Happster's '72 scamp build!

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happster

happster

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well folks, i thought i might as well start early and make a thread. i'll get photos up in a bit. the scamp is a '72 with a 318 hooked up to a 904, and a 7 1/4 rear. it is almost completely original, besides getting a new vinyl top due to a torn up old one and some seat covers. i put 360 heads on it, but i have changed my mind about that.

anyway, this is the plan so far:

i want to eventually get a more sturdy rear end. what i have heard is that the 7 1/4 jsut won't stand much more than a stock 318. mine is going to be warmed over a bit, at least on the top end, and i don't like the idea of being stranded with a broken toothpick in the back. i was thinking 8 3/4 or 8 1/4... whichever comes around first.

i want to do a performance rebuild on the stock 318 heads. they need a valve job anyway, so i might as well warm them over while i have them off and clean. not sure the extent of the build on these that i'm going to do yet. i am looking at getting a purple cam or something similar-not anything reaally lumpy, but something that gives it the hump and will give me a bit more top end too.

i want to put a 4 barrel on her. currently it is running the stock 2bbl, and i just don't think i'm going to get the performance i am looking for with it. i have an edelbrock performer intake, and i think it would wake up the motor to put a holley dp or similar on it. i was thinking something around 650cfm.

i want to reroute the exhaust. the current exhaust is a true dual, but the car originally had a single pipe, and so the one on the pass side tends to vibrate and rattle. i hate rattles. so, what i have decided to do is something a little different: bellflower tips. i figured i could keep my dual exhaust (though i want to get a whole new system, since the current one is 2" pipe and i would like 2 1/2, and the welder did a horrible job) and go to a pair of thrush turbos, with an H pipe as well. if you are not familiar with bellflowers, instead of going straight out the back, they go along the side of the car like this:
2774510587_e14c868287.jpg

i know it's a chevy, but i couldn't find any good pics of a mopar with them. i think that the look will be unique, and the way the rear wheel well openings are shaped on these cars is perfect for having this setup. the other thing is that it will exit before the place that i have the clearance issues with the current duals.

i want to put wider steelies on her. i have a friend who has the police wheels for these cars- they are a bit wider, and will help with handling. i will be able to still keep the stock hubcaps on though, to maintain the original look.

i want to get the rear leafs refurbished. they slouch really bad, and just simply make the car drive crappy. since they have lost their temper, they make the axle hit the exhaust pipes when you go over a bump too fast- which is not very fast in this case, especially if you have a person sitting in the back.

this is the real basics of the modifications, i'm sure there will be many more. the primary idea of this though is to keep her looking stock (besides the bellflowers) but give her a classic muscle car/hot rod feel.
another thing is that I LOVE INPUT! i will admit i am not an expert with these cars, and i am always open to new ideas. i will take some photos this afternoon and get them posted for y'all.
i have posted this photo before, but it will give you guys an idea of what she looks like:
n1190160004_30017741_4799.jpg


thanks for looking! tell me what you think!
 
Nice car, big hair!! Sounds like you are on the right track for waking that beast up. Exhaust headers would be a good upgrade, also if it doesn't have electroinic ignition may want to upgrade that too. Good luck and keep the pics flowing!! :toothy10:
 
oh yes, she will definitely be treated to a pertronix setup. maybe something more aggressive later. i would like to find some shorties, but i didn't see any that were affordable online. any suggestions?
 
