EATING THE ELEPHANT

[Amata Bene]

Nice write up. I'm in the big block camp, but thought I'd mention the different passenger fender apron for the BB.

RemCharger please tell me more about this fender apron. I'd like to plan ahead for any surprises'. Well... as much as possible anyway. We all know how plans go.

 

[RemCharger]

RemCharger please tell me more about this fender apron. I'd like to plan ahead for any surprises'. Well... as much as possible anyway. We all know how plans go.

I'm not much of a guru in the 71 up cars, but just ran across this new members thread. Looks like his charger was a BB car
Thread 'New Guy from Idaho' New Guy from Idaho

 

[Amata Bene]

Just checking in. @RemCharger I checked out the build you mentioned and don't think it's going to be a problem for me. I'm going old school BB. Can't imagine how much scotch I'd go through with that electrical ... upgrade? My 340 block & crank has been in machine shop prison. Fixen to bust it out next week and take it to one not to far away, about 50+- miles from here. Sux for me but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do and I want this thing on the road for this summer. So does the wife, and we all know what that mean. Well the married ones do. Been doing some porting work on the heads. Probably going to have them reworked also and put 202's in em. I got plans for this 340 that involve an A body or possibly a Dakota, but that was spose to be later. This time and money was suppose to be spent on the 400 and associated drivetrain. It is what it is. Adapt and overcome.
So I've had this thought for a while; One of my bikes is a yellow springer that I've owned for the las 16 yrs. Would it be complete sacrilege to use this yellow instead of the Y1 lemon twist? When I get to the body and paint I'm pretty sure that's what I'll do. The car isn't stock anyway. Only the purest will complain. When the bike is parked next to it, it'll make since. Most people won't know anyway.
Anyway... just checking in. The shop has been busy and my hobby time has been limited. I'm not complaining cuz I like money and so does the car. Be back soon, hopefully with machine shop news. Until then I'll continue to chew on this elephant. Happy MOPARing y'all.

 

[Amata Bene]

Been a minute. Here's where I'm at with elephant. Took the block and crank to a much better machine shop. Shout out to Jordan's Performance in Conway SC. The taper was too much to hone so it went to 40 over. New set of KB's, rings, pins and ARP bolts. Keeping the stock full floating rods. Line hone and decking the block for true and flat. TBD if the crank needs turned or a polish will clean it up and some new ARP main studs. Having the rotating assembly balanced and then moving on to some head work. New guides, 2.02 In, staying with 1.6 Ex, multi angle and back cut valves and seats. They are going to do a bowl cut that I will blend in. Should have waited but I already ported the heads (below). Not a thing, I lapped the valves and still have good seats and meat under them. Gonna have them check and cut the spring perches for level. I've been looking at Hughes cams and kinda leaning towards a 232/236 @ .50 not sure yet. Need to get some more numbers like my deck height 0 + or - , final comp #, what the heads flow if I can find someone close with a bench. Might have to settle for the ole' syringe and cc check. Using an original 340 four barrel cast intake from 1970 that I have done the old school mods to. Other than weight after the port match it will perform as well as a high $$ Eddy. I fear I am inching (pun intended) further away from a mild street cruiser. Need to swap out the center chunk for a posi with 3:91's, not sure about the 904. I can build it up with better shifts and a 28 stall. But a SB 727 would still be better, cuz bigger is better. Still a lot work ahead but I'm happy with how it is going. That is a big difference from when I pulled the cam to do a quick top end fix just to get it running right.

 

[71Beeper]

Do yourself a favour and keep the 904. I have a friend who has a 904 behind a potent 360 in an F-Body Aspen drag car.
Car runs low 10's.
The 904 can handle the power if it's done correctly.

 

[Amata Bene]

Do yourself a favour and keep the 904. I have a friend who has a 904 behind a potent 360 in an F-Body Aspen drag car.
Car runs low 10's.
The 904 can handle the power if it's done correctly.
View attachment 1823087

I do not disagree. Haven't opened this one up yet to see what's in it. I would almost have rather pulled this 904 from a truck. It has all the light duty stamping from the assembly plant and is original to the "74" RR behind a smog bound 318. We'll see. Don't know if there would have been a difference anyway.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Do yourself a favour and keep the 904. I have a friend who has a 904 behind a potent 360 in an F-Body Aspen drag car.
Car runs low 10's.
The 904 can handle the power if it's done correctly.
View attachment 1823087

I used to know a guy in Cincy with a 68 AA cuda, hemi and he ran a 904 instead of a 727 because the car was .2 quicker. He said he would go through 2 of them for how long a 727 would last but the faster times were worth it. Don't mean to thread jack.

