I plan on building a "HOT STREET MOTOR"
Prefered : yr. block ? Head ? Motor ? Crank ?
Intake ? Brand ? 4 Barrel ? MPFI ?
Exhaust header brand ?
Comp Cams. no. ?
Disc brake conversion from later model ? wheel & tire size ?

Thanks in advance
Irv Rich
'61 225 auto hard top

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'62 Lancer Gt ..225 Auto, Offy /Demon/MSD/clifford/DB

Lots of discussion and lots of opinions right here on this board. I'm continually enlightened and challenged while waiting for the time and money to work on mine.

As of now, I'm thinking: mill the head about a tenth of an inch (seems like a lot, but apparently not uncommon) Dutra Dual exhaust manifolds ('cause they're cast Iron), HyperPack intake ('cause it looks so cool!), and something like what used to be called a 3/4 race cam from a cam grinder to be decided later.

Now, anyone wanna tell me how wrong I am???

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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!

Make sure you get a block with a forged crank, The cast ones are alright but if your planning on making alot of power you'll definately appreciate the forged crank.
Now I dont know what kind of set up your looking for, But I'm gonna guess that you're looking for a semi-budget street/strip style motor.
The set up that I use as a street /strip style car is this:

1972 forged crank block
pistons are just .030 over cast pistons
1968-69 head, planed 80 thousandths w/ larger valves
570 lift 310 duration custom ground cam
4brl offy intake with a 600 edlebrock carb
clifford 6-1 long tube headers
I run a 4 speed with overdrive
and a set of 4.30 gears in a 8 3/4 rear

This set up was pretty cheap compare to the efi set ups, and it runs great, you just have to give it a minute to warm up.

most everyone will tell you that the rear set up and cam choice are too big for the street, but my car starts pretty easily and will cruise nice at 65mph in o/d on the highway (2800 rpms). and those low gears are pretty good on the strip.

I havent had this set up to the track yet to see how it would run, but last year with a smaller cam(460 lift) the car ran 15.7@ 88mph on street tires, and the car is not lightened (about 3100 lbs).
If you are just looking to drive the car on weekends/race I would go with a big cam/ high gears, but if you are trying to drive it daily, I would look for something around a 460 lift cam.

Now I also like the Ideas about the dual dutra manifolds/ hyperpak. but they were too expensive for me, when I built this last engine, so I went with the cheap ones.

We'll hope that helps a little.
If not, look around the sight at some of the old posts, theres guys who have tried just about everything, turbo slants, efi. and there are plenty of articles on disc brakes. lou madsen is a good guy to talk to on that.
thanks, Ryan

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Ryan Covalt
62 Plymouth Valiant Race Car 2170# 11.008 @ 117.65 MPH 1/4 Mile Best
72' Dart Swinger Street Car, 4 spd, 3330# 14.061 @96.58 1/4 mile Best

yep I think ryan d covalt pretty much got it all

i have a 75 motor what kinda crank does that have? pm me?
also a 75 head, how far should i mill/deck that?

thanks

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Cuda Progress
The dart as it sits now

Thanks, gentlemen.
Can anyone tell me which years had forged cranks ? '61 225 ?

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'62 Lancer Gt ..225 Auto, Offy /Demon/MSD/clifford/DB

Hello, Irv. Some answers:

1. Cores. You already have a forged crank. The disadvantage is that the one you have will be somewhat harder to find performance torque converters for. The '68-'76 forged crank is equally strong but uses a more common torque converter flange. The head you have is OK, but you may want to take a look at the article on heads in the Articles section. And it's not likely you will see a big improvement from a different block.

2. MPFI is pretty expensive - the cheapest option I've seen is to use a limited edition Clifford setup that they may be still selling. If you want the fastest naturally aspirated motor for your money, I'd go with a 390 cfm four barrel. That isn't my goal, which is why I spent $600 on a custom MPFI intake and fuel rail. I hadn't known about the Clifford setup, which is a bit cheaper.

3. Changing the suspension on a '61 may be trouble. I think you might be able to use a '62-66 K-member to allow using later suspension parts.

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

76 and later had cast cranks (was that a mid year switch? I thought it was towards the beginning).

a slant head can take a full .100 shave.

and again, as I mentioned in someone elses post, decide what octane gas you want to run, then you can pick your compression (or at least ball park it) then you know what kind of headwork to do, then you can pick out your cam.

as I am new to this board too, I have read quite a bit here before I began posting, and I have seen a few posts by others discussing early a bodies. your best best would be to do a search for "suspension" and go from there. plenty to read through

-dave