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Smokey burnouts..

Yes, I think that's them. I bought something from them a few years back & was quite satisfied. Nice people.
 
Chrysler put the 8-1/4 behind the 383 2bbl in earlier year cars, so I would not be surprised if the 8-1/4 in your car is original equipment assuming it is a car coded for 2bbl 400. A 4bbl car would have originally had an 8-3/4 axle.

The good news is that you should be able to spin a tire with a good tune and a little power braking. I think your goal of doing burnouts is easily obtainable without investing in axle upgrades, though it is 10x more fun when you spin both tires.
 
Chrysler put the 8-1/4 behind the 383 2bbl in earlier year cars, so I would not be surprised if the 8-1/4 in your car is original equipment assuming it is a car coded for 2bbl 400. A 4bbl car would have originally had an 8-3/4 axle.

The good news is that you should be able to spin a tire with a good tune and a little power braking. I think your goal of doing burnouts is easily obtainable without investing in axle upgrades, though it is 10x more fun when you spin both tires.
I gotta say, that's pretty much the goal. The elusive 2 wheel peel. I guess I've been looking for a 8 3/4 because everyone says they are easier for gear changes and more sturdy. Would it be worth just upgrading my current rear end? If so, what would I want to start with to beef it up?
 
I gotta say, that's pretty much the goal. The elusive 2 wheel peel. I guess I've been looking for a 8 3/4 because everyone says they are easier for gear changes and more sturdy. Would it be worth just upgrading my current rear end? If so, what would I want to start with to beef it up?

Your description of the current idle problem and the fact that you cannot spin a single tire suggests that tuning and/or repair is necessary before anything else. First step - tune/repair and get one wheel to spin.

Next step, after you get some power on hand, any axle upgrade should involve an 8-3/4 (for the reasons people have stated).
 
For the idle problem, Is it possible I've got a vacuum leak or the hoses aren't hooked up properly to the carb? Forgive the dumb question...never had to deal with this problem before.
 
Definitely give it a tune first and check it with a vacuum gauge. The stalling issue can be a vacuum leak, timing and mixture adjustments, or could have had the cam swapped without updating the torque converter. You didn't mention what gears are in it now. Easy enough to figure out. Don't go changing things until you know what you have. Otherwise you're wasting time and money. When all else is figured out, a higher stall torque converter would get you what you want.
 
3:54 Dana. Worth every nick.

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For the idle problem, Is it possible I've got a vacuum leak or the hoses aren't hooked up properly to the carb? Forgive the dumb question...never had to deal with this problem before.

Yes, and yes. Also timing and a myriad of other things to check and sort out as mentioned here by others. There are some good basic tune and diagnostic video's on Youtube including finding and stopping vacuum leaks that can get you started.
 
Great suggestions, everyone. I'll get to checking the timing and vacuum and report back.

As far as the torque converter, I'm almost positive it wasn't changed when the cam was installed. Can't say for sure but with the history of the car, the previous owner use to trade work to have things installed. I'm guessing he just had whatever cam installed without changing anything else. He never mentioned changing the gears, so I'm assuming they are 2.xx. whatever would have originally been offered by Plymouth for the combination.

That is real good advice to check what I already have before buying anything else. I've got much work to do here, gents. I Appreciate it!
 
Your car is a 73 B body.
Starting in 73, the spring spacing is different then earlier.
However, Chrysler maintained that spacing until 1979.
This means an axle from a 79 Cordoba will fit under your car. It also means instead of looking for a 1 year only(maybe 2, some might be found on 74's) 8.75" rear axle, you can look for a 9.25" rear from basically any 2 or 4 door b body until the end of the decade.
Hint: police cars came with a 9.25" sure grip 3.23" rear.

But really any that fit, in any gear ratio works. Why? Because the 9.25 has gears everywhere. Even using something as new as a set from a 90's truck, you can drop it in if you look up how to modify the c clips to fit your axles.

But honestly, if you keep an eye out for 70's 9.25's out of a cordoba, or coronet, or (late in the decade) fury or monaco(not earlier, c body till 77 with those) I am sure you can find one pop up. Stronger then the 8.75, (old guys all gasp!) not that you will need to worry about that with a mostly stock 400. If you are dead set on a 8.75 I have one with 3.23 in it that needs a rebuild, you just need to drive to WI to come pick it up :)

Your warmed up/dies at idle issues may be torque converter, might be a bad vacuum leak somewhere, including the brake booster. You could try plugging the brake booster line when it is warmed up and see if it still dies to rule that out(not while driving it silly) Otherwise timing might need adjusted, if someone did a cam, who knows if they actually redid the timing right.
 
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