273sportsman
New Member
Hi,just inherited a 1966 273 h.o. For my son,who is 17,to start his first rebuild and would like to know what kind of high performance internals and external parts should we look for?
273 h.o. Commando
- Thread starter 273sportsman
- Start date
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Welcome to FABO.
There's a section just for us guys with '66 & earlier a-bodies
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/forumdisplay.php?f=73
Not sure how to answer your question without asking more questions.
Such as does the car run? Is it drivable?
There are some fans here of the 273 but it gets a bit pricey to get much more out of a commando engine. So you need to determine what you might want to do with the car; daily driver, go to cruises, occasional drag race or more serious competition. And then the discussion on this forum will also cover the benefits of getting a 318/360 engine (same LA engine as 273).
With a '66 some upgrades to disc brakes & radial tires should also be considered.
The good news is there's a lot of great info here that can be found with the search feature.
And when you can't find a good answer please ask I'm sure someone will be able to help.
There's a section just for us guys with '66 & earlier a-bodies
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/forumdisplay.php?f=73
Not sure how to answer your question without asking more questions.
Such as does the car run? Is it drivable?
There are some fans here of the 273 but it gets a bit pricey to get much more out of a commando engine. So you need to determine what you might want to do with the car; daily driver, go to cruises, occasional drag race or more serious competition. And then the discussion on this forum will also cover the benefits of getting a 318/360 engine (same LA engine as 273).
With a '66 some upgrades to disc brakes & radial tires should also be considered.
The good news is there's a lot of great info here that can be found with the search feature.
And when you can't find a good answer please ask I'm sure someone will be able to help.
Check out this 273 build: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=94343
PapstXX
Well-Known Member
Welcome to FABO !
Welcome to FABO! SSVDB did a great job laying out the groundwork for answers to your questions.The HP 273 is a spirited little powerplant and is quite popular with many of us here on FABO but it does have it's limitations because of it's small bore size. If you build it right it will have enough power to spin the tires and get you traffic tickets. The build is the same as any small block Mopar except the pistons are a bit harder to come by. Egge , PAW and Kanter have high compression pistons available. Also you can't use bigger valves unless you notch the block for clearance. If you have the stock 4 barrel intake it works well or you can look for a LD4B Edelbrock which was made for the 66 and newer 273/318. A 500-650 carb works good depending in the rest of your build. Camshafts should be kept on the smaller side, there again, depending on the rest of your build. Headers can really help performance but are a bit unfriendly with the early A chassis. Many of us have used the factory manifolds and a nice dual exhaust system with good results. Ignition upgrades are a plus but the stock dual point and a hot coil can work just fine for many years. That about wrapps it up for now. Use the search function here for more study material. There are dozens of threads about the 273 here at FABO. Don't forget, have fun and post lots of pictures. We're here for you guys. toolmanmike
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