273 solid lifter motor

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brodphish

brodphish

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This weekend I'll be looking at a 67 Barracuda that may be of interest to me. It's got the 273 4bbl solid lifter motor in it and so far my research indicates a mopar fans have love/hate relationship with this motor. Either it's a great little screamer or not enough cubes. It's an automatic car and might consider swapping a 4 speed but it's supposedly pretty original.

Thought I'd ask the experts here that helped me on a couple issues with my other 67 (417ci/340). Thanks in advance for your comments.
 
273's can run hard. Depending on what you want out of it. My ex boss(head porter),had a 68 273 Cuda,ran mid13's ,in 72. Mild dual plane,pocket ported 273 heads,mild solid cam. Did have a lot of gear.(4.88's).
 
Absolutely! If it's close to original and all the parts are there, just keep it as is, fix it up and enjoy it...

Don't forget, we do love pics...
 
805moparkid said:
being a 4 brl it should be a 10.5:1 motor!
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you can't assume that the engine is a hipo (10.5 to 1) just because of the 4 barrel and there really isn’t a better way to check.

I guess You could put low grade gas in it and see if it pings like hell. :jocolor:

Also if you have a built up 340 stroker you are not going to be happy with the 273 power no matter what you do with it.

All in all it is a good engine, I have owned a few.
 
trapster said:
you can't assume that the engine is a hipo (10.5 to 1) just because of the 4 barrel and there really isn’t a better way to check.

I guess You could put low grade gas in it and see if it pings like hell. :jocolor:

Also if you have a built up 340 stroker you are not going to be happy with the 273 power no matter what you do with it.

All in all it is a good engine, I have owned a few.
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pretty sure the 273 cam in 8.8:1 2 barrel 180hp or a 245hp 4 barrel 10.5:1 motor. the hi-po was 275hp 4 barrel motor
 
The 235 mill,had domed pistons.(.110 -.130 dome). Had a set,of the TRW forged replacement,in the day.
 
I have had several 273's that originaly came with a 2 barrel intake and I swapped in a 4 barrel.

I am just saying that it is impossible to know if the intake and carb are original. It is pretty easy to make a 273 2 barrel look like a hipo motor without the expense of actually making it one.
 
This car is owned by a a MOPAR guy I met a local show. I know some of the other MOPAR regulars there and they vouched for the car as an original solid lifter motor with domed pistons and 10.5 compression. It has a recent rebuild with additional mods that should have it close to 300hp. I'll know more this weekend and post a pic if it's OK withthe current owner. I think trapster is right it's going to boil down to how it feels after driving a built 340 for a while. Might be a real fun 2nd car though.
 
It's a small block. It has the same potential to be a damn good engine as any of the rest. Being small, it is a little limited, but for the street, you can make them run great.
 
brodphish said:
This car is owned by a a MOPAR guy I met a local show. I know some of the other MOPAR regulars there and they vouched for the car as an original solid lifter motor with domed pistons and 10.5 compression. It has a recent rebuild with additional mods that should have it close to 300hp. I'll know more this weekend and post a pic if it's OK withthe current owner. I think trapster is right it's going to boil down to how it feels after driving a built 340 for a while. Might be a real fun 2nd car though.
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all 273's were solid lifter except for there last year, 1969
 
A "real" Commando 273 is a very sweet running motor. I don't think anyone would disparage it, on its merits, but a lot of people would tell you that it isn't worth rebuilding one, since for the same investment you could build a 318, 340 or 360, and have the benefit of more cubic inches, and choose from a wider selection of speed parts for the big bore motors. As they say, there is no substitute for cubic inches -- except cubic money. Speed = money... how fast do you want to go?

Personally, I plan to rebuild my 273 Commando when it gets to that point, and spend a little on the internals to see if I can get it to be even more responsive. But it's a choice based on my personal history with the car, not on dollars & cents.
 
mvh said:
A "real" Commando 273 is a very sweet running motor. I don't think anyone would disparage it, on its merits, but a lot of people would tell you that it isn't worth rebuilding one, since for the same investment you could build a 318, 340 or 360, and have the benefit of more cubic inches, and choose from a wider selection of speed parts for the big bore motors. As they say, there is no substitute for cubic inches -- except cubic money. Speed = money... how fast do you want to go?

Personally, I plan to rebuild my 273 Commando when it gets to that point, and spend a little on the internals to see if I can get it to be even more responsive. But it's a choice based on my personal history with the car, not on dollars & cents.
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exactly why i like my slants
 
0.8-1.2HP per cubic inch is pretty easy to get out of most engine so 220-325HP for 273 compared to 290-430HP for 360, not that a 273 can't make 430HP it would just be at an impractical rpm range.
 
If the engine runs fine now I wouldn't even have a question.
There is plenty of HP to get the car from A to B for very many miles.
 
I run pump gas 93 oct. in my 65 hipo dart. all bone stock internals except for dougs headers, d4b intake , stock dual pointdist curved with pretronix unit w/rev limiter and duals.
This 273 loves 7K shifts .that's when it comes alive ..
love the sound of a sb SCREAMING 7K.

See VIDEO [ame="http://s446.photobucket.com/user/stroker402/media/3d2cdd52.mp4.html?sort=3&o=13"]Nice Rev Seafoam Tips No Smoke Video by stroker402 | Photobucket@@AMEPARAM@@http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq185/stroker402/bth_3d2cdd52.mp4@@AMEPARAM@@446.photobucket.com/albums/qq185/stroker402/bth_3d2cdd52.mp4[/ame]

john
 
805moparkid said:
yep, and the 275 motor to
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A 67 car will NOT have a 275hp motor, nor will any other 273 car except the D Dart, and only from 66!! Chances of this 67 car having a transplanted D Dart motor are next to nothing!!!

273 hipo motors are still good units at 235hp though, as stated above with domed 10.5/1 pistons...the only way to identify a hipo motor for sure is to open it up and check the pistons!! Geof
 
Floating wrist pins really have no advantage other than ease of assembly. The reason it revved so quickly was because it was a high compression short stroke engine. They love to rev.
 
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