64polara

hello, i am new here. i will most likely soon be buying a 1964 dodge polara. this is going to be my first car. the car is a 4 door hardtop, with a 318, and a 727 push button. the engine is not original, it is a 1970 318. the guy says it has hooker headers, and 3 inch exhaust all the way back, that came form his 69' charger.

The good:
-the car has almost no rust anywhere! not on the floor pans, trunk, anywhere. just a little bit on the rear quarters. and it looks like a little light surface rust on the trunk lid.
-the car has all the chrome pieces.
-the guy says the tranny is perfect. real smooth, and doesn't skip anywhere.
-lastly...its just a beautiful car. an old Mopar sleeper. how can anyone not love it.

The bad:
-cant go over 20MPH. the guy says it starts to sputter at 20. he says its a bad carb, but i planned on taking off that 2 barrel piece of crap anyway and slapping on a Edelbrock 4 barrel. and luckily the guy says he has a Edelbrock 4 barrel intake and carb that he never got around to putting on, that i can have for $100.
-it smokes, but the guy did a compression test and said it was pushing 160PSI out of each cylinder, so he thinks its the valve seals, not the rings.
-then just little stuff like speedo cable, and brake lights are stuck on. also he said a guy who owned it before him sprayed expanding foam down into the cowl near the windshield. no clue why.

i have been doing research, and i haven't found any 4 door hardtops for a 1964 polara. also, the 318, i found had about 230 HP with single exhaust, and a 2 barrel. how much do you think it will have with a 4 barrel and dual exhaust?

so, just give me what you guys know. anything would be appreciated. are those trannys good? are the engines strong? history on these kind of vehicles. what kind of horse will it have? i have been doing research on Google and stuff, but haven't come up with a lot.

old tired rebel

Welcome to Mopar forums. I have a 78 Chrysler Cordoba and the 2 bbl was shot so I picked up a 360 intake and a Edelbrock 600 cfm carb. The only thing it cured was the car was shutting off at every stop. It maybe gave it 1-2 more HP. I have been told I could have gotten more with a 2 bbl.

If you do decide to get this car BTW sounds like a great buy you can expect to do a little more mods to get it to pick up more HP.

Good luck and post some pictures when you get that beauty.

64polara

Thanks. so the 4 barrel didn't make much a difference? if not in power did you feel any better throttle response or anything?

ill post up links to pictures he have me.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5913.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5914.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5915.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5918.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5920.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5922.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5923.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5924.jpg


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF5925.jpg


EDIT: also, the guy says it has hooker headers,and 3 inch exhaust all the way back. what mufflers will make this car sound nice? the sound i want is a nice quiet-ish rumble at low RPMS but if i step on the gas i would want it to open up and be a little loud. basically sleeper mufflers. what kind would achieve this? i ws thinking maybe flowmaster 50 series?

old tired rebel

It did to a point. I should have looked at my modification as a whole instead of just a intake and 4 bbl carb. Once you look at the overall set up in a combination (headers,intake,carb, electronic dist) But in my case I am also looking at 360 heads and cam all at the same time.

That is a great buy and would make a excellent sleeper. Cool car.

67 GTX

the 4 barrell will give you some more power, but the size of the motor limits it
sounds like a good car
how much is he asking for it?

64polara

he says $1000 firm

the reason i want the 4 barrel is 20% for performance, and 80% just to say it has a 4 barrel. if i had to fast of a car, ide loose my license as fast as my brother did. (2 weeks). and he was driving a 95' grand marquis haha.

old tired rebel

Buy the car and if need be rebuild the 2 bbl carb you can get as much out of it as the 4 bbl. Add the 4 bbl later if you want. Just remember you may have to adjust or modify the kick down lever once you put a 4 bbl on. I had to and mine is a 78 model 318.

64polara

ya, i was looking at kickdown cables kits for 4 barrels, with torqueflight trannies in summit, and there like $80

67 GTX

i dont think the 4 barrell will give you 20 percent better performance
everything goes together (heads, cam, etc.)
maybe 5-10 hp

old tired rebel

Here is how mine is modified Link

https://moparforums.com/forums/f6/2-4-conversion-4797/

sgnrulz

You could do just as well with a 2 as a 4 on the 318. Dumping fuel only does so much.
Also gotta think about gas mileage if its your first car i assume your parents might be helping with gas?
Try keeping them happy to.
Cool car though.

64polara

of, i wasn't saying 20% more performance. i was saying like how much of the reason i wanted it. like i want the carb 80% because i can just say its a 4 barrel, and 20% of the reason i want it is for the performance gain. i know it doesnt do much, but every little bit helps.



about the kickdown cable, im not really sure whatsg oing on in those pictures much, sorry. ill be getting the car this weekend, so i havent even really looked at the carb yet. ill deffiantly take a look at that thread once i start ficing it up thanks.


well, the guy said there is littel hope saving the carb on it. so i would have to buy a new carb anyways. and if he can get me one for $100 that is a 2 barrel or 4, its cheaper than buying a brand new one. my parents cant really help me with gas, im funding this car completely off my money. i know itwillbea lot, but the way i look at it, that will just keep me from driving the car to much. home to work. not much else more if i dont have to.

sgnrulz

Good to see another kid paying for himself
I worked under the the table so i could by my first car (1973 camaro 383 i hated it)
And i couldn't afford to drive my car anywhere when school started up again and i couldn't work.
318 shouldnt be that bad though.

