273 Commando

[mmissile]

I had a 67 273, Formula-S Barracuda. It had an auto and 3.91's. It was stone-stock, and would whip on many surprised bigger-inch, stock musclecars. I shifted it by ear/feel...which for me was way up there. 273's belong in a-bodies.

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

This is very close to what I did to the 318



283 HP @4900 RPM, 355 TQ @ 3800 RPM.

Note the torque number in the range where you are most of the time. That is what the 273/318 do the best once you let them breath.

My 302 chart was on a chassis Dyno. To the crank I’m about 355-360hp, 380-390 lb/ft. With 355 lb/ft you should get out pretty good, I would be happy with that. The RPM power range in my 302 is really nice with the 3.55’s. Get’s out good as well. Ran 119 mph in 3rd in the dyno.

 

[YY1]

The 302 is a great design. IMO better than the 351 in any incarnation.
...and I had a '70 351C 4V with those coveted 4V heads.

For more than a decade those 5.0 motors whooped all over the gm 5.7.

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

The guy that I grew up across the street from has the original 340 from his 70 Challenger that has been sitting disassembled for 20 years. Maybe I can seperate him from it.....It was all cleaned up and honed out years ago.

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

The 302 is a great design. IMO better than the 351 in any incarnation.
...and I had a '70 351C 4V with those coveted 4V heads.

For more than a decade those 5.0 motors whooped all over the gm 5.7.

The 5.0 Fox was a pretty well built little car minus the strut towers(prone to rot) and the torque boxes(only spot welded). My Fox was super clean, mint towers and I did “battle box” reinforcements......Sadly when I start driving this Belvedere the Fox will probably sit idle lol.

 

[YY1]

I'd be interested in a '79 pace car 5 speed with either the 5.0 or the turbo 2.3.

Must have T tops, though.

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

I'd be interested in a '79 pace car 5 speed with either the 5.0 or the turbo 2.3.

Must have T tops, though.

4 eyed t tops look awesome.

 

[toolmanmike]

The 273 by nature is a poor performer at high rpm. The intake valves and ports are small, the intake manifolds fitted to them are restrictive as well. The Ford 302 had a 4 inch bore that allowed for larger valves. The 302 make power by spinning some serious rpms. The 273 was, as odd as it seems, a low rpm "torque" engine. They can be made to run but that will surely make it unlikely to be much fun to cruise.
A stock rebuild of a 360/5.9 from a 1993-2002 truck with the Magnum heads can get you into the 14s easily while getting decent mileage and lower rpm freeway cruising.
The 67 B body is likely in the 3300-3500 lb range. Only a scale knows for sure.

I must agree. To the OP, if you must build your 2 barrel 273 you can check out my 273 build thread on FABO. It's a stock build but to get to the 235 horse level what I did is what you need to do. You may want to stop over there, become a member, and check out all the 273 threads. Here's my Charger 273. (Charger was Dodge's name and Commando was Plymouth's name for the HP273.)

Build thread: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/273-build.94343/#post-871687

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

I must agree. To the OP, if you must build your 2 barrel 273 you can check out my 273 build thread on FABO. It's a stock build but to get to the 235 horse level what I did is what you need to do. You may want to stop over there, become a member, and check out all the 273 threads. Here's my Charger 273. (Charger was Dodge's name and Commando was Plymouth's name for the HP273.)

Build thread: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/273-build.94343/#post-871687
View attachment 526618

I will be reading this over thoroughly. Thanks.

 

[moper]

If the goal is to make a sleeper 4dr, put a bigger engine in it. The 273 is a good little plant. But it's for good little cars. A 4dr B body isn't that. You can get power from them. You will need to spend a lot of coin rebuilding it to get it compared to even a 440, but you can get 300+ from them. My advice would be to get a running 360 Magnum, stick a cam in it, stick a 4bbl on it, get the Magnum flex plate and cheapie headers and bolt it in. That should get you 325-350hp for under $1200. With a set of 3.91s and good tires that should get you close to your goal.

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

325-350 hp will be plenty to put a smile on my face cruising around in that shoe box!!

 

[67BELVSLEEPER]

It looks to have a new Holley on it so maybe I can repurpose it if need be.