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  #1  
Old 01-10-2002, 11:07 AM
freak007 freak007 is offline
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Default street racer....what engine??

hello...I am prepareing to build an engine for my latest project...the car is a '78 Chrysler Cordoba 2 door,t-top...

the original engine/trans was a 318/904...I wish to make this a fast street car,but still able to take to the local drag track without embarassing myself....

I have a choice of several engines...
273(I have a 64-65)
318(I have one '68,two '79s and one '78)
360(mine is a 79)
400(73-75?)
440(75?)

I was looking more at the 318 or 360 as this will be a daily driver and I want it to still get reasonable mileage...I was planing on switching to a 727 trans with 3.70-4.10 gears...


I was figureing a relative ly mild cam...218-225...with a 2500 stall converter...

what setup do you reccomend?I want to get this into the mid 12s...
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  #2  
Old 01-10-2002, 12:27 PM
Tim_K Tim_K is offline
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If you want a fast car, I recommend finding a lighter car. Like an A body or '72 or older B body. Even a V-8 F body would be several hundred pounds lighter. If you want to use this heavy car, though, go with the 440. It'll need some work and money to hit 12's.
Do you want mileage or 4.10 gears? Can't have both. And it'll take a lot of work for a smallblock to get even near the 12's.
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  #3  
Old 01-10-2002, 08:58 PM
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Marc Marc is offline
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That's a heavy car to get into the 12's with a mild engine.
I think you would need the torque of the 440, coupled with a Hemi grind or bigger cam and head work. The gears will need to be fairly high numerically as well.
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Old 01-10-2002, 10:35 PM
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There's always the ever-popular twin turbo option... putting a pair of junkyard T3's onto your Cordoba as it sits right now would probably get you into the 12's. And your mileage and driveability etc. wouldn't suffer either. If you're interested in this there are lots of previous posts discussing the conversion.
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  #5  
Old 01-10-2002, 11:09 PM
beepbeepsrule beepbeepsrule is offline
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Get ready to beef up the drive-train, those cars usually came stock with very spindly 8.25 rearends and small ujoints. I had one with a 400 leanburn and had to switch to the much larger trailer-towing package rear-end as I began to warm up the engine.

To answer the question -- At least a 400cid in a car that size. The 440 will be the best option because what you will need to accelerate from 0 is torque. A 400 will need to rev a little bit before it can move you on out (higher stall torque-converter, lower gears). A 440 can get you moving with lower (close to stock) stall and 3.21 or so rear gears.
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  #6  
Old 01-10-2002, 11:32 PM
leon441 leon441 is offline
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Biggrin

Here's an idea!

Keep that 904 in the car. If it's a lockup torque converter switch is over to a non lockup input shaft and a low gearset out of a truck. I can't remember which one is which. It's either 998 or 999 transmission you want . One is lockup and the other isn't. But you will want that low gear set for the holeshot. Then buy a $289 crank and a set of pistons, the price depending on your choice. That would make 402CID with standard bore 408 .030" over. Basically a 402 with no other changes is a grunt motor and that is what it's going to take. Another option is a set of Edelbrock heads for $1200. A 360 will run in the 12's with enough work. That car weighs, what, 4000 with smallblock? But hey if it does it will weigh 4300 with big block not to mention all the crap you'll have to do to make the change. Don't get me wrong a basically stock 440 will run good. But you need to get a 727 tranny to go behind it. That means drive shaft changes too. But if you change the rear which I strongly recomend you'll most likely have to cut the driveshaft anyway. I ran a 360 with a low first 998 or 999 at 3400 and it went real high 11's add a .1 for every 100lbs and you should go 12's. A c-body 8 3/4 will probably fit that car. But if you go to the trouble to spend a lot of money on a rear go ahead with a dana 60. The car is a chunk of lead anyway and that rear would be bullet proof. I think you have picked something neat & different build it and run a smallblock in it. Need any help on engine combo E-mail leon441@ceva.net
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  #7  
Old 01-11-2002, 02:46 AM
DartGT66 DartGT66 is offline
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Have done that & been there; the answer is the 440. It's the most inexpenxsive one to get power out of and it makes the power at the lowest RPM of them all. I had a pretty built 360 in my daily driver and run 13.2's/107 with it equipped with a 10" converter, 3.23 gears and 205/75/14 tires. The engine was at the edge of really being a daily driver but the car could hold its own in the traffic. So I bought a '75 440, mildly hopped it up and replaced the 360 with it. Also switched to a 11" converter at the same time but the rest of the car remained the same. The driveability and mileage was better and the car acted like a stock one in every way. and to my surprise it was also quicker than with the potent feeling 360; 12.9/109 with the same drivetrain and 12.35/112 with 245/60/14 M&H's. This all with less than 9:1 stock short block '75 440.
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  #8  
Old 01-11-2002, 09:24 PM
leon441 leon441 is offline
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Lightbulb Small block pro's

