Confused newbee with a 273

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jcuda

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Ok.. gotta fess up... been a Chevy dirt track guy for over 20 years. Sold the dirt car and bought a '67 Cuda with a 273. Long term is to wind up with a 318 or 360 Magnum. Got an opportunity to buy some nice looking coated headers that came out of a '69 Charger with a 318.

I'm confused about any difference of the 273 vs. the rest of the LA heads. When I look up part numbers on Summit or JEGS for the Charger and the Cuda with the small blocks, the part numbers are the same?

Will the Charger headers fit the 273? Will they fit the eventual Magnum?

Boyz... I'm gonna have a lot of questions !
 
All of the die/blow hards are gonna harass you for calling a Barracuda a Cuda.

Main things with the small block heads are port size, valve size and closed or open chambers.

Not a lot you can do with a 273's small bores without a lot of work. I'd say plan for the engine you want, 318 or 360. That will dictate your cam, heads, etc.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the etiquette. (I guess I'm a lazy typer???) I believe the headers are 1 5/8, so that'll work for the final Magnum package for my 'Barracuda'.

I'm looking for the mods that I can do now that will stick with me through the final package. If the headers fit, I'm absolutely good with doing them, the "X" pipe & duals. No performance gain on the 273 with headers, but it'd be a step in the right direction with a little more desirable tone coming out the back vs. the single on it now.
 
Sounds like you've been down this path before. Which won't work? The Charger 318 to Barracuda 273 or the LA to Magnum? Is there something different about the 273?
 
Welcome

The 273 can be a fun engine

Here is a nice thread about cams for that motor
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=298049

And there are a lot of parts to build it out
If you have manual steering, spitfire headers could be found somewhat cheap and should bolt up

Performer manifold would be the same for 273/318 so you could reuse that. Plus whatever carb you choose

there are a lot of built threads, have fun and make it yours
 
It's not a matter of the headers not being able to bolt up to the heads, the engine compartment is not big enough to fit those headers. The B & E body cars have wider engine compartments so the headers that fit those cars will not fit an a body.


Oh yeah, welcome to FABO.
 
I'm confused about any difference of the 273 vs. the rest of the LA heads. When I look up part numbers on Summit or JEGS for the Charger and the Cuda with the small blocks, the part numbers are the same?
The Magnum heads are distinguished from the older LA heads by their pedestal mounted rocker arms (like the Chevrolet engines). The older LA use a rocker arm shaft.

The 273 and 318 (except the factory 318 4bbl) use what can be considered small port heads. The valves as well as the passage ways in the heads are smaller than they are on the 318 4bbl, 340, and 360. The latter can be considered large port heads.

The differences in passage ways are not so much that mix and match among them is impossible. For instance, the Eddy Performer RPM intake is designed for the large port heads. It will fit on a small port head, but the alignment of the manifold with the cylinder head will be off. A better choice for an intake manifold might be an Eddy Performer, Weiand Action+, or a Weiand Stealth. All of these are designed for the smaller port head.

There is even less difference in the exhaust passages. The challenge with headers on the A-body is finding something that fits the driver's side without a lot of cursing and banging. If your car has power steering, the list of headers that will fit is short. As long as a factory head is used, it doesn't matter which LA engine it is on.
 
Thanks for the welcome! Reckon what's up with Summit listing the same part numbers for both bodies? I thought that was odd too. They list Doug's D453 for both? As well as all the other brands... same part number for small blocks.
 
Thanks for the welcome! Reckon what's up with Summit listing the same part numbers for both bodies? I thought that was odd too. They list Doug's D453 for both? As well as all the other brands... same part number for small blocks.

Puzzling for sure. I would have never guessed they were the same part number.
 
Thanks for the welcome! Reckon what's up with Summit listing the same part numbers for both bodies? I thought that was odd too. They list Doug's D453 for both? As well as all the other brands... same part number for small blocks.

the so called hedman style are the same for either bodys. these are kind where some of driver side tubes go under steering link
 
Get good headers to fit the 67 up A body. I think they all fit the different heads including the Magnums. Check the Doug's site as it will have better info than a generic speed shop.
 
I think A headers fit most anything, but you cant go the other way.
 
Thanks for all the feedback & info. Going to go take a closer look at 'em tomorrow. He's asking $175 and they're ceramic coated with no dents or scrapes. Just wish I knew the brand and a part number.
 
Thanks for all the feedback & info. Going to go take a closer look at 'em tomorrow. He's asking $175 and they're ceramic coated with no dents or scrapes. Just wish I knew the brand and a part number.

Welcome! Take a bunch of pics and post 'em here....maybe someone will recognize them.
 
welcome 273 is fun little motor that is hard to kill. When my buddy put the 440 in my old 68 dart they placed it in neutral set the e brake and droped a cinder block on the gas pedal. Went in the house........It finally died after 15 min. Let it cool off and did it again. After about 4-5 times they gave up on blowing it up. Tough tough motor.
 
Don't waste your time and money with any headers other than TTI or Dougs. If your going to drive this as a street car you'll smash the divers side over every speed bump, rock, squirrel, and drive way with any of the Flowtech, Summit, Hedman, etc headers.
 
Do NOT spend the money on those headers, they won't fit! They are for a "mid sized"car and the Cuda you have is a "small" car! Don't spend your money on something you can't use, buy the ones you need up front!! Yea, the correct ones are more money, that's because it's more work to make a header to fit within the confines of the tight engine bay of a small car! spend your money wisely grasshopper, and welcome to fabo by the way!! Geof
 
Yeah I got the dougs after reading all of these guys replies to different headers. havent put them on yet but I am confident they will fit good..
 
I"ve owned enough 64/65 barracuda"s to know the headers offerd today are not worth the $ vs hp either find an old set of spitfires wich give you miminal differance in hp but breath a little better and give good sound. For any performance take your car to a perfessional pipe builder with a good reputation,as cosig said these are earley A bodies ,smaller engine compartments , or you have to get fenderwell headers. TTi will sell you dog turds and tell you there from ahorse just to make a sale. when its time mine will get made by a guy that builds perfessional show cars and done right without spending 900.00 from TTi for pipes that need to get remade. Burnywill charge me 1200.00 they will flow ,look good ,they will be garonteed , and nobody chopping other than cutting and remaking the crossmember will be done and they will have 2 1/2 collectors add hp and I am thinking of dumping them at the back of the doors . But to each his own. just my opinion
 

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