Fixing vs. Buying a New Engine / 273

[omahamoparguy]

if your not careful you might trip over a 318 at the junkyard or even just walking through the parking lot. Either way you go, it's nice to have an extra engine lying around in case you need one. SO....5.2 magnum or if you don't care about fuel milage a 5.9 or 360 are easy to find. The only ones I would stay away from are the mid eighties 318. seem they had some core issues, porosity etc.

 

[Abodybomber]

Smart man^^^^^…

 

[MuuMuu101]

Depends on budget a good running 318 would be cheapest and easiest direct swap.
Magnum the best bang for the buck but even with buying one for $500 it probably cost a $1000 in parts to put it in. Plus the 5.9l gonna speed up the time frame of a brake and rear end upgrade.

$1500 doesn't seem too bad if I attempt to do it myself. As far as brakes and rear end. I already went through the front completely last year and redid my entire KH disc setup. I'm swapping in an 8 3/4 with new leafs before I even get to an engine upgrade. I was hoping I can knock out the front in one shot with a suspension rebuild, new T-bars, possibly a new steering box, and the engine swap.

I was also thinking about, as mentioned before, buying a cheap and running pick up (LA or Magnum), pulling the engine, and sell/part/scrap the rest. My only problem is I have no room to store a truck.

 

[txstang84]

As mentioned above, nothing wrong with a 5.2-that's what's in my '72 Scamp...I just figured you were set on running a 360/5.9...mine runs great stock with a 600 Edelbrock RPM air gap intake and Hedman shorty headers. I also bought an HEI conversion from Trailbeast...at least with a 5.2, you won't need a weighted converter or flexplate.

 

[66fs]

I'd first find out what is wrong with the 273, my guess would be one exhaust valve. As stated above it may be relatively cheap. I'm assuming the 68 Dart? I'd then get a motor you want to end up with, 360 or 318. Then go thru it and do it up the way you want. The two are different and each has advantages. Next get a trans that will hold the motor. In the mean time you can upgrade, run and enjoy your Dart till you swap the motor and trans, maybe a day or weekend.

 

[MuuMuu101]

I'd first find out what is wrong with the 273, my guess would be one exhaust valve. As stated above it may be relatively cheap. I'm assuming the 68 Dart? I'd then get a motor you want to end up with, 360 or 318. Then go thru it and do it up the way you want. The two are different and each has advantages. Next get a trans that will hold the motor. In the mean time you can upgrade, run and enjoy your Dart till you swap the motor and trans, maybe a day or weekend.

Yes, this is for the '68 Dart. I can have my mechanics look it over. They're the ones who told me about it when they ran the compression check but didn't want to remove the head as I wanted it back quickly in order to make it to Fall Fling. I believe most people here quoted valve jobs being around $200-300. What would be the advantages of having a 318 over a 360? Honestly, I'd like to go with a manual, but that's not in the budget right now. My 904 seems to shift smooth enough. It could probably use a rebuild or a go through for piece of mind.

I just quickly looked at the inventory at the two local pick-a-parts online. There seems to be plenty of Dodge Rams, Durangos, and Dakotas varying from the early 80's all the way to the late 90's. Last time I went to one, I tripped over a few 318's myself. ;) Kidding. However, it's times like these I really wished I had a pick-up truck myself instead of having to borrow my mom's SUV which is a pain to put large stuff in. Plus I have to hear about it later on. -_-

 

[66fs]

Find out what is wrong, rings or valve. Just a stop gap for the 273, pull intake, one head, fix only what is needed, run it while you sort out what you want. Short answer is 318 is internally balanced, will pull higher rpm with a given cam, will fit your car without special parts. 360 has good heads, more torque and horse power, but will not rev as high with the same cam. A 360 will typically not get as good mpg. You can change the fluid and filter in the 904. While the pan is off adjust the bands and bump up the pressure. The factory used a 727 or a beefed up 904, 999, behind the 360, just a hint. A 4 barrel intake and carb with a 340 cam and springs in a 318 would also shorten the life expectancy of a 904 by quite a bit.

 

[clifftt]

I think the key is to find if the problem is just the head (CHEAP FIX) or in the block, i.e. rings (EXPENSIVE FIX). Without knowing, it's hard to make a decision.
For what it's worth: I'm $3000 into a relatively stock rebuild on my 273. I think Tool Man Mike had a little more than that. I wanted to stay original. Definitely easier on the wallet to go 318 or 360.

 

[sireland67]

Why not buy a leak down tester and test it your self?
No time like the present to learn, if you can pull a spark plug the test is easy.
Why pay your mechanic when the tools would most likely run less than his labor rate to check the car out.
Summit sells a decent tester for about $75.00, the only thing else you would need is a small air compressor.
Might even look at harbor freight for a tester and air compressor.

 

[MuuMuu101]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread again. I'm just thinking, like mentioned before, if there's something wrong with the head to just fix it. My schedule with school is going to be too busy to actually work on the car till the summer and even then I think my new internship may want me working full time so I really don't know how my schedule is going to be or if I'm going to have enough energy to do anything. I might just send it to my mechanics after Spring Fling and probably have them do some suspension work as well. I'm going to be working on my 8 3/4 next week (Spring Break) so I may tell them to throw that in there as well. My 8 3/4 has 2.76 gears and my 7 1/4 currently has 2.94 gears.

Are there any "light" performance modifications I can do to make this feel a little more performancy? Nothing crazy. Just things that can be done for possibly a couple hundred bucks. Headers and exhaust are out of it for the moment as I have power steering and don't really want to dimple stuff or spend the big bucks on TTI. Unless I find some cheap headers and dimple them. If not, that's ok.

I'd rather eliminate down time over going too overboard on a project.

 

[txstang84]

Are you still wanting to stay with the 273 as opposed to a newer running 318?

 

[txstang84]

I'm thinking the budget 318 would likely be the easiest way to go as well...did you ever figure out if the 273 just might need new heads or if the rings are shot in that one cylinder?

 

[MuuMuu101]

Are you still wanting to stay with the 273 as opposed to a newer running 318? I'm thinking the budget 318 would likely be the easiest way to go as well...did you ever figure out if the 273 just might need new heads or if the rings are shot in that one cylinder?

That's why I want to take it to my mechanics to see if it's the head or a ring. If it's a ring, I'd find another small block to replace it. If it's a head I figure just have it fixed, let them tune it, and call it a day. Maybe save up more money for the engine I want later, another big modification, or something else down the line.

How much do you think an exhaust shop would charge to replace my stock exhaust for a dual-exhaust with turbo mufflers? Something simple, probably a straight through design that's 2.25"-2.5".