Old school engine builds, list 'em here...

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Abodybomber

Abodybomber

Breaking street machines , since 1983.....:)
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What ever you consider " old school " engine builds, post 'em here. Sometimes the new stuff makes more powerful,it's not in your wallet/check book( what the hell ,are those..???)it may not get you to work Monday, or have fun on Saturday night. ( All brands welcome, of course Mopar preferred..
First one: low compression 360: Atlas short block, well done valve job,on "J " castings.. Ended up with : a Crower "Baja Beast " cam (smaller than the original 340 grind, aggressive on all ramps, BUT the slow closing ramp on exhaust helps those bad ports out,advanced to a 104 intake center line..)5901 Comp Hooker pipes. The exhaust was comprised of ( headers back:100 bucks, Pep Boys,& a shopping cart) a low buck system. The scary part: It simply bolted together.. Ended up selling it,running 13:60's @ 101-2.. The whole investment: a BUNCH of time ,2400 bucks ('94 era)& back in the day " horse swapping/ trading/& trade labor.." Post yours...
 
Got an odd ball interesting one. A 195.6 rambler 6 cyl. Engine that I've rebuilt for my 59 Rambler 4dr sedan. Had it bored .030 over. Crank turned .010 .010, Stock cam, head modernized for today's fuel, ARP studs, (stock head bolts were shot plus these engines were known for head bolts loosening) so went overkill on that. Patty wagon super high performance 1bbl carter carb which gets great gas mileage and has the optional oil filter installed which I researched only filters 10% or 20% of the oil which is better than nothing.

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NOT powerful in the least by todays standards lol - BUT if i ever end up with another small block Duster, id recreate this exact motor and be completely happy with it...


- LA 318 with a straight rebuild

- "sleeper" (lol) racing 4barrel aluminum intake ("sleeper" = it was painted OE turquoise with the branding ground off and all the guy i bought it from could tell me was that the rpm range was idle to 4500!!!!)

- "race prepped" (again, according to what the guy i bought it from said anyway lmao) 500 cfm Holley 2-barrel with a "ported" 2barrel-to-4barrel adapter plate (same guy i bought the intake from btw)

stock distributor with a points eliminator kit

stock heads & cam

cast iron 360 exhaust manifolds

2-1/2" X-pipe & exhaust tubing --> 3" Dynomax Super Turbos


aaaaaaah those were the days!!!!! id love to recreate and dyno that combo to see what kinda power i was packin' back then lol! it sure sounded cool anyway!
 
Here's what I had in the early 90's. Won many a street race with this combo in Escondido Ca. back in the day.
1972 340 Duster 3 speed manual brakes, manual steering car. pulled tired 340 out and sold it for $500 dollars which is what I paid for the car. Built the following engine for it:
74 360 .030 over
Badger 9 to 1 pistons
stock 360 crank .010 mains and .010 rods
MP 274-474 lift cam
home ported J heads with 2.02 and 1.60 valves
MP dual plane intake and Holley 3310-1 780 vacuum secondary carb.
hooker 1 3/4 super comp headers and 2 1/2 dual exhaust to 40 series mufflers turned down before the axle
833 4 speed, Hayes center force clutch and pressure plate.
original 340 flywheel drilled for balance as per the MP bible performance book
8 3/4 with 3.91 gears and sure grip.
26 x 10 slicks
This combo was good for 12.80's at 107-108 mph spinning the slicks at the world famous Carlsbad drag strip back in the early 90's. They did not have 60 foot timing lights back in the day and you were lucky to get reaction time on your time slip. Sadly this drag strip closed in the late 90's or early 2000's to make room for a business park. Those were the days had a lot of fun with that car. It was known in Escondido as Al Bundy's car from "Married with Children" As a side note the short block is still together and in my 74 Challenger slightly detuned, but it is very tired and will be coming out when I get the car back from paint and body hopefully the first part of the new year.

Kevin
 
My best running Mopar: My homebuilt '67 2-door Belvedere II, 440 (.030), with TRW forged flattops, 906 casting heads ported by me using the Mopar bowl port templates, 284/484 Mopar purple cam, Weiand dual plane, 780 Holley VS, Mopar electronic distributor w/orange box, windage tray, deepened factory oil pan, headers w/turbo mufflers and 2.5" pipes, Hurst-shifted 833 4spd, hay's clutch/pressure plate and Lakewood bellhousing, 8 3/4 with a sure-gripped 4.10s. Car embarrassed a lot of people and pulled hard through 4th gear, plus had working A/C. My '75 Dart Sport with a hot-rodded 318 was a fun little package, but not in the same league as the Belvedere!
My best running non-Mopar: '69 Camaro with a 406, ported double hump heads, solid lifter cam (.550/290), tunnel ram with two 600's, Powerglide/3500 stall and 4.10's. Never got it to the track, but street raced two big block Camaros (427 & 454) and beat 'em both. Ran it around on the street with no hood and 29x12.50 slicks in mid-80's. Old school 100%
 
69 Chevelle 2 door hard top. Original 307. Replaced factory 2 barrel with LT1 intake and Holley 650 DP. Pulled heads and milled them .060" and did a basic valve job with back cuts. Went back with steel shim gaskets. Installed Blackjack headers with Thrush straight throughs and nothin else and replaced stock cam with Alliance .480 lift 292 duration (230 @ .050) ground on a 109 LSA installed at 104. Installed stock HEI ignition and bumped timing to 18* initial limited to 34 total. Chunked powerglide in favor of a hot turbo 350. Regeared stock 8.2" rear end to 3.73 and throwed in a posi chunk. Was my high school best friend's car but we shared it all through school along with my four cars and I later bought it from him.

