Like the Topic says, I have a '74 Dart with a Slant Six, and gentlemen, I aim to build it. I already have the intake, carb, and headers purchased, what I don't have is everything else. Throw a dog a bone here, I want all your tips, tricks, and crazy ideas to help me build this Leaning Tower of Power!

The intake is a Clifford Hyper Pack, made 2010, one of eight produced that year I believe.
The headers are Hooker Super Competition Long Tubes.
The Carb is a Barry Grant Road Demon Jr. 525cfm.

I want to run on pump gas and I don't want to spin the motor above the bottom end's durability level (6500 rpm, I think).

So... what do you think fellas?

Check the engine build matrix in the frequently asked questions in this section. Also the Articles section on the home page. Once you go through there, give us some idea of what your going to do with the car, rear ratio, converter stall, and budget.

From there we can make some recommendations. There are lots of ways to do things, and there are folks here that have tried a lot of different combos.

CJ
74 Valiant

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

To be honest, the only thing I'm not going to do with this car is drag race, everything else is either a definite yes or a possible maybe. I'm not going to use the automatic transmission that's in the car, I picked up a '76 A833OD for about $300, I plan on having it rebuild and modified to be more durable.

I like the idea of having a racier engine, but I think it would be a pain to drive more than once or twice a week, so I'm opting for a tamer build. As I mentioned before, I have a Hyper Pack intake that I'm set on using. For now it'll be topped off with a carb until I get the cash together for a FAST EZ-EFI unit.

Oh, as far as a budget is concerned... lets just say I'd rather adapt parts from any make or model then buy custom made

I think the engine I'm starting with is a pretty solid foundation overall, it's a '74 block and head with 130 000 miles on it; never been rebuilt.

Got busy there for a bit.

Can the car be down for a while?

First step is to see what you have. I had the old Hooptie engine for eight years before tearing it down to find it wasn't standard bore.

Have you decided to build something from the Engine Build Matrix, or something from the Articles section? If so, which route do you want to go?

A hyperpak can work well with a mild cam, or a wild one, given that your going to install the manual transmission you bought. With an automatic, wild cams are going to need a high stall converter.

Pull the head, CC it, check how far down the bores the pistons are. If your going to bore it, check the deck after you complete the short block. Putting Linda's engine back together with .060" over pistons resulted in a deeper deck measurement.

With the parts you have listed, 9:1 or greater compression will serve you well. I'd be of a mind to run 9.5 or 10:1 with the parts you have. The distributor advance curve will need to be modified to get best performance and efficiency. There are quite a few threads on the forum to go through on that subject.
Not sure about the carburetor. It's a part that will like a lot of cam, and is a bit much for some of the mild street builds. It won't behave the same as an Edelbrock 500 for instance. It's a lot of carburetor unless your going to build more on the wild side than the mild side.

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

You'll want to look at a few posts by me and Doc, and there are others that have done hyperpak builds...

I've mostly done my work for daily driving on the street...you're going to need to make sure you get some gears for the rear, the intake likes life in the 3K+ range...which isn't a street rpm with normal ratios.

-D.Idiot

I haven't pulled anything apart yet, the car's still in it's original condition in the garage until I mass the parts I need before taking the plunge.

I was considering going for a build off the Matrix but then I kept reading and I think I'll be going after a compilation of ideas and strategy. There's a lot of tricks people have done and I'd like to do them all if I could, time and money permitting. That's why I started this thread, so all Sixers could have their input advising this build.

I want the end result of my Dart to be used as a fun Sunday car... nothing I'd drive every day, but if I wanted to, I could. If you take my meaning. I think it'd be easier to get my desired outcome with a V8, but I made a promise to build the 6.

That's pretty exciting that you got one of the last Hyperpak manifolds, I can't remember the last time someone actually said they got one. I think it's great your doing the research and hope you the best of luck. Two quick things:

The overdrive transmission is great for fuel economy and daily driving, however, for drag racing the gears are pretty far apart. I would also stick with the carb for the occasional driving, $2000 for fuel injection can go further someone else if you don't plan to drive it much. I figure it's like dollars per a mile for each improvement. Also, if you run TBI based injection than you should have any puddling problems on the long runners like a carb. So... just voicing my opinion can take it or leave it, good Luck!

DAlexanderW,
I also had a weak moment and thought how much easier it would be if I built a bent 8 but my Slant 6 brethern showed me the error of my ways(thanks,Brian and Lou).
I also run a Hyper-Pak intake but on a 170 cube motor and it screams from 2500-5000 rpm but is a little soft on the bottom and I also run an a833 O/D WITH 4.56 gears.The o/d makes it a like a 3.23 on the hiway.
Doc and Dusteridiot probably know more about the H-pak intake than anyone else here so listen closely to their advice.

Mark

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1960 Hyper-Pac Valiant(rolling test-bed)
1963 Valiant V2OO(Son's summer project,- he just turned 15 )
1972 Valiant 4dr(Daughter Kelly's repair in progress)
1974 Valiant (v8) daughter Kelly's work in progress

Runvs_826,
I found two ways to kill the fuel puddling problem in the HP. The First way it to make a heat riser off one of the header tubes to cook the bottom of the plenum, aiding in fuel atomization. The second way is to weld in a plenum splitter lengthwise down the intake manifold, effectively creating two banks for the TBI to feed into, then drill a 1/2in. hole near the bottom of the vein to equalize air pressure between the two sides (give that the HP isn't symmetrical). I'll likely use both solutions in the end, but when it happens, I'll try one then the other to see which is better.

HyperValiant,
Thanks for the advice. Knowing that there are people out and about who have gotten great power out of this venerable engine give me courage to be different in a land of V8s.