hypo1

the hooker aero chamber mufflers are pretty good as well

64polara

do mufflers actually add horse power? if so, is it even noticable while driving?

i was just really looking for a muffler that was quiet, so no one could tell it was a quick car. because i know that kids at school would think its a granny car cause it isn't a fast back or look fast. (no one has any idea of cars at all). then just rev it once, and then watch em' drop there jaws. haha

Frank the Tank

Hey 64polara, here is some advice. Your first thread commented on 160psi. I find this a little difficult to believe unless the heads have been milled. I am also young and have learned that a lot of people take andantage of this and blow smoke up your a$$. Run your own compression test. Expect it to be not more than 140-150psi. I had a 600 cfm Edelbrock 4bbl and intake on my 318 and it ran like dog crap. i would advise to you a new 2bbl from holley, either in 500 or 350 cfm versions. Since you are paying for yout gas, i would keep a 2bbl. With stock valves, expect no horespower gains from a 4bbl. To answer your last post, aftermarket mufflers give you less backpressure, improving flow and exhaust scaveging. But you already have headers and a 3 inch system, so beware because not enough backressure and you will loose tones of low end power. I advise using any three chamber muffler to get the sound affect you want and keep backpressure. Food for thought. I have a completely stock 318 with a carter 2bbl (in great tune of course) that has a 2 inch exhaust system with factory replacement 440 mufflers and it sounds great, gives me great gas milage, and delivers me 210 horsepower and 340 foot pounds. The 230 rating was at the crank when the engine was built 40 years ago. I hope you consider my advise so you can save some money. It is a really nice car, though. Good luck

6fury4

With a stock cam and differential ratio on the economy side (am assuming that is what it came with) you might just suffer a bit at the bottom end due to poor manifold vacuum. If you do go with the 4 bbl make sure it has vacuum secondaries and stay around 600cfm.

67 GTX

they add more torque

sgnrulz

IDK if this has ever been posted but hey you can get some stuff out of a 318.
I kinda enjoyed reading it so here.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...ine/index.html

64polara

alright guys thanks ill keep that in mind. the guy just called and said he is just going to give me the 4 barrel intake and carb. ill just run it, UNTIL, i can afford a new 2 barrel.

sgnrulz, i love reading all those articles about making big horse from smaller engines. thanks

64polara

well, sadly plans changed, i was going to get the car tomorrow, but a check i got, cant pass for 2-3 days. so its going to have to be next weekend then.

what should i really do when i get there? what should i look at? sorry if its a pain, but can anyone give me a list of stuff to look for. like should i crawl under the car to check for rust? i plan on having him show me the compression test when i get there, i don't really know what else.


also i was looking at the pictures more closely. in the first and second picture; is there a strip of chrome missing around the rear window?

again, i cant thank you guys enough for helping me out.

67Polara

bring a buddy thats amechanic is ur best bet ! i'll never go car shoping with out one again lol, but if you dont know any 1, i'd crawl under that car like a spider monkey. look for rust, anything that looks like it's bin patched up, try to 2 find out what it was patched with. look for oil nother randomlfuids under the car. check around the trans the engine, look @ any seal or gasket you can to get an idea of what may or does need replaced. try to get him to let you drive it. seems alittle fishy when they wont let you drive it till after u baught it. go for a ride in it and park some where and get under it again to see if anything is leeking. and just do a general fluid check. but i'd doan oil change as soon as u get it home if ya but it. check plugs wires, cap and coil, those are all relativly cheap things to replace, and spark plugs too.

but as far as your carb issue, i'd go with the 4barrel. i had one on my stock 318 in my polara and i loved it, it really dsnt change the performance that much but, it will give you a little bit more of a kick when you mash it to the floor. the hell with MPG you can always buy more gas for now. but i 100% know where ur @ with this. i was 17 when i baughtmy 67 Polara. had and still do have a **** weekend job to pay for everything on the car. but the gas u use is well worth it. but i would really go any higher then an 500 cfmedlebrock carb, but thats just me =p

the exhaust is the fun part, i'd go with 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" straight pipes, no resinators or cats mufflers ect... has a nice sound when idling and sounds amazing when you get on it. hop on you tube and look up straight pipes on muscle cars.

i wish you the best of luck with buying this car man, if your anything like me you'll have a blast with it.

67 GTX

do a compression test
check the pressure in the cooling system
rust
paint
bubbling

64polara

thanks guys. im making a list to bring with me to remember what to check for. haha.

straight pipes sound like it would be way to loud. wouldn't i get a ticket?

67 GTX

if you have mufflers, you'll be ok
without mufflers, you'll get a ticket

64polara

oh, i thought straight pipes meant exhaust with no mufflers/CAT.

64polara

what size valve stems does the engine have? i might as well start ordering parts i know ill need

sgnrulz

If you can test drive it do that.
after that park it somewhere you can watch for a minute or two.
See if any leaks from tranny or engine.
Take a good look at your tires too.
listen for any clinking when engine runs.
Valves might need to be adjusted itis a pretty old car.

64polara

ok, so far i have this on my list

-check for rust
-check compression
-check cooling system pressure ( not really sure how to)
-listen for clincking
-park car running in a dry spot to check for fluid leaking
-check tires

sgnrulz

Don't hold me to it but the cooling system pressure is just a gauge that you screw on in place of the radiator cap.