what to go with/best option

[mach123]

Well the car I bought is a 72 charger and in decent shape, the engine was suppose to of worked on, so the problem is that the everytimeI order a part for the engine it doesn't fit or looks nothing like it. So I find out the the heads/casting number/tag are for a 77 318 and the intake manifold is from a 81 318, so looks like it is a 318 from the 77 to 84 time, so what car/truck would this come from and were they a good 318 and believe it has the closed chamber I think. So if I was goin to do a swap engine/trans what would or should I start to look for, this one also came with a 4bbl carter. Thanks:eusa_think:

 

[Ron 73]

If your looking for a good engine thats reasonable on fuel for cruising around enjoying it, Id stay with the 318, there a good little engine, no high TQ or anything but a decent engine that should get you some good fuel mileage.. Last summer i bought a 89 318 and im planning on switching it over to carberation Yours could have come out of a number of cars or trucks, mine i am working on now came from a truck but plan on nothing with it except a 4 barrel carb... Racing is a whole different story but you can get upwards to 400 HP out of one if you wanted the power. Just my 2 cents, but the 318 is a good engine.

 

[old tired rebel]

If your looking for a good engine thats reasonable on fuel for cruising around enjoying it, Id stay with the 318, there a good little engine, no high TQ or anything but a decent engine that should get you some good fuel mileage.. Last summer i bought a 89 318 and im planning on switching it over to carberation Yours could have come out of a number of cars or trucks, mine i am working on now came from a truck but plan on nothing with it except a 4 barrel carb... Racing is a whole different story but you can get upwards to 400 HP out of one if you wanted the power. Just my 2 cents, but the 318 is a good engine.

X2 I have to agree a 318 is a great engine. I want to ask you what is your plan for your car, great driver with good fuel economy, or something other entirely?

 

[mach123]

Well just to enjoy driving it and have a little extra voom voom and sounds good, I also found a Holly street eliminator intake manifold in trunk, good or no good. Thanks

 

[old tired rebel]

There are several 318 builds at our sister site FABO. Here is just one of many there.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=84707&highlight=318+builds

 

[mach123]

Thanks, I will check it out.

 

[pabster]

My '74 has the trusty 318, I've had plenty of folks tell me how reliable & durable it is. Hasn't let me down yet, and I drive my Charger at least 3 days a week to work. Not bad on gas, around 18-20mpg. I haven't messed with the engine at all, but I did put a Flowmaster dual exhaust system on it, so it sounds mean as hell.

You get no bragging rights with a 318, it ain't particularly fast. But in my opinion, as long as you're not hell bent on speed, the 318 is a great engine because it gives you the freedom to drive your car more, since it's cheap to maintain and gas up. OK, relatively cheap. With gas being above $4/gal, it's not actually cheap.

 

[mach123]

not cheap but fun, I will use this 318 while I am restoring the car, but will look for another mopar and would like a BB, what is the difference between the rv 440 and the car 440's. Well needed a couple more parts and seems to be able to get right parts when I go under a 81 318 1/2 ton. LOL Might be alittle easier to find info or parts now. Hoping to get engine running this weekend, once I find all the right bolts for the water pump, can anyone tell me what size and type threads into water pump. I didn't get my books yet.Thanks

 

[AirborneSilva]

not cheap but fun, I will use this 318 while I am restoring the car, but will look for another mopar and would like a BB, what is the difference between the rv 440 and the car 440's. Well needed a couple more parts and seems to be able to get right parts when I go under a 81 318 1/2 ton. LOL Might be alittle easier to find info or parts now. Hoping to get engine running this weekend, once I find all the right bolts for the water pump, can anyone tell me what size and type threads into water pump. I didn't get my books yet.Thanks

There could be more differences but I know one of them is the block for an RV has beefier ribbing.

 

[mach123]

So it is better/ or can get hands on a 440 from a 75 new yorker. Thanks

 

[old tired rebel]

mach 123 build it the way you want it.

