Long time coming, but I'm building a little bracket car

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I like what your doing with the Cuda so far.Its not as hard as you think to run your goal witha small block .My Dart is low buck and looks like crap ,but it runs 7.00 (i will be in the 6's soon) witha 750 carbed 10 to 1 small block on 8 inch slicks .Sorry if i highjacked your thread a bit .Just trying to let you know you dont have to have a high dollar or pretty car to run decent times and have fun,but you already know that .Good luck on your mission ...
 
Back in the 80's I had a 1963 Dart that I bought from a guy who was trying to build a race car (until being married got in his way) It was pretty much gutted except for 2 bucket seats out of a chevy luv truck.It had a .060 340 with 13.5 to one TRW forged pistons with a set of 273 closed chamber heads that had been ported all way into the water jackets and devconed back over so they wouldn't leak. It had a Edelbrock Torker and a Holley 750 Double pumper and a Crane Zip 518 cam which was a solid with 518 lift and 265 duration at 050,Fenderwell headers and a B&M manual valve bodied trans with a 10 inch B&M 3800 stall converter. That was rounded out with a 8 3/4 rear with 5.38 gears and 10.5 by 28 MRT slicks. I had a total of $700 in the car and it ran 7.70 in the eighth mile and was very consistent.
I always wondered what that car would have run with some real heads and a little more cam. That car was street raced and taken to the track quite a bit.
Back around 1992 I picked up a little 73 Duster with a warmed over 318 and a 4 speed with an 8/14 posi and 3.91 gear. We used to take that car to the track and just run the crap out of it. It wasn't fast(just 9.0 in the eighth but it was fun to bang gears) I only had about $1200 in that car.
I've literally owned hundreds of cars and we used to race lots of them at any given time but none of them were race only cars. I plan on building this one to race only so that opens the door to lightening it up with some fiberglass and removing a lot of the interior weight etc. So I guess no matter how fast(or for that matter,slow) it goes I probably wont be disappointed if I'm racing and not just watching.
 
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Hemichuck, those dodge magnum valve covers are friggin awesome! Oldschool right there! would ya consider selling them? LOL
 
moparlover said:
probably. are you gonna run race gas or pump gas. if you go race gas and 12:1 comp you will be needing a roll cage or they will throw you off the track lol. will make a 10 second car. with pump gas you can make a nice high 11 or 12 second car and not need a cage.
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Pump gas small block (see sig below)...:-\"

You don't need high compression and race gas to go fast.
 
Looking at your parts list, using a 4 inch crank, eddy heads, 10.8:1 compression (pump gas friendly), solid cam in the 250°/0.600 lift range, SS springs, snubber, good slicks, 4.10-4.30 gear...this should get you into the low 7's no problem.
 
mopardude318 those Magnum valve covers were some oddballs, made out of magnesium, listed for over $700 a pair. I don't really want to sell them because I always like to have something under the hood that makes everybody go WTF. I like that internal rail on the small block valve covers because it not only makes more room for valve train but makes a small block look bigger and meaner.
 
I hear ya! I love the look. I had to get a set for my 408. I get a lot of compliments on them.
 
I went out to pick the barracuda up and after looking it over real good there was very little left to build. It had severe frame rust and turned out being a bad starting point. I have a buddy with a 70 Dart he wants to sell cheap so I guess I will have to check it out.
 
Gotta say if you're looking at $400 cars, you're probably going to be in for some body work. And at those prices, at the very least you're probably going to be replacing every bushing and piece of rubber and on the car, all the fluid lines, brakes, etc.

