1966 Barracuda 273 build

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Lots of great info posted. Dad n I did his 273 but not to the extent ToolManMike did. We used factory 4bl intake but recently swapped to LD4B and I did my own diy port/smooth job on heads. Eddy 600 cfm.
Comp Cams cam lifter timing kit with springs and upgraded to dbl roller timing chain. Was the last car and engine Dad n I worked on.
Prayers for your family.
Thank you very much.
 
Got a hold of a guy in Riverside CA, I live in Chino CA. His Facility is R&R Racing Cylinder Head. He told me this week to bring the original cast irons in and he would rebuild them. So that's the first thing where I will start. more to follow and thanks again for all your feedback.
 
Got a hold of a guy in Riverside CA, I live in Chino CA. His Facility is R&R Racing Cylinder Head. He told me this week to bring the original cast irons in and he would rebuild them. So that's the first thing where I will start. more to follow and thanks again for all your feedback.

make sure that he checks the guides... some people ignore them...
 
I'll bring everything that he needs with me. Thank you !!!! Oh.. and me not being to engine savy,... guides??
Just so you can see.. here are the original heads

20160927_173301 (1).jpg
 
I'll bring everything that he needs with me. Thank you !!!! Oh.. and me not being to engine savy,... guides??

Valve guides...

That's the "sleeve" that's press-fit into the head that the valves slide in... After many miles they get worn/oval and the valves get sloppy and beat up the seats more... New guides keep the valves straight up and down...

My head guy presses out the old ones and installs new ones, then machines them to size to fit the valve stem...

I helped a local member rebuild a "rebuilt" 340 this year, the guy didn't have hardened seats for the exhaust valve, so we took them to my head guy, who found that the valve guides were worn also and needed replacing... He took care of it...

I have a great head guy in Michigan near Detroit. He found out how the head guy for the one local race team was doing his valves, then said, "Let me do a set for you..." He did a set of heads for a race team that usually ran the 1/4 mile in the 6's, and his heads got them into the 5's.... He also does valve jobs on small private airplanes... I moved to Chicago, and still bring all my head work to him... When you find a good machine/head guy - stick with him like glue...
 
Valve guides...

That's the "sleeve" that's press-fit into the head that the valves slide in... After many miles they get worn/oval and the valves get sloppy and beat up the seats more... New guides keep the valves straight up and down...

My head guy presses out the old ones and installs new ones, then machines them to size to fit the valve stem...

I helped a local member rebuild a "rebuilt" 340 this year, the guy didn't have hardened seats for the exhaust valve, so we took them to my head guy, who found that the valve guides were worn also and needed replacing... He took care of it...

I have a great head guy in Michigan near Detroit. He found out how the head guy for the one local race team was doing his valves, then said, "Let me do a set for you..." He did a set of heads for a race team that usually ran the 1/4 mile in the 6's, and his heads got them into the 5's.... He also does valve jobs on small private airplanes... I moved to Chicago, and still bring all my head work to him... When you find a good machine/head guy - stick with him like glue...
Thank you again so very much. This info is gold and very much appreciated. I'll make sure that this guy gets all this info so it gets done right.
 
Hey All,
Just wanted to give you all an update. I located a couple of very knowledgeable guys that have many years of experience on rebuilding heads as well as motors. They have the 66 cast irons and I should have them back in about another week or so. I will let you all know how this turned out. Thank you all again for your kindness and knowledge.
 
Just a brief description of what they are doing to the heads:
New S.S Swirl polished valves
New Bronze guides
New Hard seats
New Springs (H.P)
New Locks
New Retainers
New screw in studs
Port and Polish -Exhaust-Intake-and Chambers
C.C Heads
Cut for Big Valves
Gasket match manifold and heads
 
Studs to replace head bolts? Big valves require relief in block? We did same to my heads except big valves when building my motor. I used ARP headbolts though.
 
See my sig below for the mods to my '66 273 Commando....Welcome site! Feel free to message me any questions.
 
make sure that he checks the guides... some people ignore them...
Well I'm back... once again thank you for all the info. the heads are almost done. Question about the CAM. They are going to break in the new cam that I purchased. They are asking for the lifters? I have the lifters that we removed. Is it advisable to use the same lifters or buy a set of new ones?
 
Well I'm back... once again thank you for all the info. the heads are almost done. Question about the CAM. They are going to break in the new cam that I purchased. They are asking for the lifters? I have the lifters that we removed. Is it advisable to use the same lifters or buy a set of new ones?
Always new lifters on new cam
 
Yep, always use new lifters with a new cam..
Thank you again... So having said that... I have A new Cam... how do I know what lifters I need? Are they all the same? I googled lifters for a 273. A bunch of different ones came up. Not looking for most expensive, but something that will work decently with what I have going? Any recommendations? What info do I need to get the right lifters?
 
Thank you again... So having said that... I have A new Cam... how do I know what lifters I need? Are they all the same? I googled lifters for a 273. A bunch of different ones came up. Not looking for most expensive, but something that will work decently with what I have going? Any recommendations? What info do I need to get the right lifters?

Pick your cam first, then get lifters to match...

273's had factory solid lifter cams and adjustable rocker arms from the factory from 64 - 67...

in 68-69 they had the same hydraulic cam as the 318...


Figure out if you are going with a solid or hydraulic cam and get lifters to match...


If you go with hydraulic, I recommend using the standard Rhoades part # 2018

They bleed down at idle and tame down the cam. At idle they take out about .025" lift and 10° duration from the cam. They give more vacuum, fuel economy, and low and mid range torque and HP without sacrificing top end. I've used them for years and they perform well...

