My Dart Swinger Project!

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j par said:
So is there someone out there beating a 6 month warranty for $400? Of course an extra 200 for the manifold. I really don't understand why you need a new cam for it right away? I mean a nice smooth running engine to begin with wouldn't be a bad idea. You can get stupid later.
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I have a few concerns with the magnum. One is cracked heads everything iv read says the heads will be cracked and may need replaced. That's a huge concern. The intake is another factor more money.
I found a 360 out of a 92 truck 250 bucks that may be a better deal than the 75 318.
 
dartfreak75 said:
I have a few concerns with the magnum. One is cracked heads everything iv read says the heads will be cracked and may need replaced. That's a huge concern. The intake is another factor more money.
I found a 360 out of a 92 truck 250 bucks that may be a better deal than the 75 318.
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true, the magnum heads are prone to crack. BUT...… so many out there are at 250-300,000 and most likely have cracked heads. Under mild performance, don't seem to matter. Don't pull the heads and you'll never know :)

The '92 360 will have 308 heads, also prone to crack :) Roller cam motor, but still LA.
 
318willrun said:
true, the magnum heads are prone to crack. BUT...… so many out there are at 250-300,000 and most likely have cracked heads. Under mild performance, don't seem to matter. Don't pull the heads and you'll never know :)

The '92 360 will have 308 heads, also prone to crack :) Roller cam motor, but still LA.
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Yea I was worried about that as well. I'm gonna go look at it and check the compression what should the compression be? What's too low? I figured if I do get the 360 I will just leave the stock cam for now and do a 4 bbl and headers. I can change the cam latter on when I get some more money saved up. I will probably end up changing it to a flat tappet cam if I ever change the cam. Also I have another set of 360 heads if the 308s are cracked.
If I remember correctly isn't the 308 closed chambered swirl port heads?
 
Very true! Just because the head cracks doesn’t mean it is junk and unrunable. The cracks are slight and do not effect the running of the engine or driving the vehicle. I have 245K on my ‘03 and it runs perfect. I’m sure there cracked according to the “internet gurus!” It never gets hot, I don’t loose coolent, runs and drives like a champ!

The cost of the intake is what it is and since you know that, that’s your tough OF you go Magnum. Know the caveats! Work with them or around them. Messing around with engines IS NOT CHEAP no matter how cheap you try to be. I noticed the cheaper people try to be about matters, the more they cry and complain.

It is what it is.
 
dartfreak75 said:
Yea I was worried about that as well. I'm gonna go look at it and check the compression what should the compression be? What's too low? I figured if I do get the 360 I will just leave the stock cam for now and do a 4 bbl and headers. I can change the cam latter on when I get some more money saved up. I will probably end up changing it to a flat tappet cam if I ever change the cam. Also I have another set of 360 heads if the 308s are cracked.
If I remember correctly isn't the 308 closed chambered swirl port heads?
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Not closed chamber, but one of the best performing heads used on the LA's. Compression should be even across (i don't want no more than 10 psi between lowest and highest), and I like at least 120, but 135 or more starts to say things are looking good.
 
Carefully do the math on going a step backwards on the cam from roller to solid. With the Hyd. roller, it’s only the cam. With the solid cam swap, it’s cam, lifters, custom pushrods. You may, MAY, have to grind on the heads pushrod holes to fit them in due to the new pushrod angle introduced.

When all is said and done, unless you make a careful cam selection, your giving back power vs the Hyd. roller.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Carefully do the math on going a step backwards on the cam from roller to solid. With the Hyd. roller, it’s only the cam. With the solid cam swap, it’s cam, lifters, custom pushrods. You may, MAY, have to grind on the heads pushrod holes to fit them in due to the new pushrod angle introduced.

