Making it a better driver

-
C

charm

Active Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
40
Reaction score
2
Location
Everett, WA
So, after three years of talking about it, I finally went and picked up my wife's grandfather's 74 Dart Sport. It needs a fair bit of work to make it pretty, but it runs o.k. and has low mileage. I'm starting to make my list.

The first questions coming up are driveability. I don't need a 12 second car, but it would be nice to have a car that would comfortably cruise above 80. This one doesn't seem happy about 60. What can I do to make my 225 a better road vehicle?

Based on what I'm reading, I suspect the answer would be:
-Upgrade the transmission so I have something with an OD,
-Electronic ignition,
-Something with intake and exhaust,
-(Suspension and brake updates are for another page but are most certainly on the list!).

The threads I've seen around intake and exhaust appear to be folks looking for real performance. I have apparently, at some point, gotten old and think that, for this car, that's not what it needs or wants to be. So, I'm looking for fun, comfortable, and reliable. The fun I plan to get through suspension stuff, comfort through the interior, and reliable (and driveable) through the drive train.

Thanks for you help and I'm glad to finally be starting this project!
 
Having had the 833OD behind a slant once I found it didn't like it at all since your looking at changing several items you would be far ahead to get rid of the slant and use a small block of some sort 318 would be fine best would be a magnum 5.9 (360)
 
charm said:
-- but it would be nice to have a car that would comfortably cruise above 80. --- I have apparently, at some point, gotten old --
Click to expand...
-- Cruise above 80 ?? -- Have fun !!
 
RPMagoo said:
-- Cruise above 80 ?? -- Have fun !![/QUOT

Just north of me, the freeway speed limit is 70. It is unlikely that I'll cruise it above 80, but if it's comfortable at 80, it'll be just fine at 75 which is where I tend to be in the those 70 mph zones.

Or are you referring to the joke of a suspension currently under the car? That's gonna get fixed too!
Click to expand...
 
exhaust first, open that snorkle they called a headpipe. Dutra Duels would be outstanding but even a split log with 2 outlets works. buddy found a 2.30 rear behind his 170 (!) and it could barely climb a hill but was a rocket on the freeway.
 
What do you mean by doesn't like to cruise over 60 mph ?
Too many rpms or no power or ride or a combination of each ?

If it's no power than OD won't help
If it's power than it probably needs a tune up any /6 I've ever had could do 70 plus even the one that blew the rod out side still kept up with traffic and made it home :) .
And if it is tuned up and don't have enough power than you want a V8, a V8 don't make your car into a race car
most cars now day have over 200 hp. 4bbl 318 with duals and highway gears will do.
 
start with good tune up, then if still a dog, test cyl compression. look for tag at third member for gear ratio, or jack it up and count revolutions of wheel compared to driveshaft for ratio. then consider better breathing exhaust. IMO
 
My cousin had a slant with 2.76 gears in his duster, it would cruise at 110kph (70 ish mph) just fine, and it wasnt in the best condition as it had a lame hole and burned oil. But it just wasnt fast in the slightest!

Our fix was to stuff a 440 in there :D

Do the basic reliability mods, new plugs, wires etc. Do an intake and exhaust and possibly a bigger carb, but just dont expect it to be a racecar after that.
 
Get it running good with a tune up and then rebuild the ancient suspension and brakes. If you like the way it handles and stops, great. Exhaust is a good idea too.

One of these days you might want more power, or fuel inejection, or a lopey idle..or a number of other things. If/when that day comes... 318 Magnum :glasses7:

I yanked my 225 out and stuck a V8 in and I think it was a good decision. It's even a better cruiser than it was with the slant.
 
The debate, for me, is while I can pick up a 360 cheap, with a transmission, I'm looking for simple and more budget friendly and thus more wife friendly.

I'll stay with a tune up and I'm guessing the gas is old which won't help anything!

I'll look into dual exhaust, maybe headers, maybe duals, we shall see. I would imagine if I open up that end, I better supply more air and fuel? I imagine a 2 barrel would be more than adequate for my needs with the longer plenum intake?
 
charm said:
The debate, for me, is while I can pick up a 360 cheap, with a transmission, I'm looking for simple and more budget friendly and thus more wife friendly.

I'll stay with a tune up and I'm guessing the gas is old which won't help anything!