Here's their main page:

Rhoads Lifters


Read the second article here:

Articles
 
Thank you again... So having said that... I have A new Cam... how do I know what lifters I need? Are they all the same? I googled lifters for a 273. A bunch of different ones came up. Not looking for most expensive, but something that will work decently with what I have going? Any recommendations? What info do I need to get the right lifters?

If you are going with a hydraulic cam and those adjustable 273 rocker arms, then I would recommend using the crane adjusting studs to replace the stock screws. Grind the top of the rocker arm flat so the lock nut can seat properly on it.

Then you will need custom push rods. Get a hold of @Eddie348 and get the name and part number of the push rods that we had made for his 340 with the stock 273 rocker arms. They are very affordable, and we measured the proper length to use with a stock hydraulic cam, with the crane adjustable rockers, and hydraulic lifters... The company made them in a few days for us...

The solid lifter and hydraulic cams need different length push rods to work with the respective lifters...
 
Pick your cam first, then get lifters to match...

273's had factory solid lifter cams and adjustable rocker arms from the factory from 64 - 67...

in 68-69 they had the same hydraulic cam as the 318...


Figure out if you are going with a solid or hydraulic cam and get lifters to match...


If you go with hydraulic, I recommend using the standard Rhoades part # 2018

They bleed down at idle and tame down the cam. At idle they take out about .025" lift and 10° duration from the cam. They give more vacuum, fuel economy, and low and mid range torque and HP without sacrificing top end. I've used them for years and they perform well...

Here's their main page:

Rhoads Lifters


Read the second article here:

Articles
Thank you so much for the information.
 
Hello to all out there. I will thank you all now for any info and knowledge you can give me. I bought a 66 barracuda with a 273 2brl. Not the Commando. It did not run but all was intact. Soooo.. my nephew who is a mechanic said lets take out the motor, tear it down and mild build it. So having said that, the motor is out, torn down and here is what has been done:
Block tanked and cleaned, Cylinders bored 60 over, New Pistons purchased , new Mild RV cam purchased, Crank ground. I have the original cast heads and intake.
So here is where I get stuck. Right now my nephew has taken a back seat and im kinda stuck because he has not been around to lend a hand. What I would like to know is the following:
I want to convert the 2brl to a 4brl. Therefore is there an aftermarket intake that will fit 66 barracuda with a 273 ? Where can it be purchased and what type of carb? Also, are there any replacement/aftermarket heads that will fit this application to make this build work? This car is for my son so I'm trying to get this done quickly. Is there anything Summit Racing offers? If there is any more info that you may need to help get this moving. I have the specs when I purchased the cam. I also have pictures of most every part. Thank you, Glenn66
Glenn
Happy to see other 273 fans out there. Mine is almost ready to go: 30 over, decked, line bored, hyd cam, hardened seats, ported heads, air-gap manifold, holley 570 street avenger, rebuilt 833 with Inland shifter. I hope to use the same the air cleaner pictured earlier in this post. The air gap is a bit taller than the 2bbl manifold, but the 4bbl carb is shorter than the 2bbl (3 1/4 vs 4 1/4). Do you know of any shorty headers that are available? Does anyone know if spitfire headers are still available?

Please update pics as your project progresses.

Stroker

IMG_0545.JPG
 
First off, Welcome to FABO! :welcome:

Now as far as heads go:

The 64 - 65 273 heads had a unique intake bolt angle and smaller 5/16" bolts, so you want to stay away from those, as intake manifolds are harder to find...

The 66 and later small blocks had the larger 3/8" intake bolts at the "standard" angle...

The 66 - 67 273/318 heads had the smaller closed chamber heads, which are the smallest (and therefore higher compression)...

If you swap 68 and later heads on it, you may loose some compression... I have a set of 67 273/318 heads ending in casting number 920 and I measured them at 63 cc which the book lists is supposed to be 57 cc's. Chrysler ran the heads "Fat" with a little extra meat, so the book numbers for combustion chamber volume will not match...

My favorite intake for the 273/318 heads is the obsolete Edelbrock LD4B intake. It's a dual plane 4 bbl intake and is great for street/strip performance. However you need to relocate the coil as there are not any bosses on the intake to put it in the factory position.

Next I would recommend the Wiand stealth intake which is currently available.

Weiand 8022WND Weiand Stealth™ Intake - Chrysler Small Block V8 - Holley Performance Products

Which will go perfect with this Holley 80457 carb, which is a 600 CFM square bore carb that matches the wiand stealth intake and calibrated for a late 60's v-8 and comes with electric choke:

Holley 4160 Aluminum Street Carburetor

And I like this carb gasket as it has the center divider to match the dual plane intake and also comes with mounting studs....

Edelbrock Heat Insulator Gasket

You need to be careful if you try to put larger valves in the heads, as the bore on the 273 is pretty small and can restrict/shroud the flow, or you may have to "Notch" the bores for better valve clearance.

That will be a good start.
Well, Im back..LOL... been a little busy trying to move forward on this project. So the heads are done. Bought the Weiand intake and Holly 4160. Car is in the paint shop getting prepped. Again its not going to be showcase, but a nice looking ride at least. What about tires and Rims? What would be a good fit, within a budget and look good? It has a 5 bolt pattern. Here is a picture of the tire and rim with original hub the car came with... Any suggestions would be helpful.. Thank you in advance.

Qs66Cuda.jpg.jpg


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I'm not an expert with tires and rims... I'm sure there are other members that can help that have better knowledge on that subject than me...
 
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