I wacked over .100 of an inch off the cylinder of the first engine I built. Static compression ratio was 10:1 don't recall dynamic.

Kev

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What if I don't slice that much off of my build, just mostly true up the halves, add a mild cam, of even just the 72-up cam and get back to a mild build of a rebuild with the Dutras and super six upgrade, and call it good? I'm really getting nervous chopping a lot off the block and head to achieve a lot of performance when just 20-25 hp over stock and a little extra torque would make me really happy.... Oh, and some chrome under the hood.

You have an earlier engine than Kev. so his head and block took that kind of cut to make that kind of compression...once your engine is open you can see how it is, but a mid-60's slant engine may need about .100 with the newer head gaskets to get 9:1...you will be taking about .040-.050 off to make up for the fel-pro gasket, but you or your machinist will have to take measurements to be sure what is really needed....(there is so much meat in the deck and stock head that a cut of .090-.125 isn't bad...race engines for higher compression have taken .100 out of both the head and deck).



Technically, your engine you can swap the cam without taking the head off, so you can just install a new cam and the extras and go from there, you will feel a little performance gain but probably not a full 20 hp and 10 ft/lbs of torque...(the engine build for the 9:1 engine is close to a true 140-150 hp and up to 240 ft lbs of torque give or take depending on how much detail is taken with the assembly and parts).

-D.idiot

Several folks here have said that it's better to raise your compression by taking meat out of the block rather than the head if you want a serious gain in compression. But when I saw that "generous cut out of the block and head",
it set off my alarm buzzer. Milling the head may well call for custom pushrods to keep the valve train geometry proper. From what I've read, they aren't horribly expensive.

The big step for me, at least Is pulling the engine to mill the block, because the cost in money, time and skills required go WAY up at that point. I'm not concerned about original appearance at all, and am saving money for a
"serious street" motor build. The OP reads like probably head milling is as far as he wants to go.

Of course, as usual, I might be wrong.

BC

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'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!

My stock pushrods still worked after the head was cut, cam 238@.50 510lift 108lsa. Turbo motor has stock pushrods as well only 8.6:1 compression and cam is 220@.050 464lift 114lsa

Wvbuzzmaster I was just trying to give you an idea of how much I had cut off the head without measuring it's just a guessing game concerning to your build. My opinion more compression and the rv cam would be just a more peppy stock motor should work great. My old NA motor was daily driven as well as my current engine and setup. The head cut will be the most bang for your buck and won't hurt anything provided you keep the compression reasonable with that cam.

Kev

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Thanks so far guys. I start to get panicy when I hear words like generous cut, since that isn't something I am used to doing to my stuff yet lol. I watch the tv, and I read the Internet, and collect my information to learn what I want to do (or can do). With my 1966 Dart, I do like the idea of more power, better performance, etc, but I have to keep in mind, it isn't mine exclusively, but I do get to drive it, work on it, and so on. My great grandmother had bought it new in 1966 and now it is Dad, Mom, and mine to keep. And the more I read the more I need to get it back on the road to see just how peppy it is when I do tow a trailer currently, to see if I want to go to super six or just keep it single barrel and just make the exhaust flow better, and a slight cam, which would help it even with it being just a single barrel carb. However, I do know this, just a engine rebuild alone will help it to feel more peppy. Now, Things I know I need to do during the engine rebuild is the valve seats (for non-leaded fuel which DI mentioned), bring up the compression, overbore it, and replace the cam regardless, so even going to 72-up factory cam is a bonus for that car. Bonus things I want is Dutra Duals, and chrome air cleaner / valve cover. All that said, I am not too crazy yet lol. And still have room for 2 barrel carb in the future if I wished. Keep it tame is the main thing I am trying to achieve in the performance upgrades. Now, I do have all year to collect the parts for rebuild in the next winter. but after I get the brake system redone by spring (inline tube SS lines). And I am keeping the 9" drums all around. The car ha not been driven in a few years after a brake line blew. At that point getting under it was a dread, but things changed and we got a two post car lift since, that it has been on for two of those years lol. It is mostly a family project as we need it. Gotta love these old cars, and I am still hooked on them, and the slant six, I mean who can't love it, ok, I know lol. By the way, before I go into any more thoughts, I should finish this rambling post.

PS: if you haven't guessed my age by now, a better clue is I was born in 1990.

(1) Driving with nine inch drum brakes and trailer towing are not activities normally or safely done at the same time

(2) Keeping the 9 inch brakes pretty much limits you to a stock engine rebuild. The 9 inch brakes are OK for a stock daily driver driven in average conditions, but really should be upgraded if you are seriously contemplating increasing the engine performance or towing a trailer. Even stepping up to ten inch drums all around would be better.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

See where I started to panic about possible 50-60 hp gains on my stock Dart and have no need to keep up with V8 cars lol.

All joking aside. I was skeptical about the 252 cam upgrade being more than I needed and figured that quickly. But been looking at older threads and going to see about the Erson cam that Doc had made from the Mopar Performance cam. Figure that would be a very mild upgrade over even just stock 72-up cam. I only really just want mild performance enhancement over a totally stock rebuild, with "don't see that on the 60's slant sixes" wow factor. And it never hurts to have a hair more get up and go.

As for towing with the drum brakes. No worries, I am not planning to tow over 45 mph, as the back roads of WV don't allow it anyway. And trailer with load weight is targeted to be under 800 pounds total weight back there, as I don't want to have to stop too much more than that. I collect garden tractors also and have some the same year as the car and thought, hey, that would be cool at the shows to set me apart.

Just want to add one thing. The master cylinder, brake lines,and wheel cylinders are all getting replaced before Spring. All brakes will be inspected and readjusted as needed based on the service requirements, and Dad has experience with the 9" drums as he has done his own brake work throughout the years (hard to find anyone that fixes anything right anymore, even on the new stuff).

At the very least upgrade the master cylinder to a dual chamber one.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

+1

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1964 Dart GT

It is getting a new master cylinder, it will be fine.

The single chamber master cylinder is a safety hazard. If you develop a leak anywhere in the braking system then you lose ALL brakes except the emergency brake. Upgrading the master cylinder is a basic safety upgrade that should be done on any car that is street driven with any frequency. It is not a difficult upgrade and it it could easily save your life. There are very good reasons why Chrysler and every single other car manufacturer stopped using single chamber brake master cylinders.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

and Chrysler did it in the 1967 Model year....
He's going to take a generous cut some out of of one some out of the other...if it all stacks up and the numbers are right he could even it out and take half out of both...and typically it will be much more than the .010 clean up pass in each case....(if it is a stock 1966 engine, he'll be needing the .100 pass and maybe a little more to get the 9:1 special, then a .050 and a .050 is a really generous cut out of the head and the block, a serious cut would be taking .100 out of both...). Semantics...

If he wants to see a 'pepped' up family Dart like his he'll be looking at Matt Simpson's (user 66Dart) 66 Dart, but he went with a little more cam, and the dual weber setup, but his engine inside is no different than what you are going to do (just less carb and flash)...You might also try and replace your 1966 head with a 1968-1974 head (cosmetically they look the same, but the chamber is less ping prone and updated).

-D.Idiot

I guess I have more researching to do for parts and pieces. Is the ping prone head going to be a problem if I am going for mostly rebuild to factory specs with improved compression with super six and mild cam? Not sure totally on the super six upgrade if I could find a better single barrel carb than the Holley 1945 to use. Of course super six is easy to do, but going back to factory single barrel is easier later if I don't have to change intake manifolds, especially since I will have the Dutra Duals on it.