D/Dart of 1966 Super Stock option

[Paul Ceasrine]

Todd,
Never saw to many 67' Valiant 273 Commando's running around back in the late 60's or early 70's.
As a matter of fact, I only saw one, in K/SA in 70'/71'.
Always thought that was a 'cool' project car.
Done up, those cars look 'nice'.
pc

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

Todd,
Never saw to many 67' Valiant 273 Commando's running around back in the late 60's or early 70's.
As a matter of fact, I only saw one, in K/SA in 70'/71'.
Always thought that was a 'cool' project car.
Done up, those cars look 'nice'.
pc

Paul,

I bought a '67 Barracuda Coupe with the 273/235 and 4 speed in pieces from a guy in Texas....all original but the engine was apart and it had a trunk full of speed parts. Unfortunately the Army decided to send me to Germany and I had to sell it. Wish I hadn't.

Didn't one of the defunct Mopar magazines buy a '67 Valiant with the 273/235 and 4 sp and ripped it all apart as a project car or was it a Dart?

JimR

[Paul Ceasrine]

Jim R,
Can't remember.
Do remember one them wasting there time re-building a 318
for a Valiant., to get it to run 13.90's.
All that time and effort wasted. Easier to drop in a 340.
PC

[Myron Piatek]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Paul,

I bought a '67 Barracuda Coupe with the 273/235 and 4 speed in pieces from a guy in Texas....all original but the engine was apart and it had a trunk full of speed parts. Unfortunately the Army decided to send me to Germany and I had to sell it. Wish I hadn't.

Didn't one of the defunct Mopar magazines buy a '67 Valiant with the 273/235 and 4 sp and ripped it all apart as a project car or was it a Dart?

JimR

Maybe you are thinking of the "Green Brick" Valiant?

http://www.moparaction.com/Article/B...reenBrick.html

http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/arch...e-lap-pix.html

http://www.rancefi.com/flying_green_brick_page.htm

[Don Whitmore]

Paul,

I'm curious.

What was in Chrysler's mind when they created the 273 ci? It is an interesting motor. If the corporation needed a small displacement motor, why one with its particular specs (fairly long stroke for that ci, long rod, small bore, overall small ci)?

A friend of mine had a 273 ci Commando back in the day, and I've always been curious about them, but the upcoming 340 ci soon made a bigger splash...

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by Don Whitmore

What was in Chrysler's mind when they created the 273 ci? It is an interesting motor. If the corporation needed a small displacement motor, why one with its particular specs (fairly long stroke for that ci, long rod, small bore, overall small ci)?

Economics. Same crank & rods they had been using for years (318 stuff). Bore was small enough to get the displacement in the range they were targeting while still being able to use the 318 heads. Very few new pieces they had to engineer.

[Paul Ceasrine]

The 'LA' engine 283/180HP was to be the plain-jane V-8 for the
A-body's.
Chrysler had to make a lighter engine for the #2700 lb. cars, and the early 318's were much too heavy.
3.61 x 3.31 bore/stroke = 273c.i. is much in line with the
general small blocks of the day, but it did limit Mopar on optional
performance applications.
The 273 4-barrel 235HP Commando which came in 1965, was in direct response from 1964 A-body car purchasers who were
dissappointed in the 273/180HP performance.
In the 235HP range, it was competitive with the 283/230HP Chevy and 289/225HP Ford, in stock format.
Biggest draw-back, 4-bolt pattern cylinder head mounting, and the
small bore 3.61 limited up-grades to the cylinder head valve train.
It was simply what it was, a good low-to-mid range torque car.
paul

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by Myron Piatek

Maybe you are thinking of the "Green Brick" Valiant?

http://www.moparaction.com/Article/B...reenBrick.html

http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/arch...e-lap-pix.html

http://www.rancefi.com/flying_green_brick_page.htm

Myron,

It wasn't the Brick because I distinctly remember the magazine going under before the car was anywhere near complete. They took out the original drive despite it's rarity and were building it with another small block.

I'll find some time to look through my collection and find out.

JimR

[Todd Boyer]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Paul,

I bought a '67 Barracuda Coupe with the 273/235 and 4 speed in pieces from a guy in Texas....all original but the engine was apart and it had a trunk full of speed parts. Unfortunately the Army decided to send me to Germany and I had to sell it. Wish I hadn't.

Didn't one of the defunct Mopar magazines buy a '67 Valiant with the 273/235 and 4 sp and ripped it all apart as a project car or was it a Dart?

JimR

Mopar Action had Steve Magnante working for them in 1997 when he built his '67 Hemi Dart street machine. The Dart was an original 273/235 and I can't remember if it was a stick or an automatic. The Hemi had a Torqueflite and there were minimal modifications (hacking) done to the car. It was a reddish-orange two-door sedan with black vinyl top in case that's the car someone remembers.

I don't remember the defunct magazine's buildup but I'd like to find out more if anyone has any info. Maybe Steve worked for the soon-to-be-defunct mag when the build started and it was completed in MA???