Car run good for what it was. Never got it to the strip but everybody always said "good soundin 350" and we never said anything different. lol Won way more street races than we lost.

All of this was between the summers of 1980 and 1981.
 
360 + .030 stock rods with arp bolts, stock crank, stock pan and windage tray, hyper flat top pistons, home ported J heads, small mechanical comp cam 520/540 lift 244/252 @ .050, 6 pack with old DC mechanical carbs. 12.20 @ 109.5 mph in street tune full exhaust and 3.91 with 26" slicks. That time was with a torker II and 750dp it feels a bit stronger with the 6 pack FWIW!
 
Built a Chevy 250 inline six for a customer for his '72 C10.

Can't remember the exact specs of the cam we put in it, but it had a decent lift with a pretty quick drop on a 112? 113? centerline. Bored .030, hardened seats, polish and port on the head. Offy triple single barrel intake. Pretty mild just tooling around in the inboard carb, but became a fire breather under full throttle with the outboards open.

Owner wanted a truck he could use to haul his 390 powered T-bird around with (we restored that, too). Convinced him not to go with a generic 350. He wanted low end torque, he got it with that little six.
 
ramenth said:
Built a Chevy 250 inline six for a customer for his '72 C10.

Can't remember the exact specs of the cam we put in it, but it had a decent lift with a pretty quick drop on a 112? 113? centerline. Bored .030, hardened seats, polish and port on the head. Offy triple single barrel intake. Pretty mild just tooling around in the inboard carb, but became a fire breather under full throttle with the outboards open.

Owner wanted a truck he could use to haul his 390 powered T-bird around with (we restored that, too). Convinced him not to go with a generic 350. He wanted low end torque, he got it with that little six.
Click to expand...

That's nice,Robert..A simple nice torque combination, sounds like some of Ak Miller rubbed off...
 
Oooold school : the 1941 studebaker I'm restoring.
Now as far as hot rods go: old school is what I would have built in high school in th early "80's". And I did!!
MUST HAVE: dual quad tunnel ram , pistol grip 4-speed , 410 gears , and sound and smell like dragstrip !
Also easily beat every car in school. I'm living the dream. \\:D/
 
Old School?

Duster
.030 over 360 @ 10-1
Holley 750dp
Torquer II 360
Solid Purple @ 296*-.557
Ported 2.02 J's, 1.6 rocker
Hooker super comps into a short 3 inch exhaust

4spd & 4.30's, SS springs, mid/low 11's on pump.
 
Abodybomber said:
What ever you consider " old school " engine builds, post 'em here. Sometimes the new stuff makes more powerful,it's not in your wallet/check book( what the hell ,are those..???)it may not get you to work Monday, or have fun on Saturday night. ( All brands welcome, of course Mopar preferred..
First one: low compression 360: Atlas short block, well done valve job,on "J " castings.. Ended up with : a Crower "Baja Beast " cam (smaller than the original 340 grind, aggressive on all ramps, BUT the slow closing ramp on exhaust helps those bad ports out,advanced to a 104 intake center line..)5901 Comp Hooker pipes. The exhaust was comprised of ( headers back:100 bucks, Pep Boys,& a shopping cart) a low buck system. The scary part: It simply bolted together.. Ended up selling it,running 13:60's @ 101-2.. The whole investment: a BUNCH of time ,2400 bucks ('94 era)& back in the day " horse swapping/ trading/& trade labor.." Post yours...
Click to expand...

See What You Started....... :burnout:

Happy Thanksgiving
 
Back before there were pistons available for every different combo, I built a stock stroke 400 and was looking to get the compression up. I did a lot of searching catalogs comparing compression height, and ended up with .060 over MP 9:1 cast pistons, which were .040 over in my 400, and ended up with 0 deck height. With home ported 452 heads it made 415 HP and 450 TQ, and pushed the cuda into the high 12's. Those pistons weighed a ton though, over 900 grams, plus pins. My new 500 stroker pistons came in around 550 grams.
 
