Recent content by PlymouthMakesIt

Some detonation is a silent killer, it'll destroy your engine without ever hearing it. Pulling race cars all across the southeast 30 years ago with my 440 equipped dually taught me that. It was 8.5:1 and it sounded good even on 87, but after a 300 mile pull it sucked the valves through the seats...

You could easily achieve your goal if you get rid of the thermoquad. Use a Holley and convert it to burn E85, you'll need a plastic fuel cell, rubber lines, and an alcohol pump/regulator to run it of course. Cut the stock heads to raise the compression, I'd probably go about 11:1, maybe higher...

You need to make sure your EFI system is advancing the timing properly, if it's not fully advanced by 2500rpm it will overheat quickly. Needs to be at least 35-40 degrees at cruise. I have no idea how your system controls the timing but it needs to be programmed to fully advance by about 2k and...

Sounds like a high resistance ground on the alternator or regulator. Make sure the case of the alternator and VR is well-grounded to the body with an appropriately large wire and star washers. I had this same problem on a slant 6, overcharging over 15V with a new regulator, alternator, plug...

That is a 28" radiator from a 1977 C-body with 400/440 engine and max cooling.

You sure your expectations aren't too high for this thing? How heavy are you going down the road? A little 318 can only pull so hard even with lots of gear and high performance parts. If your converter is too tight the big cam will kill it massively as well. If you can, make an 1/8 mile pass and...

You need to check out the clearance section on rockauto. I bought 10 motorcraft FL300s for $3 apiece not too long ago.

That's a big problem. All that cool air getting in there might keep the torque converter cool and make it last longer.

A few years ago a red 66 hemi satellite with black interior was in my dad's shop because it wouldn't idle. He rebuilt the carburetors and I fabricated a custom advance limiting plate for the distributor so we could run it at 25 degrees initial timing and not have it advance too far. The only...

I run VR1 straight 30 in the winter and straight 40 in the summer in my 400 with 140k miles, it likes it. No cold start issues, builds 80 pounds idling cold and 20 idling hot. From my experience 10w30 is too thin for a stock big block, the oil pressure drops to 0 on hard launches when it's too...

Is the hot idle compensator still active on the carb, it creates a deliberate vacuum leak to intentionally speed the idle up when hot

Properly maintained, all of the old Mopar engines are extremely durable. My family has collected mopars since the late 60s, starting with my grandpa who used them on rural mail routes because the drivetrain and brakes stood up so much better than other vehicles, and they were cheap. He had...

I work in a factory that makes electrical equipment and this is the kinda stuff we let slide at the end of the month when the bosses are pushing for that extra million in the production quota. Scratched paint? Spray it with a rattle can. Door doesn't fit? Bend the hinges, punch holes, cut it up...

What a load of crap, I'm psychopathic and I like quiet exhaust.

I'd copy as close to the factory max cool setup as possible, it worked then and it should work now. 26 inch radiator with shroud, stock 20 inch 7 blade clutch fan. You could try your luck with a repro or do like me and just recore an original one. I run 16 degrees of initial timing and 36 total...