My first race'n car was a 51 Plymouth, with a SICK 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree. It was in primer and ugly as homemade soap. Sooooo, I put in a 54 Chrysler Spitfire 6, bored .125 over (that's right full 1/8"), 3/4 grind cam, Jahn's racing pistons, large Caddy valves and springs, three 2-barrel Fjord carbs on the log manifold, and a split exhaust manifold. I had to cut the front cross member to clear the front pulley, because the Spitfire was about 6" longer. With the exhaust pipes off, I fired it up over a grease pit and the flames caught the floor of the pit on fire from 3 feet above. Holy shit! Push it back! Push it back! Dump sand to put out the fire. Whew!!
With everything tweaked, it would not idle under 1,100 RPM, ever! The stock clutch blew out immediately, followed rapidly by the 3-speed. So, I installed a HD Dodge truck clutch and tranny. Next was an exploded drive shaft through the floor pan. Then came both twisted axles and an exploded diffy. Ok, enough is enough; I installed a Dodge station wagon drive shaft and rear end with big tires. I built homemade traction bars for the rear.
I had no idea what I was doing. I don't remember the horse power, CI, CR, trans ratios or rear end ratio or 1/4 mile times/speeds. Just trying different things that would not break. But, I was never beaten by any stock-bodied 283 and beat many 327's. The engine had enough torque to drive a train. This was one tough car that came out of the hole like a demon. It's name was PEPE. Those were fun days, a long time ago!!!! Chuckl
Quite the journey. Lots of trips to junkyards and trying things until they fit/worked. We're so lucky today to have all the aftermarket parts available. I bet the V8 guys were humbled.