Welcome to FABO!
Ditch the 'bellflowers' if you really want a classic musclecar look. Here in SoCal (where there is a city named 'Bellflower' - surely the name source) those are known as 'twicepipes' and are lowrider only.
But, it's your car so do what makes you happy.
 
yes, that style was created in Bellflower, CA. all i have seen them on are customs, that's what they came from. I didn't know they had turned into lowrider only... discourages me from doing it though. i'm pretty set on them, i think they'll really make the car stand out, but i def don't wanna stand out as a lowrider.
 
well, here we go!
got a 4bbl 4160 electric choke today:
dscf4132.jpg

i pulled out the intake i've had sitting around for so long:
100_5940.jpg

i took the heads to the machine shop today to get the valve job done on them. i think for now i'm going to leave the stock cam in it and just put the 4 bbl and the heads back on. i have also been thinking about decking the heads, but don't know much about that... it would be nice to up the compression a bit. still not sure if i want to or not. what do you guys think? if i do, how much should i deck them?

and yes, i am gonna need an adapter. i'm a little worried about under the hood space at the moment- i hope i clear the stock hood!
 
hey nice car. i have a torker 340 manifold with a holley and a mopar peformance air cleaner and it clears, just barly but it clears.
 
thanks jeff! thanks for the welcome as well folks. been on here a while just not active. the thing i am worried about most though is that because the manifold is going to need a .75" spacer for the spread bore/square bore adapter plate, i may not be able to clear. i was thinking i could either buy or fab a deeper air cleaner base, so it would drop the filter down a bit more, but i am unsure if this would even help. guess i'll find out! i've had an itch in the back of my mind to make myself a steel 340 six pack style hood, using a stock hood and some sheet metal. we'll see what happens.
 
sounds like it'll fit then! i'm gonna actually end up with a different carburetor, a holley 770 truck avenger. i decided that 1) i'm not going to put a 4 barrel on THIS engine, and 2) what's the point in paying for something you can't adjust as if it was a holley? the street avenger has adjustable floats, 2 metering blocks, and two fuel inlets, and is much more tunable, despite the fact they say it's RTR out of the box. this 318 in the car right now will be going back to the way it was from the factory- 318 heads, 2bbl carb. i have picked up another 318 to build into a performance motor. til that one's done, i am not going to waste money on expensive parts for the current engine- i'm just going to focus on the other one. a 770 will fit this new engine's requirements perfectly.
 
A 770 is going to be awfully big for a 318, even with a performance build. Also keep in mind that the 770 cfm rating for that holley is a wet flow rating, that works out to about 850 cfm dry flow (edelbrock, etc).

I've been told the 770 Street Avenger I have is going to be too big for my 400-450hp 340 more than a couple times. I already have it, so I'm just going to give it a try when I finish the engine, but you'd probably be better off with a 670 street avenger for even a performance built 318.
 
thanks guys! bluNblu, it does sound like it, but i have a feeling that this carb will work. the build i have been referring to for doing mine actually ran an 850 thermoquad. i think this 770 will fit nicely. i did not know holley did the rating differently than everyone else though. thank you. and thanks orange! i think it will be fun. i have no doubt that it will take a while, but i hope to have it done by my senior year here in college, which gives me two years to work it all out. plenty of time. i just want to take it to the great bend drag strip before i leave (the first NHRA nationals happened here in
'55), and see what she'll do!
 
found out my friend's wheels won't work- they're the larger bolt pattern. that's a bummer because they could hold 275s.... :(
so i'm still on the lookout for either a pair or a set of wide steelies i can put my caps on.
EDIT:
man, i have had a pretty bad day as far as getting what i wanted. the 318 i had planned to get in order to build has already been taken, so i will have to find a different powerplant. i have a few ideas.
right now, i have a 360 block and crank in the shop. it is missing main caps, but i am sure i can find a set of those somewhere. i need to know a few things about the engine, though, in order to decide what to do with it. time to research!
 
Look for small bolt pattern wheels in the For Sale section of this site. Also post a Parts Wanted ad. 4" bolt pattern is not very common, but on this site, you'll probably find a few sets.

I understand what you're thinking about main caps. I thought the same thing. You need to know how they're fit, though.

The block and caps are machined while bolted and torqued together. The caps are numbered so they always get assembled in the proper place. If you move cap #3 to main saddle #2, the bore in the cap will not line up perfectly with the bore in the block. You're only working with .002 bearing clearance - the thickness of a hair. That alignment is critical.

