Got to the point in my 65 Barracuda (225/904) project that is allowing me to do some engine work. Long story short...I'm going to "hot rod " the slant. Offenhauser intake, Holley 390cfm, headers, N2O, head work, cam, etc. The engine was running like a sewing machine, before I pulled it and started the car's restoration. The PO (seller) didn't know much about the car, it belonged to his deceased brother and that it had been sitting since 1988. 41,000 on the speedo. Anyway, I tore it down today and was disappointed to find out that someone had been in it before. The crank had been turned, both the mains and rods .020 (Journals look fine, maybe polish)and the rods were not in their right cylinders, i.e. 6 in position 3, 2 in 4 and so on. The cylinders measured at 3.450 (std 3.400). I have two questions. #1...Should I look for a different crank, because of my pending additions? #2...On the tops of the pistons is a number near the "notch," (03) surely it doesn't mean 30 over? (see pic)

The crank will be fine. The mark on the piston could mean anything....if you are confident in your 3.450 measurement then that's that. As for nitrous, I wouldn't put that on any engine except if I owned a Chevy that I was trying to keep up with Mopars....

Thanks.

Did you measure the piston diameter or the cylinder bore diameter? If the crank looks good, I second that it will be just fine in a performance oriented slant. If you are only going to use a small nitrous shot once in a while, your current combination will 'likely' be ok. If you plan on regular, and/or heavy use of nitrous, you should look at something other than stock rings, possibly a chrome set? The Nitrous guys would know better about such things.
How about some pics of the car and engine.

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

Welcome to the site. Too bad you took it apart as it probably would have been fine to withstand some HP. Anyway, crank should be fine, yep. Best to mic the bores and see where they are, then we can help you design a combo. What is your budget for the shortblock buildup, and the whole project? What kind of performance/driveability are you after?

Best,

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I've been watching and reading on this site for some time now. I got this 65 Barracuda 225/904 back in 2014, after a two year negotiation with the PO's family. I have another one, 65 Barracuda 273/3spd.) I got in 2016. I bought my first 65 Barracuda when it was 6 months old in 1966. (273 Commando 4spd.) I do all of my own work, except required machining. I'll be letting the local (speed shop) machine shop do any of the machining that I'll need. I'll put together a little "Bio" and pics on both cars and my goals (especially the one under restoration) and look forward to any suggestions. No "real negativity" intended, but another "well known site" that I've been a member of since 2014,doesn't show the enthusiasm, as this site does, for the /6. Thanks
Norm

Sounds like a great plan. Have a happy time with the buildup and keep us posted.
Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

If you plan on spraying it be sure to open up the top ring gap or you will end up breaking rings and pistons.

Your crank will be fine. I've sprayed a boatload of sauce through a motor with a Car Quest crank kit in it.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

As promised, some background on my car and what I’m trying to achieve. My 65 Barracuda was built in St. Louis, # 85,391st off of the line. As best I can tell, it is completely original. Super 225 and a 904 transmission. 41,000 on the OD. It had the 13” wheels and factory hubcaps. The car was complete, missing nothing. The only thing done that was not factory, was an AM to FM converter and a CB antennae (drilled a 1” dia. Hole) mounted on top of the left rear fender. The car was basically a “roller” other than it had been sitting next to a house since 1988. After two years of visiting and bribing the elderly “cat” lady (with cat food for her cats…a lot of cats) that lived in the house, she put me in touch with her son, who had the title. He and I went back and forth on the phone for several weeks. He said he didn’t want to really sell it, but soon he changed his mind and we agreed on a price. It was now mine. My son’s helped me trailer the car (after cutting a tree that had grown up between the chassis and the rear bumper) out to our hangar at the airport. The car basically sat for nearly another year, before I could do anything to it. New gas tank, tires and 14” rally wheels, brakes, carb kit, radiator, alternator, starter, fluids, battery, transmission service. She busted right off and I drove it to my house 32 miles away. I drove the car around town for about two months with everyone wanting to know what it was and telling me how cool they thought the car was. It is now on my rotisserie with three new floor pans, and a spare tire / trunk pan and a salvaged Inner front fender panel and rear driver’s side valance. I have tied the frame rails and will be installing torque boxes.
The engine has a .020 main and rods forged crank and .030 over pistons. Block casting number 2463430. The head has stock valves. There was very little wear to the cam and lifters. Over all the engine seems fine, however I was surprised that someone had been into the engine. Whoever it was, never payed attention to the numbers on the rods, as they were all install in the wrong cylinders. Where I’m headed…I want to occasionally cruise the car and some occasional challenging, and visit the local strip. I want to go .040 over on the bore, 1.70 and 1.44 valves, a .100 maybe .125 on the head with some deburring and smoothing in the ports, hardened exhaust valve seats. I have a wet NoS cheater system and plate. Offenhauser intake, 390cfm Holley, Clifford headers. With the 65 crank, I’m sort of stuck with the original 904. I will be installing new rear springs and a shortened 8.75 / 3.91 LS rear with 11” drum brakes. I have new tubular upper control arms and completely restored and re-enforced lower control arms and Scarebird disc brakes. The only thing I can do with the 904 is a shift kit and maybe a 4000 stall converter, brake launch. I have not made a decision about the cam. I want the car to be a 1/8 mile performer. I do all of my own work and assembling, except the machine shop necessities. The other day, I was on the phone with “Charlie” in Ocala FL. I got quite and education on a lot of my questions. Top ring gap important for “spraying.” I hope I didn’t bore anyone with my project. All suggestions and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
Norm
BTW...I'm having a fit trying to resize some of my pictures. Working on getting them posted.

L KS G D

Charlie S knows all!

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Looks like fun!

Rods do not need any matching with their cylinders, so no worries there. I would go 0.060" over w/o thinking about it. You can go 0.100" no problem later.

You can have the mach shop open up the crank pocket for the larger torque converter nub.

You can run a pretty big cam with that stall. We can consult on a regrind from Oregon Cams, which is a great avenue these days. Keep your old cam... You can run up to 10:1 or even 10.5:1 on pump premium fuel, if you set up the ignition timing curve properly. 10:1 is pretty safe.

More to come...

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Sounds great except for the needlessly heavy 11" rear drums. If you have 10" drums that's plenty.

_________________
Joshua

There is a guy up in Canada that wants to sell me some A body 8.75 axles with 5X4 SBP and 10" Back plates. I've given it some serious thought, due to wanting to keep all of my 14" Rally wheels. My disk brake set up is SBP.

Thanks, I like the .060 over choice. There are several piston choices out there, going a .100 on the head with the larger valves, cam, I believe pistons with valve relief would be the way to go??