I'm fortunate to live in the vicinity of Doug Dutra, the inventor of the famed Dutra Duals. He's a home grown mechanical genius, excellent slant six tuner and an all around good guy.

I brought him some oversized valves I sourced off ebay, along with some super 6 parts, the smaller of the "Group-buy" cams with a Dutra spec'd variation of the old Mopar dual pattern grind, a double roller timing chain and gears from Hughes Engines and an old 2 barrel carb.

I pulled my long block and delivered it to his house. It was running good and had been a replacement longblock with low milage that came in the '68 convertible Barracuda I bought last year. It had a front main leak, I had replaced the valve seals and tuned it using the info on this site. It probably was putting out around 100+ horsepower.

Doug had the valves installed did some port work on the head and chambers prep'd the head, installed new rod bearings, aligned my front timing cover and did a bunch of his little tricks to enhance the longevity and performance of this little motor. He assembled the long block, installed the intake and Dutra Duals, re curved my distributor and rebuilt my 2 barrel.

I got the thing running, fiddled with the tune to bring in the timing and adjust the carb and trans kickdown linkages, and brought it back to Doug after a week to retourque the head and manifolds and adjust the valves. I have always adjusted my own valves, but it was a treat to watch a master run them.

Anyway, this little motor is a screamer now! The performance is nothing short of amazing. My car is actually quick, even with the 2.76 rear end ratio, the exhaust note is music to my ears and it even has barely detectible lope at idle. It is super responsive and way more fun to drive. It was a pleasure working with Doug on this project, and I'm sure i have made a new friend in the process. I highly recommend his work and expertice if your looking to liven up you slant!

Congrats, and welcome to the slant addiction...

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vm

Welcome and regard your self as hated................................

Just jealous enjoy!!!!!!!

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Regards,
Fanie Gerber
It's never junk, it's just a part you're not currently using

http://www.valiant50.co.za
Just say I own a few Mopars

Very Cool

do you have any pics of the new engine nestled in its fenderwells?

Love to see it!

Chris E.

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-76 Cordoba, 360 4bbl
-68 Valiant, 273 2bbl
-67 Dart /6 4bbl, Leaning Tower of Power!!!

jbc,
Thanks for bringing your car by and letting me do the final "tighten & tweak" work, that is one sweet little Cuda convert. you have.

It is also good to see another one of the special Erson RDP "street performance" cams up and running. That is such a nice can for a daily driver SL6 that wants some extra pep without super high compression and excessive valve lash settings.

It was fun to experiment with your lash settings in order to get a little more out of that cam, we ended-up at .013 on the intakes and a 'loose' .016 on the exhaust, just to give the engine a little more "burble"... it sure sounds like that setting is working for you!

So as we always say, it is all about the combination and those 'little things' that will make a SL6 come alive.
DD

jbc528,

Glad to here another happy engine story. Doc has coached me step by step from afar, I live in the Puget Sound region. I must say the Doc is right on all of the time and I couldn't be happier with my rebuild. Every suggestion really made a difference in power and overall spunk. My Dart is very peppy and gets good mileage as well. I am also running a 2.76 8 3/4 Posi. Still a one barrel at the moment so burn outs are on the short side.

It would be fun to try your cam! Let us know your mileage with that cam..

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

I'm still doing some fine tuning of the carb, just installed the electric choke kit tonight, and I'm in the process of finishing the transmission kick down linkage installation. I have a 1976 super six air cleaner that I cut down right to the edge of a K&N air filter. It has a great sound when it gets up in the mid to upper RPM range. I am looking forward to swaping out the 2.76 gears to a set of 3.07's. Doc said he had a pumpkin with those gears, I want to pick up. I'll post some pictures soon.

So there is no mis-understanding... the extra center section I have is a 2.94 ratio. That is going to be a littly better then the 2.76.
I really like the 3.07 ratio but that gear is pretty hard to find in the 8 3/4 and the set I have (a Richmon Gear) is currently in our 66 Dart wagon.
DD

So my Super Six is cooling it's heels in my driveway as I 've got the dash torn apart for restoration. Quartz clock kit installed, speedo service, gauges serviced, gas gauge repaired and solid state voltage regulator all by Real Time Engineering; Dash Cap; Ward's repaired the stock AM radio and referred me to a shop that sells factory style speaker replacements; serviced the heater box fixed some cut wires and other messiness, a replacement antenna, a passenger side mirror, windshield washer pump and hose kit, new door hinges/bushings and springs, some misc. other little parts and pieces; AND had my Federal Style power steering pump rebuilt(my last oil drip) thanks Doc!.
It's prime driving season and I miss the old girl something fierce. I should have it on the road by mid or late week. Pictures of this car and some others are availible for viewing on my MSN Spaces page. Just go there and do search for jbc426. I'll try and take some more soon.

