I’m a big believer in 318s after playing with this one. Super cheap and capable engine

@@sorta_stock I can't wait to drive mine, maybe before winter.. trickflows, howards roller and 4.57s.. should be perky :)

Start and stop feature does nothing for highway mpg. The forums are filled with folks discussing these issues. The massive MPG hit with something as basic as a leveling kit is disappointing. 6” lift would be understandable.

@@sorta_stock The auto stop start affects your mpg calculations. If your highway mpg are that low you need to learn how to drive more efficiently and not lead foot the pedal all of the time.

@@MRKNIGHT cruise control @ 5-10mph over is the standard out here in CA. No interest in being parked in the slow lane as many others would agree

Nope. Must’ve been swapped in the past. I wonder if that’s still a 400 or a 451.

Absolutely. I’ve seen some beautiful work come out of MX. Really excited to see the finished product. Expecting it back in about a week.

Which by the way is another main reason we all should get along and respect each other! How simple is that?????

Nope. Didn’t need it. Drove the truck another 6k miles before selling it. Shifted like butter

I’m pretty happy with it. The 4.10 rear end combined with those TQ numbers make it a lot of fun on the street.

I just bought a 2024 1500 last week. Got the V6 because I really don’t need to tow anything and didn’t want the gas drinking V8. I thought I researched it well but it seems like since I bought it all I have read are horror stories of things breaking and leaking. Now I’m starting to worry that I bought a money pit. I know several people who own them and have had 0 problems though. I’m glad to see you’ve had no problems for 4 years as well. I guess people who post online mostly post complaints, and you never hear from the ones who have no issues. That’s what I’m going with at least.

@@yankee4424 if you treat it like a lady it will last forever. I am convinced that people that have problems with any vehicle do so because they drive themselves t like they stole it.

@@Notguilty1 I agree. I also saw an interesting analogy today too. You only find horror stories on forums for the same reason you only see sick people at the hospital. The ones that are fine aren’t there. So I’d say for every two or three trucks that have a problem there’s 100 more out there that are absolutely fine.

Love the Dart....old school wins the day!

Gotta love a big block Dart!

Thank you! This 318 performed a lot better than I had expected given such a low buck build. Makes for a great cruiser and a fairly competitive racer among other street cars.

I built it out to a 426 cu-in. Currently installing it into my ‘77 Ramcharger

Hi Nathan. I maintained equal spacing between the backing plate and perch on each side. Doing this maintained the factory center section offset of about 2”. It’s close to a mopar spec and has proven to be just fine over the past couple of years. No vibrations. I’ve got at least 60 passes with slicks and about 5k miles of normal driving with that axle. It’s handled everything I’ve thrown at it so far.

A lot of people are actually replacing their expensive EFI systems in favor of carbs due to poor equipment quality.

Vacuum gauges help with the tuning process for sure but, are not completely necessary.

It’s an M1 intake with fender well headers. Not sure what you were looking at. 12.5:1 fully forged 493”

I believe that guy eventually swapped an aluminum hemi into his Dart. LS platform is awesome, no doubt. With some worked over aluminum heads, I should be able to get this big block into the 600hp range.

Vacuum is another good indicator. Screw driver, listening to the RPM range, and reading plugs are all great methods. Timing light of course too but, you can work without one for a street car.

Only if you want to kill the engine. Looks like possible detonation damage to me. Not knowing what actual compression it has and advising a specific total timing number is ridiculous. Actual racing Champion plugs are much better than standard but Autolight plugs are good too. A little work with a hole saw will make spark plugs accessible from the wheel wells. Hope you have a narrowed rear with the larger bolt pattern, My 68 GTS 383 Dart was a tire melting machine! Don't forget a leak down test, compression test is not definitive.

It was running 8, just not well

I was really worried they were going to be beat up but, I couldn’t see any signs of damage with my camera. I’m gona perform a compression test to see if the valve still seals properly.

Magically, there’s not even a scratch inside.

​@@sorta_stockhoping that plug was dropped and the porcelain was on driveway and not in engine

Pretty sure it went through the engine. Took a look with my camera and there’s no damage. It must have fragmented and made its way out the exhaust valve.

Each pass was indeed a full second faster 🫣. Excited to throw some slicks on it and she how she does.

The general consensus is that pre-1974 big blocks came with the higher nickel content. The nickel wasn’t looked at as a strengthening component. Instead, it was used to resist corrosion in the block. Just so happened to benefit the strength as well. Lots of people have tested the theory and determined negligible results between years with the exception of marine blocks and cold weather blocks.

@@sorta_stock But they didn't mark them in any way?

I’ve got 3k into this dart… including buying the car. Even with this junkyard setup, I haven’t lost a single race to a Honda. Raced at least 10 so far.

A majority…probably. Raced a Model Y last year with my Junkyard built ‘68 Dart. Quick cars for sure. I’d put money down that my ‘69 Dart with better tires would take a W from one of those. Only racing with these tires as the series requires it.

Nothing quite like an old muscle car with high compression and a nice loopy cam 🙌🏻

I appreciate it Ed. We definitely had a blast. We’re going to the track again this upcoming Friday for round 2 👍🏻

Thanks Joe! Haven’t thought about launching in 2nd. Visiting the track this Friday again. Gona give it a shot. Shooting to get this dart comparable to that beautiful fish of yours lol

@@sorta_stock that’d be awesome! Cope Racing transmissions will be open on Monday. You’re gonna have to get an automatic!

@JustMoparJoe 🤢. 727 vs 833 it is then lol

Haven’t pulled them off to verify personally but, I was told they did a full port & polish on the heads and intake.

It’s actually Willow Springs. They shutdown their road course and use the straightaway for drag racing.

@@sorta_stock thanks, that sure was a long drive.

I’ll get to see the difference in tire this upcoming Friday 😬