Honestly, yeah, kinda. It's just for the build you're talking about- you could be more streetable and faster with another platform where you can put some real sized tires to hook the power, and you don't have to worry about the crappy 4t65 trans.

300whp would be roughly 375 bhp- right in the middle of your range, and would be 1000x easier to do, and would probably only cost 1/4 or 1/5 of what you were planning to spend. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry nearly as much about the trans puking on you.

Nope. The bottom end just isn't a weak point on the 3800s as long as you don't let KR get out of control- but even rings and bearings wouldn't fix that. Like Chibi said, GM produced so many 3800s, that its just as cheap to go buy a decent mileage used bottom end than to try and rebuild what you have.

 

Here's a good example:

400hp Grand Prix idle - YouTube

340 whp turbo setup- stock manifolds, an engine that has never been opened, idles like stock, stock reliability, and if you wanted more- it's not too difficult to up that power on a turbo setup either

 

BTW ZZP said each .1 size in pully drop adds about 1psi boost. Build Im going to do now is just worked heads, ported and polished blower and intake, Cold Air inductions CAI, headers, u bend delete, high flow cat and resonator, Cat bat, 180 t stat, a 3.4 pulley, and a tune. Should give me just enough to surprise someone but wont be a crazy build. I think it will be mild enough for the stock tranny to hold up too. I dont expect more then 300 horse. still got 26k on warantee so I am not doing it for awhile. but due to bumpins recommendations I have started restoring my 70 dart. Bought metal patches for the rear quarters as they are not rusted bad enough for a whole replacement. Next is floor and trunk pans. Not needed because of the factory undercoat but they are rusty and dont want them to rust through in next 10 years. It will end up with a tubular k frame and a 5.7 hemi drop with big build on the hemi goal is a 10 sec quarter which wont be hard as the 69 dart with a 440 did it in mid 11s stock. Will not handle turns aswell but it will be fast in straight lines.

 

well theres a big difference between a mid 11 car and a 10 second car. and im going to go on the assumption that that 440 would out torque the 5.7 big time. what motors on this dart as we speak.

 

Well on it now is a 318 got a 340 but going to put the 5.7 with a 392 stroker kit. The 5.7 I think will be faster for 2 reasons. 1) it will not be a stock 5.7. 2) the 5.7 is way way lighter then a FE block 440. The 440 was so huge that they had to remove the inner fender well and power steering pump because it would not fit. and as far as drag times go 5lbs is like adding 1 hp. so a 100lbs difference is like 20hp as drag times go (this info is straight out of hot rod magazine they ran tests to see weight/power effected times). As far as power the 392 used in current model cars is a revised 5.7 that makes 470 hp and similar torque so not only is it lighter but it is more powerful. On mopar forums a guy did this same build to his 69 and has 600 hp NA. no Nos he does low 11s almost in 10 range. The dart weighs about 500lbs less then an eclipes stock with the FE318. Read about the 440 dart it was the ultimate sleeper smoked everything stock vs stock.

 

i dont think any of the darts were sleepers they were muscle cars. they came with the wedge 340s and 360s. hell even the fart slingers were kind of nasty in there day. i also thought that the 68-69s were available with the 383, isnt the 383 very similar to the 440 externally? why would they have to remove anything to fit a nearly identical motor in there? i thought they only had to remove the fender wells and what not when they put the 426 hemi in them? that car doesnt need a big block to really go. the 340s are known to be monsters, and rev like psychos. maybe im just stuck in the past and dont see the point of putting a modern motor into a car it doesnt belong in. i guess to each there own.

 

the added weight of the 383 made it run same speed as a 340. 383 and 440 are like a 318 and 360 parts work with each other but diffrent motor. Car and driver were the ones who said that the power steering had to be removed for space problems. The 68 and 69 were offered with the standard 3 small blocks or 383, 426, or 440 installed by hurst but only 69 were made with a 440. And its a sleepper because if you see a dart and a camaro pull up side by side both stock you will always expect the camaro to win but if the dart had a 440 camaro had no chance.