Having a hard time making a choice ..

[OUTRUNM]

Sorry I haven't posted an quite a while..  I'm stuck here guys .. I have this 73 318 car. Had planned on building a 440 to put in it. To make a long story short I through a hot battery in it the other day to see if I could get it to turn over... I was expecting the car to be Locked up, Rod Knock,Top end rattle, None of the above.. It turned over so after dumping some gas down the carb after a few cranks it started .. No knock very little rattle and just a puff of blue smoke.. Now keep in mind this car hasn't been on the road since the mid 80's I was Impressed ... So now I'm thinking about building that motor with a 390 stroker kit..
  what do you guys think?

[Bullitt-]

This has been hashed over many times. You don't state your goal but I assume by bringing up the stroker your looking for lots more power. It's much easier and cheaper to go with a 360-crate with better heads that would have an actual warranty. Only issues I know of are making sure you get the right oil pan and one engine mount has to be modified.
Something like this  http://www.blueprintengines.com/index.php/chrysler-bpc4080ct  These are available starting around $3600, less than you would spend on the rotating assembly & machine work I believe.   

[OUTRUNM]

Your right. I did forget to state my goal.   The car is will  be driven in the summers mostly and not very far. the longest freeway miles it will see would be about 10 miles each direction a couple times a week .. I am okay with mixing race fuel if needed. I would like to be able to take it to the track  a few weekends out of the year.. also the track is only about 7 miles from my house..  So I guess you could say it needs to be streetable but not by very much. I would like to run a lower gear like a 410 430 ish
 I have no plans on tubing the car .. but I would like to get as wide of a tire under the back as I can..
   It's not going to be a show car ..  Just a street car with a Bad temper.. 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

My 318 also refuses to die. I've turned a 13.6 with my 318 that's slightly worked over...it's a fairly hard running engine with minimal mods if you get the rest of the drivetrain to sync up with the engine. To keep costs down, the 390 would be a good build, though I'd shoot for torque more than high rpm due to likely valve shrouding with the small bore however.

I like the idea of keeping a small block/lighter engine in my E-body...it seems like a "good fit" for the car to me.

[Chryco Psycho]

Torque rules , if you are going to build anyway then building an engine will cost the same no matter what size you build , so I would do a 440 / 512 built right even the milage will be similar , the only variable is the extra cost for the big block trans , larger rad , pullys & mounts  . You will still have a lot m,ore power even with a pump gas combo !

[moparmaniac59]

That's a mighty tall gear (4:30) to run in a street car. I run a 3:91 and turn about 3200 rpm at about 60 mph. I had a 4:10 and it was just too much for interstate driving. You can go with taller tires to help offset the tall gears. Or better yet install a tranny with overdrive! 


                                                                        Matt B.

[OUTRUNM]

Well here is the thing.. I do have a 440 bolted to a stand that came out of a 1974 truck with a 727 has a truck style tail shaft that would need to be changed
 also have a tm7 intake sitting on a shelf  ,Pete Jackson gear drive, also sitting on a shelf collecting dust.. oh and a new never used Barry Grant Silver Claw .. that I got from a friend that owed me money..

[ragtopdodge]

Keep the 318 in there until it dies while building a 440.

With a 440 (even better, a stroker 440), you'll have so much more torque than any 390, that you can run freeway (e.g. 3.23) gears and get decent mileage.