White Stars on Valve Covers

[Greenlee]

I have a crazy question to ask. My first dodge truck was 1971 ¾ ton with a gas 360 engine. What a beast. Of course it did not remain stock for long but that is another story. Here in Mobile Alabama I made friends with an older gentleman that built and sold Dodge trucks from junk. He knows every nut, bolt and screw that goes in one. His trucks were not pretty but would run forever when he got through rebuilding one. I came to see him one day since I repaired all of the cracked frames where the steering was attached. Another long story to tell if anyone wants to hear it I will tell you how we never had any more cracks. To get on with my story and question I bought a 1-ton Dodge single wheel with only a 318 in it. The valve covers where stenciled with white stars. Mr. Clark called me because he had a customer that wanted to just by the engine and was willing to pay way more than its value. I didn’t have any interest at all in doing so. He asks me how the truck ran, I told him it was not only extremely fast compared to other 1-ton trucks in general but was very powerful. One reason I wanted the truck to begin with. I had a welding business on the side. He begged for that engine and asked Mr. Clark if he ever saw another one like it and he said he has seen 1 or 2 the same way mostly in wreckers. The individual stated these engines were factory engines sent to NASCAR to be rebuilt and tested and then re-crated being sent back to Chrysler or Dodge engine division. He claimed Richard Petty did this, and if I were to tear the engine down there would be documentation tagged on an ID plate in the engine.  I finally sold him the entire truck and regretted it but money was tight and I still had my 71. I don’t expect anyone to believe the source of the peculiar stared valve covers or if for a fact they came from Petty or someone in the NASCAR business. I just want to know if anyone else knows anything or can clear up the story of these engines. It has always puzzled me. And I can tell you this, I never drove another 318 engine in any Dodge truck ½ ton to 1 ton that would run like the one I drove with the stars. I am sure I will get laughed out of the Forum but I don’t care I just want to know where that engine came from. I saw one other that ended up at Mr. Clark’s and it was a 360 cu/in and the owner wouldn't discuss selling it. He said he know what he had. This was in the late 70s. 

[rancherman]

I'm  wondering if  it  was the actual  318  that  was supposed to be in it.     

 

318's   never made it   into  nascar.      If the valve cover  was  original  with the engine,  and  the stars  were  Petty's   doing,     It's  possible    you were actually  looking at a  360.    ONLY  difference  visibly  is  the thickness of  the  harmonic balancer.     318's  all had   steel cranks, (thin balancer)  and  360's   were  cast crank.  (thick ugly balancer)     The  steel cranks  were heavier  than  the cast ones,  and  therefore  were   internally balanced.

 

Most   of us  that have owned   318's   never   would place  "very powerful, fast"     in the same   sentence  of   318 cube  engine!

Sure,    340-360 heads,  intakes, and  cams  can  make the 318  come to life,  but  still,  in a   3/4 pickup....

 

Seeing you are in   'deep south'...      you probably  had  some  'good ol boys'    rendition of   a  Petty clone or knock off....      Lots of   things  can happen  in  40 years!

[Greenlee]

I'm  wondering if  it  was the actual  318  that  was supposed to be in it.     

 

318's   never made it   into  nascar.      If the valve cover  was  original  with the engine,  and  the stars  were  Petty's   doing,     It's  possible    you were actually  looking at a  360.    ONLY  difference  visibly  is  the thickness of  the  harmonic balancer.     318's  all had   steel cranks, (thin balancer)  and  360's   were  cast crank.  (thick ugly balancer)     The  steel cranks  were heavier  than  the cast ones,  and  therefore  were   internally balanced.

 

Most   of us  that have owned   318's   never   would place  "very powerful, fast"     in the same   sentence  of   318 cube  engine!

Sure,    340-360 heads,  intakes, and  cams  can  make the 318  come to life,  but  still,  in a   3/4 pickup....

 

Seeing you are in   'deep south'...      you probably  had  some  'good ol boys'    rendition of   a  Petty clone or knock off....      Lots of   things  can happen  in  40 years!

Hey Rancherman, you are asking a question I don't know. Now that you mention it a 318 has no business in a 1 ton truck. I don't know what engine sizes NASCAR used back then and my 71 3/4 ton was highly modified with 4:11 or 4:10 gears and it could not stay with it. Mr. Clark is still alive and still works on rebuilding older Dodge trucks. He lived off Hwy 98 in Semmes and the property he owned was property left to his wife, many acres that Wal Mart now owns along with other stores. I personally haven't seen him in over 20 years and I honestly think he designed trucks for the original Dodge brother lol. Now please don't think I am serious about that, bottom line he was a Dodge man and always will be. These engines were special, tons of low end torque and when you put your foot in it your were the one to let up because it did not slow down at all. It didn't occur to me that it could have been a stroked out 340 or even a 360. I have never put any information out about this and was reading some articles and thought here is a large group of members that have been around a few times and might have some inside information to share, Thank you for adding to this, i hope some others might see the post as well

[rancherman]

I'd   try to    find   a  Petty  history   buff,   or  some  other    Petty/DODGE/timeline   website,     Got to be   something  somewhere  some guru has   documented  every move  Petty  ever made,  both  on track and  business wise. 