Maybe build the drivetrain first, see how much is left in your budget then find a suitable body? Don't want to skimp on your chassis.
 
hemichuck said:
I've been messing with Mopars for about 40 years now and have had a multitude of performance cars over that time(from 2.2's to Hemi's) but for the last few years I have been mostly buying and selling parts. I found a 1968 Barracuda sitting in a guys yard, been sitting there for years, and I finally saw him outside one day and stopped in. The car is not a show piece and has been sitting in the dirt for many years but I ended up buying it for $400 and decided to build myself a little bracket car. I am basically trying to use up all the stuff I've had laying around for years and I want to build an old school(because I'm old and so are a lot of my parts) 70's style car. Things I already have are several motors, 340's/360's and a couple of 4 inch stroke motors. I have several sets of roller rockers, a bunch of cams (solid and hydraulics) A new set of Edelbrock heads, a MP tach drive race distributor, several intakes (strip dominator, MP-M1, Offy Port O Sonic and a Edelbrock TR5 tunnel ram), several carbs, Holley 750 and 850 DP and a set of 500cfm Eddies for the tunnel ram. I have a 727 we just rebuilt with a turbo action manual valve body, deep pan and a T/A cable shifter. I have an 8 3/4 spool and several cases (no gear yet) I know there are a million different combos and I am just trying to figure out which would be my best bet. I don't want a world beater, just something to satisfy my need for speed. Does anybody think that with the stuff I have I could build a car that runs low 7's or maybe even high 6's in the 1/8'th mile?
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your going to need a big blk 440 bored 40 over pushing 508 hp
 
451Cuda said:
Here's a dart in the low 10s with a 410" small block. I guess he doesn't need a .040 over 440? More than one way to skin a cat....

http://youtu.be/qGq7GVUAADE
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You don't have to have a stroker motor at all.. A .030 over 440 with some -1's a good roller cam will do just fine... There is a 68 all metal bcuda fast back on RJ with this setup weighing in at 3300lbs that runs 9.98@ 134 that I almost bought...

All motor....
 
boosted said:
You don't have to have a stroker motor at all.. A .030 over 440 with some -1's a good roller cam will do just fine... There is a 68 all metal bcuda fast back on RJ with this setup weighing in at 3300lbs that runs 9.98@ 134 that I almost bought...

All motor....
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I'm also a fan of the big block, but I acknowledge you don't need to have one to go fast. I was replying to z_daddy's post asserting that he needs a .040 over 440. Plenty of small block combos can run the number he's after...stroker or not.

I just showed that video because that Dart is an excellent example of a simple combo that runs damn hard. And with the OP's situation we're talking about an early A-body, so I would think a small block is preferred over a big block, unless he wants to gut the front end for header clearance.

Besides...if you read the thread you'll see that he has tons of small block parts and already has a 408 short block assembled. If he didn't already have all this stuff I would also be in the BB camp, but as it stands this is a no-brainer...
 
Reading if fundamental.
Small block.
I read new Eddies , which told me he could approach 11.0:1 on pump fuel.
I saw 4" arm , which told me 500 h.p. was well within reach with one four barrel and some good port work.
Cam ?
The stroker will want some duration , but I'd port for low to mid lift flow......265ish @ .050 and .550 or so lift.
It should be all in around 6300 or so , be able to pull a 3.91 gear with a short tire and hammer low 7's all day.
From my chair , I'd build for consistency and reliability first......you should have no problem getting around the e.t. you want.
Then beat the dog **** out of it every week end and worry about nothing more than occasional plug changes and valve lash setting........like once a year or so if you use good parts.
Pay attention to the front suspension and use the pinion snubber for a door stop unless the S/S springs are really worn.
 
Tubtar, I'm with you, I like a nice consistant car that runs in the 7's somewhere without lots of maintenance. I sold all my big blocks and hemi's a while back so it will be small block or nothing. After the barracuda fell through I am considering just selling all my junk and buying a Viper (like my son did)
 
hemichuck said:
Tubtar, I'm with you, I like a nice consistant car that runs in the 7's somewhere without lots of maintenance. I sold all my big blocks and hemi's a while back so it will be small block or nothing. After the barracuda fell through I am considering just selling all my junk and buying a Viper (like my son did)
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Ha April Fools Day!!!:D
 
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My sons car,(the red one) funny how you can buy a car like that and you have instant street cred, I stand there next to him at a car show with a vast array of knowledge and everyone loves his car and they look at me like I'm an idiot!
 
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