1966 Dodge Coronet

  last updated 11/29/2006

This is my 1966 Coronet with a 273 engine and an automatic transmission. The small V-8 has gotten the b-body around for this many years but it sure isn't very exciting. I plain on changing that this summer by replacing the engine with a 400 B engine and a couple of 4 barrel Holleys for induction. With that in mind I am going to try and keep the Coronet on a  budget and use what I have at hand and with a few purchases from friends and some good deals on ebay, lets see what we can do. The body is in real nice shape and still carries the original paint and interior.

  Finally go time to pull the leaky and a little tired 273 out of the Coronet.

  What I started with was a 400 engine from a 73 Newport. The block was fitted with a set of Keith Black pistons, forged steel crank from a 383 and the 383 rods. We installed new rod bolts and had the rotating assembly balanced. The induction will be a Offy 360 dual quad manifold and I will use 2 1850 holly vacuum secondary 600 cfm carbs. We are going to use a set of 516 casting heads and install the larger exhaust valves and a new set of valve springs. The cam shaft installed is the Hemi grind from Mopar performance.

  While wasting no time I dropped the 400 engine where it has long been waiting to go.

I just want to see the car put together with the new engine in and running so I used the garden hose on the bigger chunks of grease and started back together with the project. I have made some more progress on the Coronet, now in need of throttle linkage and air cleaners to finish the top end. Ignition will be a dual point distributor from Mallory.