I was handed down a '74 Dodge Dart as my first car when I was 18. It needed a new tranny. Swapped transmissions with a '72 Dart and the car ran great for about a year. Then the engine started knocking hard enough to rock the whole car side to side... my buddy said most likely the hydraulic lifter went out, and a manifold cracked. Couldn't fix the car back then but I stored the car at my Moms and decided to never sell it and keep it until I have the money and time to fix it. Well, 6 years later I'm finally at that point. Just finished my daily driver upgrades and tweaks ('02 Subaru WRX), so I've done light mechanical work like exhaust, suspension, etc...
Anyways, my goal is to get the car running strong and looking good. I know the engine needs to come out no matter what, so I'm debating either just rebuilding the engine while it's out, or dropping a new 318 in. How would you go about it if you were in the same boat as me? New engine, or rebuild? Any other tips or suggestions/thoughts etc...? I'm fairly new to all this but figured it would be fun to learn and a dream to get this car looking good and on the road again.
Here's the car as it sits now.
Anyways, my goal is to get the car running strong and looking good. I know the engine needs to come out no matter what, so I'm debating either just rebuilding the engine while it's out, or dropping a new 318 in. How would you go about it if you were in the same boat as me? New engine, or rebuild? Any other tips or suggestions/thoughts etc...? I'm fairly new to all this but figured it would be fun to learn and a dream to get this car looking good and on the road again.
Here's the car as it sits now.
