318 opinios keep or toss?

[rumblefish360]

I posted a reply earlier but it didn't make it I guess. Thanks for the great advice and info guys. 64Bel, I agree completely. I am taking my time and enjoying the ride. I knew when I bought it that it would take awhile to get it on the road. Rumblefish, AMAZED at the story, I think it changed my mind completely about making a switch.

Well, the car was payed for and the keys were mine to use and drive the car away with before the story was told. I have no reason not to beileve him not to mention the record keeping he showed me after I payed for the car.

The 318 lacks torque and is sensitive to cam size, cylinder head port size and carb size. The basic 3 c's of performance. (Compresion, cam & carb)
Use the K.I.S.S. method and take it easy on the size of parts.

My first 318 was 30 yrs ago and finding performance parts wasn't easy to find like the other guys.Now all kind of stuff mild to wild for small blocks.The beutiful thing is the guys upgrading to wild have great,cheap parts for us.318s I LOVE EM.

In addition to the above fore warning/hint/tip to approaching a 318 for more power;

Streetwise and even something pushing it....

Carb; a 650 cfm carb will go along way on a 318. Otherwise a 600 is plenty for a bolt on a stock engine.

Intake manifolds would be a Edel. Performer taking care of most chores
Weiands Action Plus for something with a bit more punch.
Edelbrocks RPM (Air Gap or not) will handle the 318 well into some serious rabid teeth as far as that engine goes. Crap, if it can propel a 340/360 into the 11's...........

Heads. What ever it came with for mild, and again for some street snooty-ness with a bowl porting and 1.88-1.60 valve back cut will do great.
If your starting to want to run well and really get some, it's a catch 22 feild.
Fully port a better 318 head like a 302 (can be expensive)
use a small vlave 360 head with nice prep work (Cheap but port size can be touchy if the combo is off)
or a Edelbrock head which is alot for a 318. A combo of both above BUT with an exceptionaly high performance ceiling for the smaller "LA" engine.

Cam slightly smaller than a 340/360 for streetabilty, slightly larger for an agressive build. Then of course, more stall and gear than the 340/360.

Lighter the car the better. And is which you really don't see 318's in a B body trying to run anybody down. The B body is basicly a bit heavy. :icon_hang:
A 318 in a lightened A body has a chance.

To be honest, anything more than a few bolt on performance parts like carb, intake, headers with a new smallish cam slid in is all I would do to a 318 in a B body. A head milling on a healty engine would be max fo a tad more compresion. There terribly low from the factory and worse in the mid 70's and on.

Skip the teen after the bolt on's (And small cam) and do a 360 or a big block for performance worthy of note.

 

[Drifter]

Rumble, I'm gonna copy and past the entire last response for future reference. You just saved me having to start 10 more threads. Thanks for the great info.

David

 

[rumblefish360]

Glad you liked the response Drifter. I've tooled around with the 318 alot since that is what it came with and I didn't have much moneys to start over with another engine most of the time. You kind of learn the in's and out's while waiting on something bigger better to come along or get done.

Anymore questions, just ask. Post'em up and we'll all be there.

 

[Coronet 500]

Just put a Comp Cams XE256H-10 in my extra motor .447In .455Ex 256/268 duration.It's probably going in my sons truck.It idle smooth and spins up quick with a 600cfm.I like there XE cam profiles.check out there Camquest program.

 

[Drifter]

I haven't heard a knowledgeable source say a bad word about em Coronet. I think I've made up my mind to keep the 318. It only has a little over 42000 original miles.

 

[super-B-71]

400 h.p from a 318!! gotta love it!!

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/mopp_0409_318_engine_build/index.html

 

[YY1]

...and I believe it was a high mile motor, and all the gains were from top end work!

 

[Andrrrew]

Interesting thread. I totally agree with what I'm reading here... 318's an awesome engine for ordinary driving, and there's a ton you can do to hop them up, even staying totally low-tech.

