GJSZ51
Well-Known Member
Is there such a thing. Fellow down here has one he says runs but unknown condition.
Is it worth grabbing up?
GJS
Is it worth grabbing up?
GJS
Light weight 273?
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AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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All small blocks since 1967 are lightweights. That's what LA stands for; Light A, A being the SBM engine designation.
Well you might ask, light as compared to what? Answer;light as compared to the earlier As,the Poly-As.Beginning in 66 or 67, Chrysler made a bunch of changes to the polyspheric-As and gave us what we have had,well into the 80s, and with minor changes, into the late 90s and beyond.
As for snapping it up..................a 360 is only a few pounds more.
Well you might ask, light as compared to what? Answer;light as compared to the earlier As,the Poly-As.Beginning in 66 or 67, Chrysler made a bunch of changes to the polyspheric-As and gave us what we have had,well into the 80s, and with minor changes, into the late 90s and beyond.
As for snapping it up..................a 360 is only a few pounds more.
GJSZ51
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the clarification, AJ
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Yup. The "Poly" 318 is an "A" engine. Which might explain why 350/361/and later 383, and later 400 is a "B" engine
'Poly' are often nicknamed "wide block" which is a misnomer. The 318 A and LA blocks are VERY similar, and if you have the two bare blocks together, and don't know what to look for, you might have a little trouble telling them apart.
Yes and the LA engine was designed to fit in the narrow front end of the 64 and newer A body cars. The early A's began in 63 and v-8's weren't available yet. In 64 the 273 was introduced as a LA (lightweight A) which was smaller to fit in the new economy car chassis. A design change in 67 allowed more room and the introduction of a big block in the Dart/Valiant/Barracuda format. tmm
Yeah, the "wide" part of the poly 318 was the heads, not the block. Though the block casting has more beef to it, the basic dimensions are much the same.
DesertRat
Leading edge boomer
Yes get it before he figures out what it isO
273.... should have adjustable rockers. Always nice to have those. Crankshafts are a ittle lighter iirc, and are forged. One thing you have to check is the pilot on the back of the crankshaft. It was smaller than it's 318/340/360 brothers. You'll have to machine it out to size (what I had done), or purchase a special torque converter for it.
2 Darts
A-body Addicted
The LA engine family departs from the earlier A engine by use of "thin wall" block casting and simpler cylinder heads. The LA engine block alone accounts for 50 lbs, the heads are about 25 pounds per pair lighter. This change put the 273 V-8 within 50 lbs of the 225 /6 (iron) [525 lbs vs 475 lbs].
FWIW: There was an all aluminum 225 in the early 60s. The aluminum block alone was nearly ½ the weight of the iron one. (76 lbs vs 148 lbs). Mopar had problems with core shift making continued production a significantly less profitable proposition, which led to sticking solely with cast iron blocks.
FWIW: There was an all aluminum 225 in the early 60s. The aluminum block alone was nearly ½ the weight of the iron one. (76 lbs vs 148 lbs). Mopar had problems with core shift making continued production a significantly less profitable proposition, which led to sticking solely with cast iron blocks.
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