For the past three months, I have accomplished two major goals for updating the Dart. Goal one was to convert the three speed column shift to the floor and goal two was to do a complete engine rebuild.
First of all, I would like to take a moment and thank Rob Armstrong (DusterIdiot) for all of his help, insight, and talent in helping me reach these goals. Rob took time from his schedule to help me pull / replace the engine and gave me invaluable insight into the rebuild process. He’s a great mentor and continues to offer his time as required to ‘fine’ tune the slant.
Goal One – Transmission Replacement: To help in the replacement of the column shift A903, I found and hired a local hot rod shop to carefully cut the existing floor as required to install a floor shift hump (provided by Rob !) in order to accept an A230 3 speed transmission I had. The shop did an excellent job in the conversion and it looks completely stock. I installed a new 10 inch clutch, reused my existing bellhousing, and existing driveline with no problem. I purchased and installed a carpet kit from ACC Carpeting to finish off the interior.
Goal Two – Slant Six Engine Rebuild: After 220,000 original miles, the slant was beginning to smoke and was getting ‘tired’. I finally decided that now was the time to perform the rebuild and get it back into the car in time for the spring and summer driving season. Besides, I had to keep up with Rob and his Hyperpak setup !. I purchased a head two years ago from Josh Skinner that had been ‘modified’ with oversize valves and was ready to go. This head along with a Cox bros. double chain set, Comp Cams 264, and Pro-line Dual Weber setup would be the basis of the rebuild. Rob and I pulled the engine the last week in January and I took it into Ott’s Machine Shop here in Portland. Dick Ott performed all the specified machining and re-assembled the block and head. After getting the engine back from Otts, I re-installed the Pro-line dual intake and carbs, Dutra duals exhaust manifold setup, MP electronic distributor, fuel pump, water pump, and other miscellaneous components. Rob and I installed the engine on March 20th and successfully ‘fired’ it up on the 21st. Everything is running great and I’m still in the ‘break in’ period. Rob has helped me add another spring to the distributor and I’m still in the process of tuning the Weber’s. They are running too rich at the moment. Chris at Pro-line is also helping me with that problem. With Rob's suggestion, we added two oxygen sensors which are a great help in the Weber tuning process. Overall, the re-build is a success and there is a ‘huge’ difference in performance. Once the break in period is over, Rob and I are going to take it out to his ‘private’ drag strip in the valley and get some performance data gathered to compare with his Hyperpak.
66Dart
. It's a beauty.
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