Here's my 2¢, probably too late to make much difference:

1) Newer Magnum heads'll bolt onto an LA 318, right? Seems like there'd be a world of good to be done there, with the right intake, carb, and cam. I think Mopar Performance makes a carb-friendly intake for magnum engines. I'm sure there's a lot of potential for HP gains, but the coolness factor would be out of this world IMHO.

2) If I recall, certain 318s had 340 piston rods from the factory. I'm pretty sure this was in '72, but I'm not sure how long Mopar did that for.

3) I swapped out the 318 in my '72 Satellite wagon for a screamin' 360; swapped in stiffer gears at the same time. The car was much faster, and considerably less fun to drive. There's something to be said for the factory setup, if you keep it set up right.

4) We had a 318 in our '74 Satellite wagon (yes, we have two wagons)... it came with a Carter 4bbl. with vacuum secondaries. Car got 14 MPG all day long. We swapped in a 400 (K-frame, tranny, t-bars, the works--all from the bottom). Used the same carb, but re-jetted for the bigger engine. Car got 16 MPG all day long. That's a 12% gain from the bigger engine. All we can figure is that the secondaries on that Carter were always open at least a little, with that poor little 318 working so hard to drag around that big, heavy-butt wagon. Still, the car was not slug-like even with the 318. It was a fun drive. But if you couldn't keep your toes out of the carburetor you'd pay for it at the gas pump.

I would also add that it's *totally* worth swapping in urethane K-member mounts on any post-'72 B-Body. We did that when we swapped in the big-block K-frame. The car kept most of its cushy ride, but no longer handled like a sick cow. Absolutely a worthwhile investment.

 

[Andrrrew]

OH! I forgot to add, if that motor's really only got 40,*** miles on it, it's probably an awesome candidate for fussing around with. A nice solid block like that? Prime pickin's.

Um, and also--it's never a bad idea to check your local boneyards for Diplomat or Grand Fury cop cars. I understand that the 318 cop car heads are some of the best-flowing smallblock heads Chrysler ever made, better even than the legendary X or J heads. There's a lot to be said for a nice, free-breathing small-block, even if you aren't building it to be a screamer.

Look for the ones that say "360" on the intake runner. I've actually got a pair, redone.

 

[Cranky]

The teen that we messed with had 115k miles on it and the cylinder walls were excellent! The cam was a touch on the radical side but from 3000 rpm on, it was seek and destroy!

 

[Coronet 500]

Ok Drifter,now you must keep us updated with this project.I wouldn't want to see you make the dumb choices I made with my first one.1964 Belvedere slanty 3 on the tree,sold it to my sister,man I miss that car.Got it from a buddy who got it from his grandfather who won it in a poker game and painted it with house paint,a roller and brush one day when they were having some cocktails.

 

[waygun]

All of my previous daily grinders--and my current one-- are 318 2bbl cars.
318's have strong bottom ends that do not need any modifications.
As mentioned,most of the upgrades can be done on the top end.

Here are a few things I have done in the past that improved MPG,and performance of my daily grinding 'teens.
-When your heads need rebuilding,grab a set of junk 302 or 308 (1985 to 1991) casting heads and get them rebuilt.The cost is the same as other small block heads.
The closed combustion chamber has better quench and flow
and raise compression a little bit.
It is a simpler upgrade compared to going Magnum heads/intake-which in itself is also a good upgrade.
-Install a good double roller timing chain.Cloyes 9-1103 is my personal choice and had served me very well in all of my engine applications.

-Do not overcam it.One step up is good enough.It will wake her up,more torque.A Comp XE256H come to mind.
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=625&sb=0
-Dual exhaust no bigger than 2-1/4" with factory log manifolds..Any bigger is just a waste of torque and money.Dynomax Super Turbo or Thrush Turbo muffs keep that true Mopar sound.Leave the Flowmaster's and Magnaflow's for the Mustangs and Camaros.
I did not see any gains in using headers.Just headaches from leaking and scraping.
-Recurve the distributor,whether you are running a points style or electronic ignition.
-No matter if you are running the 2bbl or upraded to a 4bbl carb,fine tuning is a must.
Using a vacuum guage to set the carb--along with setting the timing is very important
-I always burn the highest octane available for better MPG.It may cost more at the pump,but you can go a longer distance on the same tank compared to regular fuel.
I average 21-24 MPG highway driving with my 318.Lots of good low end torque,and good midrange/top end for passing.
Hope this helps.

