New to Me 1968

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Dustoff248

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2024
Messages
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Location
Milford, Maine
Picked this '68 about a month ago and finally was able to get all the stuff in it and get a better look at it. I 've already built card from the other Big3 companies and it was time to start my last rebuild. I did a frame off restoration of a '72 Chevelle Malibu convertible in 1998. In 2202, I finished m bild of a Factory Five ford Cobra Replica. I have limited time to do this build as I was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2019, and it is starting take a toll on me. But I'm looking forward to really getting started

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Picked this '68 about a month ago and finally was able to get all the stuff in it and get a better look at it. I 've already built card from the other Big3 companies and it was time to start my last rebuild. I did a frame off restoration of a '72 Chevelle Malibu convertible in 1998. In 2202, I finished m bild of a Factory Five ford Cobra Replica. I have limited time to do this build as I was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2019, and it is starting take a toll on me. But I'm looking forward to really getting started

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I know it'd not a Chrysler Product, but thought you might like seeing it.
 
All it takes is time and money! More time and less money if you have the skills. You have the skills! Welcome from the motor city.
 
The '72 Chevelle was sold in 2000, after my first wife, who had helped me build it, passed away from breast cancer. It was bought by a fellow down in Trenton, Maine. He removed the small block and the Saginaw 4 speed that was standard in this car and put in a 454 with an automatic and a coilover suspension to handle the extra weight. He has changed it back to a standard transmission. He said he liked the color combination I had chosen some much, he had the painted the same color when it needed to be done. Miss the car and my first wife. Here's pictured when I bought it.

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Chevelle looks super nice
The '68 has a 318 and a 727 automatic. Understand that the most popular build for the 18 is 0.030 over, flat top pistons and a Zero clearance head, undestand that makes a high revving , stable 340 ci. As for the 727 they tell to put in a couple extra springs. Does that sound correct?
 
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The '68 has a 318 and a 727 automatic. Understand that the most popular build for the 18 is 0.030 over, flat top pistons and a Zero clearance head, undestand that makes a high revving , stable 340 ci. As for the 727 they tell to put in a couple extra springs. Does that sound correct?
318 and 340 have same stroke at 3.31”

A 318 has a 3.91” bore, and 340 has a 4.04” bore. That is a difference of 0.130”. You can’t bore a 318 that far. A “30 over” 318 is only 323ci.

A popular combo is the 0.030” over 318 with a 4” crank. That is 390ci.

Even better is a 0.030” 340 block with a 4” crank, that is a 416ci combo.

If you are building a street engine you are not going to rev very high the 390 would be fine. You will find an argument that the larger bore with the 340 block will breath better because of how close the valves will be to the cylinder bore with the 318 block… but a mild street engine that may not be a big deal.

All depends on application and budget.
 
the 318 was never built as a performance engine. the heads were the limiter, it did not get the 2.02 valve heads the 340 came with. smaller cam and a little 2bbl.

727 is heavy duty, and heavier than the 904. I like A&A transmissions if you want to have something built.

Home - A&A Transmissions

Even if you are going to DIY, maybe go through their catalog just to see what’s there.

Are you sure it is a 727? 727 and 904 look very much alike. The transmission pan does have a very obvious difference. The 727 is also longer… but that is not as obvious.
 
The only way to get 340 cubes out of a teener at 3.94 bore is to use a 3.48 stroke.
For reference;
My Zero-deck 360, with alloy heads, and running the pressure up into the zone of 185>195 psi, makes more torque than my 68 Barracuda chassis can handle, but
it will burn 87E10, at full-timing, even at 205*F.
I see no problem building a teener using the same plan. It will just require a lil more rear gear than 3.23s to be as explosive as my 360 is with 3.23s.
However;
If I was to build a 318, for a streeter;
I wouldn't spend a lotta money on the engine.
Instead I would install a 4-speed auto with Overdrive and some Hi-Po rear gears, whatever it takes to get:
a starter-gear in the window of 10>11, to 1; and
an overdrive ratio that gets the cruise rpm down to in the window of 2000>2400, depending on the cam, and the cruising speed.
This combo is easy to do with a Chevy200R4, and say 3.91 rear gears.. That's gonna be a hard combo to beat even with a hi-po 318, a regular TF, and 3.23s. Actually, the Hi-Po won't touch it below 65 mph, with 3.23s.
As to Roadgears;
The Torque-Flite ratios, with 3.23s are;
7.91-4.68-3.23; versus the 200R4 with 3.91s, are
10.87-6.14-3.91-2.62 and maybe it comes with a loc-up.
> A Final-Drive of 2.62 will cruise at ~65=2100/75= 2450 (with 27"tires), in loc-up.
>The 10.87 starter-gear will take off like the engine just picked up 37% more torque, making your teener feel like a BB ....... in first gear, lol.
> add a lil stall to the game, and you got a tire-frying Teener, maybe even deep into Second gear.
> the Road-gear of 6.14 is like running a A904 with 4.23s, so yeah my smogger winter-motor roasted Second with 4.30s. But 65@ 3500 was a beotch. The 4.30s were only in there maybe a week, a leftover of the Summer combo.

I'm just trying to be helpful, and maybe save you some money. I have no hidden agenda.
Some say I hate Teeners, but that is just not true!
What I dislike/not even hate, is the combo of a 7.5Compression ratio Teener wearing X-heads, with a stock stall convertor, in a 3600 pound car, pulling hiway gears. That is just (insert your own adjective here). And yet, newbe's do it all the time....................

Sorry about your Health Situation.
Onwards and upwards.
Happy HotRodding.
 
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