I'll look into dual exhaust, maybe headers, maybe duals, we shall see. I would imagine if I open up that end, I better supply more air and fuel? I imagine a 2 barrel would be more than adequate for my needs with the longer plenum intake?
Click to expand...

A 360 with an automatic OD won't make it Wife unfriendly unless you build it that way.
It WILL however obviously have a lot more go and use more gas when doing so.
What you are saying you want is just about the way I put my car together.

Stock bottom end 318
Edlebrock 2176 dual plane intake
Edelbrock 600 electric choke
1 5/8 tube headers into 3 inch collectors then dual 2.5 inch.
Remflex exhaust gaskets
HEI ignition and fully automatic electric cooling with a 26" radiator
Good solid coolant recovery system
15 inch wheels with 70 series tires.
Mechanical aftermarket gauges
A good spare tire and complete jack assy

It'll do 120 without much effort and we take it to the CA coast and back at 80+ 11 hours each way. (only ever had to tighten a radiator hose clamp other than normal fluid checks)
2,800 RPM's at 80mph.
It has high back 11 way adjustable Recaro Sport bucket seats, wireless internet with mapping and music and a good 4 channel stereo to run it through.
Dark tint on all but the windshield.

Reliability is built in when you do the work on it.
Don't use crimp connectors (solder)
Insulate heavy gauge high load wiring
I use auto resetting circuit breakers instead of fusable link.
Relays for the headlights ( a MUST for night driving)
And the HEI ignition doesn't require I carry parts in the glovebox.

My Wife LOVES to drive it because it has power steering and brakes so it's easy for her.
When we go to CA and she is driving it's common for her to hang it on 100mph when out in the middle of nowhere (like Interstate 5)
 
If you want the best in reliability, fun power and great economy, get a 5.2 magnum 44RE 2wd from a Dakota or Ram truck, install a Tans Inc injeted tank, hook up injection and dont do anything but a small cam upgrade and computer flash. You will have 300 hp, 26 mpg cruising at 75(2400 rpm) with about 3.56 gears so it will be fun in town. Dont forget A/C ! Call our shop if you want ot bring your Sport into the 21's century. It will run just like a Durango or Grand Cherokee but look sooooo much cooler:burnout:
 
Wife unfriendly equates to price tag, not power. She hasn't expressed any desire to drive it.

That said, the appeal of sticking with the six had more to do with it seeming like the path of least resistance to finished car. Like I said, there's an ad on Craigslist right now for a 360 with a transmission for $100. But then I would need to put the bigger rear end in the car and maybe swap the k member in addition to everything else.

I'm not married to the 6, just trying to make things easy. In the end, the swap may be the way to go and I'm certainly considering it very very seriously!
 
DartVadar said:
My cousin had a slant with 2.76 gears in his duster, it would cruise at 110kph (70 ish mph) just fine, and it wasnt in the best condition as it had a lame hole and burned oil. But it just wasnt fast in the slightest!
Click to expand...
Absolutely OK at 75 mph. I drove a '76 Dart Lite for close to 1/4 million miles and it was fine at 75 mph all day long with a 2.76 rear gear and the 833OD manual trans. And most of that time was in the Appalachians. The car was stone stock and was the perkiest /6 A body that my family had.

It had a large exhaust than prior stock models. And the manual trans Lite package took out about 400 lbs, so it was a lot quicker than most A bodys ever were with the 225 and the exhaust helped it rev better and improved mileage.

Dumping an auto trans for an AL case manual frees up some HP and saves a few pounds. If you don't want a manual, then the later F-body 904's with a locking torque converter is a better trans.

Your '74 will already have the Mopar electronic ignition, but an HEI kit will be better for power, smoothness, and economy. The ignition timing for the '74 was the worst of the lot for emissions reductions so there is a lot to be gained there by removing the old. non-functioning EGR stuff (keep the canister system IMO) and making the ignition timing right.

I would:
- go with the standard head milling for better compression
- a 2-1/4" or larger exhaust
- an better intake and carb probably 2 BBL
- put in the 833OD trans
- See how to save some weight

New motor and trans mounts are a must for comfort, IMO. The old ones are hard and or broken down.
 
If a stock running 6 is enough for you than that fine tune it and run it but doesn't sound like it.
Hopping up a six is different than an eight not a lot of untapped power in one. Cam carb and headers can do a lot for an v8 but probably get you another 30 hp if lucky in a /6 add deep gears and could be fun which will defeat the 70-80 cruising speed. Unless you mill and port the head $$$$$ for some more power but still may come up short on power over the stock 360 depends how far your willing to go.

