I searched and have read more in the last five hours than I can believe. I just bought the above car it has a three on the tree. The motor and trans and clutch components have roughly 24000 miles on complete rebuild i have reciepts. I am looking for a solid driver with pep. I don't need anything thats not fun to drive normally. I want to keep the three speed so its not going to be a speed demon anyway.
I was wondering what I can do to the engine to light a fire in her. I don't to pull it out or do anything to the bottom end as it is so fresh. So that leaves me with intake exhaust cam valve size and carburator I am thinkin. From what I have gathered I think I should mill the head (looking for reccomendations here the head is stock) what cam I should run(really in the dark with the slant six geometries I am a Ford FE guy) an intake (I am thinking offy 4 bbl) Carb (holley 390) larger valves(no clue) and port the intake exhaust and bowl blend then gasket match the manifolds. Ill finish with dual exhaust. How do you guys think this will do for what I want.Basically I don't want to have to put up with civics passing me all the time(i hate them) and since I plan on cruising I want the torque to haul four people around. I want to keep the mechanical fuel pump and everything else run off engine power the same. Sorry for the rant I am just so excited to finally have a slant six.

Welcome on the board, and to the weird, wild, wonderful world of slant-6 ownership. Sounds like you've got a good starting point there with your '66. You will probably want to keep thinking about your goals for the car, not in terms of horsepower numbers but in terms of what you want the car to do and not-do. How fast do you want to go, how quickly do you want to go that fast, and remember you also need to be able to stop and steer at those higher speeds!

I would not take apart the engine without a good reason. There's a ton of stuff you can do externally that'll really wake up the car; head milling and cam changes and porting and such can wait until there's a real reason to disassemble the hard parts. Your bigger bang for the buck will come from improving the induction (2bbl or other larger-than-stock carb setup, but don't go overboard or you'll kill driveability and mileage), ignition upgrades, exhaust upgrades like Dutra Duals...brake and steering/suspension upgrades, headlight upgrades, better seat belts...

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

Thanks Dan I really don't want to wait until there is a reason to pull the head off, well simply because these little sixes are so durable by the time that happens I might not be interested anymore. I dont want to drag race it but I want it to do 80mph without pushing it. It already runs and drives really nice stops just as well as anything else I have owned. Im not a big fan of changing the cars suspension steering or anything else like that. The reason that I like old cars is you feel like your back in time not surrounded by airbags and 90 gizmos that you don't need so I will leave it stock as it is in perfectly good working order. THe other reason I will take the head off is I am not going to spend the money on an aftermarket 4barrel intake and headers without at least gasket matching the head. Thanks for the welcome.

Excited? Hey, its a sign of having fun! We all get excited about slants!
Lemme tell you, a slant will run 80 just fine if it can breathe. But you need to be careful about that dual exhaust thing. Do you mean split exhaust as with a Dutra set or having two mufflers and two exhaust lines?
You need back pressure for proper operation and it is really easy to get the right pressure with split manifold single exhaust. Conversely it is real easy to get rid of all your power with a dual exhaust system. Just as your diaphragm in your gut works two ways on your lungs, the restriction in the exhaust system keeps your engine from "deflating" too fast. As Dan is suggesting also, while "big cams" are cool, they can keep you from having power in the driving range you are talking about. I know you are not talking cam, but the urge will hit. I also know there are some dedicated dual lovers here I don't mean to offend, but my experience in a high torque world below 4,000 rpm has shown me a single exhaust split manifold 4bbl system with a built head is a great combination, while a dual made it into something that couldn't pull a greasy string out of a cat's.......

rock
'64d100

80 mph without pushing is really easy, and does not require the head to come off.
It's dangerous and irresponsible to make a car go quicker and faster without also making it stop quicker and steer more accurately.
It's your car and your money, but if you've already made up your mind what you're going to do, and don't want to be confused with facts and experience from others...why ask for advice? :shrug:

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

Alway's good to see another 66 Dart still on the road !

Good Luck with your project / improvements !

66Dart

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Welcome! I have a '66 Dart sedan myself. If you're looking for an easy set of mods, you probably do not want to copy what I've done to mine. At the moment I'm trying to fab up a bracket to mount an 82 mm turbo where the battery used to be.

Mine had no trouble hitting 80 mph in stock trim, so I'd start with a good basic tune-up. Then you might want to go with a "Super Six" setup, a better flowing exhaust (a stock slant six has a very mild cam, so it's hard to give one an exhaust that flows too freely), electronic ignition - your goals don't really call for anything too over the top, really.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Quote:
THe other reason I will take the head off is I am not going to spend the money on an aftermarket 4barrel intake and headers without at least gasket matching the head.


It's your car and your money, but if you've already made up your mind what you're going to do, and don't want to be confused with facts and experience from others...why ask for advice?

Dan I am grateful for your help. I am sorry if I came off the wrong way. It is just that ever other motor I have built has benefitted from at the very least gasket matching the head. It does not cost that much and I have complete confidence that I could reassemble it without any problems. Does the Slant not benefit from the head work???,or are the four barrel manifolds on the market already dead on for a head to manifold port match. Thanks everyone I will try to get some pictures of the car up soon.

You could mill the head for more compression...not sure how much you need, you'll have to ask that later. Like any other engine, slants like head work, ie porting and polishing. Some here run oversize valves. If your engine has been rebuilt, it may already have the good cam shaft from the '71 up engines, which means more lift than a '66 engine. Again, I don't know how you can tell, maybe others can help.

Kinda disagree about not wanting to upgrade your suspension and brakes. Go with at least some 10 inch drums from a later A body (Dart/Valiant). A dual pot master cylinder is also a good idea. An Addco sway bar from Just Suspension (mine only cost 99 bucks) is a night and day difference in how a car handles.