Stock 1970 318 short block,not even any port work,lol!!.Non branded reground 340 pattern cam,360 4 bbl intake 600 cfm? carter afb,el cheapo hedman headers and 1 7/8 dual exhaust. Would run like a scalded cat,wiped up fox body Mustangs in my 74 Duster...
 
first car i had when i was legal to get a lisense was a Cutlass 350 rocketwith a manual 3speed on the floor . dam that thing would buck ,i wooped up on more cars ,and made all the girls gigle .I bought it for 200.00 and threw some new Keystone 5 spoke and new rubber on it . wow that was a fun summer ,broke the rear end in late september or oct.and sold it for 600.00 did 2 passes at Byron Speedway 106 and 107 mph, consistant car my firstcar wasa 69 camero , i beat the livn piss outa in 76 never really newwhat i had but dam that thing got me laid alot . then i went Mopar with my Blew 65 barracuda
,and Then the most beutifull car in the world a62 dart 318 wide block with a push button automatic , that I regret selling to this day because ive never seen another 2 door except at the track . Then we stuffed a 340 out of a 70 dart i bought I sold the 340 3 years ago and built a 360+.030 in now wichis really fun but engine is for sale if you want a new 360 that screams, so i can build a roller stroker up to 500 hp then nitrous the chit out of it. My next dream . But that old Rocket 350 was 1 tough car that was stock , and hard to beat
 
My only other MOPAR that was not a beater.In 1967 I bought a 1965 Dart 2 door post with bench seat and 4 speed.The 273 had small dome pistons(guessing around 11 to 1) Racer Brown ST-21 or ST- 12Solid Lifter cam.. can't remember which.All other internals were stock and the stock heads were unported. Sitting on top was an Edlebrock inline 2x4 manifold with 2 AFB'S on it.Had a Mopar Duel Point Distributor and stock exhaust manifolds. Out back was a stock width B-Body rear with I believe 4.88 Sure grip and fabbed steel wheels with a reverse offset to make 8 inch street tires fit with minimal massaging. Car was a Rocket...only thing that beat me was a 66 SS 396 Chevelle.and he thumped me pretty good. None of the small block SS Chevys could keep up.Didn't street race a lot cause I got Drafted and by the time I got home my now ex-wife had pretty much beat it into the ground and I sold it.
 
57 Fairlane 500, deleted all trim and filled holes, gray primer and white primer top. 71 351C 2V out of a Mach 1 with a 4bbl intake and blackjack headers from Supershops. Holley 650 DP, Erson Hi-flo 2 cam "truck muffler" glasspacks with the 4 bolt flange that bolted right to the header collector, nothing else. C5 tranny (sort of like a A-998/999, just a bigger beefed up C4) and about a 3.45 rear. That car leapt out of the hole in its granny first, would embarrass alot of "muscle cars" of that era (1989-1990ish) and would pull like a banshee through 2nd. Took a while to top out in 3rd though. scary ride, terribly soft suspension and 9 inch manual brakes as the cam wouldnt pull vacuum for the power assist so I tossed it. My 68 340 powered 65 Barracuda was still faster as I remember it from my high school days. That 340 was bone stock, still had the good 340 logs on it too. 65 A's were light. Wound up fast with the 3.23 or 3.56 7.25 SG rear I had, and scared the lights out of any chick I drove home.
 
A-Body-Bomber

'January 1970' ........ Back-in-the-Day

My Father was building his 1968 Barracuda 340 for Super/Stock for
the upcoming 1970 Racing Season.

He decided to go with Arias Pistons {Nick Arias}.

He called Nick direct, to order a set of {+.040" over} 10.5-1 Lightweight Pistons.

Nick Arias tells my Father ........ "No can do."

Nick Arias > "All that anybody orders, are Chevy Pistons. Nobody has ever ordered Mopar 340 Pistons from me yet."

What To Do .......

Nick Arias tells my Father he has an idea. He will get a set of {+.060" over} Chevy
350 Pistons {4.060"}. He will take the 'slugs' and machine them accordingly to fit
a Mopar 340.

Nick Arias made a custom set of Mopar 340 Pistons which measured in at 4.058".

Yes {+.018" over}.

My Father got the 'First Set' of Arias Pistons ever made for a 340.

I don't know what that means, but we got that going for us.
 
Hi, first post on FABO. Usually just reading and learning here. This thread is right up my alley (mostly because I'm cheap). 70 Dodge Challenger original 383 car. Built a 74 400 stock everything in the bottom except some decent rod bolts, pistons about .120 down in the hole, to help this out added some #516 cylinder heads that cc'd at 73 for about 8.45:1. Mopar Performance 284/.484 cam, old Wiend dual plane, ? headers both $50 ea swap meet finds. I home ported the heads as far as I dared and did not have to epoxy them, and the exhaust valve is out to 1.74. Got the car to Norwalk which was a basically a rainout for me. 2 weeks later ran it pgh. raceway, plagued by ignition and carb problems my 3rd run netted a 99.8 mph trap speed with dismal 2.4 60', not great but thru exhaust and 3.23 rear, stock converter, my trap speed shows promise. Next spring with looser converter and carb issues sorted hope to get into the 13s as driven in off the road.
 
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