Neal Zimmerman
Active Member
Well a few days ago I posted about my sad and sick poly 318. I think it's toast. Minimal oil pressure, cold compression gauge test wont even register unless you inject a bunch of oil, timing chain is stretched ( 13-14 crank degrees till rotor movement), and nasty sludge. Game over.
So here's my idea-
I have a good original bore 318 short block (1972 casting) in my shop I have been cussing at for 20 years.
And I looked through all my crap today and I have everything needed to swap the LA318 in for the old dead poly. Everything! Even headers and/or some 340 exhaust manifolds. Even some 273 solid rockers if I wanted a solid cam. And several 318 aftermarket aluminum intakes (single and dual plane)
BUT what I don't have is the heads. Not sure what happened to them. But I do have some 1967 273 heads ,and I need to run the numbers, but I am sure they are closed chambered and no they don't have the funky intake manifold bolt hole situation.
My question is, that there's a difference in bore size between a 273 (3.63) and a 318(3.910), so will that cause issues? I have never tried using SMALLER heads on an
engine, and I really hate cobbling together junk, but its either that or not drive the car this year.
My buddy can bore the block and get me the engine kit pretty cheap, and I will bolt it together.
But it's that disparity in bore sizes that could be my undoing. Will it work?
Anybody here in Oregon with some 318 heads for sale?
So here's my idea-
I have a good original bore 318 short block (1972 casting) in my shop I have been cussing at for 20 years.
And I looked through all my crap today and I have everything needed to swap the LA318 in for the old dead poly. Everything! Even headers and/or some 340 exhaust manifolds. Even some 273 solid rockers if I wanted a solid cam. And several 318 aftermarket aluminum intakes (single and dual plane)
BUT what I don't have is the heads. Not sure what happened to them. But I do have some 1967 273 heads ,and I need to run the numbers, but I am sure they are closed chambered and no they don't have the funky intake manifold bolt hole situation.
My question is, that there's a difference in bore size between a 273 (3.63) and a 318(3.910), so will that cause issues? I have never tried using SMALLER heads on an
engine, and I really hate cobbling together junk, but its either that or not drive the car this year.
My buddy can bore the block and get me the engine kit pretty cheap, and I will bolt it together.
But it's that disparity in bore sizes that could be my undoing. Will it work?
Anybody here in Oregon with some 318 heads for sale?