Interesting! I'd never heard of 3.07s for an 8¾". Went to Richmond's online catalogue, but it looks like for all the Chrysler rear axles, their gearsets start at 3.55 and go (numerically) higher from there; obviously shooting for the performance market that tends to shop for numerically-high ratios. Do they also supply numerically-lower ratios, maybe as off-catalogue/special-order items?
It appears to be the Night of the Living Dead Products here in internet land today...I went to RTE's website and saw only quartz clock kits and tachometer circuit boards. No instrument cluster voltage limiters or other products. More info?

This kind of repair session you talk about with misc parts and pieces, mirror, hinges, dash cap, etc. can really make a difference between a car that runs and drives OK and one that's a joy to drive and puts a smile on your face, eh? I found the same effect when I had the upholstery redone in my Dart.

Keep on truckin'!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I think most of the rear-end gear manufactures have discontinued making the "higher" (lower number) factory gear sets for the 8 3/4 so we are stuck with NOS or good used parts.

I had heard of a factory 3.15 ratio for the 8 3/4 and was "keeping my eye out" for that ratio... when I saw a 3.07 posi assembly on ebag.
The unit had a big price tag and "story" to go with it... about how Richard Petty Ent. had special ordered a small quantity of this gear ratio for running NASCAR.
The assembly was also on the other side of the US so shipping cost was an issue for me.
After the unit did not sell at auction, I exchanged some email with the seller, tring to get the assembly at a more reasonable price. Eventually, it was sold to someone else on the East coast and I moved-on.

A couple of months go by and then "lady luck" smiles on me... I get an email asking if I want to buy a set of loose 3.07 gears at a very reasonable price! After some more emails, I figure-out that it is the same gear set, the person who purchased the ebag 3.07 posi assembly, installed a different (lower) ratio into that unit. Lucky for me, the original ebay seller had passed my 3.07 ratio interest and contact info to him. Better still, the loose R & P fit nicely into a Priority Mail "Flat Rate Box" so shipping is under $10.00!

The down side, I have to reassemble a set of used gears into a different case (742 type) and this is never an easy job, seeing that the wear on the used teeth tends to "hide" the true gear mesh / set-up patterns.
The first time I installed the assembly into a car, this set of gears howled like mad. After a second attempt, it is much better, but still likes to "sing" at certin vehicle speeds, even though the tooth contact pattern is well centered.

The assembly is currently running in the back of our 66 Dart station wagon, it's hauled engines to LA, towed the race car Lancer to Las Vegas & now Medford. The ratio is good on the hills, good on the flats and will even run down the 1/4 mile.

So that's the long story behind the 8 3/4 - 3.07 unit we have. It is of interest to know that this is a "hunting" tooth count combination, like all of the other Mopar, factory engineered ratios. (different ring gear teeth meet on the next pinion revolution - this is good for even tooth wear and noise control)

I wonder what it would take to have Richmond or US Gear cut more of these... it is really a nice street ratio and I would buy another set new, if they offered it.

Oh, I am still looking for a set of 3.15 8 3/4 gears, if anyone knows of one.
DD

http://rt-eng.com/mediawiki/index.php/R ... ge_Limiter

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Slant Cecil

That regulator must be a new part? I looked all over for something like that about a year ago.

Currently I have the basic 5 V. 1 amp regulator with a heat sink and filter caps hanging behind the dash. It works but the gauges read a little low. To fix that I have an adjustable 3 amp regulator, calculations and most of the parts for it but never got around to putting it together.

This looks to really be done right, so I just ordered one. That repro tach looks tempting too...

Back to the original subject. I have the next up RV15 cam, and it looks like I will get it all together this summer. I am leaning towards getting another engine rather than just freshening up the short block on the one we have, it is original and there really is nothing wrong with it. Since I will be running another head anyway I would like to keep the original longblock intact either as a spare or for the next project.

I really want to run some 3.21 gears. I managed to pick up a good 7.25" sure grip carrier and also a new Mopar 3.55 gear set real cheap. I may end up running the 3.55s, but it is really more than I want. I have reservations about many of the aftermarket gears out there.

I finally got the dash back together, the radio works, the defroster ducts blow on the windshield, the dash looks ok(but not like it could with another $1000 spent refinishing it professionally) AND, the car runs so sweet with the engine mods. Thanks again Doc!!!

Now the remaining problems, my fuel gauge is inaccurate, only reading below half-full on a full tank. (I ordered a new sending unit tonight), and my oil presure gauge barely moves off the lowest setting. ( I ordered a new sending unit tonight as well. Both were under $100 delivered off ebay.

I also ditched the electric fan, made my own sheetmetal shroud and re-installed the stock fan. It feels like a huricane compared to the air the electric one I had on there. (accidentally ripping the wires out of the thermosensor with my drill helped persuade that move. lol)

The little details being fixed over time really do make the car a lot more fun to drive. I can hardly wait to get some 3.23's in there and take it over the hill to the beach. People are always coming over to her and asking if she's for sale. I better hurry up and put a remote kill switch on it soon....

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1968 Plymouth Barracuda Convertible Super six