This 340 Mopar is destined for Blakelee’s 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 she was gifted for her first birthday from her Uncle Don who bought it in 1977.
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This 340 Mopar is destined for Blakelee’s 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 she was gifted for her first birthday from her Uncle Don who bought it in 1977.
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Super cool AG. I have a 318 Magnum in the shop right now. Getting started on the rebuild this week.
Great video, thank you
Seems that engine had alot of life left in it. Should be an economical rebuild.
340s in my experience have grooved main bearing shells, top and bottom, for full-time connecting rod bearing oiling. They may have put 1/2 groove 318 bearings in when reconditioning, but I prefer a full groove main bearing set, even on 318s!!
If those heads were closed chamber they would be 60cc and you would have quench with the head gasket thickness. But they open chamber and anywhere from 72cc – 77cc . That's why stock 68 – 71 340 pistons are above the deck .015 – .018 and used
.020 head gasket. With your combination you'd have at most 9 to 1 compression. Put some closed chamber aluminum heads on and you'll get over 10 to 1 and quench.
Great engine, Alan. The 340 beat up on many G.M.s and Fords through the years. The oiling system was the only area that needed special modifications when pressed into high r.p.m. duty. Even the lack of four-bolt mains and engine sealing with only ten head bolts did not normally cause issues when properly built for a street/race, N/A application. Alan, just remember the cam holes need to be lined up in order to get oil feed to the top of the engine. Most classic Chrysler engines are like this. When pre-oiling before starting if no oil is getting to the rockers, just turn the crank until the holes align and let the oil flow! Nice project for a deserving customer!
Looks like that could be a 1971 to 1973 340 or the heads themselves due to the tell tale dog leg shaped exhaust ports on the heads.
Back in the 70's & early 80's I replaced many 340 head gaskets & installed lots of purple cams. From my memory the cams were $99 and the steel shim head gaskets were less than $20 right from the Dodge dealership. This 340 here must have been decked to zero when it got rebuilt.
The way it works is, if there is 10 head bolts(SBD & SBF) then that engine has 4 bolts surrounding each cylinder, 17 head bolts(SBC & BBD) have 5 bolts around each cyl, and 18(348 & 409) have 6 bolts surrounding each cylinder.
Great video, Alan. My question is, finding a good small block Chevy 4 bolt block, with dip stick on the pass.side to be rebuilt in up-state N.Y.
and getting it to a 383 inch short block is expensive and a time consuming process. when you can by a Smeding for 3k U.S.. Your thoughts please. Thank you