MrBill65Valiant
Member
My best friend bought this 65 Wagon to fix up and sell. When we really got to looking at it this was a pretty good all original factory A/C car and plus when he took his wife for a ride in even she liked it and out of the 10 vehicles he owns this is the only one she likes!!! So now it's a keeper (Just like all the others!! LOL)
So with over 100k on the original 273 it was very tired with little to no compression and at least 1 dead valve. In Jan I came across a listing for a 76 318 motor and 904 trans for $250 it's out of the car but he says we can start it. I go to the guys house and find out it has a broken dist cap and it's electronic dist and the there is no module
. He says he has a comp tester. The engine is complete with the trans and starter still on. So we remove all the plugs, prop open the carb and we get 185psi in all 8.
I didn't even haggle, I payed the man and took it home. The next weekend I stopped at Pull-a-Part and found a brand new cap and rotor for $3 and a ignition module and harness for $10 (with a 90 day warranty) Wired it all up, stuffed a fuel hose hose in the gas can and fired it up!! Thing runs fine and good oil pressure (See video) Put it on the engine stand and strip it down. The timing chain is original and still has the plastic cam gear, chain is very loose! The cam and lifters are worn as the front cam bearing is too. All the mains and rod bearings look good and even checked clearances with plastic gauge and all in spec!! So I talk to my machine shop and said I think we can replace the cam bearings through the openings in the lifter galley and he says bring it over and we will give it a try. All went well and we just had to remove a little flashing on one of the openings to get the die in. He is a great guy and lets me do a lot of the work while he supervisors and helps me before I get in trouble!! lol
So with the new cam bearing installed I install a new Summit K6900 cam and lifters (close to the same specs as the stock 340 cam) timing chain and gears, degree the cam, new freeze out plugs all new gaskets and valve stem seals. I also checked all the valves for proper sealing by filling the comb chambers with fuel and let them sit, after an hour I had no leaks. I notice the heads have an small hole under the exhaust ports that were covered by the 318 manifolds the 273 manifold are not going to cover them so I tapped and plugged them. I also found that the D/S exhaust manifold will not lay flat on the head due to the large boss of the exhaust port, a few minutes with the grinder and problem solve! ( after the engine was in the car, back out it comes :cussing: ) I also found that the P/S motor mount of the 273 has 4 mounting ears cast on the block and the 318 has 3, so I welded a tube on the mount and used a long bolt to secure it in place (See pics) I topped it off with an old Edelbrock SP2P and a Holley 600 that I installed 64s in place of the 66 jets. I already had a new alternator when I found out that with an electronic dist Mopar recommends an electronic voltage regulator. I found the guy in Oregon FBO Systems that sells the old style regulator with the pc board in it (it works great) She fired off the first try and I also have a video of the break in. We built this thing on a budget and for under $1000. We have a really good running motor. That amount includes everything, paint, hardware, new belts, motor mounts and hoses, 2 oil filters, break in oil, and even the zinc additive for the flat tappet cam. (the zinc additive is added every time the oil is changed) This is just a cruiser and should we have rebuilt the short block? maybe, but this this runs really well, starts up immediately, blows no smoke and was done on the cheap and runs on 87 unleaded with no worries of the heads as they have the hardened seats.
http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i138/mrbill66malibu/Valiant/
So with over 100k on the original 273 it was very tired with little to no compression and at least 1 dead valve. In Jan I came across a listing for a 76 318 motor and 904 trans for $250 it's out of the car but he says we can start it. I go to the guys house and find out it has a broken dist cap and it's electronic dist and the there is no module
. He says he has a comp tester. The engine is complete with the trans and starter still on. So we remove all the plugs, prop open the carb and we get 185psi in all 8.I didn't even haggle, I payed the man and took it home. The next weekend I stopped at Pull-a-Part and found a brand new cap and rotor for $3 and a ignition module and harness for $10 (with a 90 day warranty) Wired it all up, stuffed a fuel hose hose in the gas can and fired it up!! Thing runs fine and good oil pressure (See video) Put it on the engine stand and strip it down. The timing chain is original and still has the plastic cam gear, chain is very loose! The cam and lifters are worn as the front cam bearing is too. All the mains and rod bearings look good and even checked clearances with plastic gauge and all in spec!! So I talk to my machine shop and said I think we can replace the cam bearings through the openings in the lifter galley and he says bring it over and we will give it a try. All went well and we just had to remove a little flashing on one of the openings to get the die in. He is a great guy and lets me do a lot of the work while he supervisors and helps me before I get in trouble!! lol
So with the new cam bearing installed I install a new Summit K6900 cam and lifters (close to the same specs as the stock 340 cam) timing chain and gears, degree the cam, new freeze out plugs all new gaskets and valve stem seals. I also checked all the valves for proper sealing by filling the comb chambers with fuel and let them sit, after an hour I had no leaks. I notice the heads have an small hole under the exhaust ports that were covered by the 318 manifolds the 273 manifold are not going to cover them so I tapped and plugged them. I also found that the D/S exhaust manifold will not lay flat on the head due to the large boss of the exhaust port, a few minutes with the grinder and problem solve! ( after the engine was in the car, back out it comes :cussing: ) I also found that the P/S motor mount of the 273 has 4 mounting ears cast on the block and the 318 has 3, so I welded a tube on the mount and used a long bolt to secure it in place (See pics) I topped it off with an old Edelbrock SP2P and a Holley 600 that I installed 64s in place of the 66 jets. I already had a new alternator when I found out that with an electronic dist Mopar recommends an electronic voltage regulator. I found the guy in Oregon FBO Systems that sells the old style regulator with the pc board in it (it works great) She fired off the first try and I also have a video of the break in. We built this thing on a budget and for under $1000. We have a really good running motor. That amount includes everything, paint, hardware, new belts, motor mounts and hoses, 2 oil filters, break in oil, and even the zinc additive for the flat tappet cam. (the zinc additive is added every time the oil is changed) This is just a cruiser and should we have rebuilt the short block? maybe, but this this runs really well, starts up immediately, blows no smoke and was done on the cheap and runs on 87 unleaded with no worries of the heads as they have the hardened seats.
http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i138/mrbill66malibu/Valiant/
