Dauntless Rebuild Questions.

I will be pulling one of my two project Dauntless this week & torn down for a trip to the machine shop. This brings up more than a few questions for me. I've searched the forum for answers, but there just so much information here, it can get hard to find answers. So I'm asking here.

1) with the machine shop horror stories, is there anything I need to tell the shop to avoid of just flat out not to touch? I'm not aware of any old school machine shops in the area I found use either.

2) hardened valve seats. Yes or no?

3) cam. Isky or Comp or who's? I like comp but this is a new beasty for me. I'm open.

4) intake. Stick or offy?

5) ignition. I've got HEI on both. Better option I've missed somewhere?

6) rear main seal. Rope or neoprene? I've never used a rope seal in my life. Not opposed to rope, just not familiar with them.

7) bearings. I like Clevite bearings. Better option?

8) carb. I've got 2 motors with 3 separate carbs. 2 are Rochester 2g according the the markings. 1 is a Carter. All need a rebuild. Go stock or aftermarket Holly 390 cfm carb? I've got a 2 barrel Holly on a Ford I can rob.

9) exhaust. Headers or manifolds? Got good manifolds & I can roll my own headers without to much hassle.

10) fiddly bits I'm missing?

I dont know about pistons, rods, rings yet. I pan on doing the oiling upgrades from the blueprint 225 thread.

Thanks for any insight & advice.

 

The boys runs a comp cam not a huge one just two steps from stock. Clevite bearings and a stock Rochester 2 bbl he is using fender well headers but is going to block huggers or manifolds the long tubes have been problematic at best between smashing them up and the leaks he’s done. He uses a pertronix but the hei is a good option. We used the rope seal and should have used neoprene it leaks a little.

 

Thank you much. It's a start.

 

The Dauntless is not complicated.
Make sure the front cover is in spec with regards to the oil pump gears. Make sure the pump cover ( filter adapter) is not scored up, replace or there is a steel wear plate that can be added. HV pumps are not a necessity ( actually frowned upon without block passage modifications) I recommend upgrading the cam bearings to those provided by TA Performance. Some head gasket brands are thicker than stock and the pushrod length / preload needs to be watched ( which may be compounded by some aftermarket cams having smaller lobe base circles)
Somewhere on the site is a thread by Tarry99 " blueprint 225" that is an excellent read.

 

I just rebuilt my Dauntless last fall. My .02 worth:
2) Yes with hardened seats for unleaded
3) I kept the stock intake on my ‘66. To convert to turbo, replace with stock Grand Nat’l intake. Hind sight: Not recommended for rock crawling.
6) I wish I had gone neoprene. This was second engine replacing rope seal. It was a pain and I think it drips occasionally.
8) I’ve rebuilt two Rochesters and they do ok for most street and light trail usage. Not great for rock crawling or when steep angles are involved.
9) I tucked the exhaust inside the frame on the crawling rig for protection. On the DD, Outside the frame headers. I wish I would have paid for the coated ones instead of bare metal though. Even after sand blasting prep and header paint, I can’t keep them from rusting.

-Hônes

 

The boys are rusting bad too.

 

hardened seats for sure!. I went with a Isky 256 supercam . runs really smooth great idle ,same Oddfire sound , I also had the engine balanced and it is very peppy and much smoother at higher rpm . running a HEI filled with DUI module ,Offy 360 dual ,holley 390 with many upgrades to make it a truck avenger type,header I'm running old set of Hooker supercomps they exit next to the frame Much better than Headmans which exit inline with the front tires and rocks .