Engine rebuild on my '67 Coronet 500 - 383 4 BBL

[thebankerstoy]

Hello Zoran,

I have run a set of the original 1968-1969 HP big block exhaust manifolds on my 1966 Coronet 500 with both a low block 400 and it's current raised block 440 since 1989 when I bought the car and have had no clearance issues of any kind with the HP manifolds and my '66 sits a bit lower to the ground than stock ride height, so you should also have no issues running the Year One reproduction manifolds on your '67 as long as they are faithfully reproduced to factory specifications . Since you will be installing a completely new exhaust system from the engine back, the difference in the exhaust manifold flange angle also won't be an issue, because you will just build the new system to match the flange angles on your new manifolds right?

As I have mentioned in another thread here on the DCR concerning the use of these HP manifolds, my Coronet has run some high 12 second quarter mile passes in California's cooler weather and ran low 13's on a regular basis here in the hot weather in Arizona, so performance wise, I think they will meet your needs for the proposed engine build you're planning, as my 440 is putting out around 400 to 425 horsepower as well, so as long as the rest of your engine parts package compliment each other, (carb, intake manifold, cylinder heads, compression ratio, ect.) those manifolds will serve you well. Would I install them on a serious race car? No, but for any car like yours that is driven on the street most of the time, I wouldn't run anything else.

As far as fuel pumps, I will mention another part that I've been running on all of my Big and small block powered Mopars for many years now. That would be the Mopar Performance high performance mechanical fuel pump. It's available though any Mopar dealership's parts department that handles the Mopar Performance Parts line, or at any aftermarket parts supplier that sell the Mopar Performance Parts line. The big block fuel pump is sold under part #P4007039AB and fits all Mopar Hemi and big block engines including your 383. It's rated at 80 gph (gallons per hour) @ 8.7 psi and has worked extremely well on my cars both on the drag strip as well as on the street.



To help keep contaminates out of that fuel pump, I also run one of the heavy duty Fram HPG-1 in-line fuel filters shown below. It is mounted towards the back of the car not far from the stock fuel tank. These Fram filters are easily found at many different outlets on-line and don't forget to purchase a spare filter element as well.





I've also upgraded my factory steel fuel lines from the stock 5/16" size, to the larger 3/8" size line to handle my 440's fuel delivery needs. You can either fabricate the new fuel lines yourself using your cars original factory steel fuel lines as a guide like I did, or there are several companies that sell complete fuel line kits in various sizes that you could purchase.

All of the above parts work extremely well together and have been in place on my '66 Coronet 500 since the early 90's, so I'm basing my thoughts and comments on many years of experience using those parts.

Richard

[TekHousE]

Great Richard,

I am going to go with that fuel pump now. And the inline Fram filter looks great. I will endeavor to hide it out of the way if possible so I can keep the casual onlookers guessing at the car shows.

A little off topic..RE Car shows. I was lucky enough to have a long chat with Voodoo Larry and his super lovely wife, Collette. One of the things we were talking about is showing cars with the doors or hoods etc. open. I rarely do it, and he thinks that it destroys the lines of the car too. And it's one of his personal peeves.



So on topic...A lot of the NON stock changes I have to make will only ever be seen by judges and there is no hiding those few things to them anyway.

[thebankerstoy]

Hello Zoran,

My '66 is obviously a long way from factory stock, so I have none of te limitations that you will have. While the Mopar Performance HP mechanical fuel pump and the Fram HPG-1 HP fuel filter are both fantastic parts, I will say that both parts will be very difficult to hide from car show judges, as the fuel pump is out in the open and the Fram fuel filter needs to be mounted in a way that allows easy access in order to be able to change the internal cartridge style filter element. After you accomplish all of these modifications that you're speaking about, you may need to enter your car in the modified class rather than the factory stock class. I know that was the case with my sons 1972 Dart Swinger after we did it's restoration using many Mopar Performance parts, aftermarket parts and some original Mopar parts that did not come on his Dart from the factory. Once you start modifying a car, it becomes a slippery slope to keep it in the factory stock class at most car shows.

I wanted to also mention that along with the Fram HPG-1 cartridge style filter that is mounted at the back of the car near the fuel tank, I also run a smaller sized 3/8" metal in-line fuel filter between the outlet side of the mechanical fuel pump and the inlet side of the carbs duel feed fuel line assembly for my Holley carb as you can see in the picture below. About the only part of my Coronet's fuel system that still looks factory stock is the fuel tank and it's an aftermarket tank that was made in Canada. A fantastic system indeed, but not very acceptable to car show judges in the factory stock class at most all car shows.



Below is my sons 1972 Dart Swinger that was blackballed in the awards process at a local all Mopar car show back in 2006 after we entered it in the A-Body Factory Stock class. I still feel that this car does not have enough modifications done to it to be entered in a modified class with cars that feature fully decked out race engines, highly modified interiors and expensive custom paint jobs and yet most feel it has too many modifications to be entered in the Factory Stock class, so it falls into a gap between those two classes which is where your Coronet may be after your modifications.

I'll just say that I build my cars to MY specifications, NOT to any car show judges specifications, but you must do what best suits YOUR needs my friend.

Richard

[TekHousE]

Yellow looks good on both cars, Richard! I'm going to carefully consider the factory vs Mopar Performance route..Nothing is purchased in this area yet anyway..I am just happy to have all these options being put forward...Much appreciated to all..

[67440Dodge]

Here are a set of 68-69 HP/Magnum manifolds on a 383. Fit no problem at all.

5307 5308

[67r/t4speeder]

Those look familiar

[67440Dodge]

I'll trade ya what you sold me for what I sold you

[thebankerstoy]

We should also remember that Dodge and Plymouth used the 1968-1969 HP exhaust manifolds on most all of their low and raised big block HP engines in their B-Body models in those two years as well. Since the basic uni-body structure is very similar in the 1966 through 1970 B-Body cars these manifolds will interchange with no issues between all of those model years with any low or raised block engine. Those of us who own the 1966 and 1967 B-Body cars get to enjoy excellent factory parts from later model years because of these similarities in some areas to the 68, 69 and 70 B-Body cars.

Richard

[TekHousE]

Thanks for the photos 67440dodge..that seals it for me..

And Richard is spot on..that's what I was thinking..Ma Mopar did not change much over the years..

[67r/t4speeder]