/6 is a cool engine I would like to build a sleeper 6 one day but it's not a cost effective engine even for mild performance even a 273 has way more power potential and mileage capability.
So except what you got and with tune and some mod get a tiny bit more power but if you want the cruising power of a stock v8 than there's really no other way plus you can add a OD down the road.
 
-compression test for sure, burned valves on #6 are common
-scrounge up a SUPER SIX set-up and install
-run a GM HEI module
-ensure the 904 is adjusted properly, especially the linkage.
-and as stated, before all that, I would fully sort the brakes and suspension. If it's in one piece, you will want to keep it that way!

If you are just wanting a reliable driver that has a little punch and grin factor, the 225 will very easily do that, with style. The Leaning Tower of Power is def my favorite engine of all time. At car shows people will always oooooh and aaaaah over an A-body with a hot V8, but everybody has a huge grin and a great story from their misguided youth when they see a hood opened on a clean SL6.... Enjoy the new found infatuation!

edit: forgot to mention, slantsix.org is the place you want to set up shop, they live and breathe that littl mill and there isn't a question they can't answer, with nice pics and a full write up to match!!
 
Check the rear end gears go with a 2.76 gear ratio and put on a two barrel carb also have some tall tires would help change u joints shocks etc
 
Or take the plunge into the 21st century and go small bore injected V8 with over drive.. You wouldnt take disks off to install drums would you? Dont go backwards, jump into the future and get reliable, economical fun to drive ride that will turn heads everywhere.
 
[/QUOTE] -- it'll be just fine at 75 which is where I tend to be in the those 70 mph zones. ----- Or are you referring to the joke of a suspension currently under the car? That's gonna get fixed too![/QUOTE] -- I always run 5 to 6 MPH over the posted limit, also. -- On the other issue, I thought you mentioned something about getting old - Maybe you meant the post. -- I'm no youngster, myself. --
icon7.gif
--
 
If you're not happy with the slant six and you don't want a street racer, I think TrailBeast made some great recommendations above with a mild 318 (or 360) build. Very reliable, not too bad on gas ( but not as good as a slant six ), parts are accessible and they are easy to work on. You're probably not going to win any drag races with the 318, but it will cruise at 80 all day long. Build it for comfort and reliability and the wife will be happy.
 
-- it'll be just fine at 75 which is where I tend to be in the those 70 mph zones. ----- Or are you referring to the joke of a suspension currently under the car? That's gonna get fixed too![/QUOTE] -- I always run 5 to 6 MPH over the posted limit, also. -- On the other issue, I thought you mentioned something about getting old - Maybe you meant the post. -- I'm no youngster, myself. --
icon7.gif
--[/QUOTE]

Last time I built a car I would have had no way of understanding NOT wanting to build the engine in such a way that it wouldn't accelerate hard enough to peel the skin off my face. I'm old enough that I just don't want that (with every car I ever build).

I drive 5 to 10 over because I hate paying for speeding tickets! I also tend to drive slower cars. Nobody would expect my 16 year old Subaru Outback with 260k miles on it to be driving north on I-5 at 110 mph. But it does a great job at 75/80! I'd like the Dodge to do similar.

I was thinking that the discomfort at speed, in addition to it REALLY needing a tune up, could have been related to my total lack of confidence in the brakes. It's why the suspension and brakes are number 2 on my list. (Number one is replacing door, window, and trunk rubber so I can pull the thing out of the garage in the rain without the carpets getting wet...I do need access to parts of the garage blocked by the car!)

Of course the brakes get expensive. There's the disc brake kit, then the bushings, then the shocks ('cause while I'm tearing it all apart), then, because the 14" wheels won't fit over the new rotors, I need new wheels and tires. Then, I don't want the front and rear wheels to not match, I'll need to replace the axles with 5 lug plus do all the bushing back there. Hence, I don't see a lot of miles being put on this thing in the next year or so!
 
i have a 67 valiant 2 door sedan with the slant 6. i have plenty of power to run 75 plus. i think she tops out around 100-105 not really sure since she tends to shake quite a bit at those speeds. when i cruise 70 i can punch it and still accelerate fairly quickly. i have the single barrel carb and the exhaust exits just in front of the rear tire. my next step is to run headers and dual exhaust plus a better intake. there is power to be made with the slant 6 just do some research and you will find it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top