I think you can easily get 1/2 second under the index, that other half is the high dollar side and as you get closer to the second or more under those hundredths are very costly. No one has beat the odd ball combos to death yet and NHRA is soft on those indexs, so go for it. One example, 69 340 and 383 are hp factored the same, which one is softer?

If you stay out of the glamour classes and don't obsess with setting national records you can still race Stock pretty cheap.

Mike Jeffrey set the V/SA record twice with a car you could duplicate for $15K or less. He has had the same converter in the car for years, and only changed gears when going up to Denver. The car was rock solid and never broke anything. It's not the record holder now, but will still go at least .75 under most anywhere. With all the tricks it will still go 1.1 under in decent air. You can buy the car today turn key for $10K.

Going .3-.5 under with your combo shouldn't break the bank either.

The key for running .5-ish under for cheap money is finding combos that are kind of soft and where both the cars and the engines/parts are cheap and plentiful.
There aren't a ton of those if you're talking vintage mopars.
Find a decent southern rust free 64-70 4 door or wagon b body, put a 4bbl 383 in it........should be able to get it .5 under without any exotica.

360 4bbl Mirada's, volare's, and dart sports are another good option.


Brand x stuff........ 4 door or wagon 1978-1980 vintage malibu's with 4bbl 305's.

http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=64134

http://www.bobjohnsonphotography.com/Pho...ML/g141_038.htm

the car was originally a 71 Demon...

A good friend of mine runs a Buick that barely covers the index, but he knows that car backwards and forwards and many times he knocks off the top of the ladder like dominoes. Its not how fast you go but if you can run your dial in.

BUT.. The problem with that car, the 340 has been tweaked for 40 years. Better be prepared to cough up the bucks to run much under the index or out run everybody in E or F. Real skinny and run D, fat to run H. How many V Stockers are out there? Need not run and hide from the bad boys there.

Mike was the bad boy for a long time, but Danny Tool got a turbo Mustang that is pretty fast, but has bern getting HP hits so Mike's car can probably get within a tenth of him now. There is also a V-6 El Camino in Div. 5 that is bad fast right now, but he has been getting hit too.

I think in all the years Mike has run the car he has had maybe 1 or 2 heads-up runs.

I would buy Mike's car but I just don't have time to go 2-3 days to a divisional and 3-4 for a national event.

The 340 combos either need a dump truck full of money or a friend to point you in the right direction. There are a lot of them out there that are rockets.

since this related the the 273 build, i thought i would pose this question here.

I pulled this crank what seems to be a 68 273 since it came with a hydraulic cam and non-adjustable rockers.

This is the crank that was in the block, the parting line is throwing me off, i can't seem to tell if it is a cast or forged crank, but this seems strange too.




does this part looked forged to you?





Thanks

^ Forged crank.

thanks

The torque converter register is smaller on the 1967 and earlier cranks, 1.556" vs. 1.815" for the 1968 and up cranks. I ran into this 30 years ago when I replaced the 273 with a 340 in my 1967 Dart convertible. I used the original trans and didn't have a good way to center the converter in the crank.

I talked to Vance Cummins on the valve shape and bowl cuts/VJ. I modeled up the intake valve based on his recommendation, and made a guess on the exhaust as he just said tulip shaped. I'm having it 3D printed so I can take them along to my machinist when I head down in a week or so.

find out what he will charge for two sets. And it looks like i have the 68 crank. so I will be taking it down to Greg Luneak later for the offset grind. Greg and I also spoke about the ring package

Back to the Ebay 646 heads from a couple of pages ago. They are 360 heads, an alternate casting to the 308.
So, not applicable to the 273 or 318.

Vendor typical problem of "It's Mopar smallblock all parts interchange".

That forged crank is really ugly (shudder).

Nice to see that the powers that be aren't making 273s run the extra heavy pin that was stock in the 273. Also rod minimum weight is some 60 grams lighter than stock.

R.

i do not care if is ugly, i care if it going to work.

Yep, 90g minimum. I don't know if anyone makes pins that light unless they were titanium. I think Chrysler made the extra heavy pins for the 273 to have the same weight as the 318 piston and pin.

Pistons NHRA Legal
273 65-67 235HP Min. Compression Ht. 1.745”, Pin Diameter 0.984”, Ring Thickness 5/64, 5/64, 3/16, Top Ring to Quench Dist. 0.280”, Min. Piston Wt. 547G, Min. Rod Wt. 655G, Min. Pin Wt. 90G, Min. Ring Wt. 43g, Min. Rotating Assy Wt. 1335g
ROSS 57989
CP PISTONS M14-CP