65 barracuda Commando 273 /Formula S?

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Robert you should have no problems with fittting a 340 in the engine bay the blocks are all the same size 273-340. The only issues would be if you want to put headders on the motor. There are some threads here where guys have done it but it takes some serious massaging. I believe even the 340 exhaust on the driver side may be an issue with clearance, many use the 318 exhaust manifolds. You can polish and do some port work with the 318 manifolds to get good performance with them. My 66 had a 318 ported heads and ran high 14's with stock exhaust manifolds. I was going to do some more work to them before it got destroyed by a little old man. My current 65 project is pretty much stock 318 so far and ran a mid 15 the one time at the track. Here are some pictures, it is painted to look like 373 with the 273 valve covers also.

Well my pictures wont post they are too big? It will not let me resize them, I have poste d before it it frustrating me!
 
ya im looking to build a 340 and stroke it to a 408 and get around 550 tq and hp give or take a little im new to mopar been build chevys and figure i want a barracuda want to spend aroudn 3-5k for the motor maybe if there are any threads about someone doing something simular would be helpfull

here is the truck

70 chevy c10
350 4 bolt main
forged Crank
pro top line aluminum heads 72cc chamber
all retro roller rocker
rubens racing cam 234/242 @ 0.50 centerline at 104. lobe center 108
flat top pistions
but also have a 750 holley dp proform throttle body
aluminum fuel tank holley blue electric fuel pump.
compression ratio is about 9:5-1
mallory unilite disb. with msd 6al box
12 bolt posi rear end 3.7.3 gears


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Looks like someone has been playing with that cuda some already. The rear is not original it looks like an 8.75 or ford 9 inch? as I had my 66 set up with one when I raced it. They originally had very small 7.25 small bolt pattern rears with 13 inch rims. Mt 65 now has a 8.25 with big bolt pattern so I can use 14 inch ralley wheels. You can also get custom motor mounts to give some more space in engine bay for headders but it means modification to hood as motor will be too tall. It is all up to your imagination. I hAve seen a few early cudas with 340's that look very nice and run well. You have a good start. Loose the single master cylinder and convert to double for saftey it is one of the first things I did on both of mine as it is easy to go fast but way harder to stop these cool old beasts! Keep posting picts we love the picts!

Very nice truck by the way!!!!
 
Here you go.
http://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/2499440116.html Not mine

By the way if you are going to stroke a motor make it a 360 not a 340
Much more plentiful and much cheaper.

and you don't ruin a good motor. Just my opinion.




robertjust777 said:
ya im looking to build a 340 and stroke it to a 408 and get around 550 tq and hp give or take a little im new to mopar been build chevys and figure i want a barracuda want to spend aroudn 3-5k for the motor maybe if there are any threads about someone doing something simular would be helpfull

here is the truck

70 chevy c10
350 4 bolt main
forged Crank
pro top line aluminum heads 72cc chamber
all retro roller rocker
rubens racing cam 234/242 @ 0.50 centerline at 104. lobe center 108
flat top pistions
but also have a 750 holley dp proform throttle body
aluminum fuel tank holley blue electric fuel pump.
compression ratio is about 9:5-1
mallory unilite disb. with msd 6al box
12 bolt posi rear end 3.7.3 gears
Click to expand...
 
Its definitely an original Commando 273 car because the rear lower valence has the notch in it for the hipo resonator exhaust tip.
 
See the notch in the picture for the exhaust tip. This is a real easy way to tell if our cars came with a hi-po 273.
 

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340 are a lot more expensive as they are.
I don't know how much extra or less building the 360 will be.

But you are almost better off selling the 340 and buying a 360 for the difference in price.
 
trapster said:
340 are a lot more expensive as they are.
I don't know how much extra or less building the 360 will be.

But you are almost better off selling the 340 and buying a 360 for the difference in price.
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well i can get both motors for the same price 400 $ each intake to oil pan
 
You could probably get a running 360 low(er) mileage for $400 or less with the larger mains.

All I am saying is the 360 is a cheaper and easier motor to find. There are a lot more of them out there. If you can find a 340 for $400 it probably has already been rebuilt once or at least it has been beat to death or your a very lucky person and somebody doesn't know what they have. If the 340 is running and not beat to death you can probably get $800 for it as is.
 
Mine 65 S came with the single large resonator tip, which is cool, but now has dual exhaust. It is so much easier to do up custom duals these days than try to make it like it was original. My rear also has the same notch. I thought about bringing the two ends together but it just came down to cost and the money was better spent elsewhere. If it were truely original all the way I would go for preservation but alas it was not and is not so performance is now the goal. I like the dual exhaust rumble anyway! zoom zoom 360 crate motor 500 hp out of box!
 
I have an extra black 65 back seat I am not using if you are interested, could ship it cheap through greyhound, send me a PM if you are want it $65 plus shipping
 
Cool find, looks to be in pretty good shape. Having the 8-3/4 rear end already is a big plus for the plans you have. Can't wait to see the transformation. Keep us posted.
 
It appears that your car was also a Formula-S judging by the tach in the dash and sway bar.

P.S. Will you sell the Commando V8 emblem? Formula-S cars didn't get those and our Barracuda is missing one.
 
67valiant 100 said:
It appears that your car was also a Formula-S judging by the tach in the dash and sway bar.

P.S. Will you sell the Commando V8 emblem? Formula-S cars didn't get those and our Barracuda is missing one.
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ill get back to u on that i sent out the money to chrysler historical to find out everything i need to know about my car. going to go look at a couple motors today. does anyone know if i have to do anything special to make it a roller motor roller cam rockers ect.


also maybe looking into the 360 to 426 stroker kit
 
67valiant 100 said:
It appears that your car was also a Formula-S judging by the tach in the dash and sway bar.

P.S. Will you sell the Commando V8 emblem? Formula-S cars didn't get those and our Barracuda is missing one.
Click to expand...
The sway bar is an aftermarket one so that won't mean much. Does it have the original lower control arms? Those are unique to the '65-6 A-bodies with a factory sway bar. Unless you get something from Chrysler Historical showing it's a Formula S, there is nothing that can't be altered to make it look like one.
 
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