Vote for The Forward Look Network on the Mopar Top 100 Sites 


Re: 1957 Dodge CRL 325 Poly

From: Mopar Randy
Email: RandyBlizzard@aol.com
Remote Name: 205.188.209.20
Date: July 08, 2003

Comments

I woke my 325 up by adding dual exhaust, a reground camshaft with a little more lift and overlap (done by Iskendarian, by the way), and an AFB carburetor (from a 62 Imperial). The different carburetor seemed to net the biggest bang for my buck. The intake manifold on the Dodge can be machined out with larger holes and the rectangular AFB bolt pattern for next to nothing. An AFB from a big block Chrysler product should be available for a similar cost. The greater CFM from the later carb and the fact that the WCFB's nasty propensity to shut off the fuel during hard cornering is gone makes the car way more driveable and way more lively. Of course the downside is the loss of originality, but, at least these modifications are more or less "period" kind of mods. The one thing I wouldn't recommend is adding high compression pistons. Come to discover that the piston to valve clearance on the 325 poly is pretty tight to start with. I did the 10:1 pistons on mine and the poly paid the ultimate price. I put a 325 Hemi in my 57 after that and used the exhaust/cam/carb method I mentioned above, but kept everyting else OE with VERY happy results. Good luck, Mopar Randy

 


Last changed: March 03, 2024