What should I do?!

What should I do?

  • 360 cubes of gas guzzling tire shredding awesomeness?

    Votes: 41 67.2%

  • 170 cubes of slightly peppy yet economic awesomeness?

    Votes: 8 13.1%

  • Quit crying and drive your damn car?

    Votes: 12 19.7%
  • Total voters
    61
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V

vntned

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So my beloved '64 Dart has me in a predicament. I bought the car off of Craigslist a few years ago for $500. It was intended to be a temporary fix for my vintage Mopar cravings. Well I ended up falling in love with the old heap. I've since replaced the old wore out 170ci with a low mile 170ci out of an old lady owned Valiant, the three on the tree has been replaced with a 4spd OD, and the rear was replaced with a 8.25 rear end with 3.55 gears and a SureGrip. The suspension has all been done also. Front end rebuild kit, 1.03" Tbars, front 11.25" disk conversion from PST, Hellwig sway bars, Espo leaf springs and KYB shocks. It used as a daily driver off and on.

The good is that it gets stupid good gas mileage and is as docile as a sleeping paraplegic kitten.

The bad is that the old girl is slooooooooooooooooow! And the gear spacing in the OD trans is absolutely horrible for anything resembling spirited driving!

So do I swap in the warmed over 360 I've got on the bench?

Or should I just do some mild power mods to the little 170 and hope for acceleration?

Either way I think I'm gonna go with a close ratio 4spd instead of the OD. All my driving is in town or backroads anyway.
 
Depends if this will be a hot rod or daily driver....if a DD....maybe go with the six or a stock 273 or 318? The OD trans is a great piece IMO
 
if you already have the 360 then stick it in baby. sure the mpg will drop but the fun factor will go up more then the mpg drop.. :)

you would also be able to drop to something like a 2.94 or 3.23 and still have plenty of power.
 
If you put the 360 in with a short-period cam, it will have a powerband that will play nice with the wide-ratio O/D box. And it will have mucho giddy-up, off the line. Perfect for a street cruiser/DD.
A 223*fast-rate, worked for me.And worked very well,indeed. The 292/509 cam was horrible with that O/D box. I also did not like that box with a 230*cam. It likes the 3.09/direct 4th box, with 3.55s.
In the early A which is quite a bit lighter weight than my 2nd gen Barracuda, you could easily go one or two cam sizes smaller;say around 210@050. It kinda/really depends on your current Static C/R. If the Dcr gets much over 8.5 with iron heads, you may get stuck burning premium gas.
If it was me, and I had iron heads, I'd put the smallest cam in there that would get me a Dc/r in the 8.2 to 8.5 range. The smaller for open chambers and the larger for closed chambers and tight quench.With aluminum heads I'd push closer to 9.0/1, and try it on 87E10.
If I just couldn't keep it out of detonation with tuning and even premium gas, I'd retard the cam 6* and retune.If that got it and the bottom end went away(not likely at your weight and gearing), I'd move up one cam size, and install it at the same intake closing angle as the one that came out.But if the bottom end was satisfactory, you're done.
At least until the race-track-bug bites.............................

BTW, with that 223*cam and the O/D box I was able to tune it to get 32mpgUS. I know it can be done.And with optimized gearing, it went 106 in the qtr. And 275s were no match for it. It took 295s to get close.

So get swapping. You will need a sbm bellhouse and matched parts, probably a new clutch as well(I recommend a diaphragm).I also recommend that you prove the crank and tranny centerlines are lined up, by dial-indicating the bell, and making it so.
 
just fun driving the backroads? dropin the 360 and keep the 4 od and see how you like it. and can always change things and spend $$$$ later if not happy !???
 
The 360 I've got was rebuilt years ago. Specs are 1970 cast block, stock crank and rods, .060" over SpeedPro hyperutectic pistons, (makes it 371ci). Static CR OF ABOUT 9.8:1. 587 Jheads with stainless 1.88 and 1.60 valves, hardened seats, comp valve springs, stock rocker assembly. Cam is a Comp 268H. I'm thinking a decent dual plain like a Performer RPM, 750cfm street demon carb, and a simple dual exhaust.

I'm thinking this should be similar power to a stock 340 with a little extra torque. Should be more than enough motivation for a 2800lb Dart.
 
oh noooooo not another joe dirt small block swap with a flexhose and Generic parts store chrome air cleaner and cheap headers :poke:


a slant six is timeless just like its always been, you already went through the work of swapping in another slant that you know will deliver years of service.

I vote for the slant, not often do you see them anymore just the way they were when parked in a sears parking lot in the late 60s

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You need a 4th option. Find a dime-a-dozen 225 slant & go. Add some performance stuff if you need to. Will save the aggravation of finding all the extra stuff you need for a V8 & will be reasonably peppy.
 
Great stance. Looks fast. If it were me, I'd want to back that up. 360 is the easy choice.

You have a great block. The 1970-72 360s used the thicker castings. The 360 will be great for some spirited driving, and when you get bored, you have a great base for a budget stroker build.
 
I've owned probably a dozen or more slant 6 cars never found there gas mileage anything to brag about.

When comes to fuel mileage it's hard to recoup the cost of a lot of the mods and a performance slant 6 will kill any little fuel mileage advantage it's has.

You might want to go with smaller carb and cam if you want mileage.
 
170, mill the head .060, get an original super six 2 barrel and manifold, and a slightly hotter cam and springs, Windage tray, electronic ignition, single exhaust 2.25 pipe with 2 straight through mufflers in series like a Commando exhaust. It'll wind up nice and I would get 30 mpg cruising on the highway.
 
vntned...where did you get that front spoiler.Would like to get one like that for my 64.By the way I would do the 360....Hot rods rule...stock is boring.:burnout::burnout::burnout:
 
360! If the mileage isn't there on the slant, and the performance isn't there either, why give up performance.
But then again, I'm not a fan of 6 cylinders.
 
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