It’s been a few years since I built a small block Mopar, so I’m going to throw out some ideas and ask for some opinions.
The car is a modernized ’56 Plymouth 2-door hardtop. It’s a cruiser only and will definitely not be raced, so performance parts will be few, and not extreme. I do want more go than the original 277 Poly provided, but if required I’ll trade some power for decent economy. I don’t want a combination that requires premium fuel, so here’s what I’m considering.
Due to the body style, I need a rear sump pan, so I’m thinking a mid-eighties truck 318 or 360 for a core. Because I won’t have power steering, I’m going with non-massaged Edelbrock aluminum heads, Performer intake, Performer carburetor, and an aluminum radiator to take some weight off the front wheels. These parts, plus a late model engine and aluminum Torqueflite should make steering effort acceptable, if not easy.
It will have Dakota rear-dump exhaust manifolds with the largest practical pipes I can install, since they will be hooked to mufflers quiet enough to prevent resonance at cruise. For convenience and simplicity, I don’t plan to install an “H” pipe.
The rear end is an open 8-3/4” from a ’70 B-body, and has 2.72 gears, so I’m looking more at building for low RPM torque than for high RPM horsepower. The transmission will be a stock 3-speed Torqueflite, but I haven’t decided if I want a lock-up converter, or not.
The questions I have are mostly about camshaft and compression ratio. With aluminum heads I think I should be able to run nearly 10-1 compression without pre-ignition worries, right? Any recommendations for a cast piston number and/or manufacturer? How about going with the Performer cam? For ignition module, I want to use a stock Mopar, but what about going with the MP distributor?
The car is a modernized ’56 Plymouth 2-door hardtop. It’s a cruiser only and will definitely not be raced, so performance parts will be few, and not extreme. I do want more go than the original 277 Poly provided, but if required I’ll trade some power for decent economy. I don’t want a combination that requires premium fuel, so here’s what I’m considering.
Due to the body style, I need a rear sump pan, so I’m thinking a mid-eighties truck 318 or 360 for a core. Because I won’t have power steering, I’m going with non-massaged Edelbrock aluminum heads, Performer intake, Performer carburetor, and an aluminum radiator to take some weight off the front wheels. These parts, plus a late model engine and aluminum Torqueflite should make steering effort acceptable, if not easy.
It will have Dakota rear-dump exhaust manifolds with the largest practical pipes I can install, since they will be hooked to mufflers quiet enough to prevent resonance at cruise. For convenience and simplicity, I don’t plan to install an “H” pipe.
The rear end is an open 8-3/4” from a ’70 B-body, and has 2.72 gears, so I’m looking more at building for low RPM torque than for high RPM horsepower. The transmission will be a stock 3-speed Torqueflite, but I haven’t decided if I want a lock-up converter, or not.
The questions I have are mostly about camshaft and compression ratio. With aluminum heads I think I should be able to run nearly 10-1 compression without pre-ignition worries, right? Any recommendations for a cast piston number and/or manufacturer? How about going with the Performer cam? For ignition module, I want to use a stock Mopar, but what about going with the MP distributor?