If you come across a set of caps, I'm told it's possible to mill the caps slightly on the surface that mates with the block. That makes the bore slightly oblong, and slightly undersize. Then you get the thing line bored. That gives you the proper alignment and size again. The only thing I don't understand about the procedure is what they do about the width of the mains. That dimension is already at size and there's no material to bore in that dimension...

Anyway, I thought you should know that. Depending on what the machine shop charges, you might be better off finding a good used block with caps.
 
thanks fourspeed, i should have known that- i remember talking about it in class. sounds like i will need to find a different 360 block. there's a guy near me who has one, already punched .030 over, with new pistons and recon rods, stock crank. looking at getting that. he wants 400 for it ... guess it saves me the price of boring and pistons though, as well as hot tanking and cleaning.
 
I used to have the twin to your car,yours looks to be in much better shape though!
010.jpg
 
thought i would post some more pics of the scamp, as well as my shop space. this was a couple months ago though-i have a lot more crap in that little space now. i have what's within those yellow lines, as well as the cage behind it.

she was a little dirty, haven't been driving her too much lately. ran into some manifold problems with the bigger heads on- i'll be taking them off soon though.
100_5929.jpg

100_5928.jpg

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all my buddies have those shop spaces next to me, so i'm not worried about anything getting stolen. it's also nice because if i need an extra pair of hands, someone is usually able to help!

anyway, that's my space. time to start covering it in scamp parts!

wow, that IS the twin! i must say, mine has a bit less wear and tear. nice scamp man!
 
it's a pretty cool setup- i have my air compressor hooked up and there's a plug in the wall for a welder as well!
 
guys, i have yet to even SEE another scamp! it's so cool to find so many on here. that thing is a BEAUTY jiw! def qualifies as my car's sis!
 
i'm going to look at a whole bunch of 360s today. might find something worth dropping in! we'll see what happens, i'll take lots of photos too.
 
i have also been thinking a lot about putting in a tach and a floor automatic shifter. it would be fun to go through the gears on the street (if i felt like it), and it would really help me out on the track. It's also sort of crucial to be able to tell RPM if you want to do anything performance oriented.
these are my final choices i have come up with:
for tachometers, i looked at the traditional chrome tachs from auto meter. they have a bit of classic styling and won't be too obtrusive to the all-original interior, but will give me an accurate reading of rpm.
it's between these three:
the autometer 2893- 2 5/8"
atm2893_w.jpg

the autometer 2895- 3 3/4"
atm2895.jpg

or the autometer 2897- 3 3/4"
atm2897_w_m.jpg

i like this last one because it really looks cool and old school. the other ones would probably be easier to read, but this one just looks classy.
as far as shifters go, i have narrowed it down to four. two B&Ms, and their Hurst equivalents. i think it would be cool to go Hurst given mopar's history with them.
B&M megashifter
bmm80690_w.jpg

B&M Quicksilver
bmm80683_cp.jpg

Hurst Pro-Matic 2
huu3838510_w.jpg

Hurst V-matic 2
huu3838520_w.jpg

i'm leaning towards the V-matic 2 because it is a dual mode, and would make it nicer to drive on the street. i also like the T handle. still not sure though.
 
happster said:
found out my friend's wheels won't work- they're the larger bolt pattern. that's a bummer because they could hold 275s.... :(
so i'm still on the lookout for either a pair or a set of wide steelies i can put my caps on.
Click to expand...

happster - I just read an article in Hemmings Muscle Machines about converting front brakes on a Dart type car from drum to disc, utilizing either new or junkyard acquired parts from other MoPar cars. The end result was the larger bolt pattern up front - so I figured since you are looking at loosing the ol stock rear and upgrading to a beefier one you'll probably end up with the larger bolt pattern out back so . . . might as well do the same up front. Maybe those cop steelies your friend has could rest on a shelf in the shop till you get around to finding the rear you're looking for and convert the front to the larger disc set up from say a 76 Charger/Cordoba?
 
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