 

[Amata Bene]

Couple more bites of this elephant. Heads are spose to go to the machine shop next week and I've got a new (to me) center chunk with 391"s. And for the future BB I've lined up a BB k frame with PS. Happy dance. However, I was just (just meaning last weekend) presented with the opportunity to pick up a set of magnum heads for CHEAP. Been trying to figure out what all I would need to do to make them work. I know they're roller, so I'm glad I haven't picked up (another) cam and valves and what not. I notice some of the holes be it water or oil don't look like the same as my 360 J heads. What am I going to run into trying to make these work? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Amata Bene]

Yeah, never mind about the magnum heads. Not going down that rabbit hole.
SQUIRL!

 

[Curiousyellow71]

We have a 73 318 RR and we first upgraded to a mild 360. With the stock 2.73 gears it seemed like a pooch. So we moved the 360 to a 70 challenger..and it surprisingly ran in the mid 14's at the drag strip. Much lighter car w 3.23. For our 73 RR we also decided to go with a BB and bought adapter spool mounts. Bb is then a direct fit in place of small block. Much easier then swapping the cross member. There is more access to the spark plugs in inner fenders of a factory 73-74 bb car. But you can make your own opening. Most people would not know unless you told them. Your next RR engine, you should make a 512 out of your 400.
Does your car have a 8 3/4?

 

[kreauto]

We have a 73 318 RR and we first upgraded to a mild 360. With the stock 2.73 gears it seemed like a pooch. So we moved the 360 to a 70 challenger..and it surprisinhly ran in the mid 14's at the drag strip. Much lighter car w 3.23. For our 73 RR we also decided to go with a BB and bought adapter spool mounts. Bb is then a direct fit in place of small block. Much easier then swapping the cross member. Their is more access to the spark plugs in inner fenders of a factory 73-74 bb car. But you can make your own opening. Most people would not know unless you told them. Your next RR engine, you should make a 512 out of your 400.
Does your car have a 8 3/4?

I bought a brand new 74 Rr that I ordered. It was a 400 4 barrel with 4 speed and 3.55 gears. Power brakes. No PS. or Ac. I spun a rod bearing down shifting into 2nd gear trying to keep up to a 68 302 Z28 when he shifted. There was only 1,300 miles on it. Warranty put a new crank and rod in it.

 

[Amata Bene]

We have a 73 318 RR and we first upgraded to a mild 360. With the stock 2.73 gears it seemed like a pooch. So we moved the 360 to a 70 challenger..and it surprisingly ran in the mid 14's at the drag strip. Much lighter car w 3.23. For our 73 RR we also decided to go with a BB and bought adapter spool mounts. Bb is then a direct fit in place of small block. Much easier then swapping the cross member. There is more access to the spark plugs in inner fenders of a factory 73-74 bb car. But you can make your own opening. Most people would not know unless you told them. Your next RR engine, you should make a 512 out of your 400.
Does your car have a 8 3/4?

View attachment 1827547

Yes, 8.75 diff. Just picked up a center with 391's. I have to drop the sub-frame to replace all the rubber so I'm going back with a well worked and upgraded BB frame. I'll be using the hard frame to body mounts but all the other rubber will be new top shelf stuff. Stroking the 400 was always the secret plan, I just don't say it out loud because my wife wants it to be a daily cruiser. Got a lot of frame work ahead. Be moving the springs in bound for some mini tubs and connecting the fore and aft sections. Just got to keep it looking stock to the common folk.

 

[Amata Bene]

I bought a brand new 74 Rr that I ordered. It was a 400 4 barrel with 4 speed and 3.55 gears. Power brakes. No PS. or Ac. I spun a rod bearing down shifting into 2nd gear trying to keep up to a 68 302 Z28 when he shifted. There was only 1,300 miles on it. Warranty put a new crank and rod in it.

Sounds oh so familiar. I spun all the rods on my first RR. It was a 68 that I picked up when I came home. The car was only 17, so was I when I left. I did do a bunch of work to it and in a hurry. When I put the new 30 over slugs in, I didn't waste time with all that balancing crap. I needed to go fast and go now. And it did for a while. That car on a good day could hit high 11's. It ran consistent low 12's always... till it didn't. And that was in the water box. We had just had our 2nd kid (we being her) and building it again wasn't rally apriority any more. Now I got teenage grand kids and Papa gonna go fast again, on 4 wheels.