Happster's '72 scamp build!

-
that's a good idea joe. i have heard that it's relatively simple, and i actually have been thinking about changing it out. i heard they switched all of the As over to 5 on 4.5 in '74, and since i need to redo my front end anyway, i figured i could order all the replacement parts for a '74 and put them in. haven't researched this too much, going to do some more looking today.

well, went to look at the 360s today.... total joke. the guy wanted 175 bucks for each of his 360 BLOCKS! no crank, been sitting outside in a barn... just not what i am looking for at ALL. he was living in a fantasy world if he wanted that much. he did have a nice strip dominator intake though... not sure if i want it yet, but it may be a good thing for my engine build. i certainly won't be starting with one of his blocks though.

EDIT: I get that magazine too, it just gets sent to my folks' house in texas. what issue is it in? there's gonna be a nice big stack of them waiting for me when i get home, i'll look at that article.
 
The article was in the Feb 09, vol 6, issue 5, page 74. It was on updating a early A-body, 64 Dart. But there were a good deal of references as to using parts from a 78 - 79 Cordoba. Good info. Glad to see HMM used a MoPar for their Tech: Performance section.

Good luck and have fun.
 
yeah, it's always cool to see mopars in there. they have a few here and there, but of course, they're not usually as common as others... the bigger mopars get in more often than us of course.
 
youd be amazed how little it takes to make these cars fun my 72 dart has a built 340 and its a fun street car but i think a warmed over 318 would have done me just as well but my 340 was date code to my car. I run a 670 street avenger and it works great even right out of the box, i also run a b&m mega shifter it works ok i still don't have it adjusted right. As far as my advice on headers, you get what you payfor, most of the time you have to run a mini starter also which is fine just another expense. i ran into the same problems with rear ends too, i swapped in a 8 3/4 from a b body, just move the perches in but now i gotta make my own steelies. it is nice to see an original car that is in good shape. mine was and still is a body work nightmare, the previous owner did alot of "bondo sculpting" on it, like he gapped the doors with filler lol but ne way good luck and have fun building it
 
thanks pat, i love how good looking my car is, which is why i'm trying to do as little as possible on the appearance. i'm going to make custom wheels anyway- one out of a B-Body will do alright? i want to run some big ol' meats out back, around 315/60/15, if not wider.... going to go with SS springs too. i have access to a B body housing. not too bad huh?
 
Swapping a Bbody 8 3/4 is as easy as cutting the old perches off and moving them in a half inch however the axle an inch wider, which means you loose some tire clearance. but if your looking to run wide tires you might as well consider relocating your springs inboard and a mini tub, since you are gonna have to weld new perches to the axle anyways. SS springs are a good choice, i have a set for my coronet but i have yet to drive the car, for my dart all i did was rebuild the stock springs using the bottom four leaves off a fury i know it sounds shady but i was bored one day and it worked out pretty good
 
well shoot, i'll just go with a B housing! i was also going to mini tub it and end up having to move the perches inward anyway when i put in my offset shackles. sounds like an interesting little modification you have there with the springs! i was gonna go with a pinion snubber as well as the SSes, and leave the rest the way it needed to be. oh boy, now i know where my axle is! one less thing to worry about!
 
I think before you do any more work to your stock heads (if you plan to do so) you should look for a good pair of #302 castings from a factory 318 engine made between 1986 and 1991. These heads have smaller, more efficient closed chambers and take very well to porting.

As far as headers go, most will agree with me that for the street the only good choices are Doug's or TTI, both pretty pricey and IMO not really justified for a mild street engine. I believe it was Mopar Muscle Magazine that did a test a while ago on a mild crate 360 and found that only a few (less than 15) HP and lb-ft. were lost when going from top-dollar long-tube step headers to stock log-type exhaust manifolds. I'm building a 318 similar to yours right now and I'm just bolting the old manifolds right back on.

Also, what do you have planned for a cam? The stock 318 one sucks. I have a Lunati Voodoo 256/262 ready to go, I think it or the 262/268 cam would work great in your car.
 
actually, i probably should have updated the info on here...
i've decided to go with a 360.
those heads are good, and would be excellent for the 318, but for the 360 in my build is going to be quite a bit different.
i'm going to run about 10:1 compression with the KB107 pistons, a custom grind cam, these headers that are in the mail and will be here this coming monday, a performer RPM air gap that i still need to track down, and slightly modified 360 J heads, as well as a 670 cfm holley aluminum street avenger. wow! first time i have actually written out exactly what i have come up with! of course there will be many other modifications to the car, including an 8.75 and as i have said some nice wide tires. several reasons for going with the headers: 1) the 360 heads won't work with my manifold, and 2) they are nice headers that i got at a good price.
this will be "stage 1" of the build, just looking for a motor still to start with... haven't found one worthwhile yet.
 
ace26 said:
Duno if this will help or not but maybe you can find something decent from here they might have a block you can get a good deal on http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/smblensh.html
Click to expand...

that is a good idea, but really, i couldn't ever justify getting one of those things shipped. there are plenty of 360s around, just need to find the right one around here. thanks though.
 
all the 360s i have came out of pickup trucks. That sometimes is a good way to find a motor and sometimes a good way to find junk. by the way i was thinking about that axle swap and i rememberd that i had to by a special u joint from mancini racing to get my drive shaft to work
 
ahhh good to know. yeah, most 360s are truck engines. i'll probably run across one soon. i will look into that U joint too.
 
My Duster didn't have the original 340 when I got it, and a little incident with a railroad track at my work a few months after I bought it ruined the 360 that was in it. I Picked up a 360 from a 76 charger in a junk yard that had a real hard rear hit back in 78 or 79 for like $400. The car only had 45k on it, the paint was like new. Anyway, that motor is still in the car. It was built, not sure all that was done exactly, (other than going .030 over, pistons, purple stick) back when my buddy owned it for 10 years or so. I originally bought the car in 80, sold the car to my buddy in 86 and bought it back from him in 96 - it's not going anywhere now - staying with me till ? ? ? The motor hasn't been run since 94 and I think the last time I even rotated it was 97. So a full tear down will be in order. I drove the heck out of that engine in stock form other than a Weiand intake, Holley and Headers and it never let me down. Real strong engine. You'll be happy with a 360 if you find a good one to start with.
 
yeah, i think that it will satisfy my need for speed! the machine shop is supposed to be getting me a core to start with sometime soon. we shall see. can't wait to get rolling with it!
 
Christine ain't back in the shop yet:toothy10: nice car love them scamps:love7: now if I could get some time off work I could work on mine ( working 12 hour days 7 days a week with no end in sight)](*,) keep us posted and the pics coming









100_5928.jpg
 
Yeah, the poor old girl hasn't got much attention lately. i don't have the shop space any more, and so i don't really have any area to work on her. she just sits under her cover waiting for me to get the money to put into her. times are tough, as i don't have a job currently, so she may be waiting a while.
here are a few pictures i took a while ago. a bit better than the crappy cell phone shots!
DSCF4184.jpg

DSCF4187.jpg

DSCF4255.jpg

DSCF4256.jpg

DSCF4257.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top