So last monday I bought a 74 dart swinger. Shes in beautiful condition and took little to get street ready, so here's the kick. I'd like to get it on par with some of the L2 motored vehicles I see out on woodward on the weekends but I know these smaller cars don't have (too)much room and kahunas for these type of upgrades. Any and all posts are appreciated.
BTW it has a little baby slant 6 in it atm, pretty stock all around except for new wiring, tires, hoses. things I've accomplished thus far.

 

Please someone tell me what direction to go. For now I'm just cleaning everything but I need a stable place to start the rebuilds

 

Do you plan to keep the /6 or upgrade to a v8?

 

Look online to Find out if you can swap in a 360? I'm sure others before you have done an engine swap upgrade.

 

FYI...I was at Walgreens earlier today and perused the magazine rack. I saw a Magazine called "Street Truck" with its cover story being an LS engine vs a 350. I thumbed through it and saw that the LS build they did had more than 500 hp. It was a pretty informative read. It cost just over $12k for the build.

 

I'd definitely like to go V8. My paps has an old 383 sitting in the weeds where his rotted out 69 Cuda sits. (what a waste)
So I was thinking perhaps I could salvage whatever possible off that and attempt a rebuild? possibly bore or stroke it?
Also, I'm planning a junkyard trip for either an 8 3/4 rear end to mount or a ford 9"
Thanks guys

 

V8 mate

 

They make motor mounts now to make the swaps so you dont have to swap the K member. But I would think you will have to change the torsion bars to handle the weight difference.

 

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean................................

 

https://www.google.com/#output=searc...w=1606&bih=643
my buddies 05' GTO has an L2 and he thinks he's hot **** lol. mopar engine though will whoop it

 

The dud I bought the car from already had a big block mounting kit that I got with the car. Guess he had plans for it but never went through.
I have some friends that keep telling me to just buy a new mopar engine off of JEGS http://www.jegs.com/p/Mopar-Performa...10911/10002/-1 Instead of rebuilding though..
What are your thoughts on this?

 

Thomas, I think you mean LS2. Those engines are pretty nice, but no match for a Mopar!
You'll need around 400hp or more in a 3500lb car to keep up. 500 will give you spanking rights!

 

Should that be 400 to the wheels or overall when speaking horses?

 

The 383 motor is doable, a tight fit. There would be a lot of parts from the Cuda that you can use since it is a 69 I think it is still an A body so the complete drive train could be used

 

If you can get that 400 to the rear wheels then you got it made! Those stock LS2s come with around 400 at the fly. Some could argue they make more at the fly, and they might on certain cars, but they are probably pushing 350 or so at the rear.

Get 400 horses to the rear, (470 ish at the fly, give or take depending on a number of things). Install at least 3:55 rear gears, the manual LS2's I believe may come with 3:73's. Read up on their vehicle weights, I believe many of them (Late Model Camaro, Firebird, GTO and the like weight around 3500 or 3600 lbs. If you can get your car's weight down to the low 3000lbs you won't need so much HP and you can accelerate quicker too!

 

Thomas,

I just purchased the book: How to Build Max- Performance Mopar Big Blocks by Andy Finkheimer. This book is amazing to say the least. I believe there is a similar book for Small Block Mopars as well. The books go over nearly everything on how to make more power; block, heads, porting/polishing, cams, carb, intake, exhaust, valves, accessories, tuning, ignition etc. At the very least you will learn some very important information that will definitely help your build. As well as learn what works with what for more compatibility, which makes more power. Not all parts work the same with one another, certain parts work best with other certain parts. The book helps the reader understand this.

There are a lot of little things that can be done to a Mopar to increase its HP & Torque to squeeze a little more power out of it.

Lastly, it's hard to beat the sound of the all powerful Mopar!

 

The book: How to build big inch Mopar small blocks should be a great read. In my opinion they are a must read.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-...1613250129&r=1

 

If you want a real Mopar muscle engine call Mike at MRL if you want to do some home work go to his web page at mrlperformance.com

 

Nice! $7k will get you basically a turn key engine with 450 HP (flywheel) and 500lbs of torque!

 

Here's another side issue that just came up yesterday.
So I finally got my tires in http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Passe...ADIAL-G-T.aspx and they look so damn sexy on the beast. The rears are 235/70/15 which are snug but fit. The smallest size they had were 215/70/14 for the front but they seem a tad too tall for the well and the trim on the edge of the wheel well.

Does anyone know how I could lift the front just a tad? springs, wedges?

Thanks for all the responses on this thread as well guys!

 

Or perhaps buy a kit or just mod the space out so I have more clearance?