When all is said and done, unless you make a careful cam selection, your giving back power vs the Hyd. roller.
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That is a very good point. Thanks if the 360 pans out I will leave the stock in I'm not even gonna worry about it lol
 
How bringing another rundown old truck with another rundown motor into the equation with all your money is a difficult one for me to understand but I assume there's a lot of parts there you can sell or something?
I have a feeling years from now when you look back you would wish to just bought the Magnum and the manifold and started cleaning and assembling. Don't get me wrong I have a badass stroked dual-quad fire breathing crazy la motor, but if I had to do it all over again would I put those dual quads on a junkyard Magnum 360? You bet your *** I would have. I'd love to buy a bunch of stuff for Magnum and just keep blowing up $350 Motors every other season LOL instead of risking breaking the 6K one I have now.
 
dartfreak75 said:
That is a very good point. Thanks if the 360 pans out I will leave the stock in I'm not even gonna worry about it lol
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I did some math and I think you are dead on. Just for curiosity sake I looked up a roller lunati cam. 306$ flat tappet is about 250 for the kit so that only leaves 50 bucks for pushrods. Thanks for bringing that up.
j par said:
How bringing another rundown old truck with another rundown motor into the equation with all your money is a difficult one for me to understand but I assume there's a lot of parts there you can sell or something?
I have a feeling years from now when you look back you would wish to just bought the Magnum and the manifold and started cleaning and assembling. Don't get me wrong I have a badass stroked dual-quad fire breathing crazy la motor, but if I had to do it all over again would I put those dual quads on a junkyard Magnum 360? You bet your *** I would have. I'd love to buy a bunch of stuff for Magnum and just keep blowing up $350 Motors every other season LOL instead of risking breaking the 6K one I have now.
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Yea I understand what you are saying. But if I do a compression test and its had good results I could pull the engine and transmission and sell the body or part it out and get probably 250-300 back. So if I trade the four wheeler I will have no cash in it. And possibly get 200 to 300 cash back just from parting out the body. if the block is not wore out I can just continue where I left off. New bearings re ring new valves in my 302 heads and have a decent motor. Now if I go look at it and the compression sucks then the deal is off and I will pass on it.
Now that I found this 360 I may pass anyway tho. If the 360 has good compression.
 
If the 360 is in good condition, then maybe that is the way to go. See if you can ask the owner to NOT run it for a half day or more before you get there, and run a compression test 'dry' BEFORE you start it up. In that way, any oil that might help seal bad rings up and make the readings look better will have drained off. Pay close attention to the plugs as you pull them out and look for oil. Then start it after compression readings, and see how it sounds.

I'll tell you one story about how just compression readings can fool you: my '62 Dart's /6 had good cylinder readings on all 6 before I tore it down....1 to 6 were 115-110-120-115-120-115. Those are good consistent readings, just a tiny bit on the low side. But when I tore it down, #1 cylinder need to be bored out .040"! So good compression readings can happen with very worn cylinders, especially when the cylinders are oiling, and even with worn valve guides.

All you can count on is that it will tell you if something is grossly wrong, like a bad valve, but won't necessarily tell you if there is a lot of bore/ring wear, loose guides, etc. With those things, the engine will be down on power and won't run 100% evenly.

As far as head cracks, one of my Opel rally car head had a hairline crack in it, between the intake and exhaust seats in #2 or #2 cylinder. (It was a'73 head, 1st year for the hardened valve seat for unleaded fuel; they tended to crack in '73-'74, like a lot of US made heads did too.) Raced it that way for 3-4 rallies or so; it would run 15-20 degrees hot and use a tad of coolant. It ran fine otherwise, but I replaced it eventually.
 
nm9stheham said:
If the 360 is in good condition, then maybe that is the way to go. See if you can ask the owner to NOT run it for a half day or more before you get there, and run a compression test 'dry' BEFORE you start it up. In that way, any oil that might help seal bad rings up and make the readings look better will have drained off. Pay close attention to the plugs as you pull them out and look for oil. Then start it after compression readings, and see how it sounds.

I'll tell you one story about how just compression readings can fool you: my '62 Dart's /6 had good cylinder readings on all 6 before I tore it down....1 to 6 were 115-110-120-115-120-115. Those are good consistent readings, just a tiny bit on the low side. But when I tore it down, #1 cylinder need to be bored out .040"! So good compression readings can happen with very worn cylinders, especially when the cylinders are oiling, and even with worn valve guides.

All you can count on is that it will tell you if something is grossly wrong, like a bad valve, but won't necessarily tell you if there is a lot of bore/ring wear, loose guides, etc. With those things, the engine will be down on power and won't run 100% evenly.

