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Ways to increase performance and HP/torqu without machining heads/crank or major engine dissassebly

Evan Frucht

Evan Frucht

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I just bought a 64 Plymouth fury wagon in rough shape but it's a good running car. Starts right up with no smoke. PO said engine and tran's rebuild 5 years ago. He had no proof but with the way the car runs I belive him. I'd rather not tear into the block yet if I don't need. Currently , the car has original poly 318 with
- early cast iron 4 barrel intake
- later Carter AFB (#9636A, emmission control version)
- stock distributor
- new msd ignition wires
- All new plugs
- timing set at 15 degress
- currently fabricating a custom phenolic spacer out of Garolite CE from Mcmaster Carr. 1" tall 4 holes

Also PO said when he had the engine rebuiltb they "put a mild cam in there" and machined the heads but I have no way of knowing so I'll assume it's close to stock, or stock.

What can I do, as far as semi-external mods go, to hot rod this thing out tastefully?
 
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What rear-end gears? That’s kinda the easiest to change. 3.23-3.55; or higher I guess.
 
terry's 65 pic2.PNG
Nitrous, and when you blow all hell RB time.:thumbsup: This was in a friends 65 Dodge Coronet 4dr ran low 13 teens 100 mph plus with 100 shot of Nos.
 
Start with the basics- headers, carb & intake.Time-proven additions..
 
Put in some electronic ignition, headers (TTI), call Gary Pavlovich for ideas (619-572-3008). Gary is the "man" when it comes to poly motors.
Mike
 
Fran Blacker said:
View attachment 650435 Nitrous, and when you blow all hell RB time.:thumbsup: This was in a friends 65 Dodge Coronet 4dr ran low 13 teens 100 mph plus with 100 shot of Nos.
Click to expand...
Looks great but when that style of air cleaner lights off after a back fire, you will have a hard time putting out any fire it creates unless you have a fire extinguisher on hand. Foam is nasty once it's on fire. Axe me how I know!!
 
Cranky said:
Looks great but when that style of air cleaner lights off after a back fire, you will have a hard time putting out any fire it creates unless you have a fire extinguisher on hand. Foam is nasty once it's on fire. Axe me how I know!!
Click to expand...
He sold the car $5k and went to the dark side. Making a 2 lane black top special.
 
Evan Frucht said:
I just bought a 64 Plymouth fury wagon in rough shape but it's a good running car. Starts right up with no smoke. PO said engine and tran's rebuild 5 years ago. He had no proof but with the way the car runs I belive him. I'd rather not tear into the block yet if I don't need. Currently , the car has original poly 318 with
- early cast iron 4 barrel intake
- later Carter AFB (#9636A, emmission control version)
- stock distributor
- new msd ignition wires
- All new plugs
- timing set at 15 degress
- currently fabricating a custom phenolic spacer out of Garolite CE from Mcmaster Carr. 1" tall 4 holes

Also PO said when he had the engine rebuiltb they "put a mild cam in there" and machined the heads but I have no way of knowing so I'll assume it's close to stock, or stock.

What can I do, as far as semi-external mods go, to hot rod this thing out tastefully?
Click to expand...

Against conventional thought, best 'free/inexpensive' power will come from a good tune-up (which you've generally started on), strip the car of everything non-essential (improved power-to-weight ratio), lightweight wheels (not factory steel wheels), and lowering the IAT (intake air temp), such as creating a basic carb/hood seal. 1% horsepower increase for every 10* lower IAT. That will actually provide increased detonation resistance as well on pump-fuel (may allow you to run 1-2* additional timing), so it's two-fold.

What you're doing with the spacer by increasing port-volume and adding a bit of room to improve the air/fuel mixture to each cylinder which is a good thing. Definitely on the right track for budget HP gains. Best ET gains will be from a torque converter, gears, and tires.
 
cheap stuff: fresh air to carb, block heat crossover in intake manifold, distributor recurve, thermo fan clutch or electric fan.
 
Evan Frucht said:
I just bought a 64 Plymouth fury wagon in rough shape but it's a good running car. Starts right up with no smoke. PO said engine and tran's rebuild 5 years ago. He had no proof but with the way the car runs I belive him. I'd rather not tear into the block yet if I don't need. Currently , the car has original poly 318 with
- early cast iron 4 barrel intake
- later Carter AFB (#9636A, emmission control version)
- stock distributor
- new msd ignition wires
- All new plugs
- timing set at 15 degress
- currently fabricating a custom phenolic spacer out of Garolite CE from Mcmaster Carr. 1" tall 4 holes

Also PO said when he had the engine rebuiltb they "put a mild cam in there" and machined the heads but I have no way of knowing so I'll assume it's close to stock, or stock.

What can I do, as far as semi-external mods go, to hot rod this thing out tastefully?
Click to expand...

