I’ve been working on this for the last couple of months and figured I post a build thread.

This started out as my daughters’ first vehicle. To make a long story short, the engine went out and I ended up with it when we got her another vehicle. It’s been sitting in the back shed for the last 10 years or so.




The truck was really straight and rust free, so I figured it would be a good candidate to put back on the road. The grandkids thought it was a good idea too…..especially Cade! With the seat all the way up and the steering wheel all the way down, he can reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel.




I’d originally planned about putting a SB Mopar in it but after looking at some similar swaps it became evident that the factory AC would have to be eliminated so the radiator could be moved in front of the core support where the condenser sits. A SBC with the short water pump is at least 3 inches shorter and I figured with a bit of work it would probably fit better and let me retain the AC.

I’ll admit that having the fresh 283 that my grandson and I built last year sitting around also was a factor. Although I like my Tri Powers, It really doesn’t look right to me in something this new, so off it came along with the Mallory dual point and on went an old Offenhauser Dual Port, and a stock distributor converted to electronic with a Pertronix kit.




The dual port is kind of an odd ball intake that was designed in the early 70’s (Gas crisis time). The primaries feed thru the lower ports and the secondaries thru the upper ports.



There is/was a lot of mixed reaction to these intakes, people either seemed to love or hate them. The results I’ve looked at seem to indicate they worked pretty well with smaller displacement engines but were too restrictive when the cubic inches went up. It’s just odd ball enough for me to be curious so I figured I’d give it a try.


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