Which body for best performance?

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Dragonbat13

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Ok. I personally like the look of a two door post. Like the intermediate B bodies. Such as a Savoy.

I also always thought they were stronger cars. Which would be a win win for me.

I was looking at some A bodies and came across a Plymouth valiant two door that looked to me like it was a Two door post. Looked a lot like he old green brick.

I always thought all of the bodies were hardtops.

What cars during the '67 to '76 period came as a two door post?

Is it possible to find a two door post, notchback barracuda?? I hope so.

As a final note, are two door post Mopars more structurally sound than hardtops like the rumors say?

A notchback barracuda post car would be an awesome street machine in my book.
 
The MP chassis manual recommends the E body pkatform as being the best for a racecar platform because of the exrea width for working clearance. But I like the '67 barracuda sedan (notchback) a lot, too!
 
If I were to chose a Mopar go-fast body..... for a small block car, an early 2dr post dart or valiant.
For a big block car, id chose a 67-69 2dr post Valiant.
Light makes right. And I've always preferred post cars to hardtops, for street cars or race cars.
I was gonna put a stroker big block in my 67 barracuda notch.... but I'm beginning to think a 408 might be a better choice.
 
Dragonbat13 said:
Ok. I personally like the look of a two door post. Like the intermediate B bodies. Such as a Savoy.
B bodies also came in both sedan and hardtop body styles.
I also always thought they were stronger cars. Which would be a win win for me.

I was looking at some A bodies and came across a Plymouth valiant two door that looked to me like it was a Two door post. Looked a lot like he old green brick.

I always thought all of the bodies were hardtops.
No.
What cars during the '67 to '76 period came as a two door post?
Darts and Valiants.
Is it possible to find a two door post, notchback barracuda?? I hope so.
No such animal.
As a final note, are two door post Mopars more structurally sound than hardtops like the rumors say?
Yes. In theory. Depends on the day of the week they were built. :)
A notchback barracuda post car would be an awesome street machine in my book.
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I'm aware of the b bodies being offered both ways, sorry if I mislead.

I'm really wanting an aluminum headed 470 low deck in an A body. I think a 67-69 2 door post valiant would be the hot ticket. It just has that look I like and it's a great platform. Unless I come across a cherry not back barracuda for a decent price. Especially one with a vinyl top.

Anyway, thanks for the help.
 
For A body cars, the post cars are stronger body wise.
The other issue to think about is wheel base. A shorter wheel base is less desirable by some. The longer wheel base cars will be better for drag racing. This is obviously seen in the extreme at national events with dragsters.

The longer wheel based MoPars like a Charger are really good at going straight and fast but with a weight penalty vs a shorter wheel base that’s lighter (less metal) but can be a hand full when it gets loose.

FWIW, I’d look for a suitable Cúda and run the roll cage ASAP along with frame connectors to start the show with. That will stiffen up the unibody right away and pretty good. You can take to the next level from there.
 
The 60-62 A bodies are the lightest of all the A bodies if you're lookin for performance.
 
64~66 val with a post, all glass front clip, throw in some J-bars and lose the innder fenders if you're feeling frisky and have the fab skillz.

continue on that trend and keep getting skinny with an alum. radiator, alum heads & intake, manual steering. then adios all the heaterbox junk.

add back in some subframe connectors, radiator support stiffener and upper fender struts as well as the torque boxes front and rear.

that would be crazy light and super stiff.
 
Depends on what kind of performance you’re talking about –
If you want to go drag racing, or stoplight to stoplight, probably 67–69 Dart or Valiant post.
If you wanna go road racing or carving up the canyons, Probably a 67–69 Barracuda notch or E-body Cuda or Challenger.
If you want to do Bonneville or the Texas Mile, Probably a 67–69 Barracuda fastback.
No matter what you decide to do with it, if you want something like a modern performance car, it’s going to take some work.
 
The post Valiant can be a cool street rod or road race type of car. Not as popular as an E body car so it is harder to find parts and they are a bit smaller so stuff can be a tight fit. I spent a lot of time helping Tim with his red Valiant. That car was a beast once we put the 427 in it. 160 mph on the front straight at PIR and I think he might have hit that on the freeway a time or two!

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Here is one that I had sitting at my shop for a little while. It was for sale and it actually took a while to sell. I figured someone would grab it quick to turn into a race car but I think it actually ended up back on the street.

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AndyF said:
The post Valiant can be a cool street rod or road race type of car. Not as popular as an E body car so it is harder to find parts and they are a bit smaller so stuff can be a tight fit. I spent a lot of time helping Tim with his red Valiant. That car was a beast once we put the 427 in it. 160 mph on the front straight at PIR and I think he might have hit that on the freeway a time or two!

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Is it a stroked 383 or 400? How did he end up with 427ci?
 
If we're talking 67-76 like the OP said then the only post cars are the 67-68 Darts and '67-69 Valiants. Barracuda's were notchbacks or fastbacks, there were no "post" Barracudas 67-69.

The bit about the post cars being "stronger" somehow is "old wives tale" territory for me. Lots of opinions, literally no data or evidence that I've ever seen to back that up. Unless you've seen the structural analysis between the different body styles it's just a guess. There's just too many differences between the body styles to say that just the addition of the post made a lick of difference between the 2 door sedans and say a Barracuda or Duster.

And of course, the addition of any significant frame stiffening or a cage will pretty quickly make any difference from the post body style pretty much moot.

If you like 2 door sedans, awesome, build one. If you're going to be racing at a high enough level that you might notice the torsional differences between a 2-door sedan A-body and any other type, well, you'll have a full cage and won't notice anyway.
 
Topless69 said:
Is it a stroked 383 or 400? How did he end up with 427ci?
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427 inch small block. It made 520 hp and 510 torque on the dyno. Basically the same power as a Viper engine but in a smaller and lighter package.
 
AndyF said:
427 inch small block. It made 520 hp and 510 torque on the dyno. Basically the same power as a Viper engine but in a smaller and lighter package.
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Oh Yeah, WAY smaller and lighter
If it was mine, I’d just lean into it and call it a 426!
:thumbsup:
 
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Topless69 said:
Oh Yeah, WAY smaller and lighter
If it was mine, I’d just lean into it and call it a 426!
:thumbsup:
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He went with the 427 theme and added 427 logos to the front fenders. I think he picked the Chevy 427 logo rather than the Ford 427 logo but I'm not positive on that. He did get a lot of questions at the track about whether he had a Chevy 427 in the car. He just said no, Mopar 427 which confused people even more. The engine was 4.060 bore x 4.125 stroke which works out to 427.2 cubic inches so 427 is the correct displacement.

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