You already have a tranny that will work. You may as I stated before change the first gear ratio, trust me it's not hard nor exotic. I wouldn't run a 10in converter I just don't like tieing the motor down. The secret to getting a streetable smallblock to work is free up the weight on the engine. There is no better way than a lighter smaller converter. This where you spend the money and buy something good. TURBO ACTION, DYNAMIC, or COAN. I wouldn't be scared of an 8in but the car is really too heavy for that so run a 9in. Did you know their are some clearance issues when installing a RB engine such as a 440 in those cars. The ones that came with 400's B engines are shorter and clear the brake booster better. I still recomend a small block. I run against big blocks in King of Street and hold my own. Finished 2nd in 2001 against them running a 8.26@166MPH at 3100lbs with my smallblock.
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  #9  
Old 01-11-2002, 09:36 PM
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FuryusVIP FuryusVIP is offline
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Post Heavy car, higher numerical gears? Not always...

I was always told this, and I have found this theory to have a fault. Build for torque and you will not need the 4.56's and such. I fell into that trap when I first built my current engine. Call it stupidity, or listening to the wrong people. The Buick, Pontiac, and Olds crowd have been doing that [ building torque] and running low 11's and high 10's with 5,800 to 6,200 shifts, and 3.73 gears. And we are talking big cars, 4,000+lbs.

I will be changing the cam, converter, and gear. With the current set up, poor 60ft's due to tire spin, and way loose converter the 4,500 lb car runs 12.99 @ 107mph. The cam change will broaded the torque band, and the converter and gear will take advantage of these switches. A lot of the mistakes I made where made with help from small car, big motor camp. A lot of the rules change when go with big cars. Most of them do. Throw out the MOPAR bible, because it is baised and dated.

So, I guess the biger the cubic inches the easier it will be to make torque. stay within YOUR buget and stay true to YOUR goal. Throw out the post from guys who tell you ' don't use that car, use a dart or duster'. They just aggravite you, and cloud your thaughts. Stay conservitave.
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  #10  
Old 01-11-2002, 10:01 PM
leon441 leon441 is offline
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Wink some thoughts about torque

Other than a .090" increase in bore size the 360 has a 3.58" stroke instead of 3.31" in 340,318, and 273. The 360 had a lot more torque even when you consider 360's only had 9:1 compression rating. The two reasons are stroke and displacement. Look at some of the dyno numbers using those 4" stroker crank the torque is incredible and they can't turn a lot of RPM due to not enough head flow and beef in the bottom end. Their are a lot of new things going on with smallblocks. Most have come about in the last four years. Most big blocks shift at 5,000 and run their best although their are guys who turn their engines harder but don't produce better ET's. Why because the heads can't flow enough to feed more RPM. The crank is available for less than $300. Build a 400+ inch motor and have fun for less money.
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  #11  
Old 01-12-2002, 09:55 AM
freak007 freak007 is offline
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first I want to thank FuryVSVip for understanding my logic...and second I would like to thank Leon for all the advise....



how does this setup sound....360 Bored .030 over...using the shotpeened crank out of a 74-75 4BBL,heads off a 71-72 360,reground for 340 valves,M1 4bbl intake with a 650-700 4bbl,a 218/228 cam,running thru a 10" converter 727 trans 3.70-4.10 gears and 30"tires...what kind of power will this have??how fast will it be??
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  #12  
Old 01-12-2002, 01:00 PM
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FuryusVIP FuryusVIP is offline
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Default Combo tips...

how does this setup sound....360 Bored .030 over...using the shotpeened crank out of a 74-75 4BBL,heads off a 71-72 360,reground for 340 valves,M1 4bbl intake with a 650-700 4bbl,a 218/228 cam,running thru a 10" converter 727 trans 3.70-4.10 gears and 30"tires...what kind of power will this have??how fast will it be??

The M1 is it a single or dual plane manifold? If building for torque look at dual plane or even consider the Edlebrock RPM performer, I have heard, read and seen good results with this intake. The 218/228 cam sounds mild, check the specs and the lift to kinda figure out the power range, maybe you can get an ideal of where the torque range is. If it's a street car go mild on the converter, you don't want to 'flash ' past your peak torque point. Lastly, the very tall tires will allow you to run the 4.10's, just make sure the engine won't be screaming at the top end in the 1/4. You might want to pick up a Engine / drag racing soft ware to help give you an ideal of the changes you have in mind and 'see' how they will effect your overall plan. Check out Http://www.performancetrends.com. I use some of their software, and it is very accurate. The Desktop Dyno is OK, but dosent represent the torque curve as well as the PT system. I have both.
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  #13  
Old 01-13-2002, 10:06 AM
freak007 freak007 is offline
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the heads will be identical to the ones of a TA340,the M1 intake is a dual plane,the 218/228 cams power band is 2200-5200 the converter stall is APX 2500 RPM,the stock TA340 cam is a 228/235@.050...should I switch to that instead?or is that too much cam for such a heavy car???I need help!!!
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Old 01-13-2002, 07:39 PM
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rumblefish360 rumblefish360 is offline
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I had a post here and now its not. Bottom line I gave was 440!
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