Chrysler Power .com has a high rise rpm like intake for the Poly. The engine can handle a larger carb though that the 600 is probably a great fit cfm wise. Your air cleaner should be A 14 inch diameter by as thick as you can get under the hood is what you should be using.

Exhaust wise, TTI can set you up with Poly head exhaust and more than likely, your car from head to bumper. Use the 2-1/2 exhaust with the “H” or “X” pipe. They come with dyno Max Super turbo mufflers. Very good IMO.

The only other thing on the engine itself I can think off may not be possible, but worth looking into. The dirst one should be easy. Small performance pulley set. Look to March or other place. The fan you have the s probably a fixed fan. If you can squeeze in a viscous unit, like a MP 5 blade unit, these two items parts pick up some easy power.

In making sure you have all the power that should be available, I love angood ignition. There are several ways to light the fire. If your going to stay with stock style parts, a recurves MP distributor is a great value and I seriously suggest a MP Chrome box ignition.

If you want to keep it clean, AKA, less wiring, Pace Performance has ready to run distributors that work really well. I have one myself. They have one unit this is the same danm thing as a MSD only cheaper and way worth it.

After the engine, nothing else will result in more power felt than a great ratio change and a higher stall converter.

So, even though you said, nothing inside the engine, I’ll just note a cam change is a few more ponies. Cranecams.com, racer brown, Chrysler power to name a few places.

Been there, done this.
 
A 200 shot of nitrous would give you the extra hp and torque.
 
Install an old school "Cool Can" and use synthetic oils.
 
Evan Frucht said:
I just bought a 64 Plymouth fury wagon in rough shape but it's a good running car. Starts right up with no smoke. PO said engine and tran's rebuild 5 years ago. He had no proof but with the way the car runs I belive him. I'd rather not tear into the block yet if I don't need. Currently , the car has original poly 318 with
- early cast iron 4 barrel intake
- later Carter AFB (#9636A, emmission control version)
- stock distributor
- new msd ignition wires
- All new plugs
- timing set at 15 degress
- currently fabricating a custom phenolic spacer out of Garolite CE from Mcmaster Carr. 1" tall 4 holes

Also PO said when he had the engine rebuiltb they "put a mild cam in there" and machined the heads but I have no way of knowing so I'll assume it's close to stock, or stock.

What can I do, as far as semi-external mods go, to hot rod this thing out tastefully?
Click to expand...

What do you want the car to be like when it is done?
Everyone has their own tastes in modifications, and without knowing more about the direction you want to go with the vehicle it is really hard to tell you how to spend your money. If your just looking for ideas, then here are some:

Dual Exhaust. Really don't need headers unless you plan to modify the engine down the road.

Lately, I have been converting my cars over to EFI. It is not cheap, but the costs are coming down, and depending on what your starting with there may be some savings? Something like the Holley Sniper EFI, The display can be used as a gauge display saving from buying aftermarket gauges. The higher end Holley Super Sniper EFI has analog inputs that could also monitor oil and fuel pressure. These units also control ignition timing, and a locked out and re-phased magnetic distributor (or lean burn dist) can be used to save on the cost compared to the recommended $400 MSD unit. All my old cars had rusty fuel tanks and fuel lines, so they needed replacing anyway, so it was not that much more expensive to get a fuel tank with a built-in EFI pump (for my application of 69 Coronet.) I don't know what tanks are avaliable for your car, but a welder could modify the tank for the in-tank EFI pump.
I see several people using these EFI units with turbo setups which would be an interesting option too?

Then there is the engine swap options. If your looking for all the modern stuff like EFI, A/C, high output alternator, overdrive trans and such, then the later Magnum and Gen III hemi swaps are not that bad an option, but they can get expensive (although maybe less than trying to add all the options to the older engines), and takes away from the old car look under the hood.
 
NOS - When you believe is something enough that you are willing to sacrifice everything.
 
My idea for the car is to bring it back to good driver quality, sort of a preservation rather than a restoration. I want to upgrade the performace with old school period correct upgrades. I'm not sure I would want to do fuel injection though I know it is more efficient and would increase power. I plan to possibly upgrade brakes (front disk) and other hidden safety/steering parts to new or modern technology but I think I want to keep the engine bay looking clean, vintage, and minimal rather than a modern strip rod, even if I do have to sacrifice some potential HP.

In a sense I want it to look like its out of time capsule: someone bought my car in 1969 and decided to hot rod it out into a sleeper street rod.
 
In that case get/use a Carter AVS or AFB carb on top of a Weiand 4bbl. intake manifold & do a dual exhaust off of the exhaust manifolds @ 2-1/4 with Hush Thrush mufflers. I’d still upgrade the ignition to a modern unit or at least the MP conversion.
 
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Drive it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Fix the parts of the car that are in "rough shape".
 
Without major $ the Poly is going to be slow at best. How quick/how many $/how much work/how much skill do you have? These will determine the correct path to take.
Doug
 
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