As far as head cracks, one of my Opel rally car head had a hairline crack in it, between the intake and exhaust seats in #2 or #2 cylinder. (It was a'73 head, 1st year for the hardened valve seat for unleaded fuel; they tended to crack in '73-'74, like a lot of US made heads did too.) Raced it that way for 3-4 rallies or so; it would run 15-20 degrees hot and use a tad of coolant. It ran fine otherwise, but I replaced it eventually.
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The 360 doesn't run right now he said it will crank over. But wont start the ecu is gone. It's a parts truck and someone already bought the ecu. I'm surprised the engine is still left kinda makes me wonder if something is wrong with it lol.
I have a couple options now tho so that is a good thing.
 
dartfreak75 said:
The 360 doesn't run right now he said it will crank over. But wont start the ecu is gone. It's a parts truck and someone already bought the ecu. I'm surprised the engine is still left kinda makes me wonder if something is wrong with it lol.
I have a couple options now tho so that is a good thing.
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Doesn't sound like it's going to come with a 6 month warranty..
 
Probably wont get it installed and running before the 6 months is up anyways. I have not made any decisions the magnum is still an option. I actually found a 5.9 magnum also haven't heard anything back from them yet.
 
dartfreak75 said:
The 360 doesn't run right now he said it will crank over. But wont start the ecu is gone. It's a parts truck and someone already bought the ecu. I'm surprised the engine is still left kinda makes me wonder if something is wrong with it lol.
I have a couple options now tho so that is a good thing.
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Could be all true about the ECU... but it could be a way to cover a problem. Been down that road before LOL..... engines like that are a just a core to me.
 
If you feel like a road trip, I have a good 318 bare block up here in WV.
It is standard bore, with mains.
If I remember right it is a 1974 vintage.
It has been in storage in my barn for over 25 years.
 
I haven't done an update here in a while. I just wanted do a quick update. I havent gotten much done in the last couple weeks weather has been horrible here we got like 3 weeks of rains then last week we got 2 foot of snow followed by another week of rain lol. So I havent gotten and work done. I have decided to go with the 360 to build. I had a whole thread on that im sure most of yall saw! I met with the machinist and we have a plan laid out but first i have to get the 360 tore down and take it to him. I havent gotten around to tearing it down yet. I plan on trying to get it done shortly after Christmas when I do I will make another update here. Thanks if you are still following along!
 
dartfreak75 said:
Yes sir lol. I have some inside stuff I can do im gonna try and get that done while im waiting on decent weather.
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I am the same way doing inside stuff, rebuilding doors and fenders in the garage to hang on my next project.
Trying to get as much done as possible because the car does not run and my garage is tiny.
 
All right you're at the end of the second page now and haven't posted back here. You know very well that anybody else I would have kicked him in the nuts several times by now for not working on their rig. What's the deal? Can we get an update here....
 
j par said:
All right you're at the end of the second page now and haven't posted back here. You know very well that anybody else I would have kicked him in the nuts several times by now for not working on their rig. What's the deal? Can we get an update here....
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Ok the deal is im working on getting the 360 parts gathered. And saving up money for the machine work. I got my valve cutting tools in this weekend im gonna start working on the heads this week. I am gonna cc the combustion chambers remove all the old valves cut the guides and start porting them. I want to get the porting done before I get the machine work done because im going to have the machine clean them I like to have all the cutting and grinding finished before cleaning.
On another note I also have to get all the bushings pressed in the suspension parts. Thats something I can do inside on these cold winter nights. Thanks for checking in on me jpar I appreciate it. It lights a fire under my tail knowing that you are rooting for me lol
 
With over 4K views, I think your generating a little interest. I’ve been watching.
 
Ok so I got a little work done this morning after work not alot but a little progress is better than none.
I got one head completely disassemble and started cleaning it its actually cleaning up better than i thought i was a little concerned they where very rusty looking but they are staring to look up. I bought a cheap valve spring compressor from ebay and man I gotta tell you this thing is a complete joke. Haha. I know you get what you pay for but I have had pretty good luck with some of the cheaper "harbor freight" Chinese tools but not this one. It literally bent the first time I used it. You can see in the picture both ends are completely adjustable as far as they will go and it wouldn't budge them. It just bent the tool. I finally got it to work id have to tighten it all the way down like pictured and then smack it with a hammer to break them loose then i could get the retainers loose. There is no way this thing is gonna compress new performance springs. Oh well it was 15 bucks i guess it was worth it to just get the disassembly done.

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