exhausts so maybe someone reworked those heads. I've seen them with and without the smog ports drilled. Nothing special about the engine unless special work has been done to it. Probably a cast crank originally unless it came out of a manual trans truck......what else would you like to know?
 
Thanks for the info Mark. I bought this motor in the summer of 09 and it was supposed to be a good runner out of a 76 Valiant 4 door. I finally got around to tearing the heads and intake off the other day and was quite happy at how clean it really is inside. One thing that surprised me is the pistons are flat tops. I don't think the motor's ever been apart and being from the mid 70's I was expecting to see some kind of dished piston to keep the compression ratio down. Now I've never worked on a Mopar until I bought my 65 Cuda and they seem to have quite a few differences from all the GM's I've been playing with for years. This old dog just has to learn some new tricks I guess. The plan for now is to put a mild cam and a 4 bbl on it, new gaskets, paint it, and stuff it in the Cuda and see how it goes.
 
SleeperScamp said:
And its better than any Chevy 350 ever built....
Click to expand...

I'm not going to get into any brand bashing Scamp, it ain't my thing. I'll just say that a 350 Chevy may be considered the scourge of the hot rod world to some people but there's a reason so many people put them in their cars and it ain't because they're junk. ;)
 
If your '65 Barracuda is a 273 car, it will be a pretty easy swap. The only real modification you'll have to do is get a crank bushing for the small snout convertor. Everything else should transfer over from your 273. Converting to a 4bbl from a 2bbl. will require modifying the kickdown linkage or getting a 4bbl set. (not that easy to find anymore) or buying a cable kickdown setup from a race supply company. If your car is a 6cyl, you're in for quite a parts hunt. Check some past threads for more on that conversion.
 
My car was a 273 Commando/auto car but here's the thing. When I bought it there was no motor or much of anything related. ;) It did come with the original ball and trunion trans but I won't be using it. The 318 came with a good 904 and a drive shaft (which will have to be shortened) so I plan on using it. The carb and kickdown linkage might just take some scrounging though. I'm not using the original floor shifter though, I already sold it to a fella down under. I have a B&M shifter aready installed in the car that I just need to find some brackets and cables for and I have a line on those for when I need them. I've never taken on a project of this size and scope so it's been a real learning experiance for me. I hope I can get it on the road before I die of old age.:toothy10:
 
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