'75-76 Dart Sport 360, why hp so high?

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kellen mcleod

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GM's X-bodies small blocks couldn't get above 200 hp net from 1974.......even Mopar's 1975 top-tune 400 ci Road Runner had just 5 more hp than Dart Sports 230hp.

Which makes me wonder if Mopar delayed installing catalytic convertors on this car until 1977? Does any FABO member know the reason why Dart Sport (and Duster) 360 hp hung on so high for so long?

Thanks, Kellen
 
Chrysler had some smart folks back then. With emissions tightening up the Thermoquad was born and the SB TQ cast iron intake manifold is still a very good intake today. Electronic ignition was also developed to ditch the points. I'm sure there's more reasons and others may chime in. A 360 Dart Sport was basically a small stroker 340.
 
kellen mcleod said:
Which makes me wonder if Mopar delayed installing catalytic convertors on this car until 1977? Does any FABO member know the reason why Dart Sport (and Duster) 360 hp hung on so high for so long?

Thanks, Kellen
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The Catalytic converter was introduced in the 1975 model year. I'm not sure if it was at the beginning of the Calender year or the model year but I had a 75 Slant six Duster with a C/C. I also had 2 1976 Darts that had converters.
 
leblanc said:
BEATS ME.
All I know is that my 1979 360 with a 4 BBL was rated at 265 HP, but the 2BBL version only was rated at 235 or so.
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Hmm ??
Not sure where you read those
Specs ?
The e58 option in 79 had 225
Hp 300 ft tq
 
Oh also apparently there is more then one e58 in 79
And the top option same as little red express and some police cars.
Had 225hp 300 tq
The others are lower .
Nhra lists that one at 265 max hp
 
You also might consider that what is released in advertising, is, well, advertising.The right advertising, they say, can sell snow to an Eskimo. Now, that's a snowjob!
I once had a 74 Dart Sport 360 4spd. You know, the one with the gutless 245 hp rating? I had slower 340 cars.
Suppose you had an engine that made 300hp at 5800. And it made 275 at 5400, or 250 at 5000. It's all the same engine right. But you could truthfully advertise that 300hp beast as a mundane 250 hp job, couldn't you?
Or what if you took that 300 hp engine, and sucked the timing out of it and it only made 285. Could you then advertise it as a 285 hp unit? Sure you could. Or what if it made 300 with a TQ, but you sold it with an AVS and it only made 275 instead of 300; would that be OK? Sure, it would.
I don't know about selling snow to an Eskimo, But I'm pretty sure the Insurance companies of the 70s got snow-jobbed,more than once.
 
AJ/FormS said:
You also might consider that what is released in advertising, is, well, advertising.The right advertising, they say, can sell snow to an Eskimo. Now, that's a snowjob!
I once had a 74 Dart Sport 360 4spd. You know, the one with the gutless 245 hp rating? I had slower 340 cars.
Suppose you had an engine that made 300hp at 5800. And it made 275 at 5400, or 250 at 5000. It's all the same engine right. But you could truthfully advertise that 300hp beast as a mundane 250 hp job, couldn't you?
Or what if you took that 300 hp engine, and sucked the timing out of it and it only made 285. Could you then advertise it as a 285 hp unit? Sure you could. Or what if it made 300 with a TQ, but you sold it with an AVS and it only made 275 instead of 300; would that be OK? Sure, it would.
I don't know about selling snow to an Eskimo, But I'm pretty sure the Insurance companies of the 70s got snow-jobbed,more than once.
Click to expand...
:lol::thumbsup:
 
My dad had a1975 Dart Sport with a 360, auto, and dual exhaust without cats from the factory. I loved that car. I can only assume that Chrysler found a loophole to leave the cats off.
 
AJ/FormS said:
You also might consider that what is released in advertising, is, well, advertising.The right advertising, they say, can sell snow to an Eskimo. Now, that's a snowjob!
I once had a 74 Dart Sport 360 4spd. You know, the one with the gutless 245 hp rating? I had slower 340 cars.
Suppose you had an engine that made 300hp at 5800. And it made 275 at 5400, or 250 at 5000. It's all the same engine right. But you could truthfully advertise that 300hp beast as a mundane 250 hp job, couldn't you?
Or what if you took that 300 hp engine, and sucked the timing out of it and it only made 285. Could you then advertise it as a 285 hp unit? Sure you could. Or what if it made 300 with a TQ, but you sold it with an AVS and it only made 275 instead of 300; would that be OK? Sure, it would.
I don't know about selling snow to an Eskimo, But I'm pretty sure the Insurance companies of the 70s got snow-jobbed,more than once.
Click to expand...

I can follow these arguments for the 1974 Sport 360......but if these cars did get a cat in '75 for most of Detroit when that cat step happened it was accompanied by a restrictive single exhaust and a BIG fall in SAE net power ratings. How did Mopar not follow that trend in 1975 with the Sport 360? (Even 1976 the engine is still at 220 hp).
 
kellen mcleod said:
I can follow these arguments for the 1974 Sport 360......but if these cars did get a cat in '75 for most of Detroit when that cat step happened it was accompanied by a restrictive single exhaust and a BIG fall in SAE net power ratings. How did Mopar not follow that trend in 1975 with the Sport 360? (Even 1976 the engine is still at 220 hp).
Click to expand...

I do recall reading that Mopar was only committing to having 80% of its production with cats for 1975.....also in other Mopar lines (say Road Runner) 1200 or so cars got ordered with a "cat delete" option. Cop cars also had cat delete so they could still catch the bad hombres. So past or present Sport 360 owners what do you know / remember about the exhaust systems in these cars....1975...76?
 
As I said, I very distinctly remember no cats on my fathers Dart Sport. The funny thing is my parents bought a New 1975 Dart Sport with 4 barrel, dual exhaust, 3.21 sure grip, a/c, p/s, p/b, buckets, console front half vinyl top, the triple stripes that went across the roof to the fenders. All because my mother wanted a yellow with black car. Neither parent cared about performance. Even crazier is my mother didn't drive........
 
kellen mcleod said:
I do recall reading that Mopar was only committing to having 80% of its production with cats for 1975.....also in other Mopar lines (say Road Runner) 1200 or so cars got ordered with a "cat delete" option. Cop cars also had cat delete so they could still catch the bad hombres. So past or present Sport 360 owners what do you know / remember about the exhaust systems in these cars....1975...76?
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My factory original 75 Sport 360 (built May 5th) has no cats.
 
It's all marketing BS, it was a careful balance of giving the customer what they craved vs bowing down to the EPA vs kissing the pinky ring of the insurance industry.
Numbers were heavily fudged back in them days
 
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Since the engine specs of 360 are pretty similar from one year to another the only differences in power can come from breather, exhaust and tune.
 
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