 

[mach123]

Well guys this will be my last car and want to build it right. So I have found the perfect 400 block with 727 auto trams and had it cleaned sonic check and bored .30 thou over and got it ready to build a 511/512 stroker. So will research this set up and build it right once. So any books or info you can let me know on I will research. Thx for all the great info.

 

[Bruzilla]

Speaking for myself, a 400 is like getting a kiss from your sister. I've know so many guys who have dropped tons of money into 383s and 400s, only to eventually decide they want that panache and power of a 440 after hearing "wow, I'll bet you wish that was a 440" about 1,000 times. Then they end up losing most of their money when they try to unload their smaller engines and have to pay even more money to get a 440 done.

I think it's better to go top of the line the first time.

 

[Montclaire]

Small block v big block is like asking what type of women you like, everyone is going to have a different answer and at the end of the day, only you can make that call. And just like women, if you fall for the attraction of bigger cubes it's going to be higher maintenance, might be more cranky, will take more money, get you in more trouble, etc.

I have gone the big block route in the past but, at this stage of the game what I want is a dependable small block. I found a nice, low mileage 1989 360 TBI motor with factory roller rockers and 308 heads. Again, it all depends on what you want.
Bigger motors also make more power, so now you are talking about beefing up transmissions, rear axles, suspension, brakes, exhaust, etc, etc, etc.

318s are funny about where they build power, the hot ticket used to be a factory 340 cam and 360 heads but I am sure there are much better grinds out there these days. But then again, if you wanted a rocket you wouldn't build a 318. Don't try to make it something it's not. I don't like strokers, I like well running small blocks and old school lumpy lope big blocks and not much in between. That being said, if all you want is good exhaust note then you can certainly get that out of a small block.

The edelbrock is probably a single plane and not what you are looking for, better off with a performer or better yet a mopar m1.

 

[mach123]

Well guys thx for info and will decide later as I have a car to deal with so I will decide, but as I said it's a 400 block and is .30 over bore and I'm not going to use the 318 for sure, so what else can be done with that other block....thx

 

[Bb70charger500]

I'll chime in I hate 400's don't see what everyone wants with them I think there good boat anchor s ,I personally stay with small blocks I do have a few big block cars (440) but there a pain small block will sit for a year and not even car fire right off and go like it was driving the day before. And the fuel economy is great also what most people don't think about all the saved weight over the front axle. The cars handle so much better then the same car with a big block the little 360 mag is great you can beef it up enough to have a sweet street car . I have a 318 car a 340 mag car and 2 440 cars ,just sold a 318 car and 2 360 mag cars,and a 383 car, so I've been all over the board trust me the small block s are where it's at unless you want a race car or trying to keep up with the jones's

 

[Nacho-RT74]

400 are the "best" engine for stroker on the cheap, considering they weight less than an RB, but thats if you already have a 400. To invest on a "new" Big Block, better invest on a 440 and stroke it. Consider will need change the tranny too ( and some other stuff ) if you begin from a Small block car

318 is the most reliable engine of the SBs, able to get good juice with small touchs out of the box, even with stock replacement parts.

You can use without spend on performance pistons, stock 5.2 ( 90s 318s ) pistons which are taller than stock 318s, and use thin rings, so less friction into cilinder.

You can use same engine ( 5.2 ) heads and get the 4 bbls intake for it, will need some grind job for pushrods room. Or simply get 302 heads which same as the ones mentioned, are closed chamber heads and they use to be cheap without mods for anything, plug and play job

with 318/5.2 magnum pistons and 80s 302 heads you can raise the CR in one or one and a half point ( so, get around 9.5 CR ) nice for a light SB, and will enter in more camshaft options without get worry about more mods

just some suggestions on the cheap... you can get even more from a 318, but...

 

[mach123]

Well guys I have a 400 all ready to build and matching 727 . So that is where I stand, thx

 

[Photon440]

Congrats, I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with it.

 

[mach123]

Thx guys