65 Dart 273 Engine Rebuild

Now that the body is in primer and all the bare metal is covered, time to get going on the engine.

I tore down the top end of the engine that was in the car to get the heads. Remember the car came with a 1969 block with all the 1965 parts bolted to it. Most likely the short block was replaced by a dealer early in the life of the car since the 1969 block doesn't have a VIN stamp on the oil pan rail.

I will be using the 1965 block I got off e-bay, with the 1965 heads that came with the car. So I tore the engine apart last night. The 1969 block was rebuilt back in the 80's. Turns out it's .030" over with a very minimal ridge. Some day I'll find a new home for it.

This morning, I cc'ed the heads. I did one chamber on each head. The first one was 63cc's. The other one was 62cc's. The valves looked pretty good and the exhaust valves were not recessed into the seats. Perhaps hardened seats were installed when the engine was rebuilt back in the 80's?

I took the heads out to L&R Engines where my engine has been patiently waiting for the past year. Unfortunately, the guy that was helping me out there passed away in the interim. He was only 64. Luckily they still have the block and they even remembered me.

They will hot tank and magna flux these heads to make sure they're good cores. They will also measure the deck height of the 1965 block so we can make some decisions on the build.