273 or 318?

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TNT440_Cbody

TNT440_Cbody

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I'm trying to decide whether or not to pick up a 1966 273 2-bbl in a pick-a-part yard in unknown condition or just buy my friend's running 1973 318 when he switches to a 360.

The car will be my '64 Dart GT, currently with a /6. I'm planning to swap a V-8 and install fuel injection on the car sometime down the line but the 273 will only be in the yard until that row of cars gets crushed.

Price of 273 from the yard: $325 (very very gunky inside the valve covers)
Price of 318: possibly less than that and it runs. (seems obvious when I put it this way huh?)

Is there any benefit to putting the 273 heads on a 318? How much more will the '73 318 weigh over the 273?

I hate to see a little 273 go to waste but maybe I just shouldn't spend the money on it!
 
i would go with the 318 but I hate to see the 273 get crushed because their getting harder and harder to find. there shouldnt be much weight difference. that is aweful high on a 273 that probably needs rebuilt
 
64 GT ide have to go with the 273, if its a 66 motor its a solid lifter cam motor,,probably a forged crank,, get a set of commando pistons from EGGE,, and a hypo cam a intake from offenhauser,,you would have a high reving little monster a hy po 273 will surprise you,,,get low 1st gear tranny,,,would be a fun car to have,,, ide love to have a 64 GT WITH A HOT 273 but as stated,,the price sounds high,,,but he may know what he has,,,a vintage mopar engine thats dissapperaing,,
 
I'm with fstfish on this one. I like the 273's but you do whatever you like. The 273 is going to need a rebuild where the teen might be closer to a drop in. If you convert your slant to a v-8 you will need quite a few parts so take that into consideration before taking the plunge. toolman
 
if that 66 motor is in an A BODY,,, you could get the dropped v 8 center link and exhaust manifolds all from that car,,,,
 
i like the idea of saving the 273, forged crank... most likely. Id pull the heads check the cyl's and bearings and give it a good scrubbing. Id put a cam and a set of 302 castings on it and run it....... if all checked out of course8)
 
I also vote to save the 273. Although most guys on here think a 273 and 318 are junk, low performance boat anchors, take it. Save that little solid cammed, forged crank 273 ripper and build it! Makes me want a solid cam in my lil 318 just thinking of it. :)
 
mines a 69 and it does..... its a salvage yard, try and beat em up on the price...
 
The problem is that it's a pick-a-part and they have set prices... I'll see what I can do. I like the idea of the 273 but it'll cost more having to have it rebuilt and I've seen rebuilt 273's on this site for good prices.

Maybe they'll discount the engine farther since the exhaust manifolds and all of the V8 linkages, I already bought thinking I'd leave the 273 there. D'OHH!
 
Not all 273's have forged cranks. They switched to cast cranks in either 68 or 69 when the LA 318 came out. The early 273's had forged cranks for sure. My 67 273 4bbl had a forged crank, but I'm not sure which cranks they put in the 2 bbls in 67, or 68, & 69. I had a 69 273 and that had a cast crank.

The 68 318's had cast cranks. I haven't had a 68 273 2 bbl to know what they had.
 
I had the same question in my mind several months ago - I did what I thought was the best of both worlds, I went with the 318 for displacement and put the 273 heads on it for compression - heads are redone - cam and crank are in and the pistons and heads should be on tommorrow. (Tuesday nite)

Some people said the two biggest problems with the 318 was small displacement and low compression. I think I fixed the problem of compression and a couple of years from now plan on putting a stroker kit in and that will help with displacement. (I think Summit has a 360 crank that has the 318 bearing size and will drop in using the 318 pistons and rods??)

I would see if you could get the heads, the rockers and the rods and the forged crank - I believe that all 273 cranks from 1967, 1966 and back were forged.

This is my five cents.

Sam
 
fstfish66 said:
64 GT ide have to go with the 273, if its a 66 motor its a solid lifter cam motor,,probably a forged crank,, get a set of commando pistons from EGGE,, and a hypo cam a intake from offenhauser,,you would have a high reving little monster a hy po 273 will surprise you,,,get low 1st gear tranny,,,would be a fun car to have,,, ide love to have a 64 GT WITH A HOT 273 but as stated,,the price sounds high,,,but he may know what he has,,,a vintage mopar engine thats dissapperaing,,
Click to expand...

Also has adjustable rocker arms and pushrods, bushed rods, and forged crank unless replaced.
 
Mopar Performance smallblock book says that ALL 273s had forged cranks.

At first I was leaning towards the 318 but now I think I'd go with the 273. I can speak from experience when I say that they are screaming little engines that will wind to 7,000 rpm so fast it'll scare you. At least it scared me because I didn't ever plan on taking it that far!
 
Save that 273! At the least, it is rare. For a correct restoration, or someone building a stock class drag racer, it is worth reselling.
 
The 318 is a small engine and the 273 is 45 c.i. smaller.
 
I have had the craziest urge to build a replica Super Stock 66 Dart with the 310hp (IIRC) solid cam 273 and hi rise alu intake with the 4spd and the factory installed insane gearing, like 4.88 or something. Saw a real one at a Mecum auction a couple years ago and fell in love.
 
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