 

You bet,   they  put  a ton of  318's  in  tonners..  just  geared em  accordingly! 

Dodge  did   quite  a  work up of   small blocks   for  the sportsman  classes,  based on   the  340/360   configuration..   It's very possible   Petty   had  a hand  in  it! 

As   you know,    Dodge   and  NASCAR    didn't   'get along'    after  the    early  70's...   There  could've  been   quite  a  pile of  iron  that  got     thrown back  into   'public access'.

Legends,   myths,   folklore,  and    RACING...       Those  were pretty    exciting   times!        Wading through  what  actually happened     will  give  you   more information  than  could be  ever   processed..  both     actual  truth,   and    gossip..

[Greenlee]

great advice, it might be a dead end in the long run but I am going to do as you suggested and look up someone who is an expert on Petty. Of course there might be someone in AL who just liked painting stars on valve covers and is really liking all of this .lol. I don't believe that because of what I have seen but there is an answer out there somewhere. Thanks

[Greenlee]

I just finished reading Richard Petty's racing history and the beginning of NASCAR. I don't thing the star stenciled valve covers had anything to do with Petty Racing. I searched the Webb with no hits and no answers. I don't think it was a fluke because of the way these engines performed. I guess it doesn't matter who made them and why, it was a long time ago and I doubt very many exist or made it this far down the road. A lot of rebuilds and engine painting took care of any stars showing. Thank you Rancherman for your input.  

[Greenlee]

One more thing. Boy, this was a long time ago and it bothered me a little that I didn't have better documentation or any documentation. I started thinking what year truck it was that the engine was in. I was a 1979 Dodge D300 Adventurer SE long wheel base single rear wheel. The only reason I can relate to this is the 4 headlights. Very nice truck in the day and I hope this is accurate. One thing about the valve covers and the Stars Stenciled on them, they had to be at least 1-1/4 inches in size, only a few full size and the rest partial sized as they came to the edges of the cover. Not done one at a time. At the time of the Daytona 500 in 1979 Richard Petty switched to Oldsmobile and won First Place. Prior to the switch I read that Dodge did sent a lot of test engines  360 cu.in. but Richard was discussed with the performance of the factory engines in the test cars so went on to Olds and it didn't matter what he drove as long as his STP sponsor stayed with him. A lot of back room talks took place from prior years and are still going on I am sure. Time to end this post...it's a dead end. Thanks everyone. 

[rancherman]

see,  just your   location  gives you  much  more  info  that  I'd ever  have access to.        You could probably throw a rock and  hit  someone  'in the know'   or  even blood related  to  ol   king Richard  himself!...   or  at least    know  someone that  knows  someone!

[diesel4life]

There's no chance this was an old military vehicle is it? Not trying to discourage you in any way, but that was my first thought when I read "white stars"

Lots of military gear heads that loved to tinker and build in their spare time...

It sure would be neat if you could go back to the junkyard guy you got your truck from and dig into his memory some more!

There was a show on last year called Americarna, and Ray Evernham hosted the show. He scored on some neat old rides, talked to some old time hot rodders who were heavily involved in bootlegging and building fast cars with hidden compartments. One of the neater shows I saw was when he found Smokey Yunicks old car hauler he used in his NASCAR days. It was a neat old truck and Smokey had the ol' girl cranked up, true to his style.

[Greenlee]

see,  just your   location  gives you  much  more  info  that  I'd ever  have access to.        You could probably throw a rock and  hit  someone  'in the know'   or  even blood related  to  ol   king Richard  himself!...   or  at least    know  someone that  knows  someone!

That could be, I remember looking at the second truck's stenciled white stars and even from memory they were almost identical. I hope I can find the right rock to throw and hit the right person that might clear this up for me. Funny thing how one little thing always sticks in your mind. thanks Rancherman I appreciate what you added to this.

[Greenlee]

There's no chance this was an old military vehicle is it? Not trying to discourage you in any way, but that was my first thought when I read "white stars"

Lots of military gear heads that loved to tinker and build in their spare time...

It sure would be neat if you could go back to the junkyard guy you got your truck from and dig into his memory some more!

There was a show on last year called Americarna, and Ray Evernham hosted the show. He scored on some neat old rides, talked to some old time hot rodders who were heavily involved in bootlegging and building fast cars with hidden compartments. One of the neater shows I saw was when he found Smokey Yunicks old car hauler he used in his NASCAR days. It was a neat old truck and Smokey had the ol' girl cranked up, true to his style.

No it wasn't military, and I am trying to find Mr. Clark. I hope he is still with us, it would be good to see him and talk with him. He's from Mississippi but lives in Semmes or Wilmer Alabama. I wouldn't be surprised if he is still building old pre-computer Dodge Trucks. The engine I had was cranked up but you couldn't tell until you drove it. Beyond my skills because when i put a bad boy dodge together back then the cam always was a dead give a way. I was in my twenties and you know how full of crap some twenty year olds could be, including me. I am determined to locate Mr. Clark and when I do maybe I can close this crazy story about white stars. Thank you for your input, every little bit helps putting a plan together.