 

[Sneke_Eyez]

I am relatively new to the 318, and honestly to carb'ed motors in general, but I'm happy with the way it moves my 74 Dart.
It isn't the fastest car, but it has plenty of power, and is enough for me for now.
My personal engine gets pretty awful gas mileage, but I don't care. I don't drive it for that reason.
I haven't driven the 318 in my Coronet around much at all, so I can't say whether its up to the task of moving such a behemoth, but people keep telling me it won't.
I intend to keep it, though, get it running pretty good and then pull it out when the time comes for my 6.4L swap.
Then I'll buy something else, maybe a Dart roller or something, and drop it in... I know it'll keep going!

 

[ramairthree]

If you are looking at a basic rebuild you can do a 360 for same price.

If you are looking at swapping to a big block, I agree, run it until you are ready.

If you just want to enjoy driving, throw on 360 heads, a nice carb and manifold, and enjoy.

A lot of modern V6 sedans have about the same net HP as a nicely outfitted 318, and they run fine.

It's also about he same HP level as mid 80s to mid 90s small block fuel injected V8s.

If it is original motor and trans in car I would stick with it.

 

[1Nice72]

I built a 350 hp 318 that is very streetable and blast to drive. It sits in my fully streetable 72 Satellite Sebring Plus. 10:1 motor that runs on Premium street gas. Under it's current configuration with an Edge Performance 3400 Stall Converter and a 3.91 Sure Grip Rear Gear, she runs 8.50's at 75mph in the 1/8th (low to mid 13's in 1/4) In Texas we like the 1/8th due to the extended heat in the summer. She weighs in at 3800lbs with driver. Not bad for a SB in a Fat Cow:} Enjoy the 318, good motor and lots of parts.
Clay

 

[1Nice72]

360 heads are not a good option unless you change the pistons or do some head decking, you will lose what little compression ratio you already have. Stick with a set of mid 80's swirlport heads. That's what I used with the larger 360 valves, better combo for the small port 318. Just my 2 cents, I have built 318's both ways and the swirlports are a far superior setup. Either way you can make a good little SB.
Clay

 

[1ol74charger4me]

This has been a real informative thread,. What would you do different if you built a 360? Bigger exhaust ,bigger cam?

 

[ssok]

Not to hijack the thread.... but is that your Ford Truck in the background of the Death Row Charger? I always loved the 80-86 Fords

 

[condor74]

Nice car you picked up. The 318 is a great motor. Very reliable. Pretty good power. There are a couple of things I would do to it. First and foremost once you get it running i would change the timing chain. If it is original then it will have a silent running plastic gear. The only problem with that is the plastic brakes and the chain will jump off bending your valve. Go with a double row or even just a basic single row but make sure it is metal lol. Mods I would put a 4bbl edelbrock performer manifold, a 600 cfm carter or edelbrock carburator, and dual exhaust. The car will run so smooth and like mentioned before run circles around most 350 powered chevys.

 

[ramairthree]

This has been a real informative thread,. What would you do different if you built a 360? Bigger exhaust ,bigger cam?

an inherent displacement advantage resulting in more low end torque

or

"mo betta!"

Like I said earlier.
I have a running 318 with duals, 4bbl intake and heads off a 360, plus an edelbrock. All of unknown exact vintage, set up, etc.

Once I get around to it, if the block looks like original, I will build it.
It depends on if you are into it or not. I have a 71 Javelin that needed a tranny rebuild. Everything on that car, although beat and worn, was original. I had the Borg Warner M11B auto tranny rebuilt. Smart thing was to swap to a TF, but I think its cool about to turn 100k on a car that sat since late 80s and is now roadworthy with all its original parts. When I rebuild the engine, I am going to stick with its original 360 instead of going to a 401.

If not the original 318 block, I would go for a 360.